Edgartown Requests $22.7 Million Budget
By JAMES KINSELLA
Town officials will ask Edgartown voters next month to approve a
$22.7 million operating budget for the coming fiscal year.
The proposed budget represents an increase of $885,025, or 4.1 per
cent, over the current budget.
Voters also will be asked to allow the town to borrow up to
$1,965,000 to help fund a new public water well near Pennywise Path and
a new fire truck. The proposed borrowing would include $1.5 million for
the well and $465,000 for the truck.
Court Upholds MVC Decision
Judge Supports Regional Agency Against Tisbury Fuel Service in First
Trial for Commission; Developers Vow to Appeal
By IAN FEIN
A superior court judge last week upheld the unique power and
regulatory authority of the Martha's Vineyard Commission, ruling
alongside the regional planning agency in an appeal from the developers
of a proposed Vineyard Haven gas station.
County Names Four to Board
Airport Commission Appointments Are Made After Several Months of
Turnover and Uncertainty; Legal Questions Remain
By JAMES KINSELLA
Gazette Senior Writer
In an anticlimactic meeting, the Dukes County commissioners
Wednesday appointed four new members to the Martha's Vineyard
Airport commission, the entity that the commissioners have battled for
years.
Purple Squirts Cap Off Season with Win Over Vineyard Rivals
By MARK ALAN LOVEWELL
It was 5:55 p.m. Tuesday, and the atmosphere on the ice was highly
charged. The championship battle was about to begin. More than 80 people
were on their feet at the Martha's Vineyard arena, shouting
encouragement to two teams who had swept across the Cape and Nantucket
since October to get here.
This was a salute to the Squirts.
Fishermen, Regulators Brace for Spring Herring Moratorium
By MARK ALAN LOVEWELL
Alewives, one of the great harbingers of spring, have returned to
Vineyard waters.
But there is a crucial difference this year: the state of
Massachusetts has barred people from catching or possessing these
anadramous fish, which return from the ocean to spawn in freshwater
ponds.
Mr. Hearn Finds Political Change Suits Him Fine
By IAN FEIN
Third in a series of profiles leading up to the West Tisbury
election.
You might call Glenn Hearn the presumptive Reform Party nominee of
West Tisbury town politics.
Since 1999 he has ousted incumbents from the land bank commission
and board of selectmen in close elections, and now he has his sights set
on the board of assessors.
Mr. Hearn will challenge longtime board chairman Michael Colaneri in
a three-way election in the annual town election next month.
Fall Study of Cod Affirms Troubled State of Fishery
By MARK ALAN LOVEWELL
A survey of fish stocks completed last fall and released this month
by the National Marine Fisheries Service continues to identify Atlantic
cod as a depleted resource in need of help.
The cod was once the fish of choice in fish markets across New
England.
But despite severe cuts in fishing efforts and the closing of large
areas of Georges Bank and waters southeast of Martha's Vineyard,
signs of recovery are lacking.
Roman Catholic Church officials are considering building a
centralized church in Oak Bluffs that would serve the entire Island.
At a special town meeting next month, Oak Bluffs voters will be
asked whether the town should enter negotiations to swap a parcel of
land next to the Martha's Vineyard Arena for the Good Shepherd
parish hall property on School street.
State Focuses on Tribe, Assessors in Review of Aquinnah Finances
By IAN FEIN
Adopting a formal payment structure with the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay
Head (Aquinnah) and overhauling the town assessing department are among
the recommendations provided to the town of Aquinnah in a state report
released last week.
Town Challenges Legality of High-Priced Contracts
By JAMES KINSELLA
Gazette Senior Writer
Tisbury town officials are challenging the legality of multi-year
contracts negotiated with the two people who supervise the Tisbury Water
Works and Oak Bluffs Water District systems.
The officials also have expressed concern about the $100,000
salaries and additional employment benefits for water superintendent
Deacon Perrotta and water systems administrator Lois Norton.
