Press Clippings and Press Releases

Cape Cod Times, May 10, 2008

For seniors, life after the Manor

PROVINCETOWN — Starting next week, the new Seashore Point in Provincetown senior living and nursing care complex will begin to fill with residents, marking a significant milestone for the town.

The new complex, at the end of its first phase of construction, replaces the aging, 44-bed nursing home known as Cape End Manor that sits on a cramped lot on Alden Street.

Since 1978, the Manor — the only nursing home on the Outer Cape — has been a town-owned institution. But the nursing home lost favor with town financial managers in recent years as budget gaps grew to more than $1 million a year for taxpayers.

Deaconess Abundant Life Communities has operated the Manor since July 2005 under an agreement with town officials to build and operate the new facility, estimated at $20 million, on what is now a 2.2-acre lot.

The first section of Seashore Point opening next week has 43 independent living studios, one- and two-bedroom units including seven priced as affordable, along with a 41-bed nursing home and an outpatient rehabilitation center.

Residents of 30 independent living apartments, who must be 55 and older, will move in over the next four months, and the Manor's nursing home patients will move in about two weeks, according to association president Herb Taylor.

"It's incredibly exciting and it's the culmination of years and years of work thanks to (former Manor board of directors member) Marilyn Downey and (board of selectmen member) Michele Couture," said state Rep. Sarah Peake of Provincetown. "They never gave up on this project."

More than 20 Manor staff walked through the new building for the first time Wednesday, part of a day of on-site training. The rooms smelled of new carpet and fresh paint. Plastic still covered the hallway carpets and signs warned visitors to remove their shoes because the apartments had just been cleaned.

Manor nurse John Perrone compared the spaciousness and design of the Seashore Point building with that of the Manor. "This has been extremely well-thought out," Perrone said. "It's like they considered everything."

In one of the larger apartments, a walk-in closet impressed certified nurse assistant Phoebe Stewart of Provincetown, who has worked at the Manor for more than a year. "It's all about the quality of life (for residents)," Stewart said.

An open house will be scheduled once residents are settled, most likely after the summer, according to association marketing vice president Sharon Buehrle.

The second phase, which will start this summer with the demolition of the Manor, will add 38 independent living apartments including two for lower-income residents. Marketing of those units is just beginning, Taylor said. The second phase is expected to be completed by early 2010.

Mary Ann Bragg can be reached at mbragg@capecodonline.com.

Cape Cod Times, May 2, 2008

House votes for water-monitoring funds

BOSTON — State representatives boosted funding for fishing safety and water quality monitoring as the House put the finishing touches on a $28 billion budget proposal last night.

Legislators voted this week to add more than $120 million to the budget proposed by House leaders. The move drew warnings from Republicans that mid-year cuts might be needed to balance the bill.

The House was trying to wrap up the budget by midnight. Earlier in the night, the chamber defeated a proposal to save $45 million by requiring state employees to pay a higher share of their health insurance premiums.

Senate leaders will propose and debate their own spending plan later this month, before a final budget goes to Gov. Deval Patrick's desk. The budget is due July 1.

The House budget was amended yesterday to include $150,000 in water-quality testing coordinated by the Coalition for Buzzards Bay and $150,000 for water-quality testing in Cape Cod Bay.

Rep. Sarah Peake, D-Province-town, referenced the Sacred Cod that has hung over the House for more than two centuries in a speech to the chamber. She said the bay is "home to so many critical species. Whether it is the large North Atlantic right whale, or the small juvenile codfish, it an important nursery for all those creatures, large and small."

The Cape Cod Bay program will be administered by the Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies. It would get a $50,000 increase over last year's state funding, with the new money dedicated to studying and replanting eel grass beds.

"Eel grass serves as the nursery for juvenile fish, for shellfish and other small marine animals," Peake said. "Without eel grass, the entire biodiversity of our oceans will be put in jeopardy."

The House also voted to restore a proposed $200,000 cut to the Massachusetts Fisheries Recoveries Commission, which studies fishing and advocates for the industry's economic interests.

State Rep. Antonio Cabral, D-New Bedford, House chairman of the State Administration and Regulatory Oversight Committee, also worked to get more safety training money for fishermen.

The House approved $47,000 for a Fisherman Safety Training Program. The program, which began in 2005, has taught safety and emergency tactics to more than 850 fishermen from across the state. Fishermen learn how to abandon ship, rescue a man overboard, fight fires and maintain survival suits.

The program was credited with helping to save the lives of three New Bedford-area fishermen who were rescued at sea off Fire Island, N.Y., in February.

"In New Bedford or in Gloucester or in Provincetown ..., we know too well how devastating it can be for families and for communities when a fishing boat does not return," Cabral told the House. "This kind of safety program has already saved, over the last year, many lives in the fishing industry."

The original, $100,000 federal grant for the program has since run out. The New Bedford Harbor Development Commission and the Massachusetts Fishermen's Partnership have provided funding to keep it going in the meantime.

Ed Dennehy, president and CEO of New Directions Southcoast, was thrilled with the proposed state appropriation, saying new funding is needed to keep the safety training going.

"The best thing about it is the fishermen have really embraced the whole thing," Dennehy said.

The weeklong budget debate took place in an increasingly contentious House, as Speaker Salvatore DiMasi faced accusations of ethics violations. Two rivals, Rep. Robert DeLeo, D-Winthrop, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, and Majority Leader John Rogers, D-Norwood, continued to line up support to succeed DiMasi, even as the speaker insisted he has no plans to step down.

Top DiMasi lieutenants were working to line up votes for DeLeo, who was controlling the budget debate as ways and means chairman. DiMasi had previously warned his leadership team to stop campaigning to succeed him.

"If DiMasi is going to lay down an edict that he's not going to follow through with, that definitely undermines him," said Rep. John F. Quinn, D-Dartmouth, who has backed Rogers for speaker.

David Kibbe can be reached at dkottaway@aol.com.

Standard Times, April 29, 2008

House votes to end aircraft tax break

BOSTON — The House voted narrowly Monday to end a tax break on aircraft sales and parts, setting up a showdown with Senate leaders in budget negotiations this summer.

The issue is far from settled. Senate President Therese Murray, D-Plymouth, supports keeping the tax break. Her spokeswoman said ending the 5 percent sales tax exemption would push aircraft business to neighboring states.

New Hampshire, Rhode Island, New York and Connecticut exempt aircraft sales and parts from the sales tax.

Gov. Deval Patrick and House leaders want to end the aircraft tax break, which the Legislature put in place in 2002. House leadership faced an uprising on the issue Monday from Republicans and legislators with airports in their districts, as the chamber began a week-long debate of its $28 billion state budget proposal.

The House Ways and Means budget would end the tax break. The House on Monday rejected a budget amendment to preserve the tax exemption by a vote of 87 to 67.

The Patrick administration said ending the tax break would generate $9 million for the state. The House puts the figure at $8.8 million.

Rep. Sarah Peake, D-Provincetown, vigorously argued for the preservation of the tax break during a 90-minute debate on the House floor, saying it was about preserving jobs at Cape Air and airports in Provincetown and Chatham.

