FALMOUTH – Members of the Falmouth Beach Committee went before the town’s select board to provide an update on recent efforts to recruit lifeguards after the summer’s staffing shortage.
Committee member Nancy Quigg said that the group has been actively recruiting this fall since Falmouth was short 15 lifeguards in 2022, which left certain beaches without coverage for parts of the summer.
“Many times at the end of the summer we weren’t able to staff the beaches in September, unfortunately,” Quigg said.
Quigg attended a career and college fair at Falmouth High School this fall to find new hires for next summer and secured 26 signatures of potential recruits for lifeguard and parking attendant jobs.
The committee also reached out to Upper Cape Cod Regional Technical School in Bourne about having a presence at a career day the school is holding in the spring.
Committee Vice-Chair Joe Strazzulla also gave a presentation about upgrading the town’s parking attendant booths.
“The present parking attendant booths are inadequate and do not provide space for seating and proper handicapped access,” Strazzulla said.
Strazzulla said Jill Neubauer Architects designed plans for the new booths pro bono and students at Upper Cape Tech will construct the units, but funds are needed for the project.
The vice-chair said $16,000 is required to build five new booths for next summer. The Select Board will vote on the request during their December 5 meeting.
The Beach Committee also recommended updating the bathhouses at Old Silver Beach and Surf Drive. The aging facilities received fair or poor grades from inspections done in May.
The group advised replacing the current bathhouses with mobile units in the next five years.
By Brian Engles, CapeCod.com NewsCenter
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