But Chair Warns Big Questions Loom About Airport CHATHAM — The charter review committee has overwhelmingly rejected a charter change designed to provide broader town oversight of the finances of the Chatham Municipal Airport. But the committee’s chairman said he believes the town needs to have a long-term plan for the future of the airport property. Charter committee member Tom Wilson sponsored the propos...

Threatened By Erosion, Monomoy Refuge Dorm Must Go CHATHAM – Although last weekend's blizzard didn't cause extensive erosion to the coastal bank at the Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge Morris Island headquarters, the steady recession of the bluff means that time is limited for the agency's historic dorm building. Once a garage that was part of a U.S. Coast Guard Station on the site, the building has been us...

CHATHAM – The discovery of the homestead of William and Anne Busby Nickerson, the town's first European settlers, on land adjacent to the Nickerson Family Association compound on Orleans Road, not only provided evidence of where the family settled in the late 1600s, it also yielded numerous surprises, including the size of the house – large for its time – and some unusual activities that were carried on at the si...

A potent coastal storm Saturday walloped the Lower Cape with heavy snowfall and hurricane-force winds, leaving tens of thousands without power during frigid temperatures. At the peak of the storm, some 84,000 customers were without electrical service on Cape Cod. Supplemented by crews from out of state, Eversource crews worked through the day and night Sunday, and by Monday morning, only about 60 homes in Ch...

Erosion, Age Threatens Marconi Antennas CHATHAM – Driving along Ryder's Cove on Route 28, it's impossible to miss the three tall, steel lattice antennas once used by the Marconi-RCA ship-to-shore radio station. Home to ospreys during the spring and summer, the structures are an imposing reminder of the power the station once had to send and receive signals from halfway around the world, keeping in touch with s...

CHATHAM – Kimberly Robbins has nothing against hunters. Growing up in Chatham, it was accepted that hunting was a common pastime. “But it seems like it has increased significantly in the last few years,” Robbins, now a member of the town's park and recreation commission, said recently. And that increase has led to an escalation in conflicts between hunters, specifically waterfowl hunters, and those who walk th...

Salary, Insurance Hikes Will Increase School Budget To $43 Million If town meeting voters in Chatham and Harwich approve changes to the Monomoy School District regional agreement requiring each town to pay the operating costs of its own elementary school, Chatham's share of the next school budget will increase by $800,000, about $200,000 more than previously forecast. Slightly more than $100,000 of the incr...

CHATHAM — It remains to be seen what the post-pandemic “new normal” means, but from a fiscal perspective, it’s about restoring deferred spending. Town Manager Jill Goldsmith presented her fiscal 2023 town budget to the select board for consideration last week; the balanced spending plan includes seven new full-time equivalent positions in various departments. When COVID-19 emerged in March 2020, there were just t...

CHATHAM — After the U.S. Coast Guard downgraded Station Chatham’s surf rescue capabilities, the harbormaster is seeking to buy a surf-capable boat and train staff to respond to emergencies on the Chatham Bar. Harbormaster Stuart Smith has requested a $250,000 placeholder in the capital budget to fund the town’s share of a federal matching grant for purchasing a surf-capable rescue boat. The funds would be ne...

CHATHAM – If schedules allow, the Army Corps of Engineers will return to town to clear shoals from the Stage Harbor entrance channel, thanks to funding from recently approved federal infrastructure legislation. Town officials learned last week that $500,000 has been allocated for Army Corps dredging of the federally-maintained Stage Harbor channel. This will be at least the third year in a row that the Corp...

As predicted, COVID-19 case numbers driven by the ultra-contagious Omicron variant appear to have peaked on Cape Cod, as they have in other parts of the country. Because of a two-week delay related to the typical progression of the disease, death rates continue to climb, however. As of last week, the 14-day percent positivity rate on the Lower Cape had begun to generally decline, standing at 18.4 percent in Ha...

CHATHAM – Four duck hunters and their dog were rescued Tuesday afternoon when their boat overturned and dumped them in the frigid waters off Scatteree town landing. All four of the men were unharmed, and after being brought to the fish pier and warming up in ambulances, declined further treatment. It was the second day in a row the fire department received a call for a duck hunting boat in distress. And on ...