via CapeCodTimes.com – Unhappy Cotuit residents mull break with Barnstable.
Nothing like talk of secession to get the blood flowing in February on Cape Cod. Cotuit seceding from the Town of Barnstable won’t happen, too many reactionary conservatives will fret about services and infrastructure. So the idea fades again into a quiet death, but it’s been tried before and is always good for some heated discussions about tar-and-feathering the scoundrels in Hyannis.
This article in the Cape Cod Times cracks me up. I know where it emanated and it astonishes me that it made it to the paper. Then again, my case of salmonella last summer made the front page of the CCT, so nothing is beneath its notice.
Beach and dock parking for Cotuit residences only? Think of all the moorings!!! and the empty harbor? Delicious. Pull up the ladder and dig the moat.
Yeah, well, the problem with the harbor is it doesn’t, technically, belong to the town, but to the Feds. US Army Corps of engineers has the lead there, so that’s why a resident of Sandwich can hold a Barnstable mooring. Parking — yes, definite bonus.
If you think about it. Between the soon to be sold elementary school, the preexisting fire department/water district, Cotuit is poised to go on its own. All that you need is a couple constables/police, a deal with Mashpee or Barnstable for high school student attendance, and ta-da. Done. The rest of it — clerk, tax collector, school department — all will need to be built and maintained as minimally as possible. Then comes the dreaded Chapter 40B affordable housing mess. If the town could avoid any state funding, then it could avoid an imposition of affordable housing — a noble cause, but in fact a gaping loophole for scum developers to force condo conversion and mega-dense crap on a nice historic town.
But …. the old farts in town will spook on any whiff of increased taxes. The Millbillies will freak at losing parking access to the beaches. Town council will do its utmost to stop it. And the Cotuit-Santuit Civic Association, aka WOE (We’re Opposed to Everything) will cave and get all technically concerned.
Secession is sedition, and there aren’t enough wild-eyed libertarians around to make this happen. Me? I’m all for it just for the sake of the drama.