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Photo Pru Sowers
State Sen. Robert O’Leary met with Provincetown selectmen Friday to discuss a variety of legislative issues that would impact the town. |
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O’Leary discusses Provincetown priorities
Banner Daily Update posted Mon. Aug. 20
By Pru Sowers
Banner Staff
PROVINCETOWN – State Sen. Robert O’Leary met with selectmen Friday to discuss a variety of legislative issues that could have a wide-ranging impact on the town.
Selectmen also lobbied for their own pet projects in the hopes that O’Leary would take up their cause. In particular, selectman Pam Parmakian asked O’Leary for help convincing the Cape Cod National Seashore to install a cellular telephone tower near the Provincetown Municipal Airport. Selectman Michele Couture asked for financial help for the town if it decides to build a commercial boat pump-out station on MacMillan Pier. And selectman Lynne Davies asked O’Leary for an update on efforts to require condominium owners who rent out their property to collect the same 9.7 percent room tax that guesthouses and motels do on overnight accommodations.
On that issue, O’Leary was not hopeful, saying that while there was some support from state Senators, speaker of the house of representatives, Salvatore DiMasi, would not let the room tax bill come to the floor.
“It’s a revenue bill so it has to originate in the house. The speaker is very resistant. I wouldn’t raise your hopes. It’s unlikely until we get a new speaker,” O’Leary said.
O’Leary was more positive about the possibility of procuring state funding for Provincetown to build a commercial pump-out facility on MacMillan Pier. Discussions have begun on the possibility of declaring the entire Cape Cod Bay a no discharge area, meaning commercial and recreational boats would not be allowed to empty their septic tanks into the bay even if they are beyond the legal three-mile limit.
The Provincetown Public Pier Corp. has been discussing the possibility of building a holding tank on MacMillan Pier that non-recreational vessels such as whale watch and commercial fishing boats would pump their sewage into. The contents of the tank would be released into the municipal sewer system during non-peak times.
O’Leary asked if there was enough capacity in the sewer system to handle the flow from the holding tank. Couture replied that the town is currently reserving 20,000 gallons of sewer capacity for the affordable housing development on Shank Painter Road that won’t be needed for a few years and might be used for the holding tank.
“So this is something that fits [within Provincetown’s capabilities] if there is money,” O’Leary said. “That’s encouraging.”
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Aug 16th, 2007