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Barnstable Patriot
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December 29, 2006     Barnstable Patriot
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December 29, 2006
 
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^ ^' .'c ' l '^hi From everyone at ftfje iatrtot * r * & & /. &* dJJttf —i * ——i 1 Gflbe PamgtatJle patriot — Founded in 1830— Published Weekly at 4 Ocean Street • P.O.Box 1208 • Hyannis,Massachusetts 02601 Tel:(508) 771-1427 • Fax:(508) 790-3997 E-mail info@bamstablepatriot.com • www.bamstablepatriot.com „ PUBLISHER, RobertF. Sennott, Jr. EDITOR David Still II BUSINESS MANAGER ..BarbaraJ. Hennigan ASSOCIATEEDITOR EdwardF. Maroney ADVEKnslNG DEPARTMENT EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT LuandaS. Harrison Representative KathleenSzmit Reporter JohnPicano Representative CarolA. Bacon Representative Jack Mason Representative DESIGN/PRODUCTIONDEPARTMENT Steven Goldberg Representative Cathy Staples Graphic Designer David A. Bailey Graphic Designer CIRC. & RECEPTION TanyaOhanian j, ™** MEMBER NEW ENGLAND PRESSASSOCIATION i VO | First Place,GeneralExcellence-New EnglandPressAssociation,2001 * * 5 !y FirstPlace,GeneralExcellence-Advertising,2002&2003 THE BARNSTABLE PATRIOT ISSN 0744-7221 Pub. No. USPS 044-480 Periodical Postage paid at the Hyannis Post Office and at additional entry offices. Published weekly at 4 Ocean Street, Hyannis, MA 0260 1 Terms: $29.00 per year in advance We assume no financial responsibility for typographical errors in advertisements, but we will reprint that part of the advertisement in which the error occurs. POSTMASTER: sendaddress changes to THE BARNSTABLE PATRIOT P.O. Box 1208, Hyannis, MA 02601 © 2006, The Barnstable Patriot, a division of Ottaway Newspapers Inc. Water collaborative ready to go It didn't look like a fearsome super-agency in its initial meeting, but the Cape Cod WaterProtectionCollaborativeis seriousabout gettingCapetowns toworktogethertofixthe region's wastewater woes. After years of discussion, the collaborativechargedwithfinding funding for wastewater projects, maximizingregionalcooperation, coordinating development of appropriate infrastructure, and educating the public about the home and business owner's role eased into reality. Besides the town reps (Barnstable's is Assistant Town Manager Paul Niedzwiecki ), John O'Brien of Harwich and John Hinckley of Orleans were appointed as regional members by the county commissioners. Darby water easement causing council ripples Aneasementrequesttoprotect a public water supply on town- owned land in Osterville has turned low-level resentment to open hostility at the Barnstable Town Council. The request, sponsored by OstervilleCouncilorJimCrocker, seeks an easement on a circle of land 1,200 feet in diameter on the town-ownedDarby property off Old Mill Road to protect an identified source of public water. Concerns about the effect of such an easement on the town's previously-stateddesiretodevelop affordable housingonthe property have been raised by the town's housing committee, as well as other councilors who represent areas covered by the Centerville- Osterville-Marstons Mills Fire District. Town Manager John Klimm said he would support whatever action the council takes on the easement. He does not see the easement as precluding other development options on the Darby parcel, or on other potential sites identified for affordable housing in Osterville. Eventually,the easement was approved on a very close vote. Beloved priest mourned On April 2, at the age of 84, the Rev.Spyros Mourikispassed away,leavingalegacyofdevotion, kindness and faith. When he arrived in 1949 there were about 50 members of the Greek Orthodox Church scattered throughout the Cape. Because there was no parish on Cape,theytraveled to servicesin New Bedford. Father Mourikis originally set up space in the old Grange Hall in Hyannis. In 1981, the congregation fond a home when St. George's Greek Orthodox Church was built in Centerville. Uponhisretirementmanyyears ago, a letter appeared in a local publication that still echoes the sentimentsof allwhomMourikis touched: "Youtravelyour parish from Provincetownto Wareham tocomfort thesickandthedying, tohelptheneedy and the elderly. You saw us enter the world, you saw us grow, you taught us the Greeklanguage,you schooledus in our faith, you married us,you baptized our children and you buried us. "Nowyourjob is done and you have earned your rest, your day in the sun. We can never forget you." Remembering Bill Pasko A moment of silence was observed attheschoolcommittee meetingfor BillPasko,ascience/ technology and engineering teacher at Barnstable Middle School. Jack McLeod,president of the BarnstableTeachersAssociation, said Pasko "was an incredible teacher. He was one of the people who made it aprofession. He would always go the extra distance, no matter what that distance was." In a note on the school's Web site,BMSPrincipalRickBidgood noted that Pasko was the first "nationalboard-certified"teacher in the Barnstable District. A limited taste for development At a press conference , researchers presented findings from a survey of public attitudes about developmentandtheCape Cod Commission's role in it. The survey found high levels of concern about traffic congestion and the availability of moderate and lower-priced housing and a limited appetite for further developments,evenindesignated growth centers. Technicalproblems for schools Barnstable's schools are at the bottom of the barrel when it comes to technology,the school committee was told. Out of 327 districts in Massachusetts, the town is 319th, put to shame by Falmouth (258th) and Chatham (37th). "Technologyat theBarnstable Public Schoolsisin aprecarious position," said Bethann Orr, the system's director of educational technology.Atminimum,shesaid, "we need over 1,000 machines, approximately $1.5 million in