Menemsha is gearing up for the high season. On their semi-annual walkabout last week, Chilmark selectmen were joined by planning board members, the town harbor master and police chief for a harbor stroll and close review of docks, pilings, buildings and signs.
Bill Rossi, selectman and board chairman, said upcoming priorities include a small dredging project near Crab Creek and efforts to organize fishing gear along the commercial dock, allowing for safe pedestrian passage.
Pedestrian safety and traffic issues in Menemsha are a main focus in Chilmark these days as a planning board subcommittee works to update the town master plan. An 11-page interim report was released in late March.
Work by the subcommittee has already led to some fixes for the coming summer. A vote at a special town meeting in December authorized $18,000 to improve the park and ride lot on Tabor House Road. The lot has been home base for a summer shuttle in and out of Menemsha for the past two years. The shuttle began as an experiment and is now a permanent town service.
Mr. Rossi listed lighting, grading and a bus shelter as coming improvements to the Tabor House Road lot. The town recently bought two solar lights for the lot. The bus shelter may not be finished until fall.
No significant changes to parking in Menemsha are planned for this summer, but a Martha’s Vineyard Commission traffic planner is scheduled to visit on June 8 for a walkabout and meeting with the planning board.
Janet Weidner, a member of the master plan subcommittee, said the hope is to come away with some recommendations to consider.
She added that while the master plan’s short-term goals focus on traffic and pedestrian safety, the board hopes to see the plan also address longer-term issues such as sea level rise and the future of the fishing industry. Menemsha is also home to a U.S. Coast Guard station.
For now, Stanley Larsen, owner of Menemsha Fish Market, said the commercial fishing outlook is good. “There have been a lot of mackerel around this year, that’s a good sign — a lot of bait fish, so maybe that will help in the future to keep the other big fish around,” he said. He noted changing commercial regulations that decrease the fluke quota and increase the sea bass quota.
Also a commercial sea scalloping operation could be coming to Menemsha this summer. John Keene, president of the Martha’s Vineyard Fishermen’s Preservation Trust, said his group is working to secure a quota that can be leased to Island fishermen.
There will be a few changes in village commerce this season.
The Oliver family will resume their proprietorship of Menemsha Market, formerly run by Debbie Packer. Over South Antiques, formerly owned and operated by Jane Slater, will become Creekville, a gallery for art and antiques run by Doug Seward.
On Tuesday, the selectmen will review an application from Suzanna Keene who has applied for a common victualler’s license to operate Beetlebung Farm Market, formerly Beetlebung Coffee House, on Basin Road. She hopes to sell Island produce and pantry items, with an eye toward expanding service to coffee and prepared foods by fall.
More technology upgrades could be on the horizon too following last summer’s pilot of the American Tower Corporation-provided TelecomTrash Stations, which offer beachgoers and boaters wireless internet.
This year, ATC service might include a weather station located at the harbor shack, a traffic counter at the bridge by the charter dock and security cameras that look out onto the West and Green Docks.
Town executive secretary Timothy Carroll said the security cameras came at the request of the harbor master, who cannot see the channel docks from his office.
The extra equipment would also provide ATC with additional data on the bandwidth capacity of their platform.
The additions are pending agreement on a new contract, currently under review by town counsel and the town’s insurer. At a meeting on May 2, the selectmen also agreed that any new materials provided by ATC must be approved by the board prior to installation.
For all these small changes, Mr. Rossi said the goal is simple. “We’re just trying to keep things working, keep things clean, keep things running smoothly,” he said.
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