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The Cape Cod Chronicle - 4/26/2017

Cape Cod Village Celebrates Widespread Support

Cape Cod Village, the first affordable housing development supported by Community Preservation funds from more than one town, is moving forward. The organization's president, Robert Jones, spoke to selectmen in Orleans earlier this month about the plan to provide

15 units of affordable rental community housing for adults with autism. For its part, Orleans Town Meeting voted $350,000 for the development in 2014 and chipped in another $100,000 in 2016. Jones said Cape Cod Village hopes to hear from the state by the end of June regarding a $2 million grant from the Department of Housing and Community Development, and has acquired a $3 millionUSDA 40-year, low-interest loan. The $6.5 million project includes the $750,000 purchase of 3.8 acres adjacent to Mid-Cape Home Centers near downtown Orleans for the development of four townhouses as residences for adults on the autism spectrum. Selectmen chair Sims McGrath congratulated Jones and the volunteer board for "a fabulous job of education and outreach." Jones invited the community to attend its "Unmasking Autism" fundraiser May 5 from 6 to 10 p.m. at Captains Golf Course in Brewster. It's $100 a ticket for a live auction, dancing to the Jeff Lowe Band, a signature cocktail, and food. Masks are encouraged, and costumes are welcome. For tickets (available only in advance), go to capecodvillage.org or call 774-316-4640.

Most school lunches in the Nauset system will rise from $2.75 to $3 next September following federal guidelines that required an increase to at least $2.85. The three elementary school committees other than Orleans voted earlier to raise the cost to $3; Orleans's board voted Monday to hold the line at $2.85. Lunches at the middle and high schools are $3 also.

Speeding on Monument and Tonset roads was on the agenda for the traffic and parking study committee Tuesday. Also up for discussion were bikeways, parking

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lot safety at the middle school, the Main Street reconstruction project, and access changes at Nauset Beach.

The planning board met Tuesday, after the paper's deadline, to host a public hearing on the proposed moratorium on recreational marijuana establishments and marijuana retailers. The board of selectmen will hold a hearing on prohibiting marijuana establishments at its May 3 meeting, which will also include a hearing on establishing a resident beach parking fee.

Selectmen made two Sarah Brown Scholarship awards for $1,000 each in April, tapping funds left to the town for that purpose. The names of the two young women who are attending degree-granting institutions are not made public.

July 2 at dusk are the date and time for the town's Independence Day fireworks

show at Rock Harbor, with a rain date of July 6. The big parade will step off on the Fourth at 10 a.m. The Fourth of July Committee met Wednesday to get an update on the bands participating, the parade theme selection, and the contest winner.

The revenue committee gathers today (April 27) at 11 a.m. to discus its research and presentation on ways to increase grant funding for town efforts, among other topics.

The town's unions have agreed to allow members to be offered high deductible health plans with health savings accounts that are being made available by the Cape Cod Municipal Health Group (CCMHG). The effective date for the option is July 1. The town will pay 75 percent of the employee premium and contribute $1,000 a year for individual plans and $2,000 a year for family plans, representing 50 percent of the annual deductible required by CCMHG. "It's a lower cost for employees, and a savings for the town," Town Administrator John Kelly said.