Three Island residents walked away from the Tisbury selectmen’s meeting this past week with the opportunity to buy a home close to downtown Vineyard Haven for a dramatically reduced price.
Community action and regional cooperation will be critical as the Island tackles new solutions to an old problem: affordable housing.
This was the consensus among community leaders who gathered at the Oak Bluffs Library Wednesday night to hear a presentation on the first draft of the Housing Needs Assessment Study.
West Tisbury selectmen voted to seek legal advice this week after a report from the town accountant found that money earmarked for second mortgages was inappropriately spent by the Island Affordable Housing Fund.
Bruce Stone, town accountant, presented the selectmen with a report that town-appropriated money for second mortgages was used for paying off prior loans for housing developments and other expenses. All of the money was accounted for, Mr. Stone said.
The Martha’s Vineyard Commission has approved a plan to expand the Sepiessa Affordable Housing development in West Tisbury.
The application from the Dukes County Regional Housing Authority and the Island Housing Trust will add three affordable housing units with six bedrooms to the housing development on Clam Point Road. Right now, the housing complex consists of four units with six bedrooms.
The development is located on a three-acre parcel of land with a Title V septic system.
Briana Fragosa almost jumped out of her bright pink Crocs. The butterfly pin holding back her long hair threatened to take flight as its owner bounced and bounced yelling, “Five minutes! Five minutes!”
The house at 49 Bailey Park Road in West Tisbury has new owners.
At a groundbreaking ceremony last Saturday, Doug Ruskin, president of Habitat for Humanity of Martha’s Vineyard, introduced Joe Fragosa Jr., his wife, Jennifer, and their five-year-old daughter, Briana.
Mr. Fragosa, 51, said he and his wife have been looking for a permanent home for seven years. He is an arborist who grew up on the Island. She is a water safety instructor.
It’s been 120 years since the Noyes Building on Pennacock avenue first opened its doors to the Oak Bluffs community, serving as a post office, a market and most recently a library. And now it houses Conroy’s Apothecary and three affordable housing apartments, welcoming lower income families into a more urban neighborhood.
