HARWICH – Voters will be facing a 14-article special town meeting on Oct. 18 that seeks to raise taxes on short-term rentals and fund a number of wastewater initiatives, including changes to the town’s comprehensive wastewater management plan. Selectmen heard protests Sept. 7 over the proposed increase from 4 to 6 percent of the local tax on hotel, motel and short-term rentals. Selectmen want to direct a...

HARWICH – Town officials are not happy with the single bid received for the sale of the historic West Harwich Schoolhouse. The bid was submitted by the nonprofit Historic West Harwich Schoolhouse group based in West Harwich and proposes the purchase of the property for $1 for use as a community learning center. Selectmen Chair Michael MacAskill said he hoped the board and Town Administrator Joseph...

HARWICH – The former Treasure Chest building at the town transfer station may serve a dual function in the future, with the swap shop open during the summer and the department of public works using the building during the winter. That was the conclusion selectmen reached Sept. 7 after several weeks of debate  related to re-opening of the Treasure Chest, which was closed at the onset of the COVID-19 pande...

HARWICH – Former selectman Robin Wilkins, 80, passed away Sept. 5 after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease. Mr. Wilkins, a longtime educator, gave more than a decade of his retirement to his adopted community, serving on the planning board, school committee and board of selectmen. He was widely respected for his efforts to foster school regionalization and had a hand in bringing Chatham and Harwich togethe...

HARWICH – “Twenty years, it seems like a lifetime ago, and yet it seems like yesterday,” Fire Chief David LeBlanc during a 9-11 remembrance ceremony on Saturday.  “The terrorist attack that took place is unthinkable. We struggle to describe it. No words seem appropriate enough,” he told close to 100 people gathered at the 9-11 Memorial outside the public safety facilities on Sisson Road. Sept. 11 2001 took ...

HARWICH – Jeffery Handler, Julie Kavanagh and Mark Kelleher – the three candidates running for a seat on the board of selectmen in the Sept. 21 special election – sought to win voter support in a candidates forum last Thursday evening. The session was sponsored by the town’s voter information committee and moderated by Joan Craig of the League of Women Voters of the Cape Cod Area. Questions for the candi...

HARWICH – As the town prepares bid specifications for a third contract to complete phase two sewering in East Harwich, there remains an outstanding decision on whether Continental Drive and Whidah Drive should have sewers installed. Residents of the Pleasant Bay Association spent thousands of dollars on connection plans before being told the town didn't have the money to sewer their streets. New projections fo...

Hometown Parade Kicks Off Celebration Sunday, But Beach Day Cancelled HARWICH – After a year's hiatus due to the pandemic, Fall for Harwich is back, with numerous events scheduled over the next several weeks beginning with Sunday's Hometown Parade. Saturday's planned Beach Day, however, has been cancelled. The Harwich Cranberry Festival Committee announced that it was not able to muster enough volunteers to...

SOUTH HARWICH — Four teenagers suffered potentially life-threatening injuries when their car struck a tree on Chatham Road Monday afternoon. The crash happened at around 2:15 p.m. just north of the intersection of County Road. The four-door Nissan hatchback came to rest in the southbound lane, and police closed the road for the rescue and a subsequent accident investigation. The driver was a 16-year-old mal...

HARWICH – Three residents of a home on Sisson Road claim they were sickened after a neighbor's yard was covered with mothballs. Along with dealing with nauseous fumes, the residents took issue with the town's handling of the situation. Alexa Paige, Ky Boyne and Caitlin Ryan of 109 Sisson Rd. have been battling the odor of mothballs for more than a week. An elderly neighbor at 111 Sisson Rd. was observed ...

HARWICH – The board of selectmen is declining to take any action on alleged violations of the state Open Meeting Law filed by The Port Restaurant and Bar. Through town counsel, the board informed the Director of Open Government in the state Attorney General’s Office that no steps would be taken to remediate the complaints. The response said the board did not violate the law and that several of the complaints w...

HARWICH – It’s been a little more than a decade since the town updated its local comprehensive plan. Officials said it's about time to do so again, especially since town meeting approved the funds for the plan update in 2019. “I’ve been pressing for the plan for a year-and-a-half to two years,” Selectman Larry Ballantine said at the board’s meeting Aug. 25.  The initial master plan was done in 1969, said Di...