September 27, 2006
Change of heart
By JASON KOLNOS
STAFF WRITER
CHATHAM - Faced with an ultimatum that could dramatically alter how Nauset Beach is operated, the Chatham selectmen yesterday vowed to create a beach management plan that includes protection of shorebirds.
Orleans Selectman Margie Fulcher addresses Chatham selectmen during yesterday's meeting at Chatham Town Hall. The management of Nauset Beach topped the agenda.
(Staff photo by Paul Blackmore)
In July, the Orleans selectmen said they wanted a divorce from Chatham as soon as the towns' intermunicipal beach management agreement expires in April. They said Chatham officials hadn't been reliable partners, with their lack of a detailed beach management plan the primary concern.
With tourism dollars at stake, the beach management dispute is more than a bureaucratic squabble. Most of Nauset Beach was closed to off-road vehicles for about a month this summer to protect two piping plover nests.
At a joint meeting of the Chatham and Orleans boards of selectmen yesterday, officials from the towns attempted to resolve their differences.
David Whitcomb, chairman of the Chatham board, said he hopes creation of a beach management plan will allay Orleans officials' concerns.
''It would be a step in the right direction,'' Jon Fuller, chairman of the Orleans selectmen, responded during a surprisingly relaxed session given the tempers that had flared over steps to protect piping plovers during the summer.
A beach management plan sets rules and regulations regarding appropriate uses and practices on a beach. A plan can have specific requirements for different sections of a beach.
Orleans officials believe they have paid a price for Chatham not having a beach management plan, particularly with regard to endangered shorebirds. The management plan that Orleans uses clearly outlines the responsibilities of the town's piping plover monitor and details how the monitor needs to manage plovers during every stage of their development from nesting to flying away.
The absence of piping plover planning in Chatham may have contributed to several years of state-recommended closures of the southernmost tip of North Beach that has perturbed Orleans officials. Orleans Parks and Beaches Superintendent Paul Fulcher said Chatham hasn't had a monitor on-site to erect signs about the plover habitat by early April, as state regulations recommend. ''What it comes down to is getting all of the symbolic fencing up in a timely manner,'' Fulcher said.
In addition to adopting a management plan that protects shorebirds, Whitcomb said Chatham officials want to help their Orleans counterparts in their efforts to keep Nauset Beach open to ORV drivers as long as possible while protecting the birds.
Another outcome of yesterday's meeting was the creation of a working group including town counsels and beaches officials from both towns. Among the group's tasks will be to consider drafting a regional beach management plan that could carry more weight with state regulators than individual town management plans.
Orleans selectmen said they will have to look at Chatham's beach management plan before entering formal discussions on the towns' Nauset Beach agreement, which spells out management responsibilities and revenue-sharing from beach sticker fees. Any revisions to the agreement must be in place well in advance of Orleans' annual town meeting in May.
Jason Kolnos can be reached at
jkolnos@capecodonline.com. (Published: September 27, 2006)
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