Newsletter: July 24 2023

Fourth of July Parade:  It seems like weeks ago, but thanks to every­one who helped out with the Vil­lage Parade.  And thanks to those who par­tic­i­pat­ed and watched.  We were lucky to get our parade in between the rain.  And Thanks to Kate Arm­strong for this photo.

Office Hours:  I am restart­ing office hours at Stur­gis Library, the first Wednes­day of the month, 3:00–5:00.  Come by with you ques­tions and com­ments on any ideas or thoughts you have.

Town Coun­cil Meet­ing:  Thurs­day the 20th the Town Coun­cil meet­ing last­ed from 6:00 to 11:20.  The room was packed as there was a pol­i­cy change pro­posed that would have changed the lev­el of vote need­ed to approve zon­ing changes for hous­ing in a Reg­u­la­to­ry Agree­ment area.  The effort was to bring the town’s vot­ing into align­ment with the State Hous­ing Choice pol­i­cy.  Instead of a 2/3 vote to approve a reg­u­la­to­ry agree­ment, it would have been low­ered to a major­i­ty vote.  Many res­i­dents came to show their dis­like of the change.  In the end, the Coun­cil vot­ed to with­draw the item.  This change was not man­dat­ed by the State and I did not see any rea­son to change our lev­el of vot­ing.  If a project can­not con­vince 2/3 of the Coun­cil, then maybe it needs to be be redesigned.  As in a sim­i­lar case in Fal­mouth, the devel­op­er may come back with a 40B pro­pos­al, which is a State pro­gram where a devel­op­ere­can include 25% afford­able hous­ing and bypass most town review and zon­ing reg­u­la­tions.  Stay tuned.  The next Town Coun­cil Meet­ing is August 17th.
Sur­vey­ing:  You may have also noticed two sur­vey crews work­ing on 6A west of the Vil­lage. They are doing pre­lim­i­nary work for design of new side­walks. The hope is to keep DOT mov­ing for­ward and to sur­vey, design and per­mit this sec­tion of State road so it is shov­el-ready for con­struc­tion when funds are avail­able. Hav­ing had con­ver­sa­tions with the work­ers, they have to mark every tree and obsta­cle 25′ from the cen­ter line and they still have a lot of work to do.  They have also assured me that the pink spray paint they are using is not per­ma­nent.  
Sew­er work:  The work by Robt. B. Our con­tin­ues on the pump sta­tion at the Old Barn­sta­ble House.  There have been a few work delays wait­ing for parts to be deliv­ered, but work is now pro­ceed­ing. The Freez­er Road Pump sta­tion at the har­bor is also begin­ning a com­plete over­haul due to age.  The first step is to dig a hole in the park­ing lot to install bypass pumps. This is nec­es­sary so the sta­tion build­ing can be shut down as there is a lot of elec­tri­cal work that has to be done inside the build­ing. The tim­ing is not great, but con­trac­tor sched­ules are not always flex­i­ble.
Har­ris Mead­ows Pedes­tri­an Cross­ing:  Last newslet­ter, the curbs were rebuilt and the road was wired for new signs. The flash­ing bea­cons are on order, but they are at least a month out.

Wilkens Lane Hous­ing:  The Fire Depart­ment has been doing inspec­tions and walk-throughs dur­ing con­struc­tion and the water has been turned on in build­ing #1.  As for oth­er build­ings on adja­cent land, there have been no offi­cial fil­ings or inquiries that I am aware of.

BARNSTABLE FIRE DISTRICT
WATER DEPARTMENT

1841 Phinney’s Lane
P.O. Box 546
Barn­sta­ble, Mass­a­chu­setts 02630
Phone: 508–362-6498
Fax: 508–362-9616
www.barnstablefiredistrict.com
bfdwatersupt@barnstablefiredistrict.com

The Barn­sta­ble Fire Dis­trict Water Depart­ment is plan­ning to replace
a Fire Hydrant near 3667 Main Street. To safe­ly per­form this work,
we need to shut off the water main from Com­merce Road to Mary
Dunn Way. This will affect res­i­dents off Main Street includ­ing
Coun­ty Farm Road, Cap­tain Murphy’s Way, and Adri­an Way. This
work is sched­uled for August 2 nd or 3 rd . The Dis­trict is call­ing all the
res­i­dents that will be affect­ed by this shut down. The shut­down
should last 6–8 hours from 9 am to 5 pm. Please call the Water
Depart­ment if you have any ques­tions or con­cerns. Thank you.

This is a new Bridge on the Trayser Trail, behind the Coast Guard Muse­um and the Black­smith Shop.  This bridge spans a sen­si­tive wet­land area and it has been a long-time dream for Doug Payson.  With the help of many peo­ple and groups includ­ing, the New Eng­land Moun­tain Bik­ing Asso­ci­a­tion, the town’s Land Acqui­si­tion and Preser­va­tion Com­mit­tee and the Town of Barn­sta­ble.  Thanks to all.