September quiet settled over Katama Bay this week, as a handful of sailboats scudded in and out of the harbor. It was quiet too on the twelve oyster farms scattered across the broad saltwater bay that lies at the eastern end of Edgartown.

As the summer season comes to a close, business owners in Oak Bluffs begin to reflect on the season, its successes and failures. And they start to plan for next season.

Representatives of town government and the Oak Bluffs Association have also begun a discussion of the summer’s economic performance.

A months-long dispute between the Oak Bluffs selectmen and a Circuit avenue businessman came to a head this week when the owner of an unbuilt lot at 16 Circuit avenue saw fresh opposition to his latest proposal for a business venture.

The summer crowds and seasonal yachts have left Menemsha and were replaced this week by a 55-by-185-foot barge and crane for construction of the new U.S. Coast Guard boathouse.

The large barge arrived Tuesday night in Menemsha harbor, tugged in by the Jaguar of New Bedford and the Patrick J. Hunt of Narragansett, R.I.

“It’s finally here, which is a great thing,” said Lou Vinciguerra, project manager for the Coast Guard boathouse.

Only a few weeks into the job, and already regional high school vocational director Bob Drobneck was on a mission. It was a late Wednesday afternoon when Mr. Drobneck climbed into his black sedan, one of a handful of cars still remaining on school grounds at the end of the day, and pulled out onto the Edgartown-Vineyard Haven Road.

Chilmark will contract with the local energy cooperative Vineyard Power to build the town’s first solar array.

Pending final approval from town counsel, the Chilmark selectmen Tuesday voted to approve a contract for about 530 solar panels at the town landfill off Tabor House Road. The 173-kilowatt system is planned to produce up to 215,000 kilowatt hours a year, enough energy to power the town buildings.

The project will cost $1.25 million to build and is being financed by an unnamed Chilmark resident.

Tisbury selectmen issued a warning to town trash pickup vendors and truck delivery companies this week after complaints continued to surface about early morning deliveries in violation of a town bylaw. Building inspector Ken Barwick told the selectmen Tuesday that he had spoken with both Bruno’s and ABC companies, but complaints continued about truck activity before 7 a.m. Mr. Barwick said he was also talking with other truckers who deliver in town.

A town bylaw prohibits noise before 7 a.m. in residential neighborhoods.

After a long preseason, high school sports began in earnest last week. This weekend football and boys’ soccer play at home, with football taking on Brighton at 1 p.m. on Saturday, and boys’ soccer playing a home rematch against Nauset Saturday at 4:30 p.m.
Football

Playing before a large home crowd at the Daniel McCarthy Field, the Vineyarders took a 21-0 loss to visiting Bedford during last Saturday’s season opener.

Greta is a great dog. That is the consensus of the staff and volunteers at the Animal Shelter of Martha’s Vineyard. She is a medium-sized bundle of love with a grizzled but soft coat, a tail that starts thumping when you speak to her, and big brown eyes. Her intelligence shows in her expression and in her eagerness to please She is crazy about people, including the small ones, is indifferent to cats, and would prefer to be the only dog in the household.

It was a bright, late summer day as the fleet sailed north from Vineyard Haven on an 18.7-mile course that would take the boats across the sound then off to the east to Wreck Shoal where they would continue on southward and westward legs that would test each skipper’s ability to cope with differing winds and tides. - See more at: http://mvgazette.com/news/2013/09/12/fast-and-flawless-sail-wins-moffet-race#sthash.heOGm8du.dpuf