ORLEANS — The selectmen voted unanimously last week to move ahead with the first year of a revised scope of field investigations and permitting for a less ambitious dredging of Nauset Estuary, for now at least without the financial support of neighboring Eastham. “We've revised dredge volumes,” Woods Hole Group consultant Leslie Fields told the board May 15. “Before, the channel that started at the inlet and...

ORLEANS — Given what the Orleans Historical Society has been up to recently, it's no surprise that the current exhibit at the 1834 Meetinghouse is titled “Models of Maritime Courage and Adventure.” The OHS board has been a model of courage and adventure itself, setting out to raise $3 million to update the Meetinghouse and Hurd Chapel and purchase the Captain Linnell House while creating a new umbrella ident...

ORLEANS — Voters said yes Tuesday to spending $47 million on wastewater infrastructure and no to spending $100,000 on a renovation or replacement feasibility study of the fire station. Challenger Cecil Newcomb topped the ballot for selectman with 966 votes, and incumbent Mark Mathison remained on the board with 946. Erik Oliver, who received 638 votes, was encouraged by Newcomb to run again as the results we...

ORLEANS — Town Meeting agreed Monday to spend $47 million on wastewater infrastructure over the next three decades pending a favorable debt exclusion vote at the town election May 21, but rejected spending $1.5 million to acquire a conservation restriction on 18 acres of Sipson Island. “We have the Main Street sewers in the ground,” Paul Davis said from the floor, “on time and under budget. This article toni...

ORLEANS — The three candidates for two seats on the board of selectmen are grateful for the opportunity they've had to live here and worried about the lack of same for the next generations. “Of all the kids I taught in this town over the last 45 years, most have moved away,” Selectman Mark Mathison said. “They can't afford to live here.” His daughter, a teacher at Nauset Regional High School, lives at home w...

ORLEANS — Town Meeting agreed Monday to spend $47 million on wastewater infrastructure over the next three decades, pending a favorable debt exclusion vote at the town election May 21, but rejected spending $1.5 million to acquire a conservation restriction on 18 acres of Sipson Island. “We have the Main Street sewers in the ground,” Paul Davis said from the floor, “on time and under budget. This article ton...

ORLEANS — Beaming like Shakespeare's Prospero, Alan McClennen descended a long flight of stairs to welcome visitors to Sipson Island last week. No tempest drove the electric-powered vessel Friends of Pleasant Bay ashore; in fact, the floating classroom disembarked its passengers in knee-high water. After striding through the surf like General MacArthur making good on his “I shall return” vow, the group of en...

ORLEANS — With the agreement of the board of selectmen, the town's new affordable housing trust will fund the purchase of a half-acre lot on which Habitat for Humanity of Cape Cod will build a two-bedroom ranch home. Voting separately May 1, the board and trust took an initial step toward creating 85 new rental units and 15 home ownership opportunities within the decade, a goal proposed in the recent town ho...

ORLEANS – Pay-as-you-throw (PAYT) systems encourage users to separate out recyclables; disposal of their remaining trash requires purchase of specially marked bags.  In a presentation to the selectmen and the board of health last week, DPW/Natural Resources Director Tom Daley said that, on balance, it's mostly free to recycle compared to municipal solid waste disposal costs of $95 a ton. Economically and envir...

An Eastham man died while paddleboarding off Nauset Light Beach Sunday afternoon, having apparently suffered a medical emergency while in the water. Because of shoaling at Nauset Inlet, the closest rescue boats had to come from Chatham, about 12 miles to the south. And had the tide been lower, some of those rescuers might also have been prevented from responding because of shoaling in Chatham Harbor. Respon...

ORLEANS — The finance committee voted 5-3 last week to recommend against the town's purchase of a conservation restriction that would guarantee public access to Sipson Island in Pleasant Bay. “It's too difficult for most residents to access unless they have a boat in Pleasant Bay or a kayak,” member Peter Monger said. “The cost of $1.5 million could be better spent elsewhere given the parlous state of Orlean...

ORLEANS — Selectmen Chairman Alan McClennen had a message for last week's Orleans Citizens Forum about the principal wastewater article on the May 13 annual town meeting warrant. “Being incredibly conservative,” he told about 80 listeners at the senior center April 25, “I think there's a possibility we could end up with a situation where the taxpayers don't have to pay a penny for this $47 million project.” ...