ORLEANS — The state will begin taxing short-term rentals of vacation homes, one or more rooms in houses, condos and the like beginning July 1. Town officials and business leaders are already thinking long-term about the uses of the new revenues. “Taxes will be collected by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Aug. 20, and then on the 20 th of the month from then on,” Selectmen Chairman Alan McClennen said Jan....

ORLEANS — The selectmen put the proposed Fiscal Year 2020 budget under a microscope Jan. 23 and also talked about rearranging the five-year capital plan. They discussed un-budgeted needs in light of some surprisingly good news: the Cape Cod Municipal Health Group is likely to vote this week for no increase in health and life insurance premium rates. “They had a great year last year, with claims running very ...

ORLEANS — For decades, New Englanders looking for a daily antidote to life's stresses turned their radio dials to WGBH-FM for the start of “Eric in the Evening.” With the first notes of Tommy Flanagan's rendition of Horace Silver's “Peace,” listeners' souls were calmed and stirred. On the 90 th anniversary of the birth of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, radio host and musicologist Eric Jackson did it again...

ORLEANS — Townspeople are flocking to courses to learn how to “Stop the Bleed.” The monthly sessions given by the fire and rescue department with the support of the Orleans Citizens Forum are already fully booked into the spring. Twenty-five people attended a training Jan. 17 at the senior center, where Fire Chief Anthony Pike explained that the program had originated at the White House in 2015 as a way to r...

ORLEANS – The Nauset Regional High School building project is about more than a building. It's also an invitation to imagine what education will look like in the middle of the 21 st century. In welcoming about 30 people to a community forum on the project Jan. 14 at town hall, building committee chair Greg Levasseur laid out two goals: “the education plan that shows us what we need to teach and want to teac...

ORLEANS – Town officials, a commercial fisherman and the owner of the Goose Hummock Shop traveled to Lakeville Jan. 11 to draw attention to the need for prompt action to dredge Nauset Estuary. A panel of state and federal regulators, some present by phone, listened attentively and asked thoughtful questions but offered little encouragement for relief anytime soon. “This is an area where dredging hasn't been ...

ORLEANS — The Snow Library Board of Trustees voted 4-3 Jan. 8 to support the town locating a sewer pumping station – most of it underground – on library property abutting the village green. The decision was complicated by ongoing planning for a new or expanded library that could push the library east to accommodate more parking and full vehicle access around the building. AECOM project engineer Reggie Don...

ORLEANS — The push to get something done regarding affordable housing continued last week as the selectmen appointed seven members of the new affordable housing trust fund board and the affordable housing committee zeroed in on practical steps toward acquiring specific properties to meet the need. The new trust, created by town meeting, will no longer have to wait until that body meets to act on property pur...

ORLEANS — The chairman of the board of selectmen expects to “have something to say” by mid-month about running for another term. The vice chairman is already saying it. Alan McClennen and Mark Mathison, whose terms are up this May, can disagree strongly on approaches to the town's challenges, yet their probing discussions of the issues have brought clarity to and prompted action on many concerns. In the s...

ORLEANS — Since Dec. 17, the town has been preparing a treat for the ocean at Nauset Beach. It's not being delivered by food trucks but by dump trucks. “We're either going to feed the ocean asphalt this winter or feed it some sand,” Natural Resources Director Nate Sears told town meeting Oct. 29. Voters agreed to spend $1.1 million to build up the dune between the ocean and the parking lot, and then approved...

ORLEANS — The year began with the Academy Playhouse rolling out plans for a $4 million campaign that included a renovation and expansion of its historic theater that would increase accessibility. It ended with an announcement from the Academy of Performing Arts trustees that the theater would take an “intermission” for four months and its staff would be laid off. “The idea and the need and concept to renovat...

ORLEANS — The town took concrete steps in 2018 to support the pursuit of affordable housing options. Perhaps the most significant was a general override of the tax levy limit in May to fund a new version of the town's affordable housing trust with $275,000. In future years, an annual amount will be included in the budget for town meeting approval. The trust will also receive $300,000 in community preservation f...