Riverview expansion on Twin Brooks property a good step but not a cure for housing crisis
Editor's note: This article has been updated to correct Felicia Penn's relationship with Save Twin Brooks. She is not a member of the organization's board.
I am pleased that Riverview School has purchased the Twin Brooks property for a new campus to expand their mission. The possibility of multiple new classroom buildings, athletic fields, and housing for the hundreds of students and staff will be a welcome addition to Downtown Hyannis.
Of course, one of the biggest challenges facing our schools, including Riverview, is the lack of housing for working professionals including teachers. NIMBY (not in my backyard) groups like Save Twin Brooks are misguided in blocking housing, such as the former Emblem Hyannis proposal for the Twin Brooks golf course site. In fact, the new Barnstable Town Council President Felicia Penn has a history of opposing construction projects in Downtown Hyannis going back many years.
It’s a shame that a small group of leaders and retired people who already own their house spend time raising money to hire lawyers to stop needed housing like Emblem Hyannis. Emblem would have preserved over 20 acres for conservation while providing 40 units of desperately needed affordable housing, as well as hundreds of much-needed market-rate units for our teachers, first responders, doctors, nurses and working professionals.
Luckily, under the Dover Amendment, institutions like Riverview can now move forward with their full vision, including housing, without interference from members of Save Twin Brooks. That is a win for all of us who care about our residents, our local businesses, our teachers and for all who know that housing is vital to the future of Barnstable.
Tara Vargas Wallace, Hyannis
Laken Riley would be alive if undocumented immigrant had remained in custody
Melissa A. Sullivan’s opinion titled “Being a female runner shouldn't be dangerous. Laken Riley's death reminds us it is” (March 3) underscores female runners should be mindful and provides tips for ensuring one’s safety, but Sullivan misses the mark on the big picture and the root cause of the murder of female jogger, Laken Riley. She would be alive today had an undocumented person who was apprehended in multiple states not been released back into society.
Sullivan criticizes those who are victim-blaming but fails to place blame where it is due. The alleged murderer entered the country illegally and had committed federal and state crimes in multiple states but was roaming about freely.
Policies that have been propelled by President Biden and Democrats left Laken’s murderer in the U.S. and free to kill.
As a female jogger, society needs to put the safety of every American first and that begins with stricter border policies and prosecution of criminals.
Eileen Corr, Brewster
Vineyard Wind 1 signs should celebrate not scare
“Putting their Butts on the line” was an interesting title for the front page article in Sunday’s (March 10) Times. The news report tells of the Barnstable Town Council’s choice to put signs on Covell Beach indicating the location of the cables bringing power ashore from the Vineyard Wind 1 offshore wind farm.
I think there are many good reasons to label this area. Perhaps we could start with a sign celebrating how government and industry worked together to help reduce the use of fossil fuels and help stem global warming. We might have signs indicating the historical significance of this project, similar to those at the Marconi site in Wellfleet.
However, the signs being proposed seem disingenuous and misleading. They intend to imply danger from the cables, while the impact from the electromagnetic field has been shown to be negligible — or none. It will make an issue of a non-issue. We use electronic devices all the time without giving them a second thought.
Questions about EMFs are very important and have been asked and answered again and again over many years. Posting these signs feels like a way to cause fear when there is no evidence of possible harm. Renewable energy, in general, and wind power specifically, are some of the ways we might “save our butts” from the very real dangers of global warming.
John Mulkeen, Marstons Mills
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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Twin Brooks sale to Riverview School a positive step for Hyannis
