A banner announcing next week’s annual town meeting was hanging over Edgartown’s Main street Thursday as the town prepares to debate medical marijuana and new historic district bylaws and decide on spending money on everything from new fire trucks to Fourth of July fireworks.

A new $2.8 million police station, several affordable housing initiatives and a watershed study for the much-debated Mill Pond will top the warrant when West Tisbury voters convene for their annual town meeting Tuesday.

The meeting begins at 7 p.m. in the gymnasium of the West Tisbury School. Moderator F. Patrick Gregory will preside over the session; there are 37 articles on the warrant.

The family of the late Edwin Newhall (Bob) Woods has gifted 500 acres of rare and unspoiled oak forest, freshwater wetlands and frost bottom in West Tisbury and Chilmark to The Nature Conservancy, the conservancy announced early this week. The gift creates permanent protection for the heart of one of the most significant natural areas on the Vineyard.

This year’s election season on the Vineyard is most noticeable for what’s not happening on the Island. There are no campaign signs or tough political debates. Nor has there been a candidate forum to attend, for those so inclined.

As Vineyard towns convene for annual town meetings this spring, most will be grappling with new bylaws in the face of a state law legalizing medical marijuana.

With ongoing discussion about Islandwide coordination over how to address the new law, five of the six Vineyard towns will vote this spring on whether to adopt bylaws prohibiting public marijuana consumption and imposing a one-year moratorium on medical marijuana dispensaries in all zoning districts. The moratorium is meant to give towns time to come up with their own regulations before marijuana dispensaries can open.

The Chilmark conservation commission voted this week to allow a house and several outbuildings dangerously close to the edge of a cliff overlooking Stonewall Beach to be relocated.

They are all captains but don’t wear lifejackets. Membership in their yacht club only costs $5 a year. When a severe storm is brewing, they don’t have to worry about moorings, storm surges or high winds. Their boats weather the worst usually on a shelf in the living room.
The dozen members of the Martha’s Vineyard Model Yacht Club are a unique group of mariners. This month they are gearing up for a busy sailing season with frequent racing and gams.

The Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank reported revenues of $126,253 for the business week ending on Friday, March 29, 2013. The land bank receives its funds from a two per cent fee charged on many Vineyard real estate transactions.

The Edgartown selectmen this week voted to give two commercial fishermen until Friday to pay outstanding citation fees.

Shellfish constable Paul Bagnall said Michael Briggs and David Viera had two unpaid shellfish citations apiece, and the selectmen could suspend their licenses for one week if they decided to hold a public hearing on the matter.

Demolition of the old public works building, a new beer and wine license for Cafe Moxie and three signatures on a new cable contract for the town were all in a day’s work for the Tisbury selectmen at their meeting Tuesday.

At the request of town building inspector Ken Barwick, selectmen voted to approve the demolition of the old DPW building on Spring street “at the earliest reasonable time.”