News
in Brief
January
20, 2005
MV
Co-op Bank contributes to affordable housing battle
Richard Leonard, president of the Martha’s Vineyard Co-operative
Bank, recently presented a check for $4,050 to Emily Graham, executive
director of the Island Affordable Housing Fund. The donation followed
a checking account incentive program this fall in which the Co-operative
Bank made a $25 contribution to the Island Affordable Housing Fund
for each person or business that opened a new checking account.
“Deciding to bank with us demonstrates a heightened sense of
personal and social responsibility,” said Mr. Leonard. “Our
depositors earn great interest rates in a secure and accessible
environment. They also get to feel good, knowing that their money
stays right here on the Vineyard. We reinvest it right back into
the community to increase the social and economic well-being of
the Island. It’s win-win.”
According to a press release, the Island Affordable Housing Fund
plans to designate the funds for the Community Housing Bank Coalition,
an ad-hoc committee of Islanders that is spearheading an effort
to gain approval for the Community Preservation Act and seek a long-term,
public funding source for affordable housing.
Vineyard Haven Library to be closed for renovations
The Vineyard Haven Library will be closed from Jan. 31 to Feb. 6
for interior renovations. The library will add additional shelving
on the first floor and bring large print materials upstairs to be
more easily accessible. Additional shelving will be added on both
levels. Books on tape and CDs will be moved to the lower level along
with music.
The main floor will be redesigned in order to add a browsing collection
for oversize art or “coffee table” books, and more shelves
for new books.
The Dukes County Sheriff’s Department will assist in shifting
the collection to make more room for popular subjects such as mysteries
and cookbooks.
Southern Woodlands plan still up for discussion
One of the hottest hot-button issues on the Island over the last
several years is once again up for discussion. The Oak Bluffs planning
board has scheduled a public hearing on Tuesday, Jan. 25 for a proposed
26-unit subdivision on 90 acres of land in the Southern Woodlands.
The project, dubbed “The Preserve at the Woodlands,” is
a key element of an agreement signed last April between the Martha’s
Vineyard Land Bank and the owner of the land, Connecticut developer
Corey Kupersmith. That agreement calls for Mr. Kupersmith to sell
190 acres he owns, apart from the 90 he will subdivide, to the public
conservation agency for $18.63 million.
The plan required Martha’s Vineyard Commission (MVC) approval.
After denying three separate golf course proposals and a massive
40B housing project on the land, the MVC voted unanimously to approve
the subdivision on April 8, 2004.
The project is now before the Oak Bluffs planning board for a special
permit as a 40B development within a district of critical planning
concern (DCPC).
John Bradford, planning board chairman, said the plan has changed
very little in the last eight months. “I think it is almost
identical to the original plan approved by the MVC. A road may have
been moved a couple feet in one direction, but it’s all pretty
minor stuff,” said Mr. Bradford.
The project calls for the development of 26 single-family house
lots on 90 acres of land. Last spring, Brian Lafferty, Mr. Kupersmith’s
agent, said each home would be a five-bedroom “high-end”
house.
According to the plan, each home will be clustered around approximately
20 acres of open space with a manmade pond and a horse field. A
common area in the center of the development will include a horse
stable and a riding ring.
The entire development will be built within the northeast section
of Mr. Kupersmith’s property. Access to the subdivision will
be from County Road.
The planning board public hearing on the project is scheduled to
begin at 7:30 pm on Jan. 25 at the Oak Bluffs council on aging building.
Station Menemsha receives top-of-the-line rescue boat
A 47-foot Coast Guard motor life boat (MLB) plows through a wave
during a rough-water training exercise. Coast Guard Station Menemsha,
recently upgraded to full station status, this week has received
one of these top-of-the-line rescue boats.
The MLB is designed for fast response during rescue missions in
high seas, surf and heavy weather and has a greater towing capacity
than the 41-foot utility boat currently in use by Station Menemsha,
according to the Coast Guard.
The MLB has a speed of 25 plus knots, a cruising range of 200 nautical
miles and can remain at sea for 12 hours. It has other impressive
capabilities that are no doubt reassuring to the men and women who
crew it. According to the Coast Guard the boat can operate in 30-foot
seas, 20-foot surf, 50-knot winds and is self-righting in six seconds.
Coast Guard Station Menemsha, once in danger of closing, was designated
a full station in a ceremony last September.
As a result of the new designation, the number of Coast Guardsmen
increased from 19 to 21. The station also maintains its own radio
watch, monitoring the marine distress frequency from 7 am to 4 pm
daily, and 24 hours a day in times of increased activity, such as
during hurricanes or possibly busy summer weekends.
