Child Care Number One Need, Survey Says ORLEANS — The selectmen reviewed draft warrants for the May 13 annual and special town meetings totaling more than than 70 articles last night (March 20). The community's to-do list ranges from building the full downtown wastewater collection system, a treatment plant, and disposal area infrastructure to acquiring conservation restrictions and public access to Sipson Isl...

ORLEANS –  The town is covering up something in the watershed – but that's a good thing. Within the next couple of weeks, “as soon as the frost is out of the pile,” as DPW Director Tom Daley puts it, the water department will begin shaping a tall and long pile of reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) that was trucked in a few months ago. Then a tarp will be placed over it. “We presented (the situation) to the ...

ORLEANS — Firefighters from Orleans, Eastham, and Brewster knocked down a brush fire this morning (March 15) behind 55 Bridge Rd. “I thought it was snowing out,” said nearby resident Gib Craig. “I saw ashes going by my window. The flames were 20 feet high.” Joyce Flach, owner of the 55 Bridge Rd. property, said she called the Orleans Fire Department to confirm that today was a “burn” day. Deputy Chief Geof ...

ORLEANS — If you had Cecil Newcomb's view of Lonnie's Pond, you might not be as willing as he is to spend a lot of time as a selectman. Looking through the windows of the unique joined-domes house he shares with wife Anne Sigsbee, Newcomb spoke in a clear, quiet voice last week about his decision to run for office now that he's retired from fishing and his mooring business. “Years ago, I gave it a fleetin...

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...