ORLEANS – Parking is free at Rock Harbor, but that could change come next summer. An article is set to appear on the warrant for the special town meeting next month that would create a paid parking program and associated fees for non-residents for the bay-front lot. Town Administrator John Kelly told the select board Aug. 31 that with large capital projects planned in the coming years, including a full dred...

ORLEANS – A transition could soon get underway toward the hiring of Orleans' next town manager. The select board announced on the town's website last week that John Kelly will retire from his longtime post as town administrator in March. Kelly has served in the position since 1996. "Although it is premature to say goodbye since Mr. Kelly is not retiring until next March; the select board is grateful for Joh...

ORLEANS – How much is too much to spend to improve an aging building? That was the question the select board wrestled with last week as it faced a $1.4 million request to make heating, ventilation and air conditioning improvements to portions of the Orleans Elementary School. Board members expressed reluctance Aug. 31 about putting that much money into fixing the building, the original portion of which date...

ORLEANS – The former Governor Prence Inn will stand on Route 6A for at least a few more months while town officials work to get an estimate for the cost of demolition. During a joint meeting on Aug. 26, the select board and the affordable housing trust fund board both opted against putting an article before voters at next month's special town meeting seeking authorization to raze the property. Officials hope t...

ORLEANS – In searching for a new middle school principal this summer, Brooke Clenchy didn't quite find the person she was looking for to fill the position. But the Nauset superintendent knew what the Nauset Regional Middle School needed. "I think there's joy that's missing there now, and that's one of the things I wanted to bring back," said Clenchy, who enters her second year at the helm of the Nauset distric...

ORLEANS – The old normal? The new "new normal?" "We're still trying to figure out what to call it," Nauset School Superintendent Brooke Clenchy said. However you term it, the 2022-2023 school year promises to restore some of the pluck and excitement that has been dulled not just in Nauset, but in districts and schools nationwide since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Two and a half years after...

ORLEANS – Since the start of the year, the new fire rescue station feasibility study committee has busied itself with exploring possible sites for a new fire station. The committee looked at municipal land and private property. A consultant was hired. A call was put out to property owners who might be willing to let their land be used for a new station. Some specific property owners were solicited directly. Th...

ORLEANS – An article will appear on October's special town meeting warrant seeking the adoption of a short-term rental bylaw, but the select board expressed reluctance last week about getting too far into the regulatory weeds, at least to start. Instead, the proposed bylaw, the latest draft of which was presented and discussed at the board's Aug. 24 meeting, will set up a process for allowing property owners t...

ORLEANS – Every morning, Bill Wibel walks Kent's Point. In doing so, the Keziah's Lane resident said he's noticed what he calls "a changing ecology," and not for the better. "We own this," he said of the town's waterways during a public workshop Monday to discuss a possible prohibition on the use of fertilizers in town. "We can change it, or we can watch it die." There was little debate Monday over the role...

ORLEANS – Can a "pay as you throw" program help further recycling efforts and curb the amount of solid waste coming through the town's transfer station? The select board hopes so, but board of health members have their doubts. The two boards will have a joint meeting Sept. 15 to discuss pay as you throw, which encourages recycling and aims to reduce solid waste disposal by charging people according to how much...

ORLEANS – On the heels of the state's reclassification of the Cape's drought status, the board of water sewer commissioners voted Aug. 17 to adopt mandatory restrictions governing outdoor watering until at least late September. Only hand-held and drip irrigation will be allowed through Sept. 21, the board voted. Watering will be allowed between the hours of 5 p.m. and 9 a.m. On Aug. 13, the state department...

ORLEANS – As part of efforts to bring sewer to Meetinghouse Pond, the town plans to take more than 23 private roads for the installation of sewer and water mains. Town officials held a public hearing Aug. 18 to answer any questions homeowners in the sewer area had about the takings, which will be limited to the roads themselves and will not infringe upon residents' property. The 485 residents with homes on ...