WELLFLEET NONRESIDENT TAXPAYER’S ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER
Wellfleet, MA: Summer 2005 Vol. IV, No. 1
President : May Ruth Seidel
Vice Presidents: Aida Donald; Chick Holtkamp
Secretary: Lila Croen
Treasurer: Curtis Lippincott
Board of Directors: Dorothy Altman; Tom Baratz; Tina Browne; Sam Frank; David Garrison; Karen Holtkamp; Robert Mangiaratti; Marian Lief Palley; Edwards Rullman; Marilyn Silver; James Ho
od; Mary Von Kaesborg; Elga Wasserman; Agnes Wolfe
Administrative Assistant: Jean Schaefer
Contributors to this Issue: Tom Baratz, Aida Donald, Edwards Rullman, Jean Schaefer, May Ruth Seidel
A NOTE FROM THE EDITOR
The WNRTA Newsletter is now four years old. We are very pleased that the response that we have received to our twice yearly newsletter has been so positive. We hope that you continue to enjoy receiving the newsletter and that you will consider contributing articles and letters to future issues.
Summer is nearly here and our organization_s leaders have been busy planning activities for July and August. I hope that you will plan to join us at these events. See The President_s message for scheduled events.
A new feature has been added to the Newsletter. We will try to provide you with some history about Wellfleet and its early citizens. In this issue there is a story about Captain Alonzo Dow Baker.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
• A Note from the Editor …………………….1
• President's Message……………………..1-2
• A Special Feature: Captain Baker ..…….2-3
• Did you know that King George III did it?..3
• Wetlands protection update………………...3
• Municipal Water System Update………….3
• The Personal Property Tax……………....3-4
• Did you know?..............................................4
• Town of Wellfleet Transfer Station hours....4
• The state of the Wellfleet harbor………....4-5
• Community Preservation Act……………....5
• Wellfleet 2020……………………………...5
• Useful information……………………….5-6
• Letters to the Editor………………………...6
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
Town Meeting completed it’s mission in one evening this year, passing all items on the Warrant. Residents approved a $400,000 override in order to maintain existing services, keep the library open a few additional hours and provide additional staff at the Senior Center. Twenty-five cents will be added to the tax rate.
Voters also approved a $1.2 million land bank appropriation to purchase 25 acres of the Chequessett Yacht and Country Club. If the Town approves the opening of the Herring River dike this land will be used by the entire community for recreation.
Approval was also given to purchase additional acres in the Fox Island and Pilgrim Spring areas for conservation. The voters also approved the Community Preservation Fund; it will replace the Land Bank.. (See Sam Frank’s article about the CPF.)
On May 2, 2005 elections were held and Dale Donovan (unopposed) was elected to~serve another term as a selectman.
Voters also approved a separate Board of Water Commissioners. The selectmen have served as this board but will now appoint citizens to serve as a separate Board. Applications are being accepted now.
This summer we will be hosting three activities for our members:
Thursday, July 14, 2005: The Herring River Dike - What is the history? Should it be opened? Why make a change?
Monday, August 1, 2005: Wellfleet 2020 : What is a new Local Comprehensive Plan? What can this mean to non-resident taxpayers?
Thursday, August 18, 2005: To Be Announced
All meetings will be held at the Senior Center , 715 Old King’s Highway at 7:30pm.
I look forward to our being together in Wellfleet this summer.
May Ruth Seidel, President
A SPECIAL FEATURE
WELLFLEET’S MOST FAMOUS NON-RESIDENT: CAPTAIN ALONZO DOW BAKER (1840 - 1908)
Even though Captain Lorenzo Dow Baker was born in Wellfleet in 1840, he spent 21 years of his adult life as a part time resident. Having made his fortune in the banana trade by the time he was 41 years old, he found himself lonely and depressed because his business interests required him to be in Jamaica so much of the time while his family lived in Wellfleet. Consequently, in 1881, he moved his wife and 4 children to Jamaica. He and his family spent most of the year in Jamaica and lived in Wellfleet during the summer and early fall.
Early life
As the 8th & youngest child of a fisherman and his wife, Alonzo grew up on a homestead on Bound Brook Island on the bay side of northern Wellfleet. When he was 6, his mother died and his dad married a widow with several children of her own. Needless to say, his was not an easy life. He was apprenticed to a fishing captain at age 10, became a cook on a fishing schooner at age 15 and was considered an outstanding fisherman at the age of 18. By age 20, he was captain of a fishing schooner and eventually owned his own fishing schooner, “Vineyard”. He married his childhood sweetheart, Martha, when he was 21 and she was 17. They had 4 children, Lorenzo Jr., Joshua, Martha and Reuben. He was a devout Methodist and a devoted husband and family man. For nine years, he made his living as a sea captain and fisherman.
