Please Vote “Yes” on Question 3 at the Orleans Election this Tuesday  Question 3 would authorize $4.2 million for the final design of the downtown sewer system, for non-traditional approaches like aquaculture, and for Town adaptive management practices such as water quality monitoring and storm water run-off management to clean up Orleans estuaries and freshwater ponds. A “Yes” vote is a vote for clean water! At the Orleans Town Meeting last Monday night, there was a unanimous vote of approval for Warrant Article 14 that is Question 3 on … [Read more...]

Please attend Orleans Town Meeting on Monday, May 7 at 6:30 P.M. at the Orleans Middle School! Here are six Articles with environmental impact worthy of your support. Article #14: (Fund CWRMP Implementation – Planning, Engineering and Adaptive Management: $4.2 million). Please approve funding for the final design of the downtown sewer system and for non-traditional technologies, including $200,000 for freshwater pond cleanup . Approval will keep the Town on track to qualify for 0% interest loans from the State Revolving … [Read more...]

Celebrate Earth Day - April 21st and 22nd In this Bulletin: Rock Harbor Cleanup Arts for the Earth for Orleans Conservation Trust Love Thy Nature with Association for the Preservation of Cape Cod W.H.A.T.'s Wrong with Plastic Straws? Cape Cod Canal Cleanup Actions to Take on Your Own Divide in Concord - a Film at Snow Library on Plastic Bottles Town Meeting Reminder April 22 marks our nation’s 48th Earth Day, proclaiming a national theme to “End Plastic Pollution.” In a year when national environmental progress seems … [Read more...]

Sewer Construction Begins On March 12th, as another nor’easter approached and heavy equipment worked in the background, members of the Orleans Pond Coalition met in the Friends Marketplace parking lot, walked to the work site and unfurled their banner that read “The Orleans Pond Coalition Says Thank You.”  The brief standout was to celebrate the commencement of construction of the collection system for Orleans' future sewer system. Len Short, a former OPC President and a member of both the Orleans Water & Sewer Board and the Cape Cod … [Read more...]

Join Us For The Orleans Construction Kick-off! Monday, March 5th, 10 A.M. at Friends Market Parking Lot The first steps in sewering downtown Orleans are about to begin! On next Monday, March 5, the street work to install the main sewer collection pipe commences at the intersection of Main Street and Route 28, adjacent to Snow Library and the Orleans United Methodist Church. OPC plans a brief “stand-out” with a thank-you banner to show support for this important project. We will meet in the Friends Market parking lot at 10 A.M. and walk to the … [Read more...]

Join Us For The Orleans Construction Kick-off! Monday, March 5th, 10 A.M. at Friends Market Parking Lot The first steps in sewering downtown Orleans are about to begin! On next Monday, March 5, the street work to install the main sewer collection pipe commences at the intersection of Main Street and Route 28, adjacent to Snow Library and the Orleans United Methodist Church. OPC plans a brief “stand-out” with a thank-you banner to show support for this important project. We will meet in the Friends Market parking lot at 10 A.M. and walk to the … [Read more...]

Update on Uncle Harvey's Pond Tuesday, February 6th at 7 pm Orleans Town Hall, Nauset Room The Marine and Fresh Water Quality Advisory Committee, after considering a wide range of alternatives, recently voted to recommend the use of alum in Uncle Harvey’s Pond to control the phosphorous that contribute to the blooms of dangerous cyanobacteria in the water. The study of Uncle Harvey’s Pond found that 67% of the phosphorus load is generated by existing sediment in the pond. Alum treatment is often the “go to” strategy for moderate to severely … [Read more...]

Climate Change On Cape Cod On behalf of Lower Cape Indivisible, OPC invites you to hear Paul Niedzwiecki, the Executive Director of the Cape Cod Commission, talk about the affect Climate Change is having on the Cape Cod economy. Paul's presentation will take place this Sunday from 3:00 to 4:30 at the Chatham Community Center. Evidence of Climate Change surrounds us on Cape Cod. The waters are already rising along the marshes on Cape Cod Bay. Our lobsters are migrating north to Maine's colder waters. If you haven't already seen the … [Read more...]

OPC's Annual Meeting Just a quick reminder. Our annual meeting is this Saturday morning, October 28th, at the Orleans Waterfront Inn. Refreshments will be available at 9:30 and our meeting will start at 10 a.m. First, we'll take a few minutes to thank OPC's members who were instrumental in helping the town approve laying sewer pipes downtown. After all the years of study and design, we're delighted with the support! We'll then give an update on what we've done this year and we'll also get to hear from Dr. Mayur Dev from Gaia Water. … [Read more...]

