News
Call it the audacity of hope. The White House media office had this to say on Monday — “The President does not have plans for a vacation in Martha’s Vineyard at this time.” But no one on the Island, let alone the national media, was going to let that stand in the way of this story.
Faced with a 37-article warrant including the perennially contentious issue of beer and wine sales, and a raft of potential tax increases totaling almost $1.8 million, Tisbury voters are looking at a marathon town meeting beginning on Tuesday night.
The meeting begins at 7 p.m. in the Tisbury School gymnasium; moderator Deborah Medders will preside.
A new wind turbine bylaw, a zoning change that would permit multi-family housing and special protection for historic byways top the 45-article warrant for the West Tisbury annual town meeting next week.
And voters will consider a $13 million operating budget that is custom tailored for debate over a proposed 3.6 per cent cost of living increase for town employees. The town personnel board backs the 3.6 per cent increase, but the finance committee and selectmen want it reduced to two per cent.
Against the backdrop of a sustained national recession, the focus of the Oak Bluffs annual town meeting next week is expected to be town finances, as voters consider a $24.1 million annual budget and several hefty spending articles, including a $500,000 dredging project in Sengekontacket Pond. Substantial pay increases for the town administrator and town clerk are expected to be another point for debate.
Some 1,500 lower-income Vineyard residents face the prospect of having to find new health insurance because the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital has determined its current insurer is not directing enough patients to its affiliated hospitals in Boston.
Two well-known Oak Bluffs landmarks are being worked on in anticipation of summer.
The photogenic bandstand in Ocean Park (often erroneously called the gazebo), is undergoing a restoration.
And the Tabernacle in the Camp Ground is being refitted with original stained-glass clerestory windows. The work on the Tabernacle is part of a much larger $3 million restoration project which is taking place in phases over a period of years.