Banana Trade
In 1870, at age 30, Captain Baker made his first voyage to the tropics with his newly purchased ship, “Telegraph”. His cargo was mining equipment for Venezuela. On his return, he picked up a cargo of bamboo in Jamaica, where he tasted his first banana. He decided to introduce the exotic fruit to northern markets and he included some bunches in his cargo. However, upon arrival in New York City, the bananas were spoiled and could not be sold. Captain Baker was not deterred. The next year, he returned to Jamaica and loaded his ship with unripe (green) bananas. This time the bananas were just ripe enough when he docked in New York to earn a substantial profit.
Captain Baker spent the next 10 years expanding and developing his fruit importing business which became the foundation of the Boston Fruit Co. and made possible the giant conglomerate United Fruit Company (Chiquita brand) that still exists to this day. He acquired business partners and formed a company called L. D. Baker Company in 1879. The Boston Fruit Company evolved from it in 1885. His companies purchased 7 plantations in Jamaica to grow the bananas; purchased many ships to quickly transport the fruit to northern markets; and created a marketing group to advertise and create demand for the fruit in the northern states.
Sadly, Captain Baker lost control of his Boston Fruit Company in 1889. The other members of the board of directors secretly purchased enough shares in the company to achieve a majority ownership and forced him off the governing board. The other members of the board felt that Captain Baker was stifling the further development of the company with his distrust of corporate financiers, and his unbending will to continue small business practices to manage a huge and expanding corporation. When the remaining board members created The United Fruit Company, he was not included.
Beginning of the Wellfleet Tourist Industry
Mr. Baker was an entrepreneur and participated in many business ventures. The one venture that affected Wellfleet most profoundly was the construction of the Chequessett Inn on the Mercantile wharf (on Kendrick Avenue at Mayo Beach) a few years after he purchased the wharf in 1885. The building of the Inn led to the birth of the tourist industry in Wellfleet. It was a magnificent structure with 4 stories, 62 guest rooms, various dining & meeting rooms, surrounded by porches and verandas. It provided luxury accommodations and dining for the rapidly growing class of affluent people of the 1890s and early 1900s. They arrived in Wellfleet by train and were transported from the depot to the Inn (less than a mile) by horse and buggy. (The train depot was located on Commercial Street next to the present-day Lobster Hut
Restaurant. The Chequessett Inn was located next to the present-day Wellfleeter Condominium Cottages.) In the early 1900s, mosquitoes became a major nuisance to the Inn_s guests and many refused to stay at the Inn. Consequently, the Herring River Dike was constructed in 1908 to drain the marshes where the mosquitoes hatched and multiplied.
Mr. Baker also owned an even larger inn and hotel in Jamaica called “The Titchfield”. The Titchfield was only open during the winter season, while the Chequessett Inn was only open during the summer season. Many times Captain Baker used the same staff in both locations, thus providing year around employment for many persons both in Jamaica and Wellfleet. For those who did not want to travel, these inns also provided much needed part-time employment.
Good works
During this time, Captain Baker made every effort to improve the living conditions of citizens in both Jamaica and Wellfleet. He believed that his financial success was only a fulfillment of God_s will and that it was his duty and obligation to help those who lived in his winter and summer hometowns. In Jamaica, he built a hospital and many schools; paid decent wages and provided better living conditions for his local workers and their families. In Wellfleet, he helped rebuild the Methodist Church when it was struck by lightning and burned in 1891. You can visit the present-day Methodist Church on Main Street to see stained glass windows and a magnificent pipe organ donated by Captain Baker and his family.
Final chapter
In 1903 his wife Martha died at the age of 59. In 1908, Captain Baker died of a bronchial ailment at the age of 68. After his death, his 3 sons continued to manage his real estate holdings, his hotels and his various business activities in both Jamaica and Wellfleet.
A March 1934 storm destroyed the Chequessett Inn. This represented the end of the final chapter of the Captain Lorenzo Dow Baker era. During the gale, high winds tore away most of the porches. Ice floes were thrown against the pier pilings, thus undermining the very foundation of the structure. In July 1934, the remains were torn down, leaving only the stumps of the pilings, now visible only at low tide. Even though the Chequessett Inn is only a memory, Captain Baker_s 31 room summer home, “Belvernon” still exists near the center of Wellfleet on Baker Avenue, off of Bank Street. His grandson, Captain Reuben Baker, a licensed sea captain, currently resides there.
DID YOU KNOW THAT GEORGE III DID IT?
