The governor's task force that has been studying the
complicated issues surrounding ferry service to the two Islands will
this morning recommend sweeping change on the Steamship Authority board
of governors, including voting seats for New Bedford and Barnstable, the
Gazette has learned.
How many pounds of flour, how many pounds of sugar, how many pounds
of butter have passed through this place in the last 37 years? How many
scones, how many shortbreads, how many jars of beach plum jelly, how
many rhubarb pies?
No one ever counted. And no one ever wrote down the recipes.
Last week's report calling for high-speed ferry service
between New Bedford and the Vineyard was submitted without any financial
information, and the acting general manager of the Steamship Authority
said yesterday that he will now have to step in to finish the crucial
financial piece of the report.
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.
MASHPEE - A chorus of Cape Cod politicians and residents told
a governor's ferry task force last night that they want relief
from the Island-bound traffic they believe is clogging their roads.
And leaders in the town of Barnstable demanded a full voting seat
for their community on the Steamship Authority board of governors.
"We have been the unintended victims of the growth and
prosperity on the Islands," declared Barnstable town council
president Roy Richardson.
Contract talks between management and nurses at the Martha's
Vineyard Hospital are now at a bitter standoff, and hospital chief
executive officer Kevin Burchill said this week that he is prepared for
the possibility of a strike.
"Everything is now off the table. We're prepared for the
worst but we expect the best," he said.
Commission Rejects by a Wide Margin Rusczyk Push to Change
Commission On Kupersmith Housing Development
By JULIA WELLS
An Oak Bluffs selectman was rebuffed last week when he urged the
Martha's Vineyard Commission to reverse its decision to go to
court to compel a regional review of Connecticut developer Corey
Kupersmith's affordable housing project.
After listening to more than two hours of bitterly divided testimony
from an overflow crowd, the Martha's Vineyard Commission postponed
a decision last night on a proposal to designate the entire island of
Chappaquiddick as a district of critical planning concern (DCPC).
"I will tell you that Chappy is a finite place, and because of
its size what happens on this island affects everything else - the
beaches, the roads, the ferry," declared Don Crocker, president of
the Chappaquiddick Island Association.
The Herring Creek Farm Trust has filed a new lawsuit against the Martha's Vineyard Commission, appealing a recent decision by the commission to eliminate a private beach association from a development plan for the farm. The 32-lot luxury home development plan for the farm was approved by the commission in November. The approval was accompanied by some 22 conditions. One condition eliminated a 250-member private beach association from the plan.
Vineyard Voters Back Nine Candidates with Clear Commitment to
Support Unique Role of Regional Agency
By JULIA WELLS
Marking a fresh mandate to stay the course, Vineyard voters elected
a solid slate of conservation-minded candidates - including six
incumbents - to the Martha's Vineyard Commission this week.
And for the second time in two years, two respected Island farmers were
the top vote-getters in the election for the regional land use
commission.
