Aquinnah Tackles $2.9 Million Budget

By IAN FEIN

Aquinnah voters will take up a $2.9 million budget and a series of relatively small spending requests at their annual town meeting next week.

Town officials are hoping the evening will proceed more smoothly than last year's meeting, which was postponed for a month because voters were unhappy with the budget as presented.

Ferry Islander to Be Sold; Pricetag Set at $750,000

By MIKE SECCOMBE

To the extent that you can do a cost benefit analysis on sentiment, the Steamship Authority did one this week on the Vineyard's favorite ferry, the Islander, and settled on a figure of $750,000.

If the highest bidder could come up with that much money, boat line governors decided, they would be obliged to sell the venerable old ferry.

Edgartown officials have begun a major effort to warn boaters of treacherous tides in the town harbor and Katama Bay resulting from the breach which has opened at Norton Point Beach.

The direction of the tidal flow has reversed due to the breach, and currents are running three times faster in the narrows, posing a major threat of collision, as well as seriously hampering the operation of the ferry to Chappaquiddick, now the only access to Chappy.

A proposal by the Vineyard Haven Yacht Club to replace its building on Vineyard Haven harbor has opened the door to a unanticipated discussion about public access to water.

The Martha's Vineyard Commission, which is reviewing the club's plan as a development of regional impact (DRI), has delayed its decision due to concerns about a little-known section of public beach next to the yacht club at the end of Owen Little Way.

Edgartown Selectmen Lead Initiative to Join Ocean Wind Turbine Proposal

By MIKE SECCOMBE

With Edgartown in the lead, the Vineyard is poised to join with Nantucket and Cong. William Delahunt in pushing for the establishment of an offshore energy zone to harness wind, wave and possibly tidal energy from waters between the two Islands.

The move is a first step toward the goal of making the Islands energy independent.