King George III granted to private settlers in the Massachusetts colonies the ownership of the land down to the low water mark, and that is still the law in the state. In 1641 and 1647 colonial charters reserved to the
public the right to fish, fowl, and boat in a private area between high and low water. Since that time nothing else has been allowed on private beaches and the state’s Supreme Judicial Court has upheld the old laws. The Court will not countenance walking on private beaches, let alone dallying with a picnic basket or sunbathing. The Court even declared that aquaculture, a large industry in Wellfleet--some estimate it as a two-million dollar business--is not fishing but framing and is thus allowed by law. Acquaculturists need to own their own waterfront, or get a private beach owner’s permission to cultivate. Of course King George could have chosen to follow Justinian, the Roman Emperor, who, when he codified the law, declared that the air and ocean should be free. But George wanted docks and piers to be built to
aid commerce. After 1776 many states followed the old Roman and not mad George, and their beaches are open to all.
WETLANDS PROTECTION UPDATE
A new approach to permitting work in the 100-foot area adjacent to wetlands, commonly referred to as the “buffer zone,” went into effect March 1, 2005, Robert W. Golledge, Jr., commissioner of the Department of
Environmental Protection, has announced. Previously, the DEP required a 100 foot setback, or “buffer zone,” to protect wetlands. The DEP ~is now ~requiring a 50 foot setback, but ~also has added specific limitations for work in the second 50 feet of the “buffer zone.” College states that clear standards are in place for work in the “buffer zone,” and the DEP will aggressively enforce its rules. It will also establish a fair and efficient appeals procedure.
(With thanks to Robert W. Golledge, Jr.’s article in the Cape Codder, March 4, 2005.)
MUNICIPAL WATER SYSTEM UPDATE
The big news is that Wellfleet voted on election day to set up a Board of Water Commissioners (BOWC) separate from the Board of Selectmen (BOS) although the BOS will appoint the members of the BOWC. By the end of May, the new well, built to expand capacity, will be on line to allow 22 residential equivalents to be hooked up to the municipal water system. Thirty property owners applied for hookups, and seven properties, with the worst water quality, were chosen to get potable water. They actually equaled more than the 22 residential equivalents. The hookup cost for a three bedroom house has been set at $10,000, with an escalating scale based on property usage. To keep up water quality, the system will be flushed frequently, and thousands of gallons of potable water will be spilled onto the ground at Baker’s
field.
Bottom of Form
THE PERSONAL PROPERTY TAX
A personal property tax has been paid by non-resident homeowners for some time. This year the state-determined ratios for the tax expire. If towns want to keep the tax, they must now impose it on their own. It has been estimated that Wellfleet’s personal property tax amounts to $200,000 a year, and there has been little, or no attempt, to eliminate it. The assessors’ association has lobbied the legislature for the creation of a policy that would permit all Cape towns to employ the same system of ratios in assessing the tax. As this article is written, nothing has yet been done on a state-wide basis, but stay tuned and watch your email.
Wellfleet’s personal property tax is a flat rate of 8% on the assessed value of a non-resident’s home and 4% on a condominium. Some towns are now petitioning the state to set a 1% tax on the personal property of non-residents. If the state responds to these petitions Wellfleet might reconsider its tax percentage. If a lower percentage leads to a diminution of tax receipts, the real estate tax will have to be raised to make up for the shortfall. Some homeowners think this is fairer than just levying a tax on non-residents. The specter of discrimination has been raised.
(With thanks to Thomas F. Cronin, for many of the facts, in the Cape Codder, March 18, 2005)
DID YOU KNOW?
Fido and all his friends are allowed on Wellfleet’s town beaches on 6 foot leashes before 9 A.M. and after 5 P.M. from June through Labor Day.
Wellfleet is one of five Cape towns with the largest tax increase from 2002-2005, with a 77.2% figure. It shares the honor with Brewster, Edgartown, Eastham, and Chatham.
Sixty four percent of the houses in Wellfleet are non-resident, second homes ( 2600 homes).
In 2003 Wellfleet had 1300 resident households and, of these, 71% owned their own homes (the latter figure is from 1999).
In 2002 the child poverty rate in Wellfleet was 17%.
In 2003, 2.8% of year round housing units in Wellfleet were “affordable housing.”
Along with many beautiful antique homes, Wellfleet sports some very interesting modern houses. They were designed by world-class architects in the new, international style, and include some from the famous Bauhaus school. These giants of the built environment include the architects Walter Gropius, Marcel Breuer, Serge Chermayeff, and Nathaniel Saltonstall. The Saint James, the Fisherman, Church was built in the international style. There is some effort to preserve these
treasures.