technology. We can no longer repair the computers." Principal swap: HyEast to Cotuit/Mills What if they cleaned up the mine but the canary still can't sing? That situation faced interim Supt. Tom McDonald after a $100,000 cleaning of Hyannis East Elementary, prompted by concerns about the health of first-yearprincipalKarenStonely, failed to improve what may be an allergic reaction affecting her voice. Withtheimpendingretirement of Sue Leary,principal of Cotuit and Marstons Mills elementary schools for 14 years, McDonald and incoming Supt. Dr. Patricia GrenierdecidedtonameStonely as Leary's successor. From newsmanto newsmaker FormernewsmanWill Crocker said that he'sspent enoughtime reportingwhatotherpeoplehave said needs to be done for Cape Cod, and nowis the timefor mm to do the talking. Crocker officially opened his campaign as the Republican candidate for the state representative seat held for the last eight years by Democrat DemetriusAtsalis. Ordinances offered to combat crowded rentals Overcrowded rentals in residential neighborhoods have been an increasing frustration for residents and town officials. Residents want the rentals returned to their intended capacity, and the town wants a means by which to do that without infringingon individual rights. Twoordinances,onecreatinga rentalinspectionandfeeprogram that setsoccupancy andanother limiting the number of cars allowedonresidentialproperties, are on the agenda with a long, public review plannedfor each. Group rentals have been a historicalproblem inBarnstable but for different reasons. In the past,theyweremoreofaseasonal concern when summer college rentals were prevalent. Now, it is a year-round problem usually ascribed to immigrant workers combining to make housing affordable. Town enforcement officials haveheardincreasingcomplaints about vehicles parked on lawns and other "quality of life"issues in residential neighborhoods, particularlyin Hyannisbut seen also in tight residential areas in Centerville and elsewhere. No new programs in $142M budget At more than $142 million in total spending, it's difficult to think of Barnstable's 2007 proposed budget as tight, but accordingtothemanresponsible for it, there's little room in the numbers. Town Manager John Klimm described the spending package as a "maintenance" budget. Betweenfixed costsandplanned wage increases, he said, there wasn't an opportunity to create new programs, although some have been adapted. While there 's no new programming, there is also no reductioninservices,allowingfor continuationofprogramsstarted this year such as the regulatory and planningconvergenceinthe growthmanagementdepartment ($1.05million). The total budget, including all enterprise accounts, stands morethan$142millioninplanned spendingonroughly $137million in new revenues. To balance the budget, some $5.1 million in reserves will be used. That's about $1.2millionmorethanlast year andisdirectlyrelated tothe increased funding of the town's Capital Trust Fund for roads, Barnstablefinance directorMark Milne said. Call heard for human services funds From within and without, the countycommissioners'proposed budget for human services spendingwas criticized. Thehealthandhumanservices committee of the Assembly of Delegates called for funding at $360,000, plus $30,000 for the newHumanRightsCommission. That'swell over the $275,000 the commissioners recommended after rejecting requests from the county's Human Services Advisory Council that totaled $655,000 (the council has since trimmed that to $375,000). The committee (not including chair Charlotte Striebel) wants the full Assembly to back its request that reserve funds or other appropriat e sources be tapped to restore some of the cuts the commissioners said were necessitated by flat Registry revenue projections and increased costs for health insurance, retirement benefits, and cost-of-living increases. Hyannis civic president Drouin dies unexpectedly Paul Drouin of Hyannis , CONTINUED ON PAGE 7 A P R I IL 2 1° O 16 Where is consensus to messwith Cape Cod Commission? If memory serves, the Cape Cod Commission was thoroughly debated prior to the popular vote that gave birthtotheagencyspecifically designed to manage the "big picture"of growth.Thevoters approved it after listening to both sides of the lengthy debate (why hear it again?) andsubsequentlyempowered a legal body to, as Archie Bunker might put it, "stifle" rampant growth.At the time, themajorityofvoterssawrapid development threatening to reshape Cape Codinto agrid- locked Mecca at the expense of citizens enamored of small town, seaside ambience. Those putting the commission in the crosshairs of their grenade launchers -mostofwhom,onepresumes, are businessmen with self- interestswhoareaggrievedby the Commission's tough-love tactics - certainly have the absolute ngnt to agitate tor change that would moderate their path through the maze of codes and costs that have discouraged all but the brave entrepreneurstosowandreap. Butitoughtnot be attempted without thepublic consensus. (Paul Gauvin) The cost of living When it became clear that human services could not be level-funded, the county commissionersand their staff should have outlined publicly all the options, including, perhaps, a smaller cost-of- living increase or a slight increase in taxes, or more accurately,assessmentsto its 15 member towns. That, too, hasitscostforthealways-tight municipalbudgets. Too often , the cost of living is unaffordable for our neediest. Making sure they have a steady stream of support is as important as guaranteeing attention to wastewater disposal, public safety,and other core services of government. Opinion Flotsam fabrication TONISENNOTT PHOTO FOUND ART FOUND - You never can tell what's going to wash up on the beach, and you also can't tell what it could become. The warm weather brought someone's creativity out on Sandy Neck.This 'found art' sculpture graced the front beach,at least temporarily.