Mashpee selectmen agree to meeting with tribe

The Mashpee Board of Selectmen voted Monday to take part in a meeting with the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe proposed for March 5. It will be the first time the tribe and the town have met since 2016, according to Selectman Andrew Gottlieb, who pushed the board to come up with a “substantive” agenda for the long-anticipated joint summit.

“If there’s nothing of substance on the agenda, I’m not going,” said Gottlieb, who has expressed frustration about the lack of communication between the tribe and the town.

The selectmen agreed to adopt an agenda Gottlieb proposed, which includes a discussion of tribal views on compliance with Mashpee shellfish regulations; tribal housing plans slated for 58 acres on Meetinghouse Road and their intended compliance with applicable zoning laws; tribal interest in allowing the town to use capacity at the Meetinghouse Road treatment plant; and opportunities to pursue joint funding for wastewater developments.

Mashpee Wampanoag Tribal Council Chairman Cedric Cromwell offered a series of dates for the two entities to convene, according to a tribal spokeswoman.

The meeting would come after the selectmen’s vote to extend a memorandum of understanding allowing the town to deploy police, fire and emergency services on tribal land until Dec. 31. It is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. at tribal government headquarters on Great Neck Road South. Thomas O’Hara, chairman of the Board of Selectmen, said he still had to confirm the meeting and agenda materials with the tribe.