Observers of town government, or probably any level of government, will know that there’s a familiar pattern that plays out day after day, year after year. A crisis happens or a problem arises, and elected officials and town staff work to find a solution. If there’s anything worse than reactive governance, it’s probably government that’s not reactive at all. Still, when town officials explore really creative, ...

Airport Plan Threat To Town Editor: Believing that my home-seeking-and-buying experience is representative of some other Chatham homeowners, I am writing to express great dismay at the intentions of the airport commission to carry out a master plan of extensive expansion that will create safety risks and negatively affect quality of life. After several years of considering numerous coastal towns and looking...

Harwich officials made the right move in nominating the section of Route 28 in West Harwich known as Captains' Row to the Cape Cod Commission as a District of Critical Planning Concern. Given the development pressure that is creeping into this area, a DCPC designation can't come too soon. The neighborhood, from the Denis town line to the west bank of the Herring River, contains a dense grouping of well-preserv...

It’s a big boat. Feels like a big boat. Twenty-eight feet and I’m still testing its limits. A couple weeks back, the weather being ideal and the tides right, I was able to take the Chris-Craft out with some friends for the afternoon. After making it over the hump, where low water can be as low as two feet (for a vessel that draws two and a half feet of water) at the bend of the Oyster River, the world opened u...

I first noticed them last spring, soaring tandem over my head, emitting a series of staccato piercing shrieks. As they neared, there was no mistaking the distinctive red glow of their spread tails. Well, lookie lookie at who’s vacationing in Harwich Port this summer. The Harwich Port Red Tail Hawks had arrived. We’d have to duck into the house as one swooped down at breakneck speed to grab its dinner: a vole, ...

Just for the record, Cape Cod was within the projected path of Hurricane Dorian. While it ended up passing far off our coast, it did bring more than two inches of rain and winds of 45 miles per hour to the region. And, for the record, except in early “spaghetti” projections when its possible impact ranged from Louisiana to Tennessee, Hurricane Dorian was never expected to affect Alabama. The aftermath of Pr...

Our Drinking Water Is Safe Editor: I have been a member of Sustainable Practice for nearly two years now and am the leader of the Chatham chapter of the organization. We are making progress across the Cape with respect to our municipal plastic bottle ban initiative; however, through our community outreach efforts, it has become clear to me that many people believe our municipal water is unhealthy to drink. ...

Selectmen Not Doing Their Job Editor: The United States can talk to the Taliban, but our selectmen won’t talk to its own citizens about skydiving. So as you reported last month, it’s off to court again—this time to the state Appeals Court in Boston. Citizens for a Safe Chatham Airport is bolstered by an impressive array of legal expertise for the hearing there. This makes the fifth time court proceedings...

“Where there is no vision, the people perish!” – Proverbs 29:18 There is not a definitive translation of this passage from the Hebrew nor are Biblical scholars at one in its interpretation, other than to say most get it wrong. Therefore, we are free to see what we want in the maxim and apply it as we see fit. After living here over 13 years, and as I begin my sixth year writing this column, it is time to as...

With any luck, Hurricane Dorian will skirt out to sea well south of Cape Cod. But the powerful storm is a reminder of the need to be prepared for emergencies. A few people among us remember the double-whammy of hurricanes that came 65 years ago in 1954. On Aug. 25, Carol came ashore at Old Saybrook, Conn., bringing winds of over 115 mph, downing thousands of trees and damaging many boats on the Cape. A week la...

It would be nice, on this Labor Day weekend, to take a stroll from downtown Harwich Port to Saquatucket Harbor to view the new facilities and perhaps have a bite to eat on the new deck overlooking the water. Unfortunately, walking along Route 28 between those two locations is both inadvisable and downright dangerous. Not only is there no sidewalk, there's precious little shoulder area. At some spots, a pedestrian...

Keep It Safe, Selectmen Editor: Let’s work together! Let’s keep Chatham’s airspace safe. We all agree we want a safe environment in Chatham for our residents, families, friends and visitors. A safe place to live, work, play and visit. Safety on our streets, on our beaches and ponds, in our backyards and in our airspace is important to help keep Chatham thriving. We all agree that Chatham is a conge...