Leonard Jason Jr. seems destined to serve on Island boards. The longtime building inspector for both Edgartown and Chilmark was re-elected to another two-year term on the Dukes County Commission, despite his intention to step down after 20 years.
Tensions between the Martha’s Vineyard Airport Commission and the Dukes County Commission are showing little sign of abating, despite an invitation from the county for the two groups try to resolve their differences out of court.
Greater transparency, expanded human services and more state funding are among the goals shared by candidates running for the Dukes County commission. Seven people are running to fill seven seats on the board next Tuesday. Four appear on the ballot, while three are running as write-ins.
A superior court judge has ruled that a lawsuit against the Martha’s Vineyard Airport Commission by a former airport employee who claims she was wrongfully terminated from her job can go forward.
Call it new math, but the Dukes County Commission may have finally figured out how to get the Martha’s Vineyard Airport Commission under its thumb: make it bigger.
A superior court judge heard arguments Tuesday afternoon on both sides of a dispute between the Martha’s Vineyard Airport Commission and the county. The hearing saw spirited debate about the legal independence of the airport, and also whether the dispute belonged in court in the first place.
Dukes County is looking to purchase the former home of the Vineyard Nursing Association to house the Martha’s Vineyard Center for Living.
County Manager Martina Thornton told the Edgartown selectmen Monday about a preliminary plan to raise as much as $1.6 million to purchase and renovate the building, which is located near State Road in Tisbury.
Longstanding tensions between the Dukes County Commission and the Martha’s Vineyard Airport Commission over who really runs the airport wound up in superior court this week, when airport commissioners filed a complaint against the very body that appoints them.
After a wide-ranging discussion about the poor condition of the Edgartown courthouse due to deferred maintenance, the Dukes County advisory board voted this week to put $150,000 toward repairs on the 1858 brick building that stands in the center of town.
The advisory board voted unanimously Wednesday to move $150,000 from the county budget reserve fund into a newly created capital expenditures fund. The vote took place during a joint session of the county advisory board and the county commissioners.
The Dukes County commission voted this week to approve a $1.5 million budget for the coming fiscal year.
The budget marks a 17.9 per cent decrease over last year due to the state takeover of administrative affairs for the county sheriff’s department. Last year the sheriff’s portion of the county budget totalled $300,000.
Under the upcoming budget, total town assessments will drop from $649,279 to $492,739, county manager Martina Thornton told the commission at their meeting Wednesday.
