The Island energy cooperative is entering the next phase of its plan to build a 40-megawatt wind farm south of the Vineyard, and has reached a clear turning point in its young history, president Richard Andre said at the fifth annual meeting Saturday.

A quick drive around Martha’s Vineyard reveals a tapestry of architectural styles, from the stately homes of former whaling captains in Edgartown to the colorful Victorian gingerbread houses in Oak Bluffs.

Ben Moore’s house in West Tisbury is easy to miss. A window or two and a modest gabled roof are all that show through a tall row of hedges at the end of a dirt road near the center of town.

The lack of affordable housing, both summer and year-round, is by now a well-entrenched Island problem, but many believe that this year the shortage is unusually severe.

Facing an October deadline to complete its work, a Chilmark town committee charged with independently studying the best way to restore Squibnocket Beach is midway through its fact-gathering mission.