News and updates
NEW EMAIL ADDRESS FOR MEMBERS TO REACH THE OLRA BOARD
We've taken steps to ensure that ALL member emails reach the board for discussion at our regular monthly meetings. Please take a moment to add this new address to your email system:
2025 Annual Meeting
Please visit the Annual Meeting tab above to READ the 2024 Annual Report. The Annual Meeting for 2025 will be held Tuesday, July 22nd, 7pm, Howes House, West Tisbury. We sincerely hope you can attend, but if not possible, please visit the Annual Meeting tab above to print and sign your proxy, which is published in the Annual Report.
Also, please visit the dues billing tab above to submit your assessment for the current fiscal year.
ANOTHER BANNER YEAR PROJECTED FOR VINEYARD TOURISM - AND TRAFFIC
Bookings for the 2025 season are already showing promising signs of continued interest. Compared to 2024, bookings are up by nearly 11% on Martha's Vineyard, according to Cape Cod Times.
DUES - Current and coming fiscal years
The new fiscal year begins July 1st.
If you have not yet paid your dues for the 2024-2025 fiscal year, please do as soon as possible. Dues for 2025-2026 will be set at the coming Annual Meeting in July.
SPEEDING COSTS
Four key reasons not to exceed 15 mile per hour:
1. It's dangerous - on a dirt surface, your stopping length doubles with every 10 mph above 15.
2. It's costly - speed on dirt road creates vibrations that disassemble the strong-pack of the surface, weakening the road for potholes and erosion, for which we must buy, apply, and manage more material.
3. It's dusty - breaking up the stong-pack of the road leaves dust that gets into your vehicles breathing, your properties beauty, and into your homes.
4. It's deceiving - if you live at the end of Oak Lane and go 30 instead of 15, you save a whole 3 minutes by the time you get home. Nothing. Yet you cost yourself and the membership in safety, dust, washboard, and money.
CAN SPEEDING BE CONTROLLED?
EACH YEAR, THE ANNUAL MEETING ATTENDEES RAISE THE ISSUE OF HOW WE MIGHT ENFORCE OUR SPEED LIMIT AND MAKE THE ROAD SAFER AND MORE COST EFFECTIVE
AS A STARTING POINT, A REMINDER: AS A PRIVATE ROAD, WEST TISBURY POLICE HAVE NO JURISDICTION TO ENFORCE SPEED LIMITS.
IT'S A WORTHY GOAL, AND SEVERAL LOGICAL SUGGESTIONS HAVE BEEN PROPOSED BY MEMBERS. THE BOARD INVESTIGATED THESE OPTIONS:
Pre-produced speed bumps - While effective, their placement requires chain anchoring to sturdy trees on each side of the road. This could be done, but in winter it requires removing the "bump" to allow plowing. In addition, their anchoring is vulnerable to vandalism - which history has shown to be highly likely. And they're not cheap; a 10' length runs $650.
NEW - Creating speed bumps - The board has approved funds to re-build one of our existing speed bumps to test the effectiveness. If successful, a plan will be presented at the Annual Meeting to discuss building-out across all speed bumps on the road.
Flashing speed signs - these signs remind drivers whether or not they're travelling at or above the limit. Some actually include cameras that take a picture of any speeding vehicle, which the membership could then use to approach and prove "violations". The old saying "locks keep out honest people" applies here, as speeders know they're speeding and flashing their speed will not discourage them. In addition to these issues, the machines are expensive. Base model, flashing speed only, start at around $3,500, and it's recommended by manufacturers that a road like ours should have at least two. And again, vandals will likely take joy in pot-shotting them or tearing them down.
Cameras - 2 or 3 placed in trees along the road, triggered by speeding vehicles. While these can provide visual evidence, the video/still resides in the camera - not blue-toothed to a website. So the cameras need to be checked regularly - a lot of work, and then there's the admin of collecting data and presenting it to speeders; not insurmountable, but requires volunteers. Price - $4K/camera. Price for a camera that sends an email with picture - $8K/camera.
Re-shaping the existing dirt speed bumps - In May, our road engineer reshaped speed bump #4 to have a sharper crown and thus require drivers to slow considerably to cross over. This effort has been a test, with results to be discussed at the upcoming annual meeting. Thus far, the results appear to be effective.
TRASH
We continue to deal with people discarding mattresses, bikes, and other materials. Please do not be one of those people. Again, it costs you money to have these taken away.
Also, we're seeing an increase in trash along the road. We have to be our own watchdogs for litter. Please, if you see something - trash, behavior, dumping - say something and let one of the members of the board know.