Falmouth Heights-Maravista
Neighborhood Association

Mission Statement

To preserve and improve the residential character of the Falmouth Heights and Maravista neighborhoods.  To protect and enhance our beaches, parks and other public spaces. To encourage activities that promote civic pride and the healthful and peaceful enjoyment of our neighborhoods.  To provide a forum to identify concerns affecting our neighborhoods, make relevant information available to our members, and address areas of concern with appropriate Town bodies.

Current News, Issues & Events

TO READ OLD NEWS, click on dates under “Annual Archive” (left).
ANNUAL “SPRING INTO SUMMER” SOCIAL:  TBA June 2018. Adult members and others considering membership. Hors d’oeuvres; cash bar.
ANNUAL MEETING:  Saturday, August 5, 2017, 8:00 – 10:15 AM, Falmouth Yacht Club.
LPSSA & SEWER HOOKUPS COMPLETED:  See articles since 2012 and “Links” (under Pages, left) for other helpful information.  Also under Pages (left), click on “2016+ Sewer HOOKUPS COMPLETED; Owners’ Reports” to read about your neighbors’ experiences and advice.

Worcester Court/Ave Beautification Project (DPW) Update (posted 7/22/17)

Originally scheduled to be a single phase project, with a targeted completion date of this past June, the water main replacement portion of the project took longer than expected and after this summer’s hiatus, the project will be completed this fall.

Subsequent to DPW head Ray Jack’s presentation at our August 2016 annual meeting, the final design was adjusted over this past winter out of consideration for many abutters’ preference that the privet bushes remain in the landscape.

Jim McLoughlin, Town Engineer, used the renderings below to present the final plan to the Board of Selectmen on April 24, 2017 (gray represents existing plantings; green represents proposed plantings).  As part of his report, he said that all sidewalk intersections would be ADA complaint and that all of the privets would remain.  That meeting can be watched online at http://www.fctv.org/v3/vod/board-selectmen-april-24-2017-part-2 from 1:23 through 1:50.

We anxiously await the project’s completion and commend all involved with the design, planning  and implementation – FHMNA directors, the abutters of Worcester Park, and especially Mr. Jack for his outreach and flexibility.

South section from Grand Ave. heading north.

 

North section heading up to Lake Leaman.

 

Low maintenance, salt air tolerant shrubs/trees.

 

FHMNA Continuing Efforts to Improve Beach Experience (posted 7/16/17)

The following letter from the FHMNA Board was published in the Falmouth Enterprise on July 7, 2017, page 5.  The editorial referenced by that letter can be found at https://www.capenews.net/falmouth/opinion/safety-is-top-priority-for-lifeguards—editorial/article_44627774-9e9b-5020-9aeb-c3e5116915e3.html

Everyone Entitled To Pleasant Beaches

The title of last week’s editorial “Safety Is Top Priority For Lifeguards” was neither news nor clarification.  We all agree that preventing drowning during our 8-week beach season is the most important part of the Beach Department’s mission.

The Falmouth Beach Department’s mission statement can be found online. It reads in part “…assuring that a trip to Falmouth’s beaches is a pleasant, enjoyable and safe experience….”

More than water safety alone is required for a pleasant, safe and enjoyable experience.  The beach department actively ignores several other critical duties, including: maintaining a clean beach, preventing smoking, preventing consumption of alcohol and preventing beachgoers from being struck by projectiles.  Prior beach departments used to do all this.  The current beach leadership chooses to remain uninvolved.

As pointed out in last week’s editorial, lifeguards should not enforce these rules.  We take no issue with what is and what isn’t in the lifeguards’ job description.  We continue to take issue with the beach department’s ongoing neglect of its own stated mission.

To promote a pleasant, safe and enjoyable beach experience, the Falmouth Heights-Maravista Neighborhood Association has, for years, requested that a “beach monitor” position be added.  An ambassador of Falmouth.  A mature individual with a “Beach Monitor” t-shirt and friendly “Beach Monitor” ball cap.  Someone who walks the beach, netting the odd piece of trash, engaging with beachgoers, and if necessary, blowing the occasional whistle at the participants of activities more suitable for a playground or backyard.

FHMNA has repeatedly asked for a one-year beach monitor trial, and we have offered to pay the salary of this individual.  Nationwide, hundreds of other beach departments have beach patrols and/or beach monitors, specifically purposed with ensuring comfort and safety of all beachgoers.  Those in charge of our beaches have consistently refused.

The current policy of omission causes beachgoers to dodge footballs, watch out for Frisbees, breathe tobacco smoke and be displaced by the intoxicated.

This is an ongoing disservice to the thousands of beachgoing Falmouth residents and guests deserving of a pleasant, enjoyable and safe experience.

Howard B. Grosser, President, FHMNA