Cape Air, which has about 650 year-round employees, opposes the effort to end the tax break. The airline flies between Boston, New Bedford and the Cape and Islands, among other destinations.

"Those airports aren't just about places for the wealthy to fly their small planes into," Rep. Peake said. "Those airports are about jobs. Those airports are about economic opportunity. Those airports are about filling the transportation needs of this commonwealth."

Rep. Antonio F.D. Cabral, D-New Bedford, the House chairman of the State Administration and Regulatory Oversight Committee, voted to end the tax break.

He argued that private airplane owners wouldn't move their aircraft to other states just to avoid the sales tax. He said airlines wouldn't cut jobs either, because federal law requires them to keep specific staffing levels.

"When this exemption was put in place, it was nothing more than a gift to a particular company or a particular provider of parts," Rep. Cabral said. "It doesn't create any economic development. It doesn't create any additional jobs. It doesn't really create any new business."

Rep. Donald Humason Jr., R-Westfield, cited statistics from airplane pilots and owners that the number of aircraft based in Massachusetts had doubled since the exemption was put in place six years ago.

Rep. Robert M. Koczera, D-New Bedford, who voted to preserve the tax break, said he had heard from several people affiliated with the airline industry in SouthCoast who said they needed it.

"We're disadvantaging ourselves with our neighboring states that have this exemption in place," Rep. Koczera said. "It might be shortsighted, capturing $7 million but losing other activity and business around our airports."

Cape Cod Times, 4/24/08

Aircraft businesses fear end of tax break

By DAVID KIBBE TIMES BOSTON BUREAU

BOSTON — A proposal to end a tax break on aircraft sales and parts in Massachusetts is causing turbulence for aviation businesses, who fear losing customers to neighboring states.

Aviation executives say ending the tax break would drive business to New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Connecticut, which do not have a sales tax on aircraft sales and parts.

"We are the only full, Massachusetts-based airline, independent, and this is a complete hit, a target right between our eyes," said Michelle Haynes, a spokeswoman for Cape Air, which flies between Boston, New Bedford and the Cape and Islands, among other destinations.

Gov. Deval Patrick proposed ending the tax break in his budget proposal in January. House budget writers endorsed the idea in their proposed spending plan last week. The Patrick administration estimated it would raise $9 million a year for state government.

The full House debates the budget next week. State representatives who have airports in their districts were lining up behind an amendment to retain the exemption.

Rep. Sarah Peake, D-Provincetown, who supports the tax break, said it is about "saving jobs."

"People might mistake it for giving rich airplane owners a break, but that's not the case," she said. "Airlines like Cape Air, which employ over (650) year-round employees, need this tax break."

Senate President Therese Murray, D-Plymouth, also supports the tax break, giving the industry a powerful ally on the issue.

"The Senate president is not in favor of reinstating the sales tax on aircraft and aircraft parts," said Murray's spokeswoman, Samantha Dallaire. "Removing the exemption would drive business out of Massachusetts."

Patrick told a group of reporters recently that ending the exemption was a "good idea," but he was willing to listen to the opposition.

"There will be compromise before all this is over," he said. "We're open to other arguments. We've got to hear them."

The 5 percent sales tax on aircraft sales and parts was lifted in 2002, after years of lobbying by the aviation industry. Aviation companies said it quickly resulted in more business.

They said aircraft owners will simply fly to bordering states like New Hampshire to maintain their planes if it is gone.

"It will really hurt the aviation industry in this state when it comes to the actual businesses, as well as jobs," said Richard Cawley, the president and CEO of Rectrix Aviation in Hyannis, which offers charters to high-end clients.

"We've been pretty successful in repositioning some of the aircraft from other 'touch' states, Connecticut, Rhode Island. "¦ If that (tax break) is gone, you will lose that."

William Weibrecht, Rectrix's chief operating officer, said reinstating the sales tax would be a financial blow, "especially to the mom and pop businesses, not just the big facilities."

David Kibbe can be reached at dkottaway@aol.com.

Cape Cod Times, 4/17/08

Cape lawmakers want more cultural, transit funds

BOSTON — House leaders rolled out a $28 billion proposed state budget yesterday that had Cape lawmakers calling for more money for cultural facilities and regional transportation.

The proposed budget does not include money for the Massachusetts Cultural Facilities Fund, which was supposed to get an annual, $13 million appropriation when it was approved in an economic stimulus bill in 2006.

The Cape has already gotten $1.6 million from the cultural fund, including $600,000 to build a new theater in Wellfleet and $173,000 to redesign the Falmouth Bandstand.

Rep. Eric Turkington, D-Falmouth, chairman of the House Tourism, Arts and Cultural Development Committee, said he would push to have money for the cultural fund included in the final House budget.

The proposed budget's support for regional transportation also fell short of Cape and Islands lawmakers' expectations.

The House leadership's budget would provide $56 million for 15 Regional Transportation Authorities in the state. Local lawmakers had sought $62 million, a 7.8 percent increase.

Rep. Sarah Peake, D-Provincetown, had circulated a letter with Rep. Daniel Bosley, D-North Adams, to build support for the higher figure. Now, they will try to amend the House plan. "Fully funding RTAs will help stave off many of the devastating proposed service reductions that threaten to affect reliable transportation for the seniors, workers, disabled and so many of our constituents who rely on it," Peake and Bosley wrote in the letter.

Rep. Robert DeLeo, a Winthrop Democrat who serves as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, said the state faces uncertain economic times and has to be austere. "This has been a very, very difficult year," DeLeo told reporters.

He said the House leadership's budget proposal would protect the most vulnerable in society and honor financial commitments to cities and towns.

The proposed budget, which goes to the House floor for debate April 28, calls for a 1.2 percent increase in state spending. The Senate will propose its own budget later this spring. Lawmakers face a July 1 deadline to finalize the 2009 fiscal year budget.

With fears of a recession looming nationwide, House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi warned this week that the budget would be the most conservative the state has seen in years.

To balance their budget, House leaders are counting on $396 million in new revenue from a $1-per-pack hike in the cigarette tax, as well as the closing of several so-called corporate tax loopholes. The House tax proposals have yet to be taken up by the Senate.

The House is also adopting Gov. Deval Patrick's proposal to raise another $166 million through increased tax enforcement and other tax-related measures, such as ending the state sales tax exemption on aircraft and aircraft parts.

Turkington and Peake said they oppose lifting the exemption on the 5 percent sales tax for aircraft, saying the move would hurt Cape Air and other vital parts of the state's aviation industry.

Patrick has said dropping the exemption would raise $8.8 million for the state.

"It certainly is not a good time for airlines of any size," Turkington said. "It's not a good time to make it harder on them."

House Republicans said the proposed budget relies too heavily on nearly $400 million in tax increases, which they predicted would hurt the economy in the long run. GOP lawmakers said the House leadership's proposed spending plan was full of holes.

"There are a variety of numbers in this budget that don't add up," said Rep. Bradley Jones Jr., R-North Reading, House Republican leader.

David Kibbe can be reached at dkottaway@aol.com.

