ORLEANS – Most of those who spoke at the state’s Dec. 11 hearing on a proposed roundabout at routes 28 and 39 and Quanset Road thought it was a bright idea, but they didn’t want it to be too bright. “There are 17 light fixtures in this plan,” Selectman Kevin Galligan told representatives of the state Department of Transportation and consultants from VHB. “This is over-lit. Picture coming from a dark space ...

ORLEANS – It’s a watershed moment. Conservation groups in the four Pleasant Bay watershed towns have pledged a total of $326,000 toward the acquisition of Sipson Island, the only island in the Bay that is still privately owned and has no public access. “This level of commitment – recognizing the importance of the Pleasant Bay watershed regardless of municipal lines – sends a powerful message of collaboratio...

ORLEANS – Carl Trevison lives on Doane Road within walking distance of a town landing. It sounds convenient, but he’s not the only one who knows about it. “In the summer, most parking is from out-of-state or Eastham, Brewster, or Harwich,” he told selectmen Dec. 3. “There’s as much as 50 parked cars in this area. Access to the landing is rendered impossible because of the vehicles. You cannot get down there if...

ORLEANS - Forty years ago, a local lad, Tony Pike, became a call firefighter here. Last week, he announced his retirement as chief of the department next June. “Tony, I’ve known you since you were running around way back when,” Selectmen Chairman Mark Mathison said with emotion at the board’s Dec. 3 meeting. “I certainly appreciate the fact that local kids can serve their town and be here such a long period of...

ORLEANS — Some 180 runners braved frigid temperatures Saturday to compete in the annual Santa Stampede, sponsored by the Orleans Chamber of Commerce. Funds raised in the event help support chamber programs. Challe Burns won the kids portion of the race. BARRY DONAHUE PHOTO ...

ORLEANS — The animal control and regulation task force takes a wide view of its responsibility to recommend actions to get things right for the town’s dog owners and non-dog owners. Urging the group to consider future recommendations on “regulations and expectations” on Dec. 2, chairman Karl Oakes advised that “we want to give ourselves flexibility to be able to do certain things by trying to enforce a custo...

ORLEANS — To the poet Goethe, architecture was “frozen music.” To some members of the architectural review committee, plans to modernize the look of an office building on South Orleans Road are out of tune with the community’s design guidelines. According to draft minutes of the committee’s Nov. 14 meeting, the proposal by Del Mar Vacations, Inc., for 24 South Orleans Rd. was withdrawn by Matt Cole of Cape A...

ORLEANS — The tables were set for 36, but more than 80 townspeople pulled up chairs at the senior center Nov. 19 to help sketch the future of the Route 6A corridor. With a sewer system being built from West Road to the Eastham rotary, the town must be ready with zoning that protects community character while encouraging the kind of development that will provide what the town needs. “We want to test our ideas...

ORLEANS — Will the town offices be housing a housing coordinator next year? With everyone talking about the need for housing, and the affordable housing committee and affordable housing trust board doing something about it, the issue has emerged as the town’s top priority. Last week, the two groups met with the selectmen and discussed what might have seemed impossible a year ago: a new hire, part- or full-ti...

ORLEANS — Mindfulness is not just a word for people who meditate in a quiet studio. It’s also for those of all ages and abilities who walk, bicycle, take the bus, or use some kind of motorized vehicle to get to school or work or the store or a place of worship or the beach or the bank…people who want to choose something other than a single-passenger car trip to get somewhere in town. Toward that goal, the Orle...

ORLEANS – Orleans has for 33 years benefited from an often-invisible organization comprised of volunteers who, in collaboration with the town, chamber of commerce and private individuals, raise funds, underwrite and oversee projects that improve the quality of life for all its citizens and visitors. Brick sidewalks, urns of flowers maintained by The Farm, and soon to be installed custom-designed manhole covers on...

ORLEANS — Bluefish Outfitters, the parent company of Goose Hummock Shops, won’t drop anchor for marina and boat storage at the former Beth Bishop parking lot on Route 28. “We have found an alternate site and will not be asking to store boats on the property at this time,” David Bailey, outdoor center manager for Goose Hummock, wrote in an email Nov. 13. At the Nov. 6 zoning board meeting, the company withdre...