b'C H A P T E R T E NYoure a good businessman, but your dredging of the river is not for safety. Theres never been an accident in shallow water before. People would run aground and you got them off. Youre doing this for money. Its not for the benefit of the river or for those who live along it.Weeks later, the selectmen stood up to the issue. Says Scott Tappan, they chose to abandon the dredging and return to the state the money they had gotten as a grant, because it was costing too much. The amount of effort was going to be tremendous.As for FCWs August session, Scott Tappan points out that it was a one- topic meeting. It was obviously chosen as a current, hot-button issue, and FCW was not afraid to tackle it. I think it was an excellent service.Its a safe bet that, over time, FCW has lived up to one specific obligation more than any other. That is to spread out facts and figures on local issues to edify town residents. That responsibility comes straight from the organizations Statement of Purpose: FCWs assignments must include defining issues of public concern for public discussion and debate, preparation of informational materials, (and) sponsoring public forums. You dont have to troll very long in the records to see how consistendy FCW has met that mandate.The August 1995 session on dredging Oyster River exemplifies that obligation. It could have settled for being an advocate against deepening the channel; that certainly would have fit in with its seminal concern for uses of town waterways. But the FCW board had a better idea: why not schedule an open forum to put all the pros and cons before the public? No other option could have had greater utility.There Was Adequate PrecedentEarly in 1987, FCW had found good cause to sponsor a similar public forum. In a way, the town was still reeling from the shock caused when the January 2 northeaster broke through Nauset Beach, leaving a cut that disrupted the dynamics of the inboard harbor and bay. Writing to FCW members that April 15, President Richard Batchelder spoke about the confusion stirred up by the storm, saying there is a need for data so that public policy makers are as informed as possible.To that end, FCW had decided to support a timely educational effort in the shape of a forum on April 25. Dr. Graham S. Giese of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution would lay out the relevant research. Then, a five-person panel would pick up where he left off; the participants: Chairman of Selectmen William Litchfield; Andrew Young, president of the186'