Boat Line 2004: Big Challenges, with Some Internal Tensions
By JULIA WELLS
The monthly meeting was canceled, but there is no shortage of
business news at the Steamship Authority these days, where revenues are
down, a new but poorly defined marketing push is under fire and fissures
between Nantucket and the Vineyard have grown wider.
An abrupt announcement by Steamship Authority managers early this
week that they will convert the passenger ferry Schamonchi to a private
operation led to another abrupt announcement yesterday: A license
agreement with a private operator who wants to run high-speed ferry
service between New Bedford and the Vineyard is now set for a vote next
week.
The boat line governors will take a final vote on the license
agreement at the monthly SSA meeting on Nantucket next Thursday morning.
In Oak Bluffs, ‘a Lot of Work' Lies Ahead as Town Tries
to Heal Rifts from Election
Stay in Commission, Says Record Vote
By JULIA WELLS Gazette Senior Writer
Marking history and closing one of the most divisive chapters in the
annals of the town, a record number of Oak Bluffs voters went to the
polls this week and said no to pulling out of the Martha's
Vineyard Commission.
Steamship Authority governors and senior managers said yesterday
they were overbilled by a Boston law firm that represented the former
Falmouth boat line member in his legal dispute with the town.
"There is no question that Smith & Duggan should receive a
fair fee for their service. The question is what is a fair fee,"
said SSA general counsel Steven Sayers.
Poor preparation, faulty communication and the uncharacteristic
failure of an experienced captain to keep proper command of his vessel
- these are key factors that led to an alarming accident on the
ferry Islander five months ago, a Steamship Authority report has found.
1987 Report on Water Quality Found Problems ‘Particularly
During the Summer Months'; Recommended Dredging
A comprehensive study documented water quality problems in the
Lagoon Pond 16 years ago, but the recommendations from the study -
including a dredging program - were never carried out because of a
lack of funding.
Citizens Reject Town Hall Plan at West Tisbury Meeting
By JULIA WELLS
Calling it a potential note of discord in the distinct rural melody
of their up-Island village, voters in West Tisbury this week scrapped a
$3.7 million plan to expand and renovate the historic town hall.
With a final vote of 160-89, the project failed to win the needed
two-thirds majority by a wide margin at the annual town meeting on
Tuesday night.
Open Space Bond Funding Faces Cuts, Legislators Say
By JULIA WELLS Gazette Senior Writer
Cape and Islands Rep. Eric T. Turkington and a growing group of
state legislators took sharp aim at the Gov. Mitt Romney administration
this week as reports surfaced about plans to slash funding for the state
open space bond bill.
Before Any Appeal, Tribal Case Judge Will Be Asked to Reconsider
Ruling
By JULIA WELLS Gazette Senior Writer
The attorney who represents the Gay Head Taxpayers Association said
yesterday that he will ask a superior court judge to reconsider a
decision made last week in favor of the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head
(Aquinnah).
Oak Bluffs Home Rule Petition Inspires Hot Debate in Hearing Hastily
Convened by Legislature
By JULIA WELLS Gazette Senior Writer
BOSTON - Small in number but passionate in expression, a
compact assembly of Vineyard residents traveled to Beacon Hill this week
to testify at a hastily called legislative hearing on a petition by the
town of Oak Bluffs to withdraw from the Martha's Vineyard
Commission.
"I'm here because the integrity of the Martha's
Vineyard Commission is now being threatened," said West Tisbury
resident Barbara Day.
