Government
Aquinnah voters will decide at a special town meeting on Tuesday whether the town should move forward with plans to take ownership of and relocate the historic Gay Head Light.
The meeting begins at 7 p.m. at the Aquinnah town hall. Voters will take up two separate warrants, beginning with a seven-article warrant that failed to meet quorum in November, followed by a two-article warrant with questions about the lighthouse. Moderator Michael Hebert will preside over the special sessions.
Verizon’s proposal to build a cell phone tower to improve service in West Tisbury came before the Martha’s Vineyard Commission last week, sparking a long discussion and volumes of correspondence protesting the location of the tower near Tisbury Great Pond.
The company has proposed installing an 80-foot tower on a 50-square-foot piece of land on New Lane in West Tisbury, and has identified three potential locations for the tower. Two of the sites are in the inland zone of the coastal district of critical planning concern.
As towns across the Island begin to discuss the implications of the new state medical marijuana law, the West Tisbury police chief brought the issue before the town selectmen for discussion this week.
Police chief Dan Rossi said he would like to see the town adopt a bylaw that prohibits smoking medical marijuana in public places. The chief asked the selectmen to place an article with the proposed bylaw on the annual town meeting warrant in April.
At exactly 10 a.m. on Wednesday morning, a beam of sunshine peeked out from behind a cloud to envelop a treeless hill in Aquinnah in golden light. A small crowd, bundled up against the 15-degree chill, had gathered at the town landfill, but at the morning’s ribbon-cutting ceremony for Aquinnah’s first-ever solar array project, the sun was the guest of honor.
“This is really a great occasion for all of us to be here today,” Aquinnah town administrator Adam Wilson told the onlookers, shortly before selectman Jim Newman snipped the official red ribbon.
The Oak Bluffs selectmen this week appointed Sondra Murphy as the new library director. And Ms. Murphy is already presiding over some big events at the library: a new website, mission statement and logo, and a party complete with mini-golf.
Ms. Murphy, the former children’s librarian, was recommended by a hiring committee, and was appointed Tuesday by the selectmen.
“You did a fabulous job of interviewing,” said selectman Walter Vail, who was on the hiring committee. He noted that Ms. Murphy faced tough competition. “I recommend her highly.”
Rocco’s Pizzeria in Vineyard Haven will have its beer and wine license revoked because the owners refuse to switch from paper plates to china.
The town bylaw allowing beer and wine sales in restaurants stipulates that china and glassware be used for food and beverage service.
At the Tisbury selectmen’s meeting Tuesday, restaurant owners Peter Sullo and Christopher Pantalone asked for permission to continue serving food on paper plates rather than on formal dinnerware as their license requires.