Highlights

House leaders' proposed $28 billion state budget

for the 2009 fiscal year includes:

• $396 million in cigarette and corporate taxes to help close a potential $1.3 billion state budget gap.
• Ending the state sales tax exemption on aircraft sales and parts to raise $8.8 million in new revenue.
• Boosting Chapter 70 school aid by $223 million, or 6 percent.
• $56 million for Regional Transportation Authority. Cape and Islands lawmakers were seeking $62 million.
• A $3 million increase to expand pre-kindergarten classes. Gov. Deval Patrick is seeking $15 million.

News from the Newburyport Current, 3/27/08

Fishermen concerned over loss of river herring in local waters

By Bill Donovan/Correspondent

Newburyport - New England Charter Capt. Scott Maguire of Newbury is wishing for a plentiful summer on the water this year.

Last June it seemed like a lot of the hot spots off the coast of Newburyport had dried up. The 30- to 40-inch fish he’d been catching in years past weren’t there anymore.

Maguire, a sales representative in the ski industry, moved to Newbury with his family in 1980. Aboard his vessel, Summer Job, Maguire offers sports fishing for striped bass and bluefish to those just starting their fishing careers. The captain sets course out of Newburyport Boat Basin.

“I’m just not seeing as high a concentration of larger fish like I used to,” said Maguire. “And these used to be my bread-and-butter areas. The bigger fish aren’t hanging around these spots.”

The captain believes the diminishing river herring population in the Merrimack is a key factor. River herring are a main food source for bass, sea birds, marine mammals and more. According to Maguire, the commercial fishing industry is playing a major role in the shrinking numbers.

“These companies are taking all of the food out of the water,” said Maguire. “While there’s a total ban on using river herring for bait, pair trawlers are taking thousands of pounds of them as by-catch.”

By-catch describes unwanted fish and animals that are caught unintentionally in fishing nets.

Pair trawlers are two fishing boats that tow a single large net between them. Maguire said these factory vessels range from 45- to 165-feet and stay along the coastline to save fuel. The trawlers have the ability to catch every fish in the herring school. The larger fish are forced to move away as river herring populations get depleted.

“There are ships in Gloucester that are 150-feet-long each,” explained Maguire. “These boats use these exotic high-tech nets the size of football fields. As a result, any by-catch caught in the mesh is crushed.”

The captain said some commercial ships use guesswork when calculating loads of fish.

“They have less than 5-percent observer coverage in Gloucester and New Bedford,” said Maguire. “Anyone can look at a hold and literally guess.”

Holds are cargo areas below the deck where caught fish are stored.

“Most of these companies go out, fill their fish quotas and head back. They’re not taking the time to get exact numbers on what they’ve caught,” he said.

Maguire thinks factory ships need to modify their practices, and spoke of a local fishing foundation working to collect funds to buy new scales to weigh these fish more accurately.

“A rigorous system is needed to monitor ship landings,” said Tom Rudolph, Herring Campaign Operations director with the Cape Cod Hook Commercial Fishermen’s Association. “We need an independent third-party observer who will use new scales and carefully examine how many river herring there are.”

Some commercial and recreational fishing groups have formed a partnership over the future development of herring. In 2002, the CHOIR Coalition banded over issues concerning the positioning of large boats offshore. Miss Halie Fisheries, Nantucket Fish Company and New Hampshire Marine Coalition make up a few of the industrial groups.

Environmental conditions also are playing a role in the lives of river herring. Dams can prevent the fish from passing.

“They’ve diverted so much water away from the Ipswich River,” said Maguire. “They’ve used so much of it for drinking water that levels are never going to be what they were before.”

Plum Island resident Leo Stevens is another local charter boat captain worried about the decline of river herring and the factory ships.

“These companies are making our jobs more and more difficult,” said Stevens, captain of Leading Star Charters out of Newburyport.

Customers fish along the Merrimack River as well as along Jefferies Ledge for haddock and cod. The ledge is a popular feeding ground for fish that starts off the coast of Gloucester and extends into the Gulf of Maine. Stevens feels commercial fishing groups are driving away big game fish from this area as well as from Ipswich Bay and Cape Ann.

“They’re stripping the banks clean,” said Stevens. “These factory boats tow anywhere from 45 minutes to a couple hours. A million to 5 million pounds of fish can be taken onto these ships. Stripers, cod, haddock and football tuna are dragged for extended periods of time. Many die in these nets and are discarded.”

Stevens said factory boats will fish alongside party boats during the daytime and continue to fish into the night after they’ve left.

He recalls a few summers back when butterfish, a rare catch, resurfaced for a few days in the Ipswich Bay.

“For three days and three nights, the big boats came in for them,” said Stevens. “They fished them right out — the big game fish can’t out swim their nets. It affects lobstermen, tuna men and even the whale watch business.”

Stevens said the size of most fish has changed over the past 15 to 20 years. He believes this is connected to the loss of river herring as bait for other fish.
“Years ago, you’d have people catching 15-inch, 22- to 33-pounders,” said Stevens. “Nowadays, it’s fish that range from 12 to 14 pounds.”

The captain believes something needs to be done to stop factory boats.

“It’s really hurting the smaller mom-and-pop businesses around here,” Stevens said. “I’m just one little guy in the pond with all of us. But I want my grandchildren to be able to come up here and be able to catch stripers with me. I’ve been living here for almost 16 years. We need change.”  

As of now, decisions are being made on Beacon Hill that will impact the future of river herring in the state. A 2008 Environmental Bond Bill has been designed to support the management of herring fisheries. The Cape Cod Commercial Hook Fisherman’s Association is a firm supporter of this new piece of legislation, said Rudolph, who added it is also supported by state Rep. Sarah Peake, D-Provincetown.

“State lawmakers have been very supportive in getting the ball rolling with this bill,” said Rudolph. “They understand that river herring are culturally important to Massachusetts.”

For Immediate Release, 3/26/08

Representatives Push For “OpenCape” Funding

Request made for Bond Bill amendment to fund Cape’s Broadband Capability

State House, Boston - Representative Jeffrey Davis Perry (R-Sandwich) and Representative Cleon Turner (D-Dennis), as well as others in the Cape Delegation, have formally requested that funds be appropriated to upgrade the Cape Cod’s broadband capabilities.  The request was made to Chairman David Flynn of the Joint Committee on Bonding, Capital Expenditures and State Assets.  The Cape Delegation request is for an additional $5 million dollars to be added to an existing bond bill to help fund the efforts by the OpenCape Corporation, a nonprofit organization, in establishing a regional wireless communications network.

“While the Governor’s proposal only includes funding for Western Massachusetts, we on Cape Cod have similar needs regarding our telecommunications infrastructure.  The current Bond Bill is the perfect vehicle to seek funding to improve our ability to attract well paying high skilled jobs to Cape Cod” said Representative Perry.

According to many in the business community, Cape Cod and the Islands currently have insufficient communications infrastructure to entice “soft” industries to locate here.  As the discussion continues among these business leaders regarding economic growth and jobs, it has become clear that regional approaches to some aspects of growth are essential.  One of those areas where a regional approach seems necessary is the area of communications infrastructure.

"We need to take proactive steps to encourage strong jobs and entice compatible industries on Cape Cod and use of technology is the best way to do that" added Representative Turner.

