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News in Brief
September 15, 2005
Vineyard skipper finds
body of missing Cape boater
The body of Paul Bertolozzi, 58, a Sandwich boater not seen since his unoccupied 35-foot powerboat ran hard aground on a beach in Mashpee late Sunday, was located floating in the water off Hyannis Tuesday afternoon by the captain of a Vineyard sailing charter boat.
Ian Thomas, skipper of the sailing vessel When and If, was taking a group of 15 people he picked up in Hyannis for an afternoon sail when one of the passengers spotted the body.
"By luck or chance we came up within about five feet of the guy," said Mr. Thomas.
Mr. Thomas alerted the Coast Guard as he prepared to stand by while spotters kept a close watch on the body. He deployed a small boat with a mate and one of the passengers and attached a man overboard pole, an emergency-marking device, to Mr. Bertolozzi's body.
Mr. Thomas said he maintained his position until public safety officials arrived to recover the body. He said the passengers, while shocked, handled the situation very well and were a great help.
According to a Coast Guard report, the body of Mr. Bertolozzi was located in Nantucket Sound approximately 1.5 nautical miles from Point Gammon, near Hyannis. A crew from Coast Guard station Woods Hole recovered and delivered the body to State Police officials. Mr. Bertolozzi reportedly left Edgartown at 8:30 pm Sunday. His boat, the Bon Gusto, was found at 10 pm, hard aground on Tidewater Beach with nobody on board. Navigational gear on board was running and the engine was found in gear.
Assisted by private vessels, the Coast Guard conducted a total of 26 searches, covering an area in excess of 890 square nautical miles within Nantucket Sound before the search was suspended just after noon on Tuesday.
According to a report in the Cape Cod Times, Mr. Bertolozzi and his wife made a day trip to Edgartown. He was last seen leaving Edgartown alone after allegedly quarreling with his wife. The report said foul play is not suspected.
Zoning board denies car dealership plan
The Edgartown zoning board of appeals (ZBA) voted unanimously on August 31 to deny a proposal to open a car dealership and automotive garage at the Old Colony building on EdgartownÅ|West Tisbury Road.
Tom McCurdy, Luis Figueroa, and Jim Glavin had proposed a "full-service auto sales and maintenance facility" at the site. Because it has been more than two years since the property has been used as a car dealership, the project required a special permit from the zoning board.
Neighbors opposed to the project turned out in force at the ZBA public hearing last month. They argued that resurrecting a car dealership on the site would be a detriment to the neighborhood. In the end, the ZBA agreed, and voted 5Å|0 to deny the special permit.
This week, Mr. Glavin said that he was disappointed by the decision, but did not plan to appeal the ruling.
"Our interest hasn't been abated," he said. "We will keep looking for a place, because there is a real need, but I'm not real optimistic that we are going to find anything. There just aren't any places left for this type of operation."
The Old Colony building was once the site of Old Colony Chevy/Jeep. When it was closed by order of the Internal Revenue Service for failure to pay payroll taxes in 1996, it was the Island's only new car dealer. In 1997, a branch of Showcase Isuzu of Bourne moved in, but closed in 2002. The building remained vacant until last year when a pet supply store moved in, only to close its doors a year later.
Otis to remain open
In a change of course from earlier plans, the federal Base Realignment and Closure Commission (BRAC) announced in its final report on Tuesday, that Otis Air National Guard Base, on the Massachusetts Military Reservation on Cape Cod, will remain open.
In the report, the BRAC said that the base would be "realigned" rather than closed. A realignment means that the Air National Guard Base will continue to operate but will likely take on additional responsibilities.
The report also said that the new recommendation does not change the manpower levels of the Air National Guard at the base. State and federal officials had expected drastic reduction in manpower when original BRAC reports indicated that Otis would be closed.
Oak Bluffs selectmen
invite hospital officials
to present plan
The Oak Bluffs selectmen discussed plans for a new hospital, an objectionable fence on Ocean Park, and a slate of agenda items at their regularly scheduled meeting Tuesday night.
John Breckenridge, the selectmen's appointee to the Martha's Vineyard Commission (MVC), provided an update on an informal meeting between members of the regional planning body and hospital planners this month at which several MVC members raised concerns about plans to rebuild the hospital on its current site.