Those interested in more information can contact Kathleen Burge at kburge@globe.com
TOWN OF WELLFLEET TRANSFER STATION HOURS
The Wellfleet Transfer Station is now open seven days a week from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm. Recycling closes at 3:30 pm. The Transfer Station is located on Coles Neck Road in Wellfleet. Paint recycling takes place on the third Saturday of each month from 8:00 am to 2:00pm. For more information call: Transfer Station at 508-349-0335 or the Dept. of Public Works at 508-349-0315.
THE STATE OF THE WELLFLEET HARBOR
While all the aquatic creatures in and around Wellfleet Harbor hunkered down under the snow and ice for the long winter, there was action ashore. Plans and programs were advanced in harbor related activities with the common goal of preserving and enhancing the many-faceted environmental habitat that is Wellfleet’s centerpiece.
It is no small challenge to identify and promote long-term environmental and economic goals while
enforcing regulations, conditions and limitations on the uses that are appropriate, be they economic, upon which means of support depend for many, recreational, health related or for scenic enjoyment.
In November of 2004, WNRTA was a co-sponsor off the Second Annual State of Wellfleet Harbor Conference, attended by more than a hundred persons at the Senior Center. Among topics presented was an exploration of the potential benefits of restoring the presently degraded Herring River salt marsh which is situated within the National Seashore, as well as the possible
negative impact on shellfish propagation and beach habitat downstream of the dike and alleged potential damage to private property in the salt marsh restoration area. A memo of understanding has been drafted between the National Seashore and the town of Wellfleet setting conditions for proceeding with the project. This has been a divisive issue for some years and, if implemented, will be closely monitored.
A document entitled HARBOR MAINTENANCE PLAN is nearing completion by the Natural Resources
Advisory Board, chaired by Douglas Franklin. Its purpose is nothing less than specifications for the
ongoing and future management of Wellfleet Harbor as a habitat for commerce, recreation, health promotion and scenic asset. It is a comprehensive update/revision, chapter by chapter, of a 1995 plan which was neither state certified nor locally adopted and will be submitted for review by the Selectmen and for public comment. The draft text can be downloaded from the town website, http://www.wellfleetma.org
Down at the marina, harbormaster Mike Flanagan and his crew are busy as of this writing resetting a few pilings raised by winter ice and preparing slips and moorings for the boating season. Bids are out for (post season) repair of the launching ramp damaged by recent dredging. In the planning stage is a new dock with slips for transient yachts. This will consolidate services to visiting boaters while freeing some additional seasonal slips for which there is a long waiting list. ~Revenue from the proposed transient slips will augment the enterprise fund. Reconstruction and landscaping of the pier itself, however much desired, is for now but a gleam in the collective eye of all concerned.
QPX means quahog parasite unknown. To certain Wellfleet fishermen it can mean disaster, since the only known response to its spread in affected quahog beds is elimination of the entire stock of animals exposed. Although harmless to humans and not occurring in other shellfish, both its spread and the prevention of same can mean severe hardship to quahog propagators. Reports of QPX from two affected sites during the winter have prompted monitoring of the condition and timely preventive measures to contain it. Since the parasite favors warm water, it is hoped that its discovery in Wellfleet this winter may favor its timely elimination.
COMMUNITY PRESERVATION ACT
By a vote of 416 to 159, the Wellfleet Town Meeting recently decided to implement the Community Preservation Act (CPA) to replace the provisions of the Cape Cod Land Bank. The 3% surtax on real estate taxes currently being collected under the Land Bank will be continued under the CPA. The major differences are that, under CPA, the State will match monies collected by the towns, and there are broader objectives.
The CPA enabling legislation mandates that a town expend a minimum of 10% of these funds on each of three objectives: affordable housing, open space preservation and historic preservation. Recreation is also supported, but no minimum is mandated. As an example, 80% of the funds available at a given time could be devoted to open space acquisition, and the remaining 20% would be reserved for future affordable housing and historic preservation purposes. Town Meeting action is normally required to approve CPA expenditures and to continue collection of the surcharge from year to year.
CPA is a powerful tool for towns to deal with issues of growth and housing. Roughly $500,000 will accrue to Wellfleet annually, under this program. The Wellfleet voters are to be congratulated.
WELLFLEET 2020
In 1995, Wellfleet prepared a Local Comprehensive Plan (LCP), or master plan, to itemize all the current and future issues facing the town that could then be identified. Each issue was categorized as to time frame (e.g., short term) and was assigned to one or more town committees and/or boards for its consideration and action. Over the years, assessments were made as to what, if any, action had to be taken by the town to address each issue.
