The Martha s Vineyard Times
We’ve been impressed by the careful and thoughtful approach of this coalition.
The effort is focused on state legislation that would allow for housing banks to be created and use a transfer fee, similar to the one that funds the Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank. The coalition is working with communities such as Nantucket, with similar goals.
We like the transfer fee approach because it doesn’t create a battle over tax revenue. We also like that the housing bank is working with the Land Bank to limit the amount of administrative overhead to the housing bank.
The Martha s Vineyard Times
Coalition steering committee member Doug Ruskin, shown here at a 2018 hospital forum, outlined what a Housing Bank on the Island could look like. Gabrielle Mannino
In its first public listening session, members of the Coalition to Create the Martha’s Vineyard Housing Bank gave a presentation on their “first draft parameters” to more than 140 attendees via Zoom, and fielded wide-ranging questions from the public.
The listening session featured members of the coalition as well as speakers from various Island organizations.
“We need a comprehensive regional solution with long-range planning and funding appropriate to the scale of the problem,” coalition steering committee co-chair Julie Fay said.
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The Martha s Vineyard Times
Aquinnah plans to invite tribe to the table
Selectmen agree to send a letter to reopen talks.
The Aquinnah board of selectmen will invite Cheryl Andews-Maltais and the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) back to the table to talk about their casino project. -Gabrielle Mannino
The Aquinnah board of selectmen will reach out to the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) through a letter inviting them back to the table to talk about the tribe’s gambling facility.
“Invite them back to the table so we can talk and make it clear that this board of selectmen was never against the casino,” Newman said. “We were just trying to work with them so we can cooperate with whatever is going on, because whatever they have there is certainly going to impact the town one way or the other, and we need to work together on this. And it’s difficult.”
The Martha s Vineyard Times
MVC suggests âmore flexibleâ language for energy policy
Meeting 100 percent renewable energy, both on or off-site, may be impossible for certain applicants.
Ben Robinson goes over the draft DRI energy policy with fellow Marthaâs Vineyard Commissioners.
The Marthaâs Vineyard Commission (MVC) is continuing its review of the draft development of regional impact (DRI) energy policy, which seeks to mitigate the effects of climate change by minimizing fossil fuel use and maximizing resiliency through local energy production.
The commissionâs energy policy is nonbinding, but it gives applicants a better idea of what the commission would like to see in a project. Commissioners can then use the energy policy to weigh the benefits and detriments of a project.