Oak Bluffs took another step closer to its ambitious downtown streetscape reconstruction Tuesday, when the select board agreed to issue a request for proposals to rebuild Circuit avenue with wider sidewalks, new trees and planters and parallel parking.
Board member Gail Barmakian cast the lone vote against issuing an RFP, saying she opposed conducting the project — which also includes Healy Square and Kennebec avenue — in piecemeal fashion.
Ms. Barmakian said town voters had approved $2.7 million for the entire project, not a fragmented one.
But board chairman Brian Packish, who also chairs the streetscape committee, said it was clear from early on that the project would have to be phased.
“You can’t possibly tear up the entire downtown in one fell swoop,” he said. “You wouldn’t be able to maintain functionality.”
The chosen contractor will have his hands full with Circuit avenue alone, said civil engineer Craig Miller of the Waterfield Group in Winchester, which has been developing the plan.
“Adding too much will just cause the prices to rise and give unrealistic expectations,” Mr. Miller said, adding that the area is tightly developed and compact.
“The contractor needs a certain amount of space to operate and move around and have materials, and if we were to add Healy Square to the mix, it would just make the normal congestion of everyday life plus construction harder to bear.”
Mr. Miller said the latest drawings for the Circuit avenue redesign are almost identical to the conceptual draft the select board approved in May after a series of public hearings — but with a 12-inch-wider avenue.
“As we got into the details of how to build everything shown on the conceptual drawings, we found we were able to give an extra six inches of roadway to the road . . . on each side,” he said. “Otherwise, everything else is the same.”
The extra half-foot will come from sidewalks that will still be several feet wider than at present, Mr. Miller said, with plenty of room for wheelchairs.
If $2.7 million does not cover all phases of the plan, Mr. Packish said the town has a cushion from a Seaport Council grant the town received.
Parks commissioner Amy Billings objected to the parking plan. “I’m pretty disappointed that the parallel parking was pushed through without more thought,” she said, adding: “There’s no documentation that says people want parallel parking, but there’s lots of documentation that says they don’t.”
But Leighton Collis, who owns Hotel Ginger, told the board he’s eager to see the work begin.
“It’s going to be painful, but let’s start this process,” he said. “We couldn’t be in more support.”
Before beginning the discussion of the RFP, Mr. Packish, who has business interests on Kennebec avenue, announced that he does not own any property or businesses in the area of the planned work.
“I have filed any and all disclosures necessary by the ethics commission,” Mr. Packish said.
Oct. 6 is the target date for issuing the RFP, Mr. Miller said.
In other business Tuesday, the board approved opening dates for the scallop sea on, with family scalloping beginning Oct. 17 in Sengekontacket and outside Lagoon Pond, and Nov. 13 inside Lagoon Pond. Commercial scalloping opens Nov. 8 in Sengekontacket and outside Lagoon Pond, and Nov. 15 inside Lagoon Pond.
Shellfish constable Chuck Fisher also received approval to promote assistant constable Marco Petricone to full-time, year-round duties.
The town’s new information technology director will be Sherwood Ives, who retired from the same position with the town of Bedford in April.
Mr. Ives will begin by working full time for the next few months to a year, while evaluating whether the position should remain full-time.
“Initially it was a full-time job,” town administrator Deborah Potter said. But the difficulty of finding staff is forcing managers toward more creative solutions, she told the board.
“Succession planning and staffing is becoming a very complex situation for all entities across all spectrums,” Ms. Potter said, noting that five to seven key town workers will be leaving in the next few years.
“We’re . . . starting to think about right-sizing our operation, rather than just filling these slots,” she said.
Also Tuesday, Oak Bluffs became the last Island town to approve the Martha’s Vineyard Commission’s hazard mitigation plan. Approving the plan paves the way for FEMA grants, MVC planner Dan Doyle said.
The new town hall remains on track for completion in mid-November, Ms. Potter told the select board, although it won’t be ready for business until the town installs the furniture and systems needed.
PA Club neighbor Greg Ehrman spoke to the board about a special event at the club in August that did not bring its amplified music in at 11 p.m. as required. Club president Gina Debettencourt apologized, saying club management and directors on site should have controlled the party, which drew 800 people.
“This was the only event we’ve done in three years because of COVID,” said Ms. Debettencourt, adding that normally she would have been present when Mr. Ehrman came to the club to ask for the music to be lowered.
“At any time you can call the PA Club, leave a message for me and I can be found pretty easily. I just was not here that one time,” she said.
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