I’d like to clear up some misinformation about the Martha’s Vineyard Commission’s fiscal year budget that has appeared in the press and at various town board meetings over the last few weeks.
Leadership is needed, to get ahead of the doubters and remind Islanders in a compelling way why the commission was formed, what its purview is and what’s at stake.
Already under pressure for the lengthy pace of its development reviews, the Martha’s Vineyard Commission has come under heightened scrutiny in Island towns over its budget for next year. Staff salary increases and soaring legal expenses have led to a 10 per cent increase in the commission’s budget, with some town assessments going up more than 14 per cent.
And as they prepare their own annual town budgets for the coming year, four of the six Vineyard towns are registering strong concerns about spending at the commission.
In a strongly-worded letter, the committee cited “lack of clear management, focus and prioritization,” as reasons for not recommending the $1.45 million budget. The town has requested an immediate meeting with the MVC executive director.
The architect who developed the Tisbury Marketplace in Vineyard Haven wants to demolish a former laundromat on Uncas avenue and build a bowling alley. Neighbors are opposed. A commission hearing opens Thursday at 7 p.m.
A Martha's Vineyard Commission review of the grocery expansion plans in Vineyard Haven will go to a seventh public hearing in February. Sticking points remain amid growing frustration over a drawn-out process.
Visual impact, neighborhood concerns and questions about future use were all factors in the 4-3 commission vote against a large church expansion project on the Edgartown-Vineyard Haven Road in Oak Bluffs. Four commissioners excused themselves from the proceeding.