Representative Sarah Peake (D-Provincetown) added that, "OpenCape is an essential economic development tool for the Outer Cape communities. I believe that OpenCape will make it possible for scores of residents to work from their Cape Cod homes, grow their business, hire locally, and bring well paying jobs to the Outer and Lower Cape. It has the potential to be a great boost for our economy."

The OpenCape Corporation is a nonprofit organization that has already done the preliminary work in determining the best approach to creating regional wireless opportunities on the Cape and the Islands.  The OpenCape Corporation, manages the OpenCape initiative, a region-wide collaborative led by Cape Cod Community College, The Cape Cod Technology Council, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute and the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth to create a regional wireless system for the Cape and the Islands.

       
In addition to completing the preliminary studies and planning by OpenCape, other entities have stepped in to assist in that endeavor. Those entities and their commitments include: The Cape Cod Planning and Economic Development Council $50,000; Cape Cod Community College, $30,000; Woods Hole Oceanographic institute, $30,000; and UMASS Dartmouth, $30,000.

The proposed Bond Bill remains in the Joint Committee on Bonding, Capital Expenditures and State Assets until the Committee completes its report which is expected within the next few weeks.

The Boston Globe, 3/19/08

Patrick concedes casino plan likely headed for defeat in House

By Steve LeBlanc Associated Press

BOSTON—Gov. Deval Patrick conceded Tuesday his plan to build three resort-style casinos in Massachusetts is heading for likely defeat in the Legislature, blaming "undue pressure from House leadership."

But Patrick, in his second year as governor, indicated he isn't giving up on the idea, saying he's still looking for ways to make the bill stronger.

"I have no illusions about the plans in the House for this legislation," he said Tuesday at a packed legislative hearing. "I'm simply asking that an open debate begin, rather than end, today."

The hearing could determine the fate of Patrick's bill for the current legislative session. Patrick says casinos would generate new jobs and revenue. Critics warn the proposal exaggerates the economic benefits and would bring increased crime and even worsen the foreclosure crisis if gambling addicts spend their mortgage payments on slot machines.

If the committee releases the bill with a recommendation that lawmakers reject it, it could come up for a vote as early as Thursday. House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi has pressed lawmakers to kill the bill, saying casinos would "absolutely cause human damage on a grand scale."

Patrick has said the casinos would create tens of thousands of construction jobs and 20,000 full-time permanent jobs and bring in $200 million in fees per license plus an estimated $400 million a year in new revenues.

"Casinos in Massachusetts will be neither a cure-all for all of our fiscal needs nor an end of civilization as we know it," he said to an overflowing crowd of mostly casino supporters in Gardner Auditorium.

Earlier in the day, DiMasi told a Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce breakfast he could not support the governor's plan because it would ultimately harm residents.

"We will absolutely and no question have increased bankruptcies, foreclosures, divorce, broken families, increased property crimes, domestic violence and on and on and on," DiMasi said. "The cost of cleaning up the human devastation brought by casino gambling is too great."

DiMasi said he has seen strong public opposition to Patrick's plan, but those voices have not been heard as prominently as advocates.

"After six months of debate on this bill, I believe the evidence is not there, the case has not been made and time is running out," DiMasi said. "Right now, my answer is no."

A long list of supporters and opponents signed up with Joint Committee on Economic Development to testify during the public hearing, which began at 10 a.m. and stretched into the afternoon. They included clergy members, environmentalists, online poker players and dozens of union backers.

Committee co-chairman Rep. Daniel Bosley, one of the fiercest critics of casino gambling, warned that allowing three casinos could open up a Pandora's Box of trouble.Continued...

He pointed to the state Lottery -- which began with a single daily number and grew into dozens of scratch tickets, Megabucks, Mega Millions and Keno -- and said the state could quickly become just as addicted to casino money.

"The Lottery should be a cautionary tale," said the North Adams Democrat. "We love the revenues, but we hate how we get them."

Bosley's Senate co-chair, Sen. Jack Hart, D-Boston, also pointed to the Lottery, but said the state needs to weigh the potential ills of casino gambling against the potential windfall.

"We're already in the gambling industry," said Hart, who is leaning toward supporting Patrick's plan. "Do the benefits in the end outweigh the social costs?"

Passing on Patrick's bill may delay, but won't stop casinos in Massachusetts, according to Rep. Thomas Calter, D-Kingston, who represents Middleborough.

The Mashpee Wampanoag tribe is asking the federal government to deem a site in Middleborough as tribal lands so it can use that property for a casino.

"Gaming is coming," Calter said. "The question is who is going to control it."

That was a view shared by Patrick's Secretary of Economic Development Dan O'Connell, who said the tribe will succeed in building a casino, whether the state is involved or not.

The only difference, he said, is that the state won't have the regulations or reap the revenues it would under Patrick's plan. Those safeguards include added law enforcement, some local control and extra money to help treat those addicted to gambling.

"The Mashpee Wampanoags will ultimately be successful," O'Connell said.

Rep. Sarah Peake, D-Provincetown warned that the pull of the casinos could end up hurting some of the state's traditional tourist attractions, particularly in her Cape Cod district.

"It will be good for tourism around the resort casinos, but it will be bad for other parts of the state," said Peake, who also owns a bed and breakfast.

Before the hearing, hundreds of casino supporters rallied on the Boston Common to urge lawmakers to support Patrick's plan. Many of the union members at the rally wore hard hats and carried signs saying "Casinos equal 20,000 jobs for Massachusetts and I need one of them."

Robert Haynes, Massachusetts president of the AFL-CIO, urged his members to attend the hearing and push their state lawmakers to back Patrick's proposal.

"I want to know which legislator is going to deny you a job, who's going to pay your mortgage when you can't pay, who's going to leave 20,000 workers in an unemployment line," Haynes said.

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AP reporter Jay Lindsay contributed to this report.

March 15, 2008

State funds expected to save Flex bus
By Patrick Cassidy, STAFF WRITER

HYANNIS — In danger of extinction earlier this year, the Flex bus appears secure after a supplemental transportation budget passed the Legislature this week.

When, and if, the governor signs the bill, nearly $1 million of it will fill a gap in the 2008 operational budget for the Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority.

Although passage takes pressure off Cape towns that help subsidize the Flex bus service, the past few months have been "a wake-up call" for Cape transportation officials, Cape Regional Transit Authority board Chairman Ronald Bergstrom said yesterday. "Before we go to our legislators again, we have to make sure our house is in order," he said, noting the board will meet again March 27.

Earlier this year, the shortfall caused the transit authority's auditor to call for elimination of the 2-year-old Flex bus service from Harwich to Provincetown.

The Flex served more than 60,000 riders on the Outer Cape in 2007, according to the transit authority. The transit authority's board instituted a series of cutbacks and rate increases in February to ensure the service would continue, at least until the $910,641 budget gap was resolved.

That money was included in the supplemental budget, which will be paid out of the same fund that pays for emergency snow and ice removal. Contractors waiting to be paid by the state for plow work applied intense pressure to get the bill passed.

But, filling the gap in last year's budget is just the first step in an attempt to stabilize funding for local public transit. "Now we're looking at the (fiscal year) '09 budget," said state Rep. Sarah Peake, D-Provincetown. Fiscal 2009 begins July 1.

