TestMV gets Ag Society go-ahead

The West Tisbury select board voted unanimously Wednesday evening to allow TestMV to relocate to the grounds of the Martha’s Vineyard Agricultural Society. TestMV is currently set up at the West Tisbury School. The item came up under topics the chair didn’t reasonably anticipate.

Town administrator Jennifer Rand said the good news is kids are going back to school, but the bad news is TestMV will need to vacate the West Tisbury School grounds, and will be “homeless.” The testing site, which was originally located in the parking lot of Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School until it had to move to make way for the Performing Arts Center to reopen, has seen a recent uptick in individuals seeking tests because of a significant increase of COVID-19 on the Island.

“Right now the option on the table is the Ag Society,” Rand said.

Rand noted the Ag Society property has a layout that is conducive to a drive-in, drive-out operation, and a building to situate staff. Rand said the town’s zoning enforcement officer, building inspector Joe Tierney, believed the use was permissible under the restrictions governing the property. She also said Vineyard Conservation Society executive director Brendan O’Neill deemed the use allowable under the property’s agricultural preservation restriction (APR). 

However, the town’s conservation commission voted against the use on Tuesday night “because they wanted to know why it couldn’t go somewhere else,” Rand said.

Rand said there wasn’t any other place else workable for TestMV. The MVRHS Performing Arts Center is back in use, and the Grange Hall, she pointed out, is heavily booked, and doesn’t have adequate plumbing for winter activity. 

Chair Skipper Manter, who has been critical in the past of nontraditional uses of the Ag Society property, didn’t hesitate to brush off the conservation commission’s concerns and push for a vote. 

Ag Society president Brian Athearn later told The Times the Ag Society is “excited” to host TestMV, and anticipates welcoming them “right after” the fair is done. “We’re coming up with a layout plan right now,” he said.