"Many commissioners did not feel the case was made to keep it at the existing location," said Mr. Breckenridge.
The MVC concerns arose despite several public presentations last year at which hospital officials and members of the hospital design team presented the factors that influenced the decision to build on the current site rather than an alternative location, primarily the cost of the building.
Hospital planners estimated building on a new site would cost approximately $70 million and require 20 acres to build a hospital at a new location. After more than a year and a half of planning, hospital leaders unveiled a design for a new three-story 150,000-square-foot hospital building with a price tag of $42 million on the current site.
At Tuesday night's meeting, the selectmen did not raise any specific concerns, but said they wanted hospital leaders and their architects to attend a future meeting to discuss their plans. "I would like the hospital to make a presentation to the board of selectmen," said Roger Wey, selectman.
In other business, a homeowner on Ocean Park went before the selectmen to dispute a fence that the park department placed in front of her house last month.
Henrietta Norris said that the fence prevents her from parking on her property in front of her house. She questioned why the fence was erected, and why she was not notified prior to its installation. A host of Ms. Norris's friends and neighbors also attended the meeting to speak out against the fence.
The selectmen said they would look into the matter.
Richard Combra Jr., Oak Bluffs highway superintendent and parks commissioner, did not speak at the meeting, but in a conversation with a Times reporter yesterday, he said that Ms. Norris had been parking her car on town parkland.
"While Ms. Norris claims that she has been parking on her property in front of her house, records clearly show that she is parking in Ocean Park," said Mr. Combra. "We have had complaints from neighbors, and we could not let it continue because it would set a precedent. We're not trying to pick on anyone, but we can't allow people to park their cars on town parks."
Rhode Island fast ferry
cuts weekday trips
Martha's Vineyard Fast Ferry, which operates a high-speed passenger ferry between Oak Bluffs and Quonset Point, R.I., has canceled all midweek trips for the rest of the season.
Charles Donadio, owner of Martha's Vineyard Fast Ferry, said that recent increases in fuel prices forced him to cut back on service. "For business reasons, and wanting to be here long-term, we needed to make some cutbacks to offset the 30 to 40 percent increase we are seeing in fuel prices right now," said Mr. Donadio.
The cutback in the number of trips went into effect on Monday, and will continue through Columbus Day, when the company will shut down service completely for the winter, Mr. Donadio said.
For the next three weeks, until it closes for the season, Martha's Vineyard Fast Ferry will continue to offer ferry service on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. A complete schedule is available on the company's web site, vineyardfastferry.com. Tickets can be booked online, or via phone at 401-295-4040.
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Airport required to cut trees
As part of a rare species mitigation program, workers were scheduled to begin cutting an area of trees at the end of a Martha's Vineyard Airport runway, just off EdgartownÅ|West Tisbury Road, this week.
Sean Flynn, acting airport manager, said that the trees must be cut to create habitat for several species that could be impacted by work at the other end of the airport.
The airport is currently preparing to reconstruct and realign taxiway alpha, at the eastern end of the airport. State and federal laws require the airport to create a habitat similar to the area that will be disrupted by the work on the taxiway.
"There are rare species that live in this sandplain area where we will be working, so we will be recreating that habitat and relocating those species," said Mr. Flynn.
Along with the sandplains that will be created at the end of the runway, the airport also plans to create habitat for the purple tiger beetle and the barrens buckmoth in an area of land on the other side of EdgartownÅ|West Tisbury Road. Instead of clear cutting, the airport will remove all the large trees in a grid pattern to create pathways of scrub oak Å|Å| a habitat ideal for both species.
Mr. Flynn said the tree cutting is expected to take about 120 days. Once the species mitigation is complete, work will begin on taxiway alpha.
Land Bank holds up-Island public comment session
The Martha's Vineyard Land Bank will hold one of two public comment sessions at 5 pm Monday in Chilmark Town Hall.
According to a press release, "The purpose of the sessions is to solicit public comment on future Land Bank acquisitions, or any matter relating to the Land Bank."
A down-Island input session was held last week in Oak Bluffs.
For more information, call the Land Bank at 508-627-7141.
Advertising slip-up delays county fuel contract
On August 10 the Dukes County commissioners voted to award the R.M. Packer Company a county fuel contract to provide heating oil to Island towns without properly advertising the request for bids.
