HARWICH — The town has taken steps to move forward with its plan to auction tax liens as a means of generating revenue from delinquent payments on property taxes. But selectmen on Monday night expressed concern that the initiative is moving too fast and questioned whether the necessary homework has been done. The town has scheduled the auction for June 6 and a list of tax titles scheduled to be assigned and tr...

HARWICH — It has not been an easy process getting paint on the historic Brooks Free Library building. The town has been working for a couple of years on a plan to restore the face of the buildings that house the library, a bank building, built in 1855 and the Brooks building, built in 1880. The painting plan has drawn a lot of review and discussion on how to move forward and whether or not to restore the wh...

HARWICH PORT — A little triangular oasis of public space in Harwich Port, Doane Park is looking particularly green this week, thanks to a lot of community cooperation – and a little good karma. The park has a new irrigation system that waters both the grass and the garden beds maintained by the Garden Club of Harwich. It replaces an old, failing system that left major dry patches in some places and leaked wa...

HARWICH — Despite a selectmen's race and seven Proposition 2½ funding questions on Tuesday's annual election ballot, voters showed little interest in who will run the community or what the cost of living will be, with just 1,758 voters cast ballots, a 17 percent turnout. In a bit of deja vu, the two new selectmen have previously served in the office. Yet Larry Ballantine and Donald Howell barely out-distancing...

HARWICH — Town Administrator Christopher Clark will have to wait until after this week's election to see if he can win a two-year extension to his contract, selectmen decided Monday. There was support for extending the contract. Outgoing Selectman Peter Hughes cited the favorable review of the board and suggested they should be moving forward. But the three remaining selectmen were more comfortable having that...

HARWICH — Selectmen received a public records request from Leo Cakounes Monday night seeking emails sent and received by W. Matthew Hart in his capacity as chairman of the Saquatucket Harbor development committee and the waterways committee. If the committees have been deliberating through email, that would be a violation of the state Open Meeting Law, Cakounes said. “It has come to my attention that Mr. Hart ...

HARWICH — A fledgling day camp for kids, to be based at the old Harwich Middle School this summer, goes beyond activities that teach appreciation for the earth. The new Ocean Protection Advocacy Kids (OPAK) summer program, aimed at kids between 10 and 12, uses a mix of science and the arts to teach environmental advocacy. The innovative program is a first for OPAK, a new nonprofit group that aims to inspire ...

HARWICH — Despite a selectmen's race and seven Proposition 2½ funding questions on Tuesday's annual election ballot, voters showed little interest in who will run the community or what the cost of living will be, with just 1,758 voters cast ballots, a 17 percent turnout. In a bit of deja vu, the two new selectmen have previously served in the office. Yet Larry Ballantine and Donald Howell barely out-distancing...

HARWICH — Aquacultural Research Corporation will go before the conservation commission next week seeking approval to place a shellfish upwelling system in the recently shored-up fish house on the Herring River. ARC has been working with the owners of the fish house, Francis and Debra Zarette, for more than a year to place a shellfish nursery in the structure. The Zarettes last year filed a notice of intent wit...

Harwich voters go to the polls Tuesday, May 16 to decide a three-person race for two three-year terms on the board of selectmen. Below, candidates Larry Ballantine, Don Howell and Rob Mador answer questions posted by The Chronicle. The polls at the community center will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Name: Larry Ballantine Age : 72 Occupation : Semi-retired; own several rental properties How long ...

HARWICH — There is some movement on permits the town is seeking from the Army Corps of Engineers for the dredging and reconstruction of docks and floats at Saquatucket Harbor, with the agency putting out notice that it is accepting public comment on the work. The town had hoped to have the project underway this past winter, but ran into permitting problems with the ACE. The permitting problems were twofold: On...

HARWICH — Voters will face a lengthy ballot when they go to the polls on Tuesday for the town's annual election. They will choose two new selectmen from the three candidates vying for those positions, and will be asked to act on 15 questions, seven relating to funding issues, seven charter amendments and one non-binding referendum relating to Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant. The ballot is three pages long, with th...