Master plans require updating their validity as guidelines~ for town action, and a new LCP committee, under the chairmanship of Ben Gitlow, was created by the Selectmen. On April 16, 2005 the committee held a community breakfast at the Senior Center. The 30 (or so) attendees ~identified their concerns, which included all the usual suspects, such as affordable housing, water quality, downtown revitalization, etc. A draft survey for wide distribution was then prepared by a Barnstable County staff person and is being critiqued.
The final survey will be sent to 1500 randomly-selected town residents and non-resident taxpayers. A 40% response is expected. The results will be tabulated this summer. The information thus generated will be provided to the LCP committee for its consideration in preparing the updated comprehensive plan.
The WNRTA Annual Meeting program on Monday evening, August 1, 2005 is being designed to inform our members of the Wellfleet 2020 survey and to present an opportunity for our members to ask questions and make suggestions.
USEFUL INFORMATION
Pick up a free copy of the Wellfleet Chamber of Commerce “Wellfleet on Cape Cod - 2005” and note the WNRTA block at the top of page 56 and our listing on page 73 under “Associations and Organizations.”
Current Transfer Station Hours: Open 7 days a week from 8:00am to 4:00pm. Recycling closes at 3:30pm. Paint recycling is on the third Saturday of each month from 8:am to 2:00pm.
The Wellfleet Police Department will hold a Citizen’s Police Academy this July and August if enough people are interested. There will be 6 weekly sessions in the Police Department’s training room on Thursdays from 7-9pm. The intent is to allow Wellfleet residents and non-residents an opportunity to see the day-to-day operations of the Police Department. Topics will include E-911 communications, administrative functions, criminal investigations, drunk driving enforcement, use of force issues and a ride along in~a cruiser with an officer. A fire arms class will include a presentation of department issued weapons and a trip to the range to shoot the weapons. If you would like to attend or have questions contact Officer Michael Hurley at 508-349-3702, via email at mhurley@cape.com or stop by the Police Department for an application.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Dear Editor:
1. Portable toilets at Long Pond and Indian Neck are cleaned daily. The floors are walked on by wet and sandy feet for 24 hours before the next cleaning. Folks who use portables should always wear something on their feet. Hand soap dispensers which are resistant to tampering will be looked into. The broken door at Indian neck will be addressed.
2. The Department of Public works has been notified that parking lines on the asphalt at Indian neck are needed. However, after last summer’s fire works accident, this might not be possible.
3. The cost of purchasing materials and creating ropes and buoys at Mayo Beach was not included in this year’s budget. With a $300,000 override hanging over Wellfleet, new projects were not looked upon favorably. The Beach Administrator is not certain where swimming areas lie because, over the past ten years, shell fishing has been very active at Mayo Beach. She will check the records to learn if there is information spelling out the swimming areas.
4. The DPW has been notified that the boardwalk from the parking areas to Mayo Beach needs to be cleaned.
5. Larger signs for entrance and exit at Gull Pond are planned for this summer.
6. Unfortunately, nature does not consider how difficult it is for elderly and disabled to access ocean beaches in Wellfleet. Newcomb Hollow stairs were destroyed within two years after installation. Suzanne Thomas, our Beach Administrator, writes, “The thought of putting out the steps and then removing them is problematic because once you go beyond the second set of eight steps, a crane is required to place them and remove them. Wellfleet does not own a crane and the few local businesses that have cranes have too small an ‘arm’ to do this job. The only crane in New England large enough is in Vermont. The cost of coming to Wellfleet and doing the stair placement and removal would not only cost many thousands of dollars twice a season, but also would not be available in case of storms.”
7. Some businesses have changed hands in Wellfleet. Mac’s Seafood will be renting space in the new Wellfleet Marketplace and is also open for business at the Wellfleet harbor and in Truro. Aesop’s Table has been sold and the new owners will open a family restaurant
Suzanne Thomas
WNRTA Informal Survey of It’s Members
WELLFLEET 2020
The Local Comprehensive Plan Committee is randomly surveying 1500 resident and non-residents to ask their high priorities when planning for Wellfleet 2020. The WNRTA Annual Meeting on Monday, August 1, 2005 will be an opportunity for our members to learn results of the Town survey and to voice their desires for Wellfleet’s future. In addition, I urge you to answer the questions below and return them in the envelope provided by June 30, 2005.
1. List up to 3 things you would like protected in Wellfleet.
2. List up to 3 problems you want corrected in Wellfleet.
3. List up to 3 things you want improved, expanded or added in Wellfleet.
Thank you,
May Ruth Seidel
President
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