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.” ...

ORLEANS – The historical commission, in the midst of an effort to promote historical districts that could preserve the town's built heritage, faced another request to demolish a part of that heritage last week. The board imposed a one-year demolition delay on the 1810 Alice Collins Hanvey house at 21 Great Oak Rd. in East Orleans. Members did the same for the historic Kendrick-Sparrow House more than a year ago, ...

ORLEANS — The mystery buyer-backer helping the Friends of Pleasant Bay preserve Sipson Island isn't a stranger. Rich Nadler and his wife Cheryl have lived year-round in Orleans since 2010. He's visited Sipson as a member of the town's conservation commission. “We had hoped to remain anonymous,” he wrote to The Chronicle last week, “but with the evolving role of the town in funding the conservation restr...

ORLEANS — In its annual report and letter to the town, the finance committee has some advice for voters: “(There's) a lot of stuff going on at once. Some might say too much. But there are good reasons for getting all this work done now.” In plainspoken language, the letter states that funding for the comprehensive water resources management plan “is still the elephant in the room, and the temptation is to sa...

ORLEANS — Eleven men are stretching their limbs, and maybe their lifespans, at the senior center. The town's recreation director, Alan Harrison, is calling out directions and encouragement. “Excellent,” he says. To which one man responds, “Glad you think so.” It's another easygoing session of the adult men's fitness class, one of several new offerings provided by Harrison. “We had nothing for the senio...

ORLEANS – Climate change was very much in the foreground at Saturday's town hall on environment and energy issues at the Nauset Regional Middle School auditorium. Some 130 people heard the latest updates on actions being taken to adapt to or mitigate climate change from government and non-government leaders who in turn called on the audience to become more actively involved in efforts to make the towns, instit...

ORLEANS — The town's dredge advisory committee reviewed dredging and disposal options for opening up Nauset Estuary April 8, but members started off focusing on what to expect in the way of support from neighboring Eastham. The takeaway from the March 25 meeting of the two towns' boards, committee chairman Bill Amaru told his colleagues, “is that the town of Eastham is partly in and mostly out until they hav...

ORLEANS — The Academy of Performing Arts and its Academy Playhouse have been riding a roller coaster for more than a year, with all the highs and lows that implies. In recent weeks, there's been an upswing as the institution has worked to maintain its school and transform its theater into an arts center more accessible to its students and the community in general. The theater is enjoying a spring cleaning and ...

ORLEANS — “When I got elected, I think I was the devil if you listened to the sewer people,” Selectman Mark Mathison said last week. It's said the devil is in the details, and that's where Mathison, one of three candidates running for two seats on the board in next month's election, has spent much of his tenure. “My question right from the beginning with the sewer issue,” he said, “was, 'Are we talking about c...

ORLEANS — Supporters of a public-private effort to prevent further development of Pleasant Bay's Sipson Island encountered some headwinds last month as several selectmen offered criticisms. “Why spend a million five to get a conservation restriction on something that probably can't be built on that nobody can get to unless they already live on the bay and have a boat?” Selectman Mark Mathison asked at his boar...

EASTHAM — Before the scooping, there must be scoping. The selectmen of Eastham and Orleans agreed March 25 that two potential plans for dredging Nauset Estuary have merit. One would dredge the system from Town Cove through the main channel and behind the barrier beach to Nauset Inlet with spurs to the Priscilla and Hemenway landings; the other would not include the spurs. “The (first) provides the most us...