The Oak Bluffs select board chose to increase its residential exemption at a tax classification hearing Thursday afternoon. Last year, Oak Bluffs joined a small handful of municipalities throughout the commonwealth offering such exemptions. On Thursday, the board voted to adopt an 8% residential exemption ($90,838, based on the average residential value of $1,135,480) […]
Oak Bluffs town administrator Deborah Potter says a federal investigation into the town’s prior ambulance billing isn’t over. In a Nov. 17 letter to The Times, Potter described the investigation as “ongoing.” That description came as part of response to an Open Meeting Law (OML) complaint lodged by The Times over the accuracy and sufficiency […]
The Oak Bluffs select board unanimously approved police department policy changes requested by Chief Jon Searle during a lengthy meeting Tuesday evening. The policy changes are needed regarding the recruitment and retention of personnel, Searle told the board, “to reflect our housing crisis [and] employee shortage.” He recommended enacting an open enrollment, whether or not […]
In a discussion regarding whether to pursue a hybrid meeting strategy for future meetings, the Oak Bluffs select board mulled over the benefits and detriments of in-person versus Zoom attendance. This comes after the COVID-19 pandemic triggered an exemption to the Open Meeting Law, allowing public meetings to be held remotely via Zoom. Some towns […]
The Oak Bluffs select board has augmented five sets of executive session minutes following an Open Meeting Law (OML) complaint filed by the Martha’s Vineyard Times and a subsequent violation finding by the Massachusetts attorney general’s office. The minutes pertain to an Oak Bluffs Police Department rifle that disappeared and then reappeared months later after […]