You could summarize the plot of Laura Israel’s movie Windfall to make it sound like a David-beats-Goliath, feel-good enviroflick.
A nasty power company intent on a big, new development has the leaders of a picturesque small town in its thrall. Local activists organize the good citizens and pull off an electoral coup, voting out the acquiescent town government and driving the corporate bad guys out of town.
Three days ago, The Trustees of Reservations staff removed the last of the big old telephone poles delineating the parking lot at Wasque Point on Chappaquiddick, lest they lose them to the sea.
A week or so from now, the remaining half of the parking lot will probably be gone; the shoreline at Wasque has retreated almost 100 feet since early November, and continues to erode at a rate of about one foot per day.
How long might this go on?
The Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank envisions a new campground as part of its management plan for its 234-acre Southern Woodlands Preserve. Dan Feeney, the owner of the Vineyard’s only currently operating campground, envisages problems with that.
At Tuesday night’s public hearing to consider the draft management plan, Mr. Feeney emerged as the only person with significant objections to it.
Vineyarders are set to stake their claim for a site for future wind energy generation, as the bidding process begins for wind power leases across a vast swath of federal waters south of the Island.
At a meeting last night of Vineyard Power, the cooperative set up with the aim of securing stable, renewable electricity for the Island, members were briefed on the attributes of various potential sites. They now will have about a week to vote on their preferred site.
None of this year’s snowfalls has amounted to a blizzard, but the town of Tisbury’s response might well qualify as one — a paper blizzard.
The town has decided to get tough on people who do not clear snow from their sidewalks, and in pursuit of the goal of slip-free footpaths has issued hundreds of warnings and citations to businesses and residents over recent weeks.
Yet many sidewalks still are not being cleared.
A rising tide lifts all boats, they say. But the old aphorism about the economy apparently does not hold true for Vineyard real estate, as the most recent property valuations show.
