Aquinnah Leaders Make Painful Budget Choices After Failure of
Override
By JULIA WELLS Gazette Senior Writer
Swinging the proverbial budget ax, selectmen and town department
heads in Aquinnah took their first whacks yesterday at trying to cut
$260,000 from a $2.4 million town budget.
"We're here tonight to try and come up with some cost
savings," declared Aquinnah selectman and board chairman Carl
Widdiss.
Chilmark and Commission Will File Briefs in Sovereignty Case
By JULIA WELLS Gazette Senior Writer
The town of Chilmark and the Martha's Vineyard Commission will
add their voices to the Aquinnah court appeal over sovereign immunity,
which is now expected to come before the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial
Court this year.
Aquinnah Incumbent Returns to Office in Close Vote Cast by Record
Turnout
By JULIA WELLS
Incumbent selectman Michael Hebert squeaked back into office this
week, beating challenger Camille Rose by just six votes in the Aquinnah
annual town election. The final count was 108-102; Mr. Hebert will begin
a third term as selectman this week.
Informally, Commissioners Seem Inclined to Okay Housing Plan, but
Voice Doubts on Access; Other Issues Linger
By JULIA WELLS Gazette Senior Writer
Early road signs now point to possible approval for the Pennywise
Path affordable housing project in Edgartown, but members of a key
Martha's Vineyard Commission subcommittee said this week that
access and impact on the neighborhood are stubborn trouble spots in the
plan.
SSA Management Sets a Course for Collision on Security Measures
By JULIA WELLS Gazette Senior Writer
Turning a deaf ear on the growing uproar among Islanders over a
controversial new policy that will bar people from staying in their cars
on board ferries, senior managers at the Steamship Authority announced
flatly this week that the policy is expected to go into effect sometime
later this month.
Wampanoag Sovereignty Arguments Are Heard at State Supreme Court
By JULIA WELLS
Attorneys on both sides of the sovereign immunity dispute in the
town of Aquinnah took their arguments to the Massachusetts Supreme
Judicial Court this week, in a landmark case whose outcome is expected
to have far-reaching implications for every town on the Vineyard.
In the end the case will test the strength of the historic 1983
Indian land claims settlement agreement in this tiny town that is home
to the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah).
A bare quorum of Chilmark voters agreed without dissent this week to borrow another $200,000 to pay for a mounting list of problems in the physical plant at the Chilmark School.
"We are a little embarrassed but we are trying to put our best foot forward and fix the problems," said selectman Frank Fenner at a special town meeting held Wednesday night in the Chilmark Community Center.
The meeting saw a light turnout - about 40 voters attended. In Chilmark, 25 makes a quorum. Town moderator Everett Poole presided.
The money request was the sole article on the warrant.
Top state environmental officials stepped squarely into the fray
around the Down Island Golf Club this week, ordering developers Brian
Lafferty and Corey Kupersmith to immediately halt all tree cutting in
the southern woodlands section of Oak Bluffs.
