Restoration of Spring Building Earns Vineyard Haven Support

By ALEXIS TONTI

Tisbury voters dispatched with special town meeting in one hour Tuesday night, endorsing the creation of a town dog park, the restoration of the historic Tashmoo Spring building and the development of a comprehensive energy plan for the Island.

Amid the piles of sawdust and wood shavings, beyond the planks of white pine, black locust and silver bali, heritage and history are rising from the ground once again in Vineyard Haven.

At the Gannon and Benjamin Marine Railway, Manny Palomo chisels and planes the keel of September, a 26-foot sloop. Mr. Palomo crawls around the ribbands and hull molds of the ship's skeleton, fine tuning the frame for the garboard and rest of the planking.

Affordable Housing - Three Leaders: No Crowd Here, Only Advocates

By MAX HART

One raises money. Another spends it. The third is the manager.

Say hello to Emily Graham, Philippe Jordi and David Vigneault - the newest threesome to tackle the Island's affordable housing problem."The attitude is not whether we should do affordable housing, but how," Mr. Vigneault says. "How do we finance projects? How do we secure land? There is a renewed attitude among the housing community that is very proactive and energized and ready to move forward."

A tight-knit community of family farmhouses in the wooded hills off Tabor House Road. Homes that optimize their surrounding landscape and maximize exposure to the sun. A rambling stone wall surrounded by daffodils.

These are the images the Chilmark housing committee will introduce to town residents next week as part of a new conceptual design and feasibility report on the Middle Line Road project, the town-proposed affordable housing development.

Aquinnah Town Leaders Scramble Anew for Fresh Revenues to Replace Shortfall

By MAX HART

Aquinnah selectmen learned this week that the town now faces another financial dilemma: a $25,000 budget shortfall for fiscal year 2005.

Tea Lane Residents Clamor for Paving Ancient Town Byway

By MAX HART

Fed up with the ruts and potholes on their dirt road, residents along historic Tea Lane in Chilmark are pleading with town leaders to consider paving the 242-year-old byway.

"This is not just a colonial road anymore," Thomas Rivers, a resident who lives off Tea Lane, told the Gazette this week. "This is a colonial road in modern times, and it is failing its residents. It is past time that the town responds accordingly, and some of us think that means paving it."