The Menemsha station and Woods Hole station are part of Coast Guard
Group Woods Hole, a command area that stretches from Duxbury to
Watch Hill, R.I., and out to 50 miles along approximately 600 miles
of coastline.
2004 numbers find SSA traffic continues decline
The Steamship Authority reported declines in automobile and passenger
traffic volumes on both Vineyard and Nantucket routes for the 2004
calendar year. Last year is the fourth in a row in which SSA traffic
has failed to match or exceed traffic volumes of the prior year.
Despite the bad news on volume, rate increases moderated the $300,000
loss on passenger traffic and accounted for increases in revenue
of more than $2 million on freight (that is, trucks or big cars
that are defined as trucks by the boatline) and roughly $300,000
on auto travel.
Passenger traffic was down six percent overall for the SSA in 2004,
compared with figures for the year before. The Vineyard decline
was 5.2 percent, while the Nantucket slump amounted to nearly nine
percent.
For autos, the boatline-wide decline was 6.5 percent. The Vineyard
drop-off was 5.2 percent, while Nantucket slipped 13 percent.
For trucks, the Vineyard traffic rose 23.6 percent, while Nantucket
freight increased 15.5 percent. For the line as a whole, freight
was up almost 21 percent in 2004 compared with 2003 figures. The
numbers are not perfectly comparable because for 2004, the boatline
changed the way it defined some large vehicles as trucks as well
as the way it ticketed them.
A calculation in which the passenger and auto results are regarded
as offsetting one another concludes that the net revenue gain of
$2.3 million came from freight tariffs. The Vineyard share of the
increase may be estimated at 60 percent, according to this analysis.
Freight revenues amount to about 26 percent of the boatline’s
$57 million in operating revenues for 2004. Auto revenue, at about
$22 million, is the biggest contributor. Passenger dollars add about
$19 million.
Airport Mobil contest will aid tsunami victims
The owners of the Airport Mobil gas station in the Airport Business
Park have announced that as part of their fundraising effort for
victims of the Southeast Asian tsunami, they will offer weekly prizes
to donors.
Over the next two months Airport Mobil has pledged that for every
eight-gallon gasoline purchase the station will make a contribution
to tsunami relief. Along with the so-called “pump campaign”
station employees have also distributed Red Cross collection jars
across the Island.
This week, as a way to encourage Islanders to contribute, the station’s
owners announced that they will turn the collection effort into
a contest.
According to Michael Rotondo, an owner of the gas station, once
a week the station will draw a name from among the pump campaign
participants and a name from the collection jar donors. The two
winners will receive a six-month “mini-detail award,”
which includes a monthly car interior cleaning, and an exterior
wash and wax. The winners will also get a free cup of coffee and
a muffin or donut while they wait.
In two months, Mr. Rotondo said that the gas station will randomly
select two grand prize winners from the pool of weekly winners,
who will receive free oil changes at Airport Mobil for the life
of their cars.
Cub Scouts sponsor tsunami fundraiser
Cub Scouts of Pack 90 in Edgartown will host a fundraiser for survivors
of the devastating tsunami that struck Southeast Asia.
The cub scouts will hold a raffle and a pizza and bake sale at 6
pm Friday night in the Edgartown School cafeteria. The cub scouts
promise the event will be “awesome fun.”
All proceeds will be donated to UNICEF for tsunami relief.
Tsunami benefit concert enlists local musicians
Island musicians will perform Friday, Feb. 4, at the Atlantic Connection
in Oak Bluffs to benefit the disaster relief effort in Southeast
Asia.
The performance will feature many local musicians performing on
two stages, including Entrain, featuring Mike Benjamin and Judd
Fuller; Dirty Boots, featuring Dana Radford; The Mercy Beat; Maynard
Silva; Squash Meadow; and others to be announced, according to a
press release from Can I Be Frank Productions, a local production
company.
The benefit, being organized under the guidance of Frank Dumas,
Project Manager, and Glen Caldwell, Production Manager, will be
conducted on a 100 percent volunteer basis. Proceeds will be split
between the local chapter of the American Red Cross, and Oxfam America.
Any persons or businesses with donations, creative direction, or
an interest in volunteering should contact Frank Dumas at canibefrankproductions@yahoo.com
or call 508-360-6979.
Corrections
A news story in last week’s Times, entitled “IEH tenants
critical after staffers resign,” incorrectly reported that Jay
Foley was demoted to IEH maintenance coordinator shortly after he
was hired as the maintenance director in 2002. In fact, he remained
the maintenance director for nearly two years after he was hired,
until September 2004 when his position was changed to maintenance
coordinator. |
