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| March 24, 2006 Barnstable Patriot |  |
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PRECINCT 11
HANK FARNHAM
H
appy Spring! I
apologize if this
column is a bit
disjointed but my step mom,
Polly, passed away Monday
and I have been preoccu-
pied with details and mak-
ing arrangements. However,
there are quite a few items
to share withyou so please
bear with me.
Budget Items: Last week,
the council voted to fund
keeping the town landfill
open seven days a week.
Activity on Sunday and
Monday has picked up, but
if you want to get in and
out of the dump quickly,
Sunday or Monday are your
best bet. The municipal and
school budgets will be com-
ing before the town council
during scheduled sessions
over the next couple of
months. At our meeting
next Thursday, the Finance
Department and Compre-
hensive Financial Advisory
Committee will be reviewing
next year's capital budget
requests (CIP). There are
22 projects being requested
and some that I know you
will be interested in are: 1)
$40,000 on permitting for
design of a new Sandy Neck
Beach House and repair and
expansion of the parking lot.
2) $2,775,000 to repair our
public roads and improve
drainage systems there.
3) $40,000 to fund the first
phase of several improve-
ments to be made to the
West Barnstable Shooting
Range, and 4) $457,000 for
completion of the lower
level of the Senior Center.
The town and school operat-
ing budgets will follow the
capital budget.
Shooting Range: Some of
you know I have mentioned
issues related to the shoot-
ing range several times in
the past. I am a strong sup-
porter of retaining the range
and have lobbied the town
on your behalf for improve-
ments to be made there.
Manager Klimm has agreed
that the range should re-
main open and recognizes
that improvements need to
be made. I applaud him, the
Department of Natural Re-
sources and the Police De-
partment for their effort s to
create capital improvements
that will improve function-
ality, safety and noise at
the range. I also want to
recognize Alex Crosby for
his wonderful effort with an
Eagle Scout project: lead-
ing a major clean up of the
range last Saturday. Alex,
the Deer Club and a host of
volunteers did a terrific job
cleaning up a huge mess at
the range and I know they
will work to keep the place
clean in the future. Thank
you!
Road Maintenance: As a
follow-up to item 2 on the
CIP above, after the Council
Roads Committee studied
the deteriorating condition
of the town's public road
system last year, not to
mention our private roads,
we discussed developing a
plan to create a stabilization
fund through an override
system for annual road
repairs. While that possibil-
ity still exists, we wonder if
you, the voters, will support
CONTINUED ON PAGE B:4
mi inn
MilUJMIl il i-
Tax flap draws 'rescuer' into civic affairs
Simpson jumped
in and plans
to stay
By Paul Gauvin
pgauvin@barnstablepatriot.com
PAUL GAUVIN PHOTO
THUMBS UP RITUAL - George "Skip" Simpson and son Kevin make
their usual Saturday morning trek to the "general store" to buy
newspapers and a treat.
George "Skip" Simpson
has been a West Barnstable
neighbor since 1991, con-
tentedly doing what your
average diligent American
does to maintain a viable
community and family life
-things like help raise the
children, go to work, let out
the cat, fix the stuck door,
bring home the bacon , vote,
pay the taxes and the bills
-in short, a law-abiding
village neighbor and verte-
bra in the backbone of the
greater community.
While settling in West
Barnstable only 15 years
ago, he's far from a wash
ashore. Simpson was born
at Cape Cod Hospital across
the street from where he
works today, was raised in
Hyannisport and attended
Barnstable schools.
You wouldn't know by his
subdued appearance and
unruffled persona that he
spent 17 of his adult years
wearing two caps, one as
an anti-submarine warfare
equipment operator and the
other training for risky leaps
from helicopters into trou-
bled waters for a cause one
might describe as a blend of
humanism and patriotism.
The helicopter crew-
man was a rescue swimmer
aboard the Navy's SH2F
"Sea Sprite" ship-based
helicopter. He served from
1984 to 1988 on four-year
active duty with a squadron
out of the Naval Air Station,
Norfolk , Va., and reserve
duty for 13 years at naval
stations in Weymouth and
Willow Grove , Pa.
Being a rescue swimmer
meant practice jumps "at a
minimum of six a year but
usually more than that" to
hone and maintain the hang
of it. He logged more than
100 of them in his career.
Last year, another cause
propelled the former air
crewman to again leap into
troubled waters - this time
rhetorically. By virtue of
being a board member of
the Hyannis Area Chamber
of Commerce, Simpson and
several other members in-
cluding attorney John Ken-
ney led the losing cause to
rescue local business from
a split-tax rate that created
a higher rate for business
than for residences after
getting a reluctant town
council nod.
"Besides being philo-
sophically opposed to tax
classification - even though
I know it is here to stay
in Massachusetts - what
got me going," he said,"
was when two gentlemen
approached me after civic
association and town coun-
cil meetings where Kenney,
Jim Cook and I presented
the chamber 's side of the
issue."
One of the men was John
Brennan , like Simpson a
West Barnstable resident ,
but unlike Simpson, a split-
tax advocate. "Mr. Brennan
came up to me and said I
should thank him for reduc-
ing my residential taxes (in
West Barnstable.) I told him
it didn't make any sense,
village wise, since the only
businesses in the village
are the country store , a few
B&Bs and maybe a couple
of pizza places."
Simpson notes that busi-
ness did not object to a
split tax in the Hyannis Fire
District because that village
does host and service nu-
merous businesses, includ-
ing the Cape Cod Mall and
little - from a split tax and
so voted in a referendum on
that issue.
But Simpson has the
dual perspective of a hom-
eowner in a sleepy village
and a business operator in
growth-minded Hyannis
where he and his wife,
Lisa, own and operate the
Anchor-in Motel on South
Street adjacent to Cape
Cod Hospital:
"Most people think it's
the Anchor Inn -but it's 'in'
with one 'n'."
Simpson explains that his
father-in-law, who previous-
ly owned the motel , had a
sunken 2-ton anchor hauled
up and in from the Sound's
depths and placed on the
motel site:
"The anchor was 'in' and
that's how the motel got its
name."
As a Navy crewman ,
Simpson said there were
two basic methods of effect-
ing a rescue jump: "One was
what we called the ten-ten ,
10 feet over the water trav-
eling at 10 mph or jumping
"It wasn't easy to par-
ticipate in village and town
affairs before , particularly
when I was in the reserves ,"
said the father of two
school-aged children, Kevin
and Kara. "At one point, the
squadron at Weymouth was
dissolved and the only way
I could continue to serve
was with a similar unit at
Willow Grove, (Pa.)." He
had to drive from the Cape
on Thursdays and remain in
Pennsylvania until Sundays
to fulfill his monthly train-
ing obligations.
While he, like Farnham,
may not be in sync with
the majority of his West
Barnstable neighbors on
the split tax, Simpson is
committed to the village, he
said, and plans to become
more involved in its affairs
as time permits:
"It's a nice place to five.
I'm reminded of that every
time I drive down tree-lined
Cedar Street , past the West
Parish church and the gen-
eral store. It's a nice feeling
in a nice community."
-PFOPI F »>»
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