News and updates
2024 Annual Meeting
Please visit the Annual Meeting tab above to READ the 2024 Annual Report and set your calendars for this year's meeting on July 23rd, 7pm , Howes House. And please assign a proxy if you cannot attend.
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
Martha's Vineyard year-round population reaches 20,600, up 24%! West Tisbury grew 30% to 3,555. All of which points to more traffic and more maintenance for the road.
2024-2025 DUES
The new fiscal year begins July 1st.
PLEASE submit your dues payment as soon as you receive your notice. Far too many dues are submitted mid or late in the year, severely limiting our ability to service the road in a timely way. There is no increase in dues for the new fiscal year.
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:
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.
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.
The OLRA Board is in total agreement with concerned members about speeding. Thus far, we do not have a functional, affordable solution.
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.