More land, less impact on the ponds and a pledge to be better
neighbors this time around - those were the promises made to the
Martha's Vineyard Commission last night from developers who want
to build an 18-hole private, luxury golf club in the last unbroken
stretch of woodlands in the town of Oak Bluffs.
One state senator, one state representative, one Steamship
Authority governor and a band of Nantucket residents and town
officials spoke out yesterday in favor of a voting seat for the
town of Barnstable on the boat line board but not for New
Bedford.
"My job is to make sure Barnstable gets a vote. But New
Bedford has to be proven to be viable before it can get a vote.
Now, they should not be on the board at all," said Barnstable
Rep.
Deep discussion was far from the minds of Edgartown voters this
week, who skipped lightly through their annual town meeting in less than
two hours, pausing only briefly for a bit of discussion before approving
a plan to allow building on substandard lots in the name of affordable
housing.
"It's an oxymoron to say it is satisfactory to build on
a substandard lot," declared town resident Walter Burns.
An escalating contract dispute between management and
nonprofessional workers at the Windemere Nursing Home and Rehabilitation
Center will now go to federal mediation - and workers at the
Island's only nursing home will file a complaint charging unfair
labor practices.
Following a late-night discussion that grew cranky at times,
the Martha's Vineyard Commission voted narrowly last week to
designate a district of critical planning concern for the
shorelines of two shellfish-rich ponds in Chilmark.
The vote was 9-6 to approve the Menemsha and Nashaquitsa
Ponds DCPC.
Jennie Greene, the appointed member of the commission from
Chilmark, fought bitterly to block the DCPC.
"I think this is a slam-dunk that a couple of people put
together.
NANTUCKET - - The people of Nantucket had their crack at the
podium this week, turning out more than 150 strong to urge a special
governor's ferry task force to protect the Steamship Authority and
their lifeline.
"The rate-payers of the Islands are not responsible for
reviving the economy of New Bedford. Folks, the Steamship Authority is
not an entitlement program," declared Steve Tornovish, a member of
the SSA financial advisory board from Nantucket.
Golf Club Hearing Draws Large Crowd For an Evening of Passionate
Discussion
By JULIA WELLS
Quoting Thomas Jefferson and Joni Mitchell, conservationists squared
off against golf enthusiasts last night as a public hearing wore on over
a proposal to build a luxury private golf club in the last unbroken
stretch of woodlands in the town of Oak Bluffs.
In a clean sweep that leaves the 21-member Martha's Vineyard
Commission intact for an intensive development review of the Down
Island Golf Club project, the state ethics commission has cleared
five members of the commission of conflict of interest.
"I've been cleared," said commission member James
Athearn yesterday.
Calling a virtual mandate from some 800 people on Nantucket
uninformed, Vineyard Steamship Authority governor and board chairman
J.B. Riggs Parker said last week that he will press ahead with the
ambitious new service model for the public boat line.
"I believe I am not informed enough to make a statement on
these issues, and if I am not informed, it would be unusual to conclude
that communities as a whole are informed," declared Mr. Parker.
NANTUCKET - Signaling an abrupt shift in direction on the ambitious new service model, Steamship Authority general manager Armand Tiberio said yesterday that the boat line will ax two key elements of the model, including the controversial scheme to replace all three ferries on the Nantucket run with one multipurpose high-speed ferry.
"If we are not going to be able to use technology - if the position is that a high-speed vessel is not okay, then so be it," Mr. Tiberio said.
Mr. Tiberio also said the plan to shift freight traffic onto barges will be abandoned.