The Results Are In . . . . . . and the ballot question approving construction of our downtown sewer pipes passed by a solid majority of 1,102 in favor of moving forward and 412 opposed! Many thanks to all of you who went out and voted, who encouraged their neighbors to vote, who offered rides to the polls for any who needed it, and, most importantly, to everyone who offered their time and energy to protect our waters. This is an important step for the future in Orleans. Our town will move from studies, plans, and designs to actually … [Read more...]

We're Almost Finished! Thank you to everyone who showed up at our Special Town Meeting Monday night. The room was full and, after more than an hour of discussion and debate, Orleans voters overwhelming approved the project to install sewer pipes in the center of Orleans. More than three quarters of our voters endorsed the decision to move forward, At last, Orleans will start to move from studies and designs and start actually building something. By coordinating this project with Mass DOT's work to rebuild the streets in the center of … [Read more...]

A Vote For the Future of Orleans On Monday, Orleans voters will set the direction for the town's future wastewater efforts. We can decide to move forward and demonstrate our commitment to the future of Orleans. Or we can vote to delay or derail our wastewater efforts, sending a clear message that we are unwilling to invest in our future. We urge Orleans voters to look to the future and approve Article 1, a request to fund the construction of a downtown sewer system.  Orleans Special Town Meeting Monday, October 16, 2017 6:30 PM Nauset … [Read more...]

OPC's Annual Meeting Please join us for this year's annual meeting. We'll provide you an update on everything we've been working on and our plans for the coming year. As you'll see below, you'll have an opportunity to meet with Dr. Mayur Dev and Wayne Brummet, executives from Gaia Technologies, a firm with some emerging technology which OPC is looking at to see if they can help clean up our freshwater ponds. This year's annual meeting will take place on Saturday morning, October 28th at the Orleans Waterfront Inn. Refreshments will be … [Read more...]

OPC's Annual Meeting Please join us for this year's annual meeting. We'll provide you an update on everything we've been working on and our plans for the coming year. As you'll see below, you'll have an opportunity to meet with Dr. Mayur Dev and Wayne Brummet, executives from Gaia Technologies, a firm with some emerging technology which OPC is looking at to see if they can help clean up our freshwater ponds.  This year's annual meeting will take place on Saturday morning, October 28th at the Orleans Waterfront Inn. Refreshments will be … [Read more...]

Please join us for this year's annual meeting. We'll provide you an update on everything we've been working on and our plans for the coming year. As you'll see below, you'll have an opportunity to meet with Dr. Mayur Dev and Wayne Brummet, executives from Gaia Technologies, a firm with some emerging technology which OPC is looking at to see if they can help clean up our freshwater ponds.  This year's annual meeting will take place on Saturday morning, October 28th at the Orleans Waterfront Inn. Refreshments will be available at 9:30 and our … [Read more...]

Celebrate Our Waters - Thank You Celebrate Our Waters 2017 is now behind us and we want to thank everyone who came out and joined in the festivities and, more importantly, the many many people and organizations who helped make this happen. This was the eighth year the Orleans Pond Coalition put on our annual festival, and we certainly hope everyone enjoyed the weekend as much as we enjoyed orchestrating it. If you run into them in town, please thank Anne Sigsbee and Carol Counihan, the two key individuals who co-chaired this year's weekend. … [Read more...]

I was sure we were moving forward and went looking for the perfect photograph. Bright yellow daffodils? Forsythia? Perhaps dandelions or hawkweed, giving me a reason to be proud of my neglected, fertilizer and pesticide-free lawn? Not to be. It's been snowing for the past two days and today's temperature is in the 20s. This week's been tough. I'll keep the snowy photograph. Despite this, I'm confident spring will return next week. Within the Orleans Pond Coalition, I'm seeing a burst of activity. We're re-energizing our focus on our ponds, … [Read more...]

      This special edition of the Orleans Pond Coalition's Bulletin is brought to you on behalf of the Orleans Water Quality Advisory Panel. It summarizes the panel's recent meeting on January 20, where AECOM presented quite a bit of material on their effort. It also lists several meetings scheduled for this month, including two this week on the downtown planning effort. Water Quality & Wastewater Planning Program Status Update On January 20th, the Orleans Water Quality Advisory Panel (OWQAP) met with AECOM, … [Read more...]

Winter's finally arrived and those of us wintering on the Cape are in the unusual position of watching our southern friends and family struggle with two feet of snow while we escaped the wrath of Jonas. Hopefully, they'll dig themselves out, their roads will clear, and everyone will be safe. No doubt, we'll have our chance sooner than we know it. Stepping in as president, working with OPC's board, and writing my first Bulletin has given me a chance to look back at OPC's legacy. I'm proud of the organization and I thank all of you for making … [Read more...]