ORLEANS — At times, it sounded like a modern version of Monopoly. At their initial joint meeting March 6, the town's affordable housing trust board and affordable housing committee talked about getting on the game board by, among other possibilities, acquiring a motel. The trust drew favorable Community Chest cards when town meeting voted to support it with community preservation money and annual funding amo...

ORLEANS — The “air” B&B over Cedar Pond enjoyed by roosting cormorants for decades is no more. “As of yesterday, I witnessed that all wires, including the communication wire, are now down from spanning Cedar Pond,” Conservation Agent John Jannell told the conservation commission Tuesday. Some members applauded, with Judith Bruce asking that town counsel “convey our thanks” to Eversource. It was a high...

NORTH EASTHAM — The Nauset Regional High School Building Committee voted Feb. 27 to send six of 11 options for the future of the aged campus to the state School Building Authority for review. They included two required schemes: one with no changes except bringing the buildings up to code and adding a total of 7,400 square feet to two buildings and another based on full demolition and all-new construction. Th...

ORLEANS — In addressing a few complaints about storage of fishing gear in residential districts, the planning board hopes to sniff out a solution that respects both neighbors' rights and town traditions. “Commercial fishing is a longstanding occupation in town,” director of planning and community development George Meservey told the board Feb. 12. “Preservation of traditional occupations is called out in our...

ORLEANS — The Snow Library Facilities Advisory Committee voted Feb. 20 to accept a building program, a comprehensive document that describes existing conditions and ways to address unmet and future needs in a new or renovated and expanded building. The report, which will now be reviewed by library trustees, is an important step in securing state planning funds in the next few years. “Oh, my gosh. I would acc...

ORLEANS – If the town's beaches can be considered among the best things in life, then for residents the best things in life are free. That won't be the case if a proposed new resident beach parking sticker fee makes it to town meeting and is approved. Of course, taxpayers support the beaches financially in other ways already, but a resident sticker fee has always been a step too far. Last week, the selectme...

ORLEANS – The town's new affordable housing trust agreed to put dollars behind desires last week, earmarking $2,200 to help spur marketing for an affordable unit that could lose that designation otherwise. The board met Feb. 13 to address a two-bedroom condo at 18 West Rd., one of 11 units designated affordable at the 42-unit complex. The designated units are under a deed restriction that requires they be sold...

HARWICH — Each foreign national employed in the U.S. under the H2B temporary non-agricultural visa program sustains the jobs of 4.6 Americans, according to Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Wendy Northcross. Northcross joined a panel of representatives of the business and political worlds Feb. 9 at the cultural center to demystify the seasonal worker program. “Without an influx of additional wo...

ORLEANS — It's been a long haul to get dredging Nauset Estuary on the public's radar, but now that the signal is strong some eager proponents are urging patience. “I ask that people in this room open their hearts and their minds to the obvious challenges that are going to be ahead of us, to not lose patience with the amount of time it will take for the permit process,” fisherman and dredging advisory committ...

ORLEANS – Talk to Stan and Bonnie Snow and topics range from ship and train models to historic Orleans houses to the history of Snow’s of Cape Cod. Stan, 86, who retired on Dec. 31 after 61 years of employment at his family business, Snow’s, is a passionate and skilled creator of model ships, trains, houses and buildings. (He made his first model ship when he was 11.) Bonnie is a well-known local historian who...

ORLEANS — The future of adults with autism was as bright as the sunny skies during the Feb. 4 groundbreaking ceremony for Cape Cod Village. A crowd gathered inside Mid-Cape Home Centers to celebrate the shovels-in-the-ground stage of a dream nurtured for almost eight years by parents of severely autistic children who were concerned about a lack of programs for them as adults. Now, just months away, is the so...

ORLEANS — A local man has agreed with the seller on a price for Sipson Island, and a purchase and sales agreement is expected to be signed this month. The price is confidential until then. The resident has been working with the Friends of Pleasant Bay and The Compact of Cape Cod Conservation Trusts regarding the purchase, serving as a buyer/backer to take the property off the market. The Friends intends to r...