Peake, who was one of several Cape legislators to push for the transit authority money, said a caucus of like-minded lawmakers would continue to seek a different system for funding local transit authorities.

Currently, local transit authorities receive the state's portion of operational costs a year after expenses are incurred. The shortfall in last year's Cape budget was caused by the introduction of the Flex service, said state Rep. Cleon Turner, D-Dennis.

There are 10 other systems across the state that face similar budget problems, Turner said. (Boston's MBTA is funded separately from this group).

To avoid a repeat of the deficit problem, he said, Gov. Deval Patrick's recommendation of $58 million for regional transit authorities in the fiscal 2009 budget would need to be increased to $62 million.

The public transit legislative caucus would like to add $60 million on top of that, so the regional transit authorities can be funded on a prospective basis rather than wait for reimbursement, Peake said.

Also, the lawmakers want the regional agencies to be able to borrow money with the state guaranteeing the loans. That option was eliminated when funding procedures for the Boston-area transit agency were changed in 2000.

"It's almost a no-brainer," Peake said, adding that the state guarantee provision should be relatively easy to get passed on Beacon Hill.

Patrick still needs to sign off on the supplemental budget but indications from his administration are that he will, Peake and Turner said.

Banner Daily Update Mar. 13
Supplemental budget to fund RTA passes House and Senate
By Derek Burritt, Banner Staff

BOSTON—The Massachusetts House and Senate passed a supplemental budget which included just more than $6 million for Regional Transit Authorities across the Commonwealth.

The announcement came March 13 from Rep. Sarah K. Peake (D-Provincetown), Rep. Cleon H. Turner (D-Dennis) and Sen. Robert O’Leary (D-Cape and Islands), who are all part of the caucus of 108 lawmakers that formed to examine the Regional Transit Authorities' (RTA) funding issue.

In a telephone interview, Peake said she and Turner lobbied the House Ways and Means Committee heavily to get the money included in this supplemental budget.

“This was no small feat to convince the leadership on the house side, and for O'Leary on the senate side, for this funding,” Peake said.

The supplemental budget includes the $910,641 funding shortfall in the Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority's (CCRTA) budget that threatened to shutdown or severely curtail the FLEX bus on the Lower Cape. Peake said she hopes some of the reduced service implemented March 1 can be restored in the future.

The supplemental budget is only the first hurdle, said Joe Potzka, CCRTA administrator. Because the regional transit program is funded retroactively, the additional funding only saves local municipalities from being assessed last year's debt, Potzka said in a telephone interview.

Gov. Deval Patrick's proposed spending for regional transit in FY09 still comes up roughly $7 million short of the $62 million requested from the state's 15 transit authorities, according to Potzka.

The CCRTA typically receives 75 percent of its net costs from the state, and the current proposed budget will only fund 51 percent, said Potzka.

Now, the appropriations bill for the $6 million will go to Patrick's desk to be signed, and Peake said based on comments made two days ago by Bernard Cohen, secretary of transportation, he and Leslie Kirwan, administration and finance secretary, believe the governor will sign the bill.

For Immediate Release, 3/13/08

Supplemental Budget Passes House and Senate to Keep Busses Running

             BOSTON  March 12, 2008– Reps Sarah K. Peake (D-Provincetown), Cleon H. Turner (D-Dennis) and Senator Robert O’Leary (D-Cape and Islands) announced today that the Massachusetts House and Senate passed a supplemental budget which included $6,025,239 for Regional Transit Authorities across the Commonwealth.  The Cape Cod Regional transit Authority’s shortfall of $910,641 is included in this amount. 

The $910,641 funding shortfall was threatening to shut down or severely curtail the popular FLEX bus service on the Lower and Outer Cape.  Peake and Turner lobbied the House Ways and Means Committee heavily to get the money included in this supplemental budget.

              “Senator O’Leary, Rep. Turner, and I just kept at it, working to bring attention to this important matter, and educating our colleagues about the importance of the Flex service to our economy and way of life on the Outer and Lower Cape” Peake said.

              In January, Peake, Turner, and O’Leary hand delivered a letter to the Governor requesting the funding, and then in late February met with Secretaries Kirwan and Cohen to request that the six million be included in a supplemental budget. 

              “When the answer we received from them was “maybe”, I knew it was time to reach out to the Chair of the House Ways and Means Committee.  I met with Chairman DeLeo and his staff on several occasions, many times with Rep Turner.  I appreciate Chairman DeLeo taking the time to meet with us and his interest in the RTAs, and specifically the Flex Bus.” Peake said. “The RTA shortfall is a statewide issue but it was clear from discussions with Chairman DeLeo that Cape legislators were most vocal in requesting the additional funding,” said Turner. “Our office drafted an amendment and gathered cosponsors and was ready to file it if the committee didn’t include the funds,” Turner continued.

              Senator O’Leary worked with his Senate Colleagues to insure smooth passage of the budget there.  “This is happening in part because people stood up and said that they needed this service,” said Senator O’Leary.  “The FLEX route and others have been a lifeline to people with a range of different circumstances, from our students to our seniors, and I am very pleased that we could offer this relief to the RTAs. The near $1 million that the Cape Cod RTA is receiving is crucial to their ability to provide much-needed bus service from Falmouth to Provincetown.” 

The Flex bus serves the Towns of Brewster, Harwich, Orleans, Eastham, Wellfleet, Truro, and Provincetown.  Turner said, “the Flex Bus has proven to be important to Cape towns by providing needed transportation to working people, young people and tourists. Over time, increased ridership will lower the cost and help in reducing traffic congestion on the Cape.”

Cape Cod Chronicle, 3/6/08

One Year In Office, Peake Cites Successes, Plans Next Campaign

by Alan Pollock

            HARWICH — It’s actually not that bad being a freshman state representative, Sarah Peake said Monday.  Two days after announcing her reelection campaign for the Fourth Barnstable district, the Provincetown Democrat said she’s learned a great deal in her first year on the job, and has helped focus state attention on several key Lower Cape issues.

            The most obvious has been the plight of the Flex bus route, scaled back by the regional transit authority when state budget reimbursements failed to materialize.  Lawmakers gave “sort of an icy reception” to the problem at first, but with help from state lobbying groups and a special legislative caucus, the issue has gained more attention on Beacon Hill.  Peake said she has had discussions with members of the House Ways and Means Committee, and has received positive signals that some of the funding may be included in a supplemental state budget.  News on the budget might come as early as Wednesday of this week, she said.

            Any such solution would be a short-term fix, however, and lawmakers appear committed to fostering more budget responsibility and accountability among the regional transit authorities in the future, Peake said.  A more permanent solution involves stopping the practice of funding the transit authorities retroactively each year for the previous year’s expenses, though changing that system would mean a double expense in one year.  Peake said she favors a $60 million transportation bond bill to help pass that fiscal “hump,” the same way state officials undid the MBTA’s retroactive funding mechanism several years ago.

            Peake included a number of local earmarks on an environmental bond bill that recently passed muster in a house committee.  If passed intact by the house and senate, the bill would provide $750,000 for a fisheries monitoring program to be conducted by the Cape Cod Commercial Hook Fishermen’s Association; $225,000 for a state study of horseshoe crab populations in Pleasant Bay and two other Cape estuaries; and $75,000 for a study of the new inlet in North Beach, to be conducted by the Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies.

