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.
Skipper Manter Fits Many Roles in West Tisbury
By IAN FEIN
Second in a series of profiles leading up to the West Tisbury town
election.
Jeffrey (Skipper) Manter spent most of his childhood watching his
family serve the town of West Tisbury.
His grandfather was a selectman for 45 years, his father and
grandfather both wore the badge as chief of police, and his mother
served as the town accountant for 35 years.
After years of planning, discussion and often heated debate, the Oak
Bluffs conservation commission Tuesday unanimously endorsed the $10
million Steamship Authority plan to expand and improve the ferry
terminal on Sea View avenue.
Commission members voted 4-0 to approve an order of conditions,
which is the permit required under the Massachusetts wetlands protection
act and the town wetlands bylaw.
Middle Line Worries Center on Funding, Potential Conflicts
By MARK ALAN LOVEWELL
The Chilmark selectmen this week took up an array of concerns
relating to the Island Housing Trust's bid to build the
town-sponsored Middle Line Road affordable housing project.
Among the legal questions under discussion were those relating to
potential conflicts of interest for a number of people involved, and
also relating to the proper use of Community Preservation Act (CPA)
funds to build the project.
Housing Bank Plan Wins Key Legislative Support
By IAN FEIN
The proposed Martha's Vineyard Housing Bank picked up key
support on Beacon Hill this week, where the legislative committee that
reviewed the bill this winter voted unanimously to award it a favorable
recommendation.
An increase in the number of primary care physicians employed at the
Martha's Vineyard Community Hospital is improving its financial
performance, according to the chief executive officer.
Amid the stacks of DVDs and under the piles of papers, press photos
and programs, the sixth annual Martha's Vineyard Independent Film
Festival is coming together.
Slowly.
"This is the crunch time, for sure," festival founder
and director Thomas Bena says one afternoon last week from the festival
headquarters in North Tisbury. "We still have a lot to do."
The Steamship Authority continued to make money last year, though not as much as boat line managers anticipated.
Unaudited numbers show that the SSA, beset by rising fuel costs and falling passenger traffic, brought in $1,491,957 in operating income in 2005 - a decrease of about $1.3 million from the prior year, and about $2.6 million below budget projections.
Selectmen Will Call Special Election
By IAN FEIN
At a meeting marked by confusion and procedural missteps, West
Tisbury selectmen this week heeded the advice of their town counsel
Ronald H. Rappaport and agreed to call a special town election in May to
fill the vacant seat on the board of assessors.
But they turned a deaf ear on further advice from Mr. Rappaport and
decided to appoint Cynthia Mitchell, a former selectman and town
treasurer, to replace Raymond Houle on the board for the next two
months.
Bill Takes Aim at Wind Farm
Retreating Behind Closed Doors, Lawmakers Debate Amendment Tacked
Onto Coast Guard Bill That Would Ban Turbines
By IAN FEIN
The fate of the proposed Nantucket Sound wind farm hung in the
balance in Washington, D.C. this week, where a small group of
congressmen met behind closed doors to consider an amendment to a U.S.
Coast Guard bill that would effectively kill the controversial project.
