Shoestring Bay flows between two towns on the Cape – Barnstable and Mashpee. While we at Save Our Shoestring live in Barnstable, we work closely with Mashpee Clean Waters to raise awareness of the desperate situation in our Bay. And thanks to the hard work of Mashpee Clean Waters, the town is edging closer to building a wastewater treatment plant and sewer system near the Mashpee transfer station.

As reported in the Mashpee Enterprise, voters approved a debt exclusion for the $2.48 million design project by a margin 1,419 to 459. “The approval of the design project brings Mashpee a step closer to implementing the sewer portion of the town’s comprehensive watershed nitrogen management plan which aims to reduce nitrogen pollution and restore the water quality of the town’s waterways,” the Enterprise noted.

Mashpee selectmen chair Andrew R. Gottlieb said, “The overwhelming vote in favor of starting Mashpee’s clean water program represented a loud statement that the people of Mashpee value clean water. This is the end of the talking about the problem phase and the start of the solving the problem phase, at long last.”

As noted in the Cape Cod Times, the first phase of what could be a five-phase project will cost about $51.2 million with design and construction costs, and the impact on an average-priced home will be about $153.