As a result, the county could not sign the contract and must now repeat the bid process. That sparked concerns at the Tisbury selectmen's meeting Tuesday night that the delay could add to fuel costs.
E. Winn Davis, Dukes County manager, said this week that the county must now go through the bid process again, which will delay the fuel contract another month because the Vineyard Gazette never published a legal advertisement.
Yesterday afternoon, Mr. Davis provided no specific explanation why the request for bids never appeared in the Gazette, chosen by the commissioners to be the official county paper, and why the problem was not spotted sooner.
"My records show that we sent [the advertisement] out, but they have no record of receiving it," said Mr. Davis.
Asked if the delay in the fuel contract will affect county operations or the county budget, Mr. Davis said he did not think that it would.
"Fuel prices were on the rise long before, and I think Packer, like anybody else, based their bids on their expectations," said Mr. Davis. "The prices have actually been dropping a little bit, so whether it makes a difference or not financially, I don't think it will because people should have taken that into account when they made their bids."
Hospital purchases corner house
The Martha's Vineyard Hospital this month purchased the small house adjacent to the hospital entrance driveway for $825,000 from Ruth Ronan.
Tim Walsh, hospital chief executive officer, said the house is located in a strategic spot, and the purchase was a wise investment as the hospital struggles with limited space and housing needs. Current plans are to use the four-bedroom house for hospital employees.
Candy shop owner plans Otis delivery
Marguerite Cook, owner of the Good Ship Lollipop candy store on Beach Road adjacent to the Citgo Gas station is stocking up boxes she plans to deliver to Katrina evacuees now staying at Otis Air National Guard base.
Ms. Cook said she has already collected a variety of items including baby clothes, personal hygene items, and food. She said she decided to combine a trip off-Island next week with a stop at Otis.
She can be reached at 508-776-5625.
Teens rescued from swamped boat
A vigilant boater rescued five teenagers from the ferry channel in Vineyard Haven Harbor after they swamped a stolen 14-foot aluminum skiff while out for a joyride around 7:30 pm last Sunday night.
Jay Wilbur, Tisbury's harbormaster, said Michael Seppala plucked the three boys and two girls from the waters in the outer harbor and took them aboard his sailboat to the Vineyard Haven dock, unaware, of course, of the circumstances surrounding their accident.
"He most likely saved these kids' lives," said Mr. Wilbur. "It was dusk, and he said he didn't think the Islander would have seen them. They could have been run down by it."
Mr. Seppala reported the incident to the U.S. Coast Guard. He had to leave quickly after helping the teens, because he was trying to sail his boat back into Lagoon Pond while the bridge was raised.
In the meantime, Islander personnel contacted Mr. Wilbur through the communications center at the Dukes County Sheriff's Office and asked him to recover the boat from the steamship's path.
"I hightailed it down to the harbor, half hoping to meet with the recovering boat owner, the victims or someone, but when I got there, it was a ghost town," Mr. Wilbur said. He recovered the boat and took the motor to be repaired.
In piecing together clues from different incidents that have taken place since Labor Day, Mr. Wilbur believes the skiff the teens were in Sunday night probably was stolen from Oak Bluffs Harbor. He said he thought the motor possibly was one stolen off a boat in Owen Park on September 9, and is checking serial numbers with the possible owner.
At Tisbury's board of selectmen meeting on Tuesday night, Mr. Wilbur said there have been several incidents of dinghy joy-riding and thefts since Labor Day. He also recovered another missing skiff from Vineyard Haven Harbor, and found it paired with a missing outboard from another skiff.
"I didn't get to meet with those kids or probably we would have recovered more of the missing equipment by now. There's still another inflatable dinghy and motor unaccounted for," Mr. Wilbur said. He described it as a grey Zodiac hard-bottom inflatable with an Igloo cooler as the center seat, equipped with a 6-horsepower Mercury engine.
One of the teens in Sunday night's incident gave his name as Derek Johnson to Coast Guardsmen, but no such person has been found, and the phone number he supplied is disconnected.
The Tisbury Police Department is conducting an investigation, according to Theodore (Ted) Saulnier, chief of police, and Mr. Wilbur said he believes he and the police "will get to the bottom of it."
If anyone has any information, please call Mr. Wilbur at 508-696-4249 or Chief Saulnier at 508-696-4240.
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