Two officials from the Vineyard have been appointed to a new statewide committee, the goal of which is to help seasonal communities deal with their housing shortages.

Laura Silber, the housing planner at the Martha’s VIneyard Commission, and James Anthony, the president and CEO of Martha’s Vineyard Bank, were appointed by the state housing secretary to the seasonal communities advisory council, serving alongside officials from Cape Cod, Nantucket and the Berkshires. 

The new council, which had its first meeting on on Dec. 12, was created as part of the Affordable Homes Act, a sweeping new housing law that passed in August. The council was formed to make recommendations on policies and programs that could help seasonal communities, including grant programs and other practices aimed at year-round housing production. 

As part of the new law, the Vineyard and other seasonal communities can acquire year-round housing occupancy restrictions, develop housing for municipal employees and establish year-round housing trusts ­— the last of which has long been a priority for the Island. 

The council’s first meeting involved adopting bylaws and discussing the new law, according to the state’s Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities. 

The Vineyard’s six towns and Nantucket automatically qualified for the seasonal designation, and it is expected that most of Cape Cod and many communities in the Berkshires would also eventually qualify. 

Ms. Silber said she was heartened by the council’s first meeting. She was looking forward to getting the support from the state housing secretary to help use the new tools from the state law as the Island looks forward to one of its big goals: the creation of a real estate transfer fee to help fund housing projects. 

“It felt truly momentous,” she told the Gazette. “This is going to change the game in the seasonal communities on the Islands, Cape and Berkshires in the same way the Gateway Cities designation has helped those locations address their needs.”