HARWICH A plan to build a $213 million regional wastewater treatment facility in Dennis was already on the ropes when Dennis and Harwich decided not to place an article ratifying the agreement on their town meeting warrants this year.
But Harwich may have delivered the knockout blow last week when Town Administrator Joseph Powers told the Dennis, Harwich, Yarmouth Clean Waters Community Partnership meeting that his town was pulling out of the deal. There seemed to be some dispute about whether Harwich was officially leaving since selectmen in that town hadn’t actually taken a vote to approve a change in policy.
HARWICH The second town meeting in a row held outside to lessen the potential impact of COVID-19 was not an easy one for voters to endure.
Harwich Town Moderator Michael Ford warned voters at the outset that a hat might be needed as Canada geese were flying overhead. An osprey clutching a fish in its talons, circled, landing on its nest atop a light pole on the Monomoy Regional High School athletic field, the pleading of hungry young birds momentarily interrupting the meeting debate below.
But it was a piercingly cold spring wind sweeping over the field that was especially hard to endure, and it winnowed participants from the more than 250 that constituted a quorum at the start of the meeting to just over 100 by the final article.
The Port got its liquor license renewed, but its entertainment license and allegations of violation COVID-19 rules was postponed to a hearing next week.
HARWICH Selectmen voted Monday night to renew the liquor and entertainment licenses for one of two Harwich Port restaurants that faced allegations they had violated state rules intended to slow the spread of COVID-19.
The board issued a written warning to Ember restaurant and rescheduled the hearing for The Port to 5:30 p.m. May 4. Both restaurants are owned by brothers Justin and Jared Brackett.
In a long and contentious hearing that lasted over three hours and tested the limits of video-conferencing technology and the patience of some board members, selectmen heard from attorneys representing Ember, from Harwich town counsel, Police Chief David Guillemette, patrons and employees of the restaurant and neighborhood residents.