4th Barnstable District State Rep. Sarah Peake
BOSTON – 4th Barnstable State Representative Sarah Peak has announced $430,000 in state budget funding for local projects, the money is allocated in the state’s 42.7 billion dollar FY20 budget which still must be passed by the Senate and signed by the Governor. Peake has requested the following items, they will recieve state funding if the budget passes in its current form.
$100,000 for the Homeless Prevention Council (HPC) to help with the continued community support of individuals and families on the Lower Cape who are at risk of losing their homes. In 2018, the HPC served 439 families from eight towns of the Lower and Outer Cape. This continued funding will allow the HPC to meet the growing needs of their clients.
$30,000 for continuing to address the traffic safety issues during the busy summer months on Route 6 from the Orleans rotary to Provincetown. The police departments from Provincetown, Truro, Wellfleet and Eastham started this initiative in 2016 in response to fatal accidents that had occurred in previous years. Officers were deployed from each town and focused on aggressive and inattentive driving, texting, and operating under the influence. The program was a success measured by the reduction of fatalities to zero for the first time in many years.
$100,000 for the Community Development Partnership (CDP) of Cape Cod to help continue their initiative to provide a comprehensive community-based strategy to build public support for affordable housing and to equip low-to moderate-income residents, business and community leaders, and local elected and appointed officials with the knowledge and skills to support the creation of more affordable housing on the Lower Cape.
$75,000 for an ecosystem-based study of White Shark presence and behavior within the nearshore areas of Cape Cod. This study would be conducted by the Center for Coastal Studies in coordination with DMF. Taken together, the two projects will enable researchers better understand the physical and biological factors that influence the presence of white sharks, including, tides, ocean currents, bottom configuration, and waves.
Funding in the amount of $75,000 for the Division of Marine Fisheries to continue its import White Shark research tagging program that is critical to understanding the movement ecology, behavior, and natural history of white sharks in the North Atlantic with special emphasis on public safety. The aggregation of white sharks off the coast of Cape Cod is one of only a handful of “hotspots” in the world.
$50,000 for the recently formed Cape Cod Region Shark Information Network. The network consists of a coalition of business, science, and public partners whose purpose is to develop a unified message, enhance public education, and disseminate accurate and timely information to the public regarding the presence of white sharks in the region’s waters. Funding from this amendment will develop and implement a shark-related communications plan to meet this mission.
The $200,000 in shark-related funding is in addition to the $383,000 the Cape Delegation working in collaboration with the Baker-Polito Administration has already secured for the purchase of stretchers, tourniquets, dune vehicles, call boxes for beach parking lots, and satellite phones for lifeguards. This brings the state’s contribution to $583,000 addressing public safety, science and research, and communications needs.
As House Chair of the Regional Transit Authority (RTA) Caucus, Rep. Peake also secured an additional $1,000,000 of funding for the Regional Transit Authorities increasing the statewide funding to $87,000,000.
The budget will now go to the Senate for its consideration.
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