Welcome to the Town of Tisbury's Town Administrator Blog. Thank you for visiting our new and improved website. Although in its infant stages, we hope to grow this site so that it becomes a tool for the public to use to find all types of information that is currently only found by either calling or visiting the appropriate Town offices. Part of this new site includes a Town Administrator blog section. I intend to use this section to convey information every few weeks that is helpful for residents and visitors alike. I plan to include updates on
various town projects, current events in town and in general make this page an interesting part of the site that will give it some personality. I hope to make this page a fun interesting place that you will return to regularly and go a little deeper into what is happening in Tisbury.
With the introductions out of the way summer is almost here and the activities in and around Town are really starting to pick up. Martha's Vineyard has become a premier get away location for thousands of people each year. We are continually looking for new ways to improve the quality of life for our residents while at the same time finding ways that improve the experience of the thousands of people that visit our wonderful island each year. Part of that effort includes both long term and short term projects that we are currently working on. There are many different types of projects currently underway that we hope will positively impact our Town.
Of those projects is the overhaul of the Water St. parking lot. Over the past three years we have tried to make improvements to this facility that address a wide variety of concerns. The parking lot changes have included; improving the aesthetics with flowers and trees, creating crosswalks to designate a safer path of travel for pedestrians, an altered traffic circulation to keep as many cars as possible off Water St. and thus lessening the congestion in and around the five corners intersection, and creating lanes of pedestrian travel that lead people to our beautiful Main St. just steps away. Part of this project also includes addressing the stale looking west wall of the Stop & Shop in Vineyard Haven. The management at Stop & Shop have been generous enough to allow the Town the opportinity to
come up with a mural for that wall. Consequently, Town Moderator Deborah Medders is spearheading an effort to come up with a design. Applications are now available in Town Hall for people interested in submitting a proposed design for this mural along the west facing wall that depicts any aspect of Tisbury's role as the historic gateway to the island from ancient to modern times. There is a $1,000 prize for the winner and we hope that if you know anyone who may be interested that you pass this information along. This is a wonderful project that will hopefully result in a terrific addition to that area.
Other projects in and around Town include plans to continue the beautification efforts in the downtown area, construction of new athletic fields, reconstruction of Veteran's Park as approved by the voters at this years election, reconstruction of the Owen Park dock, and the preservation of the Spring Building off West Spring St. The last project is another great project in town in which a concerted effort has begun to use a combination of public funds, private donations, and grant monies to preserve and reconstruct the building come to be known as the Spring Building which sits behind the water Department offices off of West Spring St. We are currently wrapping up the second phase of this reconstruction effort and have so far spent a little over $400,000 on preserving this magnificent old building. The building
represents a time in Tisbury's history in which the water was delivered much differently than it is today. Consequently, the mechanism to deliver that service including the building were much different and very unique. Hence, we have a structure that is in the midst of being preserved rather than demolished and thus saving a part of our Town's history.
I think I will end there as I have already carried on much further than I said I would. However, I hope that you will come back soon to read about other activities in Tisbury and pieces of information that I think may be helpful / interesting to the public. If you have any comments or questions please do not hesitate to contact my office. Thanks again and I'll talk to you soon.
John Bugbee
Town Administrator
51 Spring St.
P.O. Box 1239
Vineyard Haven, MA 02568
Tel: 508.696.4203
Fax: 508.693.5876
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