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...

ORLEANS — Phil Howarth says the former Beth Bishop store on Route 28 “is a building my wife fell in love with on our honeymoon in 1994.” That's one of the reasons the owner of Bluefish Outfitters, the parent company of the Goose Hummock shop, signed a lease purchase agreement for the property recently. There are other people who love it, too, including Gail and Rick Runyon, whose home is directly behind the ...

The January session is full and there's just a handful of slots remaining for the Feb. 12 “ Stop the Bleed ” class sponsored by the Orleans Citizens Forum and the Orleans Fire Department . The 90-minute session trains civilians of all ages how to help people injured in accidents and shootings. Go to orleanscitizensforum.org/stop-the-bleed/ to register. Keep your calendar handy to circle another date. On Feb. ...

ORLEANS — When it comes to apportioning sewer betterments, selectmen want to go with the flow. Presented with three options for assigning the cost of building the downtown sewer collection system (the treatment plant and disposal area will be paid for on the tax rate), the board voted 4-0 Dec. 12 to recommend using a property's water usage rather than its assessed value. The chosen method will require town m...

ORLEANS — The finance committee is inviting the public to its Dec. 13 meeting, where there will be a presentation on the financial implications of the Cape Cod Tech building project. Tech school Superintendent Bob Sanborn will speak about the projected cost of the new school building and the ramifications for Orleans and other member towns.   The session begins at 7 p.m. in the Nauset Room at town hall.  Fi...

ORLEANS — The state's expert on library building development had a perhaps surprising answer when asked about “deal-breakers” that could curtail funding for a project. “Not enough parking is a big problem,” Lauren Stara, library building specialist with the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners, told the library's facilities advisory committee Dec. 10. “A lot of towns say, 'Everybody walks to our libr...

EASTHAM — It takes much more than a village to raise affordable and workforce housing like the Village at Nauset Green. To build this $23 million, 65-unit development, it takes three neighboring towns and federal, state and private partners, 11 in all. But most of all, it takes the determination of a community to stick with its vision of broadening its housing stock for well nigh two decades. That persistenc...

EASTHAM — Three key social service agencies on the Lower Cape have formed an alliance designed to help improve the efficiency of service delivery and to make services more accessible to people in need. The Cape Cod Children's Place, the Community Development Partnership and the Homeless Prevention Council said the partnership offers the possibility of offering new programs together, as well. The three organi...

ORLEANS — It's a numbers game for the Snow Library facilities advisory committee these days. Looking 20 years into the future, members are debating the number of square feet library users will need in meeting and reading rooms, how many study carrels for individuals versus open tables for cooperative work, and how many adult seats for parents and grandparents in the children's room. It's all part of creating a ...

ORLEANS — The Friends of Pleasant Bay says it has identified a private backer/buyer to purchase Sipson Island. By January 2020, the group hopes to buy most of the 24-acre island from that backer for public open space and recreation, tapping $1.25 million to $1.75 million from the town's community preservation funds. It intends to bolster the CPC money with private fund-raising that will include a major contr...