A parking lot near Aquinnah Circle will be equipped with an electronic park-and-pay machine to boost revenue from the lot.
The Aquinnah select board unanimously approved the recommendation to install the machine made by the Aquinnah parking committee during a Tuesday evening meeting. Aquinnah select board member Tom Murphy abstained from voting because he was a part of making the committee’s recommendations.
The park-and-pay machine, which would be monitored by the police, would allow Aquinnah to bring in parking revenue from April to May alongside the summer months, when an attendant manages the parking. Murphy said the machine would cost about $15,000.
“That parking lot brought in $200,000 in revenue last year,” Murphy said. “We think that adding this can substantially increase that number.”
Aquinnah select board chair Gary Haley suggested buying two machines in case one of them malfunctions. Murphy agreed that would be a good idea.
Two more recommendations were also made by the committee. The committee recommended increasing the free parking time at Aquinnah Circle from one hour to 90 minutes. The committee thinks this is a reasonable amount of time to give visitors to “shop, eat, visit the Aquinnah cultural center, and the lighthouse.”
A third recommendation made by the committee is to paint additional parking stripes in the area near the restrooms.
“Down by the restroom, there’s currently, I think, 10 parking spots for residents, and there’s another long section of pavement that’s unstriped. We can simply add 10 more spots by striping that area,” Murphy said. “This is a start.”
The additional parking spots will help Aquinnah meet the demand of people, as more lots come into operation.
“Jason Widdis’ lot, the first building on the right as you go up the stairs, has been purchased and will be put into operation this year. The Orange Peel facility has also been purchased by the Smalley family, and that will be put into operation,” Murphy said. “We received three responses to our requests for proposals of the Manning house today; two of them are for food service.”
In other business, the board unanimously appointed Kathy Olsen to the board of registrars and reappointed Katherine Newman to the Martha’s Vineyard Commission as the Aquinnah representative.
The board unanimously approved Aquinnah Police Chief Randhi Belain’s request to give a 2014 Ford Interceptor cruiser to the Aquinnah Fire Department. This would allow the fire department to replace its 2010 Ford Explorer, one of the two vehicles it owns.
The board decided to delay the discussion about the Roddy land donation, which is to the right of Philbin Beach parking lot. Aquinnah town administrator Jeffrey Madison said he was in touch with town counsel Ron Rappaport. However, Rappaport has not sent a response yet, so Madison suggested waiting.
Another group waiting for an answer is the Aquinnah housing committee. The committee presented a land disposition agreement to use two lots for affordable rental housing, to be built by Island Housing Trust: one behind the fire station, and the other behind the town hall. Madison gave the agreement to town counsel, but has not received an answer back yet. Madison said he was concerned the language in it would prevent the town from using the remainder of the land for other uses, such as conservation.
“I can agree that you want to get everything worked out so you are all comfortable, but time should be held to a reasonable minimum as possible,” housing committee chair Mike Hebert said. “Every day we push back is another day people are going without housing that they need.”
“We’ll move this thing along. I will personally take the responsibility to move this along,” Madison said, although there was still more that needed to be done before a decision was made.
The Coalition to Create the Martha’s Vineyard Housing Bank updated the select board on changes made to the warrant article for a housing bank. The changes were made after discussions in Edgartown and West Tisbury. After hearing changes made in the warrant article, the board unanimously supported keeping the item on the warrant.
Newly elected Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head council member Kevin Devine also attended the meeting, stating he hopes to “rebuild a relationship” between the tribe and the town. Devine said he wants the two entities to work together as a community.
