Posted on March 19, 2019
Teri Stanley of Monument Beach suddenly resigned last week as executive director of the Sandwich Chamber of Commerce after 18 months on the job.
Stanley came to the position from the Canal Region Chamber of Commerce. There was no public explanation for her departure, other than Heidi Trottier, chairman of the chamber’s board of directors, saying the exit was amicable.
2019 election update
Town Clerk Taylor White as of as last week faces no opposition in his reelection bid on the May 9 Annual Town Election Ballot.
Selectman David Sampson has returned his candidate nomination papers. So too has Finance Committee member Charles Holden, a selectman candidate for a second-straight year.
Claudia Gale, meanwhile, has secured selectman nomination papers. Selectman Susan James has opted not to seek another term.
William Wagner and Edwin Scribner (reelection) seek trustee seats on the Sandwich Public Library board.
School board resignation
Steven Moynihan abruptly resigned from the Sandwich School Committee before the board’s March 6 meeting, in which members wrestled with a request by selectmen to reduce the district’s recommended Fiscal 2020 budget.
This marks the third year in which resignations have affected the school board and assures a committee in continuing transition as the system’s administration seems to have solidified and facilities needs are commanding attention.
Selectmen last month insisted the school committee start to deal with the fact that a continuing student exodus should be considered when formulating annual budgets. But district administrators counter that costs continue to increase, especially with special education.
Superintendent of Schools Pamela Gould says since she started in Sandwich, the school budget has been cut nearly $225,000 and the planned Fiscal 2020 spending plan at the level-serviced mark also reflects cuts.
The school committee on March 6 voted 3-2 to recommend a budget carrying a 3.36 percent increase. Members will consider a budget with a three percent hike on March 20.
Scusset sand trap
Everything was looking bright for Sandwich plans to dredge the Scusset State Beach basin north of the canal and transport sediment to Town Neck Beach.
Town Manager Bud Dunham advised selectmen March 14, however, that two federal agencies had balked at approving the project, citing dredge scheduling concerns.
Dunham said this development forced “formal official review” by the Army Corps of Engineers, which operates the canal and could overrule the other federal departments.
Dunham said review will last five months. In the interim, he said, the town awaits a periodic update from the Woods Hole Group, Sandwich’s coastal consultant.
If autumn dredging is reduced from five or six weeks to fewer than that, the entire sand-tapping project might be jeopardized, Dunham said.
Marijuana dispensary pact
Selectmen concerns are being reviewed by town counsel as they apply, or do not apply, to inclusion in a host community agreement (HCA) to be negotiated with In Good Health, which wants to open a Route 130 medical marijuana dispensary.
Town counsel advised Town Manager Bud Dunham the town cannot force In Good Health to pay extra for police and fire/ambulance responses to the dispensary. In addition, the town cannot force In Good Health to make donations to the community, even though the firm has indicated a voluntary willingness to do so.
Selectman Robert George, meanwhile, said he has reviewed the HCAs in effect between In Good Health and the City of Brockton. He said he has 12 more “concerns” he wants to advance on the medical marijuana HCA front.
Selectmen are also concerned about the fate of any agreement to be negotiated when In Good Health is bought by a national firm. Dunham said it would be appropriate for the new corporate owners to visit with selectmen and discuss HCA terms.
Dunham said a draft HCA is due soon from town counsel.
Compromise with NRG
Sandwich and Barnstable officials are trying to forge a compromise with the National Grid utility that wants to complete a high-transmission natural gas pipeline along the Service Road between the Mid-Cape Highways Exits 4 and 5.
The utility wants to open up the roadway and install the pipe, reasphalting the section and not bothering with shoulders.
Sandwich has withheld road-opening permits and NRG seeks adjudication via a late- April hearing before the Massachusetts Energy Facilities Siting Board.
National Grid originally requested pipeline installation beneath the road, but Sandwich prevailed in shoulder work from Route 130 east along the Service Road. This would also allow for future bike-path construction in the shoulder.
Now the utility wants to finish the job in the north lane of the road. Some three-quarters of the road is in Barnstable; one-fourth, in Sandwich. Only the road-way cut itself would be re-asphalted.
Barnstable to date is committed to off-road pipeline installation. And Sandwich wants four-foot wide shoulders along the roadway surface.
Source: sandwich.wickedlocal.com
