Longstanding tensions between the Dukes County Commission and the Martha’s Vineyard Airport Commission over who really runs the airport wound up in superior court this week, when airport commissioners filed a complaint against the very body that appoints them.
After a wide-ranging discussion about the poor condition of the Edgartown courthouse due to deferred maintenance, the Dukes County advisory board voted this week to put $150,000 toward repairs on the 1858 brick building that stands in the center of town.
The advisory board voted unanimously Wednesday to move $150,000 from the county budget reserve fund into a newly created capital expenditures fund. The vote took place during a joint session of the county advisory board and the county commissioners.
The Dukes County commission voted this week to approve a $1.5 million budget for the coming fiscal year.
The budget marks a 17.9 per cent decrease over last year due to the state takeover of administrative affairs for the county sheriff’s department. Last year the sheriff’s portion of the county budget totalled $300,000.
Under the upcoming budget, total town assessments will drop from $649,279 to $492,739, county manager Martina Thornton told the commission at their meeting Wednesday.
Editor’s Note: Five candidates appear on the ballot for seven seats on the Dukes County Commission. One write-in candidate has announced her candidacy. If no write-in qualifies for the seventh slot, the seat will be filled by appointment via the county commission and Dukes County clerk of courts Joseph E. Sollitto Jr. Write-in candidates must receive at least 25 votes to be considered. In interviews with the Gazette, the candidates answered questions about county management and its future role on the Island.
County Commissioners Face Decision On Three-Year Appointment to SSA
By JULIA WELLS Gazette Senior Writer
The Dukes County Commission faces a crucial battle this week that
will set the course for Island policy at the Steamship Authority in the
years ahead, as it prepares to appoint a Vineyard boat line governor at
a special meeting Wednesday night.
The meeting begins at 7 p.m. in the community room of the Oak Bluffs
School.
The Dukes County Commission initiated a feud with the Martha's Vineyard Airport commissioners by voting unanimously Wednesday evening to devote 24.4 acres of land on airport grounds to a county jail and training facility for emergency personnel.
The Dukes County commissioners stalled again this week -
failing to resolve questions raised about newly hired county manager
Laurie Perry's college degree.
"I'm dismayed it's taken this long to resolve the
issue. It does sound like a broken record, but this will be resolved at
our next meeting. There isn't any more to talk about," said
John Alley, chairman of the county commission.
Steamship Authority chairman Marc Hanover was not looking for
support from the Dukes County Commission Wednesday in his continuing
battle with the Tisbury board of selectmen over ferry fee money. But he
got it anyway.
The sword of Damocles apparently will dangle a while longer over the
finances of Dukes County government.
The county commission tentatively had slated a meeting for tomorrow
with the finance advisory board to discuss strategy in what could be a
major legal judgment against the county. But county manager E. Winn
Davis said yesterday the meeting had been canceled.
The epic six-year battle over control of the Martha's Vineyard
Airport has ended not with a bang, but with the mailing of checks.
In the end, the court case at the center of the battle cost at least
$608,374 - in payments to the two airport managers who brought the
lawsuit and in legal fees charged by the attorneys.