            There is also a likelihood that legislation will be forthcoming to address the homeowners’ insurance crisis, though “it may be half a loaf,” Peake said.  The bill would likely seek to cap rate increases by the Massachusetts Fair Plan to between 4 and 6 percent.  A longer-term solution would involve the creation of a catastrophic reinsurance fund, but that proposal is experiencing “big pushback from the industry,” she said.  “But the good news is, they’re talking about it.”

            Peake said she was also proud to have played a role in heading off lobster management regulations which she said were not “science-based,” and which would have severely restricted commercial lobster fishing from Chatham to Provincetown.  Peake said she later heard that regulators backed off a second attempt to implement the rules, saying they might be burned by a “hot stove” once, but not twice.

            “I’m happy to be a hot stove,” she quipped.

            With the economic slowdown, it will be the responsibility of state lawmakers to continue support for programs like fuel assistance and housing rental vouchers, and to continue to fund important infrastructure programs like the Flex bus, which allows many people to commute to work, Peake said.  The state should also continue investing in public education and economic development programs related to the biotech and film industries, she said.

            “I firmly believe that casino gambling is not the way to get out of this fiscal crisis,” she said.  Despite the feelings of Gov. Deval Patrick, Peake said she believes an off-Cape casino would worsen the economy of Cape Cod by stripping away part of its seasonal workforce, by draining away some of the visitors to the region, and by further depleting state tourism marketing dollars.  “It just doesn’t seem worth it to me,” she said.

            Peake said she is not overly troubled by the lack of influence she and her fellow freshmen lawmakers wield.  “In fact, in some ways I think being a freshman lawmaker has its privileges,” she said.  First-term lawmakers occasionally get a special audience with legislative leaders, and enjoy the other benefits of being part of a caucus, she said.  But mostly, Peake said she feels new lawmakers are more closely in touch with their constituents than their veteran peers. On Monday, Peake was at Harwich Elementary School to take part in a reading program for schoolchildren, and she takes part in many other local activities, attending women’s club and chamber of commerce meetings.

            The biggest challenges so far have been in educating lawmakers from other parts of the state about the nature of Cape Cod—that it is inhabited year-round, and that not all her constituents own seaside mansions, Peake said.  She is also learning from other members of the Cape delegation which issues require  “a good swift shove, and which need a thousand tiny taps.”

            But Peake said she remembers the sage advice of her predecessor, Shirley Gomes, who told her that being a state representative offered the chance to help a huge number of her neighbors.  Whether it’s advocating for new laws or state funding, or helping individuals cut through red tape at the Registry of Motor Vehicles, Peake said Gomes’ advice has been true.

            “I really love this,” she said.

            On Saturday, Peake launched her campaign for reelection in Orleans.  When she first announced her candidacy in 2006 at a rally in Provincetown, the room was packed with Provincetown people, she said.  This time, the Provincetown supporters were outnumbered by the Harwich ones, she said.  So far, Peake is unopposed in both the primary and general election races.

For Immediate Release, 3/4/08

State Rep Sarah Peake Kicks Off Re-Election Campaign

              It may have been rainy and gray outside, but the weather didn't dampen the spirits of the more than 250 enthusiastic supporters who jammed into the Orleans Inn for 4th Barnstable State Representative Sarah Peake’s Re-Election Kick-off on Saturday, March 1.  Also in attendance were her colleagues from the State Legislature, Representatives Eric Turkington, (D, Falmouth), Matt Patrick, (D, Falmouth), and Cleon Turner, (D) Dennis.  Senator Rob O’Leary, (D, Barnstable) introduced Sarah, recounting for the crowd how she has "hit the ground running" and is a positive addition to the Cape delegation. Congressman Bill Delahunt, (D, Quincy) was also present and ignited the room full of Peake supporters with his enthusiastic words of support.

                Many local Selectman, School Committee Representatives, and County officials from throughout the district joined this celebration of Sarah's work on behalf of the 4th Barnstable District during her first term, as they anticipated the beginning of this first re-election campaign.

"I'm honored that so many of my fellow legislators from the Cape came to support me at my re-election kickoff.  We work closely together both in Boston and on the Cape, but coming to this event on a rainy Saturday is above and beyond all of my highest expectations!" Peake said.

             Senator O’Leary applauded Rep. Peake’s work effort over the past year and the energy and enthusiasm she has shown in embracing her Legislative role. He referenced their collaboration on several issues including Ocean’s Management, Homeowners Insurance, and Wastewater Management.

            Rep. Peake, in her speech referenced her work locally.  Referring to the over 250 individuals who have sought help from her legislative office during the past year, Peake said "Perhaps most important and the best part of this job is the ability to help people."   

              In addition to working effectively to move local bills, helping to move the Ocean's Management Bill forward, and fighting effectively against a "one size fits all" mentality, Sarah also described some of the more global lessons learned. "During the past 14 months I have built relationships, found allies, and made new friends, both in the State House and in the District. I have learned when it's necessary to give a big hard push to get something done, and when a thousand tiny taps are more effective.  I am looking forward to running for re-election and for having the opportunity to continue to serve the people of the 4th Barnstable District”, said Peake. “I feel I’ve accomplished a lot in my first term, but there is more work to be done to preserve and enhance our way of life here on the Cape.”

          In her first campaign for re-election Rep. Peake will continue to rely on the expertise and winning strategizing of her longtime campaign manager, Ann Maguire, who will move into the position of Senior Advisor.

             Kathy McNamara Ohman has been named Campaign Manager, overseeing the day to day responsibilities of the campaign. Kathy is a former Democratic State Committee woman, and Past President of the Cape and Islands Democratic Council, (CIDC). Kathy brings a wealth of campaign experience to this position, and is eager to work closely with Lower and Outer Cape Democrats, to re-elect Rep. Peake.

             Steven Roderick of Provincetown will continue to serve as the campaign Treasurer, a position he has held since 2002 when Rep. Peake was first elected to the Provincetown Board of Selectmen.  The campaign will identify local volunteer coordinators, who will help organize supporters throughout the district, in campaign activities.

             Dottie Smith, of Orleans, Field Coordinator of the Peake Campaign in 2006, will continue as Rep. Peake’s Legislative Aide, providing the excellent constituent services that people have come to expect from Rep. Peake’s office.

Cape Cod Times, 3/3/08

Political Notes

by Karen Jeffrey

     ORLEANS -- More than 300 people attended state Rep. Sarah Peake's campaign kick-off Saturday at the Orleans Inn, including the usual suspects —

U.S. Rep. William Delahunt, state Sen. Rob O'Leary, state Rep. Eric Turkington, and chairmen of Democratic town committees. By all accounts the affair was a rousing success.

Political junkies among the celebratory crowd — and there were many of them helping this popular Lower Cape representative launch her re-election campaign — spotted a couple of CNN reporters in the house. Alas, John King, CNN's chief national correspondent, and his fiancée, Dana Bash, CNN's congressional correspondent, apparently missed the story. They weren't there for the campaign launch. The two were lining up plans for a wedding reception at the inn later this year.

