Apps and Chats with Select Board Candidates Michaela Wyman-Colombo and David Weeden: Water Quality, Housing, and Informed Decision Making.

I highlighted the effectiveness of Mashpee’s current Select Board and the importance of ongoing informed, collaborative decision-making on town issues, especially concerning water quality and the balance between housing and environmental needs. Voters face crucial choices regarding water quality at the May Town Meeting (May 4) and through voting options (May 9 by ballot, mail-in, or early voting from April 27 to May 1). Article 4 and Ballot Question 3 propose allocating $12 million to design a wastewater facility and collection system that will service approximately 1,050 homes in the Waquoit Bay watershed. This project aims to reduce nitrogen entering the watershed by 30%, prevent phosphorus from flowing into Johns and Ashumet Ponds, and decrease nutrient pollution in the Quashnet River. I strongly support this project.

Mashpee residents have shown strong support for wastewater initiatives that, once finished, will remove 46% of nitrogen from Popponesset Bay. Now, our focus should shift to Waquoit Bay. There is still much work ahead to blend affordable housing with our fragile environment. We must safeguard sensitive lands and concentrate development in already disturbed areas served by existing wastewater treatment systems. Failing to integrate environmental protection with new development risks undermining the effectiveness of the wastewater treatment infrastructure we have invested in and will continue to fund.