By JIM HICKEY
Edgartown selectmen on Tuesday delayed voting on an application for a new tour bus company for the second time in four months, stating the town lacks the criteria to review the request and the applicant has yet to prove the need for more tours through town.
By JIM HICKEY
Acting on the advice of town counsel, West Tisbury selectmen on Wednesday agreed to schedule a special town meeting in early June, where voters will be asked to allow the town to convey three lots in Bailey Park to private homeowners or a group such as Habitat for Humanity or the town affordable housing trust.
After three legal opinions and ongoing disagreement among town boards, Aquinnah selectmen on Tuesday decided to send the issue of whether library employees are eligible to receive holiday pay back to the newly-reconstituted personnel board.
The issue dates back to last summer when the personnel board decided that the library staff — director Jenny Christy and two other employees — should be paid for holidays they were not scheduled to work in the form of compensatory time, much like other employees already receive.
Sending the strongest message yet on the need to cut spending in this cash-strapped town, Oak Bluffs voters soundly rejected 11 of 12 Proposition 2 1/2 override questions yesterday and elected a new selectman. Gail Barmakian, an attorney, member of the town wastewater commission and former zoning board of appeals member who campaigned on a strong platform of fiscal reform, defeated three other candidates to win the seat vacated by Kerry Scott, who did not seek reelection to a third term.
Tension and frustration marked the Oak Bluffs annual town meeting which ran for two nights this week but is still far from over, as voters struggle to come to terms with the fact that their town is on the ropes financially and facing a budget deficit for a third year running.
The annual town meeting will resume on May 4.
The high school boys’ tennis team has jumped out to another strong start, winning four of its first five matches, while the softball team under new coach Donald Herman has also started strong with a 4-2 record.