Cape Cod Chronicle, 2/28/08

‘Something To Be Proud Of’: Public-private Partnership Creates Housing For Four Chatham Families 

by Tim Wood

            CHATHAM --- For seven years, Beverley Buckley have lived in a tiny cottage with a kitchen counter no more than a few feet wide.  The pantry consists of two small cabinets.  So when she saw the kitchen in the new affordable condominium she and her husband Stephen will move into this weekend, with more than a dozen cabinets and a huge amount of counter space, she was overjoyed.

            “The planets were aligned for this one,” she said Monday during an open house at the newly completed Courtyards condos on Balfour Lane.

            Developed through an unprecedented partnership between the town, the private Friends of Chatham Affordable Housing and the Lower Cape Cod Community Development Corporation, the four units are providing the Buckleys and three other local residents the opportunity to own their own homes in a town where the median home price tops half a million dollars.

Florence Seldin prepares to cut the ribbon Monday dedicating four new units of affordable housing on Balfour Lane.  Conversion of the commercial space to housing was overseen by the Lower Cape Cod Community Development Corporation in partnership with the town and the Friends of Chatham Affordable Housing.  Shown helping out with the ribbon cutting are, from left, CDC Housing Development Manager Emily Loomis, CDC Executive Director Elizabeth Bridgewater, Seldin, and contractor Eric Barsness. TIM WOOD PHOTO

            “It’s a golden opportunity,” said another of the new homeowners, Rory Nickerson, a Chatham native who graduated from Plymouth State University last year and has been renting an apartment in West Chatham.

            “I don’t think there’s any other way to get my foot in the door [of homeownership] if it’s not affordable,” said the 26-year-old carpenter, who works for his father, Steve Nickerson.

            Previously commercial space occupied by the Visiting Nurse Association, the first floor and basement of the 15 Balfour Lane building were gutted and completely renovated into four two-bedroom, two bathroom condominiums, each about 1,000 square feet.  Efforts were made to use durable, sustainable and energy efficient materials and appliances, right down to the bamboo floors, said Emily Loomis, housing development manager for the CDC. Situated in the Cornfield village center, the development meets the goals of the town’s comprehensive plan by placing housing side-by-side with commercial development, as well as redeveloping existing space.

            “This really is a smart growth project,” Loomis said.

            Florence Seldin, who helped initiate the development three years ago when she was head of the newly formed Friends of Chatham Affordable Housing, said words could not describe her feelings at seeing the project come to fruition.  It was a testament to the “power of one,” she said. “This was one person’s idea.”

            She described how she received a call from developer Ronald Rudnick who told her that the space was vacant.  He thought it would be the perfect spot to develop affordable housing. 

            “I was not too sure when I first looked at it,” Seldin said. She contacted Gwen Pelletier, then-director of the CDC, and to enlist the Lower Cape nonprofit’s help in the project.

            The Friends of Chatham Affordable Housing had received a $100,000 donation from David Oppenheim which was directed to the project, and the town’s community preservation committee endorsed, and town meeting approved, two grants totaling $260,000 toward the purchase and renovation of the space.  TD Banknorth contributed a grant of $10,000 for energy efficient fixtures and appliances, as well as providing construction financing.  Rudnick also donated money toward the project and contributed sewage flow from an adjacent subdivision which allowed the development to tie into the town’s sewer system.

            “This was truly a private-public partnership,” said Seldin, who also sits on the CDC board.

            The CDC purchased the space for $450,000.  Construction costs were about $620,000, according to Loomis, and the project came in within 1 percent of the budget.  The units are being sold for $156,000.  There were six applicants who met the qualifications for affordable housing, including income limits of 80 percent or less of the Barnstable County average.  The four buyers were chosen in a lottery overseen by the Chatham Housing Authority.

            Even though the units meet affordable housing guidelines, they will not help meet the state-imposed goal of having 10 percent of the town’s housing stock be affordable.  That’s because no state money went into the project and the units were reserved for Chatham residents.  State Representative Sarah Peake, D-Provincetown, said during the open house that she and Cape and Islands Senator Rob O’Leary have meet with Undersecretary of Housing Tina Brooks to stress the need for state funds for small projects such as this.  She congratulated the CDC and its partners and said she felt it was “the family of Chatham that helped create these units.”

            “Chatham has a lot to be proud of,” she added.

            Seldin said she wasn’t disappointed that the units won’t count toward the 10 percent goal, “because we provided housing for four very deserving families. You want it to count, but the bottom line is we’re providing affordable housing.”

            Natural light infuses all of the units, even the one in the basement.  Each has an open kitchen-dining-living space, a large master bedroom with a bathroom, a smaller bedroom, and lots of closet space.  The units include stackable washer and dryer units, refrigerators with freezers on the bottom for energy efficiency, and electric stoves.  High efficiency gas furnaces provide heat, and there is central air conditioning to help regulate humidity, especially in the basement, where a humidistat triggers heat or air conditioning to ensure low moisture levels.

            Contractor Eric Barsness of E.A. Barsness and Company said there were challenges in renovating the pre-existing space, including to the need to reinforce structural walls.  “I personally felt a connection to this project,” he said, noting that he had benefited from a first-time homebuyers program in Hyannis years ago.

            CDC Executive Director Elizabeth Bridgewater called the project “a real community development” which was completed “right on schedule, down to our chinny chin chin.”  Added Ernest Rogers, president of the CDC’s board of directors, “The Partnership came through at the right time with the right people.”

            The units will belong to a condominium association that also includes three existing, market rate units on the second floor.  The monthly condo fees were factored in when calculating the mortgages, said Loomis.

            Closings on the four units were scheduled for Friday.  Nickerson and the Buckleys said they planned to begin moving in Saturday. 

Cape Cod Times, February 22, 2008 6:00 AM

Barrier beach study sought

by Robin Lord, STAFF WRITER

CHATHAM — As another coastal storm threatens North Beach, a local legislator has proposed spending $75,000 to study the barrier beach and its new inlet.

State Rep. Sarah Peake added the money to an amendment to the environmental bond bill. It was reported out favorably by the Joint Committee on Environment, Resources and Agriculture, she said yesterday.

The money would be awarded to the Provincetown Center for Coastal Resources. The research would focus on the changes in sedimentation and land forms inside the North Beach system, said Graham Giese, coastal geologist at the center. The results would give local officials information for short and long-term management decisions, he said.

Chatham has scores of homes along the mainland side opposite the barrier beach, and the town's economic heart, the fish pier, sits inside Chatham Harbor to the south of the new inlet.

A bond bill is different from money earmarked in the budget, in that, if the money is approved by the Legislature, the governor has the discretion whether to use the funds for what it was originally intended, or on something else, she said.

"At least it gives us the opportunity to lobby the governor," to use the money for the study, she said.

Despite the daily changes in the makeup of the barrier beach, and the rapid erosion that has claimed six cottages there in the last five months, there is only one ongoing scientific study.

The Army Corps of Engineers subcontracted a $40,000 study to Applied Coastal Research and Engineering, Inc. in Mashpee last fall. The town of Chatham, the four towns in the Pleasant Bay Alliance — Chatham, Orleans, Harwich and Brewster — and the Friends of Pleasant Bay have contributed money to that effort.

