Government
Change is on the way for the Island’s music scene, as the Edgartown board of selectmen approved an alcohol license transfer from Nectar’s nightclub to Flatbread Pizza Company on Monday.
While the proposed Oak Bluffs roundabout has received most of the press, Tisbury is quietly moving forward with another long-planned major traffic management infrastructure project: a proposed system of connector roads that would link Edgartown-Vineyard Haven Road to State Road and bypass the summer crush in Vineyard Haven. But unlike the roundabout, the state hasn’t been forthcoming with money for the proposed $3 million project. Now it’s up to voters to decide whether to build the connector system.
Two years after a sharply divided town electorate approved the sale of beer and wine in Vineyard Haven restaurants, Tisbury selectmen may ask voters to expand wine sales beyond the dining room. Two Massachusetts wineries are eyeing the down-Island farmers’ market to sell and sample their wines this summer, and this week selectmen said they were receptive to the idea.
“I don’t have a problem with it,” said selectman Jeffrey Kristal. “I’m all for opening up that can of worms that I was accused years ago that I would open.”
The Oak Bluffs wastewater commission Tuesday rescinded a recent decision to eliminate plant manager Joseph Alosso’s position, instead forwarding a recommendation to the town selectmen that they take the same action.
Edgartown has named its first poet laureate, with the title bestowed upon Steve Ewing at the board of selectmen’s meeting Monday. According to the selectmen, Mr. Ewing’s primary responsibility as poet laureate is to prepare and deliver a poem at the annual town meeting.
Mr. Ewing’s only objection was to the title. “I don’t know what to say,” he told the selectmen. “I’m really honored. Poet laureate is kind of a fancy term . . . I’m just a local kid who likes to write.”
Criticism of the annual Oak Bluffs Monster Shark Tournament resurfaced at the town selectmen’s meeting this week, with a local group asking the town to reconsider the role it plays in the popular event, citing ethical and environmental concerns with the way sharks are killed and displayed in the town harbor.