ORlEANS ANNUAl TOwN REPORt FOR YEAR ... - Town Of Orleans

projects. This year, the MPO endorsed a four-year update of the RegionalTransportation Plan and the annual update of the TransportationImprovement Program.As a result of these efforts, approximately $61 million of local and regionaltransportation projects were eligible for funding for Federal Fiscal Years2007 through 2010.• The Cape Cod Commission continued its water resources protection work,contributing to wastewater management, water quality, and water supplyinitiatives.The staff coordinated the technical advisory committee to the Cape CodWater Protection Collaborative and continued to participate as a technicalpartner in the Massachusetts Estuaries Project (MEP), making watershedbasednitrogen-loading assessments of land use affecting Cape Codembayments.The staff also continued to promote pond and lake water-qualitystewardship. Among other studies and data analyses, the Commissioncoordinated the sixth annual water quality “snapshot” involving citizenvolunteers who took 400 samples from 136 ponds and lakes this year. TheSchool of Marine Science and Technology at the University ofMassachusetts–Dartmouth, an MEP partner, analyzed the water samplesin their laboratories without charge; the analysis has an estimated value of$100 per sample.• The Cape Cod Commission continued its solid waste managementplanning work this year by encouraging and organizing Capemunicipalities to make an evaluation of long-term solid waste disposaloptions. One goal of the evaluation is to prepare for the possiblerenegotiation of municipal contracts with the SEMASS waste-to-energyfacility in Rochester, Massachusetts, before current contracts expire(generally 2015). Another is to explore feasible alternatives to SEMASS.The staff sent a proposed work outline to all Cape boards of selectmenand town managers. Each town then nominated a representative to acontract committee that was formally appointed by the Barnstable CountyCommissioners in early summer 2007. By the end of the fiscal year, thestaff had begun researching and compiling a comprehensive “Phase I”report that begins analyzing waste disposal options. The report will beshared and discussed with the contract committee and Capemunicipalities beginning in fall 2007.• The Cape Cod Commission continued its affordable housing work thisyear. The staff coordinated the HOME Consortium, which has brought113