That study is looking at affects on the tides and currents within Pleasant Bay, Chatham Harbor and the new inlet in North Beach that formed during an April northeaster last year.

The Cape Cod Chronicle, February 14, 2008

Funds Sought For Study Of New Inlet; Batty Camp Dismantled

by Alan Pollack

            CHATHAM — A legislative committee is recommending that the state fund a $75,000 study of the new inlet in North Beach. 

            “The break in the barrier beach in Chatham presents us with a unique opportunity to gather data and to study the results, to be able to more accurately forecast coastal geological events in the future,” State Rep. Sarah Peake, D-Provincetown, said in a statement last week. 

            Peake included the funds as an amendment to the governor’s environmental bond bill, which was reported out favorably by the Committee on the Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture.  If it clears another house committee, the bill will go to the full House of Representatives for a vote.

            The study, if funded, would be carried out by the Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies. 

            The research would apparently be separate from the hydrodynamic study being conducted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.  That study aims to gauge the new inlet’s impact on the way tides flow in and out of Pleasant Bay, with an eye toward gauging the possible improvements in water quality there.  Bidding technicalities have delayed the Army Corps study somewhat.  The Corps’ Planning Assistance to States program is expected to provide $20,000, with the stipulation that the amount be matched by non-federal sources. The Pleasant Bay Alliance and the Friends of Pleasant Bay will each contribute $5,000, and the town of Chatham will provide $10,000 worth of in-kind donations of staff time and equipment. 

            Despite recent high tides, erosion of the beach near the inlet appears to have slowed somewhat.  At the southerly tip of North Beach, much of the land remains where the Eldredge family camp was recently demolished.  Town officials say no other camp owners have made overtures about removing their buildings from the beach.

            On Valentine’s Day, demolition crews traveled by boat to North Beach island, where they cut apart the still-intact Batty Camp and removed it from the inside beach.  The camp, which occupied a place south of the Eldredge camp, was washed away during a snowstorm on Jan. 28 and floated across the new inlet before coming ashore on the island. 

            Chatham Coastal Resources Director Ted Keon said there is no recent data that can indicate whether the size of the inlet is changing, but even if the erosion appears to have slowed, the change is probably temporary.

            “I would hardly say there is reason to believe the beach is stabilizing,” he said.

            Chatham Police Lt. John Cauble agreed, saying there is no evidence that the erosion has stopped.  Cauble was on the beach several days ago, and said the east-facing beach appears to be building up again, as it tends to do each year.  The extra beach might provide some additional protection for the remaining camps.  The southern-most camp, owned by the Fuller family, is elevated on pilings and so may have additional protection from any coastal storms ahead.

            The continued erosion is borne out by GPS readings taken by Fred Truelove, whose camp was undermined by the ocean and torn down last month.  In a note to Keon, Truelove said he took a measurement at the southernmost end of the dunes on Dec. 29, and took a similar measurement Saturday.  The GPS coordinates indicate that the tip has migrated north between 400 and 425 feet during that time, Truelove wrote.

            There are other anecdotal reports of changes since the new inlet was formed.  Alan Cohen, owner of Ryder’s Cove Boatyard, said his property now floods during astronomic high tides sooner on the tide cycle than previously.

Press Release, February 14, 2008       

Environment Committee Votes in Favor of Environmental Bond Bill—Rep. Peake Successful in Inserting Four Projects

The Committee on the Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture voted the Environmental Bill out of Committee today with an “Ought to pass” recommendation.  H 4446, filed by the Governor, authorizes $1.5 billion in bonds to fund investment in the Department of Conservation and Recreation infrastructure, land acquisition, agricultural programs and many other environmental programs.

State Representative Sarah K. Peake filed four amendments to the bill in order to ensure funding for a variety of environmental projects of importance.

The amendments direct funding for the following:

• $750,000 for the Cape Cod Commercial Hook Fisherman’s Association for the study and shore based monitoring of the small mesh pelagic Mackerel and Herring fisheries.

• $225,000 for the Division of Marine Fisheries to study the Horseshoe Crab population over three years in Pleasant Bay, Wellfleet Harbor, and Barnstable Harbor.

• $580,000 for storm water filtration and bulkhead repairs in the Town of Wellfleet.

• $75,000 for the Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies to study the coastal geology and associated dynamics of the so called North Beach cut in Chatham.

“I’m pleased that these funding requests have made it through the first step in the enactment process” said Peake.  Peake went on to say: “The herring and crab fisheries studies are long overdue and necessary for us to be able to make intelligent management decisions.  Without this data both the species survivability and our fisherman’s economic survivability are at risk.”

“The break in the barrier beach in Chatham presents us with a unique opportunity to gather data and to study the results to be able to more accurately forecast coastal geological events in the future.”

“Wellfleet is completing an extensive renovation to its bulkhead.  The final and expensive part of the project is complying with storm water remediation requirements.  It’s imperative that this be achieved for the economic viability of the community and the multi-million dollar shellfishing industry.  Wellfleet’s economy depends on the cleanliness of its harbor.”

The Environmental Bond bill will next be heard by the Committee on Bonding, Capital Expenditures, and State Assets before coming to the floor of the House for a vote.

February 8, 2008

State Rep Sarah Peake Announces Re-Election Kick-off and New “Team Peake” Members

4th Barnstable State Representative, Sarah Peake, (D), Provincetown, has announced that she is a candidate for re-election to the State Legislature. She invites the public to join her at a campaign kick-off, on Saturday, March 1 at 3 PM, at the Orleans Inn, Route 6A, Orleans. At the kick-off Rep. Peake will introduce her campaign team, “TEAM PEAKE 2008”.  In addition to the good company, there will be hors d’oeuvres and a cash bar.  The musical trio of Tom Telesmanick & Company will perform throughout the event.

“I am looking forward to running for re-election and to having the opportunity to continue to serve the people of the 4th Barnstable District”, said Peake.  “I feel I’ve accomplished a lot in my first term, but there is more work to do to preserve and enhance our way of life here on the Cape”.

            In her first campaign for re-election, Rep. Peake will continue to rely on the expertise and winning strategy of her longtime campaign manager, Ann Maguire, who will move into the position of Senior Campaign Advisor.

            Kathy McNamara Ohman has been named Campaign Manager, overseeing the day-to-day responsibilities of the campaign.  Kathy is a Former Democratic State Committee woman and Past President of the Cape and Islands Democratic Council (CIDC).  Kathy brings a wealth of campaign experience to this position, and is eager to work with Lower and Outer Cape residents to re-elect Rep. Peake.

            Steven Roderick of Provincetown will continue to serve as the campaign Treasurer, a position he has held since 2002 when Rep. Peake was first elected to the Provincetown Board of Selectmen.

            The campaign will identify local volunteer coordinators who will help organize supporters throughout the district in campaign activities, all of whom are all well known organizers in their communities.

            Dottie Smith, of Orleans, Field Coordinator of the Peake Campaign in 2006, will continue as Rep. Peake’s Legislative Aide, providing the excellent constituent services that people have come to expect from Rep. Peake’s office.

     Please join Sarah and Team Peake 2008 at the March 1 kick-off!