West Tisbury selectmen at their meeting this week unanimously agreed to authorize executive secretary Jennifer Rand to enter into a contract with a Falmouth-based general contractor to begin work on the long-awaited town hall renovation project.
J.K. Scanlon of East Falmouth was awarded the bid after coming in approximately $600,000 lower than expected.
The music is over, the roadies have taken up the stage and the crowds are long gone, but the glow of Sunday’s Martha’s Vineyard Festival at Ocean Park in Oak Bluffs remains for many who saw or participated in the marathon 10-hour concert featuring acts including the Boston Pops and Gladys Knight.
“It was a howling success, truly a magical night on the Vineyard,” said Renee Balter, a board member for Friends of Oak Bluffs, one of several nonprofits that sold tickets to the event as part of a fund-raising agreement with concert organizers.
Despite continued pressure from some Edgartown officials, the Martha’s Vineyard Commission on Thursday stood firmly behind its previous decision to hold a public hearing on a request from the developers of the Field Club in Katama to pay $1.8 million to the town instead of designating three lots on their property for affordable housing.
After an hour of emotionally charged debate, the commission voted 10-3 to hold the hearing.
West Tisbury selectmen are considering a new bylaw that would prohibit registered sex offenders from living or loitering near public spaces like schools, bus stops, day care centers, parks and playgrounds.
Town resident Kelly Wilson presented an early version of the bylaw to selectmen on Wednesday, a five-page document she drafted along with police chief Beth Toomey. Ms. Wilson told selectmen she herself was a victim of sexual abuse when she was young, and urged selectmen to adopt the plan to prevent abuse in the future.
After receiving approval from the Martha’s Vineyard Commission earlier this summer by a nearly unanimous vote, the Bradley Square project on Dukes County avenue in Oak Bluffs has gone to the town zoning board of appeals and once again drawn the ire of abutters and neighbors.
Charitable giving on the Vineyard remains almost inexplicably robust this summer season, even while across the nation there is mounting evidence the sagging economy is having a devastating effect on philanthropy.
Donations to the Salvation Army are reported to be down 20 per cent, contributions to church collection plates are off an estimated 35 per cent, and several charities tasked with providing aid to victims of Hurricane Katrina have nearly gone bankrupt.