SSA Pressures Oak Bluffs on Pier Plan; Boat Line's Tone a Sore
Point for Town
By ALEXIS TONTI
Amid controversy over a Steamship Authority proposal to renovate the
Oak Bluffs pier, boat line managers are now using plans to lease the
abandoned town hall for a new terminal as leverage.
In a letter to Oak Bluffs selectman Richard Combra, SSA director of
engineering Carl Walker says any permitting delay will undermine the
entire project. He puts pressure squarely on the town conservation
commission to fast track its review of the SSA proposal.
The state legislature has given final approval to the Island Health
Plan to make use of millions of dollars in state subsidies for the
grassroots health insurance initiative.
After more than a year of inching toward legislative approval, this
week's senate override vote gives the needed clearance to begin
offering low-rate insurance to Islanders without it.
Innkeeper Stephen Caliri chats about golden retrievers with his
guests in the parking lot of the Victorian Inn after directing them to
lemonade and cookies on the back patio. The cordless phone on his belt
rings, and Mr. Caliri begins rattling off room rates to a prospective
guest on the other end of the line. He even mentions the third-floor
mahogany deck he laid over the winter.
Time for Guaranteed Standby? an Old Idea Gets New Airing
By ALEXIS TONTI
A Steamship Authority plan to reinstitute guaranteed standby on a
trial basis this summer has at least one Oak Bluffs committee
campaigning for a complete revival of the old standby policy, and has
sparked an Islandwide debate on the boat line vehicle reservation
program.
Chilmark Will Vote on School Repairs
By JULIA WELLS
Gazette Senior Writer
It's going to cost a fresh pile of money, but Chilmark
selectmen said this week that they now have a handle on the source of
the physical plant problems at the town grammar school - and are
on track to repair them.
But first voters must agree. A special town meeting is set for next
Wednesday, when voters will be asked to approve another $200,000 for
repairs at the Chilmark School.
And now another bit of bad news for the already troubled West
Tisbury town hall: Rats have taken up residence there. T.J. Hegarty,
county rodent officer, was called in and found plenty of evidence by
just taking a walk around the building. He found a network of tunnels.
"There is a well-established colony," Mr. Hegarty said
yesterday.
With a contract that expired more than a year ago and no real end in sight at the bargaining table, tension has begun to escalate between management and vessel workers at the Steamship Authority.
Union workers picketed SSA terminals on both sides of the sound over Memorial Day weekend, waving signs that put the spotlight on a simmering and now long-running dispute over manning levels, wages and retirement benefits.
Pennywise Path Development: Pressure from Many Directions
By MANDY LOCKE
Neighbors are pleading for restraint, Edgartown officials are urging
confidence and regional planners are demanding more answers.
Pressures are coming from many directions as Martha's Vineyard
Commission members scrutinize the Pennywise Path Project - the
most ambitious affordable housing project proposal to hit the Vineyard.
Huddling under what served as a gigantic umbrella, graduating senior Mario Spindola looked out from inside the Tabernacle before Sunday's high school graduation and could only smile. "It's a great day," he mused, his eyes scanning the growing crowd. "Too bad it's raining."
A California woman who owns a spectacular property overlooking the ocean in Chilmark has been told she can't rent the spot out for any more weddings. Jacqueline Carlin said she feels she has been unfairly treated and needs the rents to keep ownership of her property.
It is not unusual in Chilmark for property owners with postcard views to rent their property. But Ms. Carlin pushed the edge when she established a web site on the Internet and began marketing her land as Martha's Vineyard Great Gatsby Estate and, as an absentee property owner, began booking weddings.
