Page 3 - Brian Packish News Today

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 […]

Oak Bluffs scallopers will need to wait a bit longer before knowing how much shellfish they can gather next year.  During an October Oak Bluffs select board meeting, there was contention about a decision to decrease the scallop fishing limit from three bushels for commercial shellfishermen and one for recreational shellfishermen to two bushel for […]

The call of “left, right” from Dukes County veterans service officer and retired U.S. Army Sgt. Randy Dull rang out clearly under cloudy skies as the annual Veterans Day Parade marched through Oak Bluffs with a police escort. Led by the Coast Guard, the veterans received applause and salutes from Islanders as the procession made […]

Gathered in the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School’s Performing Arts Center Tuesday evening, Oak Bluffs voters approved a full six-article warrant during a special town meeting.  With just enough voters to meet a quorum, Oak Bluffs residents voted in favor, overwhelmingly, for the amended regional funding formula regarding the proposed new high school project.  The […]

With several projects in the works, the Oak Bluffs affordable housing committee discussed that they will soon be looking to sink their teeth into a new project. But before making any conclusive plans, the committee discussed the need to wrap up work on existing initiatives. At their Tuesday meeting, the committee touched on a recent, […]

At Tuesday’s meeting, the Oak Bluffs select board heard from members of the shellfish committee and local shellfisherman regarding the town’s scallop limit for the upcoming year.  This past season, for both Sengekontacket Pond and Lagoon Pond, commercial and recreational/family fishing limits were set at three and one bushels, respectively.  The select board recently voted […]

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 […]

In a joint meeting with the Oak Bluffs affordable housing committee Tuesday evening, the town’s select board approved a request of $250,000 by Island Housing Trust and Boston-based Affirmative Investments to help fund the affordable housing project Southern Tier. The project was made logistically possible by the recent “doughnut hole” land swap signed into law […]