Public Denounces Political Campaign to Force Changes in SSA
Legislation; New Bedford Ferry Position Draws Fire
By JULIA WELLS Gazette Senior Writer
The people of the Vineyard turned out in force this week to vent
their views about the Steamship Authority at an old-fashioned democratic
forum. The forum revealed sharp differences between the populace and a
group of local elected officials who have been lobbying the state
legislature to change the boat line enabling legislation.
Against the backdrop of a heated race for Massachusetts governor and a slew of ballot initiatives on everything from bilingual education to income tax, voters on Martha's Vineyard will face their own subset of important electoral decisions on the first Tuesday in November this year.
Developer Threatens MVC Ruin in Campaign to Force Golf Deal
By JULIA WELLS
Gazette Senior Writer
The developer who wants to build a luxury golf course and an array
of private homes in the southern woodlands section of Oak Bluffs
threatened to "bring down" the Martha's Vineyard
Commission last week if the commission refuses to sign on to a back-room
deal to approve the lucrative development scheme, the Gazette has
learned.
MVC Approves Plan to Rebuild Old Inn After Main Street Fire
By JULIA WELLS
Acting with record speed and expressing open compassion regarding
the tragic fire that destroyed a historic hotel at the head of Main
street in Vineyard Haven four months ago, the Martha's Vineyard
Commission voted last week to approve a plan to rebuild the Tisbury Inn.
The developers of the Down Island Golf Club made their final chess
move last night in the quest to win approval for a luxury golf and
housing project in the southern woodlands, unveiling a hasty
eleventh-hour plan for public play and urging the Martha's
Vineyard Commission to vote on the project immediately.
New Bedford Presses for Fast Ferries in First Expanded SSA Board
Meeting
By JULIA WELLS Gazette Senior Writer
After a few scant minutes of statesmanship, the newly appointed
Steamship Authority governor from New Bedford quickly changed tack
yesterday, unveiling a surprise plan for fast ferry service between New
Bedford and the Vineyard and mouthing an old sales pitch from last year.
Revenues fell $1 million at the Martha's Vineyard Land Bank in
the fiscal year just ended, reflecting a distinct new cooling in the
overheated real estate sales market that has made an indelible mark on
both the economy and the culture of the Island in recent years.
The land bank fiscal year ends on June 30 (because the date fell
over the weekend this year, the land bank closed the books on Friday,
June 28).
SSA Board Finds New Harmony; Cancels New Bedford Freight Run
By JULIA WELLS Gazette Senior Writer
After months of divisive board relations and bruising politics, the
Steamship Authority governors cemented a new harmony yesterday, tackling
the business of the boat line on a variety of fronts from New Bedford to
Nantucket with virtually no discord.
"The tone of this meeting is fantastic. What a change,"
declared Nat Lowell, a Nantucket trucker who regularly attends boat line
meetings.
Using new lawyers but spelling out the same themes, the developers
of the Down Island Golf Club filed a lawsuit against the Martha's
Vineyard Commission late last week, attacking everything from the recent
vote to reject a luxury golf course project in the southern woodlands to
the enabling legislation that created the commission.
A divided Martha's Vineyard Land Bank Commission quietly
postponed any action last night on a controversial deal that is aimed at
converting 273 acres of Oak Bluffs woodlands to a private luxury golf
course and an array of private homes, the Gazette has learned.
The land bank is now under pressure to approve a proposed
conservation component of the development deal for the southern
woodlands, the last unbroken stretch of oak and pine forest in the town
of Oak Bluffs.
