
For Conservation Commission, a Tangled Issue in Pond Docks
By MANDY LOCKE
The West Tisbury conservation commission must now act as judge and
jury for a key town leader - sorting through selectman Jeffrey
(Skipper) Manter's request to permit four docks in Tisbury Great
Pond that he has been using for years.
The verdict must come down within three weeks, and the conservation
commission - a board appointed by selectmen - isn't
quite sure how to sort through the mess.
Here's what they know:
Amid conciliatory expressions and with the developer's representative waving a white hat in the air, the Martha's Vineyard Commission voted without dissent last night to approve a plan that is expected to close the final chapter in a bitter four-year battle over the development of the southern woodlands in Oak Bluffs.
"This has been a really trying time for the commission and for all those in the community that have been on both sides of the issue. I hope this is now time to put it behind us and heal the wounds," declared commission member Andrew Woodruff.
Felix Neck Land Purchase Protects Eastern Flank of Nature Sanctuary
By JULIA WELLS
The Martha's Vineyard Land Bank, the Felix Neck Wildlife Trust
and the Massachusetts Audubon Society closed on a land purchase last
week that will protect the last key piece of undeveloped land at Felix
Neck.
Felix Neck, Land Bank and Audubon Buy Moffet Land to Preserve
Sanctuary Borders
By JULIA WELLS
Gazette Senior Writer
In a three-way partnership that will protect the last key piece of
undeveloped land at one of the oldest wildlife sanctuaries on the
Vineyard, the Martha's Vineyard Land Bank, the Massachusetts
Audubon Society and the Felix Neck Wildlife Trust announced yesterday
that they will buy 34 acres from Lucia Moffet for $2.55 million.
With the American lobster in short supply in Vineyard
waters, the state and federal governments are in the early
stages of considering new minimum sizes and catch limits.
Hearings are planned for later this summer.
Leaders for the the new Conservation Partnership of Martha's Vineyard and the Martha's Vineyard Land Bank have pledged full cooperation with one another, announcing among other things that they will begin to hold regular meetings to exchange information pertinent to the conservation movement.
"The land bank is committed to meet with the partnership monthly, to talk about specific properties and also priorities," said land bank executive director James Lengyel.