The longstanding issue of whether to build a connector road will come before Tisbury voters again at a special town meeting next week, this time in three parts, but with the total price tag unknown.
The meeting begins at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Tisbury School. There are 12 articles on the warrant. Moderator Deborah Medders will preside.
The plan to build a bypass road connecting Edgartown-Vineyard Haven Road with State Road has been discussed for decades and first formally came before the town in 2004, but has not yet passed muster with voters. The concept is to relieve traffic congestion on the Edgartown-Vineyard Haven Road. At the annual town meeting last spring a proposal to spend $1.3 million for the first phase of the project failed to gain a needed two-thirds majority. An identical request will be back in front of voters Tuesday night. It calls for the town to borrow $1.3 million to build a connector road between Edgartown-Vineyard Haven and Holmes Hole Roads.
A second article seeks approval to use Chapter 90 money to build two other legs which would allow the road to exit at Evelyn Way and High Point Lane. Chapter 90 aid is allocated to towns in the commonwealth to maintain roadways An estimated dollar amount has not yet been set for the cost of building the additional roads.
A third article that relates to the connector road project would allow the town to buy or take by eminent domain a portion of land on Evelyn Way, Olga Road and Lyle Lane in Tisbury. No dollar amount is included in the article.
The finance committee recommends approval of the articles; the town selectmen have not taken a formal position on the project.
In other business on the warrant, the Tisbury selectmen are seeking approval for their plan to buy a parcel of land at 14 Pine street. The property is about four acres and backs up to the Emergency Services Facility on Spring street, where there is a leaching facility. It also abuts the superintendent’s building. The price tag for the purchase is not specified.
Selectman Tristan Israel said the board had decided to pursue the purchase because it is a rare opportunity for the town to own land close to the heart of Tisbury.
“There are no overt plans to do anything there,” Mr. Israel said. The property has a house on it, and Mr. Israel said the tract of land is large enough that multiple possibilities for future projects exist, including elder housing or additional school facilities. On the other side of the property spectrum, voters will be asked to rescind a 2008 special town meeting borrowing article for a solid waste refuse facility, since the facility was never built.
Voters will also be asked to:
• Increase the borrowing authorization by $260,000 to pay for a new leaching facility;
• Approve $36,544 for architectural design fees for a new superintendent’s building;
• Spend $305,000 to fund the repair and replacement of the Tisbury School roof;
• Appropriate $20,000 from the town waterways fund to design and build two pump-out facilities at Owen Park and the Lake street landing.
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