Category: In the Press

Concert at the Cliffs Plan Riles Aquinnah Residents

with permission from MV Gazette

By Julia Wells

A budding plan to allow two Aquinnah concert promoters to build a summer outdoor performance center at the Gay Head Cliffs has begun to draw more darts than the P.A. Club on a Friday night.

A public hearing was set for last evening and Aquinnah selectmen moved the location to the old town hall because they were expecting a crowd.

The architects of the plan are Ted Cammann and Jim Glavin, both Aquinnah residents. Mr. Cammann has a long background in producing musical events; Mr. Glavin is the owner of Deca Construction. Both were involved in putting on a music festival in Aquinnah last summer and are now partners in a company called Circle Productions LLC. The company was the sole responder to a request for proposals put out by the town for the project.

But townspeople have begun to react negatively. A letter signed by 31 Aquinnah residents circulated this week denouncing the plan, which is tentatively slated to come before voters at a special town meeting on May 19. And the selectmen’s office has been flooded with feedback, virtually all opposed.

“We . . . agree with the promoters that the uniqueness of Aquinnah and of the cliffs makes it a particularly attractive venue for concerts or for other public gatherings. But the issue here is not whether Aquinnah is a good place for concerts. The issue is whether concerts are good for Aquinnah,” the letter says in part. The signers asked to have the letter read into the record of last night’s public hearing.

The e-mails are piling up too; at press time yesterday the town office had received e-mails signed by nearly 50 people, about half of them from voters, half from seasonal residents and taxpayers.

“The summer program of having concerts at the Cliffs is a terrible idea. Parking on Moshup trail will destroy that very precious area . . . Please vote against this happening,” wrote Dr. Allen M. Goorin, a seasonal resident.

Similar sentiment was reflected in the other e-mails.

Not atypically for Aquinnah, there has been confusion around the plan and the sequence of events that led to it.

Its first public airing was at a special town meeting in March, where voters agreed to allow the selectmen to put out an RFP for the project.

The deadline for the RFP was April 17.

In the proposal formally submitted in April, Circle Productions would lease the natural amphitheatre at the Cliffs from the town for $1 a year. The company would give the town $1 per ticket for all profit-making concerts. Concerts would be limited to 2,500 people and would operate from June to September. The proposal envisions building a stage and backstage, although no permanent seating, to allow a wide range of concerts and arts events, some for profit, some nonprofit, including educational events and events for children.

Under the terms of the proposal the town would be responsible for maintenance of the area and would be asked to help provide storage for equipment associated with the concerts. Public safety responsibility is framed in the broadest terms: “Safety and traffic management plans have already been and will continue to be developed with the town chief of police for all events. Health, ambulance and first aid issues will be coordinated with the Tri-Town ambulance group,” the proposal states in part. The proposal also states: “Uniformed police personnel shall not patrol or display a presence inside the event grounds unless requested by the organizers.”

The proposal also states that the backers hope to work with the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) on cultural events.

But in a letter sent to the selectmen in February the tribal historic preservation officer spoke out strongly against the plan for the Cliffs, which are considered sacred. “This location is of paramount historical, traditional and cultural significance to the Aquinnah Wampanoag people. This is our ancient homeland and this site is an extraordinary piece of cultural history for our people, from ancient times until present,” wrote Bettina M. Washington.

The Circle Productions proposal is available for public inspection in the selectmen’s office in the town hall.

The Aquinnah annual town meeting is May 12, but town administrator Jeffrey Burgoyne said this week that the performance proposal was moved to a special town meeting at the request of town moderator Walter E. Delaney, who thought the issue would require a large amount of time for discussion.

“In the interest of keeping things timely at the annual town meeting, he asked that the matter be moved to another day,” Mr. Burgoyne said.

Mr. Burgoyne said the hearing last night would give people an opportunity to state their opinions, and would allow the proponents to speak on their own behalf.

“It really is a determination as to what the political will is going to be,” he said.

Aquinnah selectman Jim Newman said yesterday that he does not support the plan and intends to move at the regular board meeting on Tuesday afternoon to cancel the special town meeting.

“I think it’s premature and it would have to go to the commission and we haven’t even talked about that,” Mr. Newman said. “I don’t see how we could even vote on this [at a special town meeting]. It’s not ready for that. My feeling is that this meeting should be canceled.”

DAS Hearing Is Postponed

with permission from the MV Times

By Jack Shea

Published: April 30, 2009

The up-Island Distributed Antennae System (DAS) committee on Friday postponed its scheduled public meeting on May 4, in order to provide more time to address recent objections and questions regarding a proposed system designed to improve wireless communications.

The postponement will provide time for American Tower Corp. (ATC) of Boston to revise its earlier proposal for the cell system in Aquinnah, Chilmark, and West Tisbury. The delay is also intended to give West Tisbury’s zoning board of appeals (ZBA) time to sort out the permitting process.

The next meeting is now scheduled for 6 pm on Monday, June 22, at the Chilmark Community Center.

DAS relies on a series of radio access nodes connected to small antennas set on telephone poles, or poles erected for the specific purpose, to distribute cellular telephone signals. Although the range is considerably less than in conventional, tall-tower systems, DAS appeals to communities where a tall conventional tower is unwelcome and wireless telephone service is poor.

American Tower is expected to file an application to the West Tisbury zoning board of appeals before the June meeting, according to DAS committee members.

The decision to delay the meeting comes in the wake of a contentious five-hour public meeting on April 6, during which some Chilmark and West Tisbury residents objected variously to the need for a system at all and to the aesthetics and location of poles in the plan presented by ATC. Several residents also voiced health and safety concerns.

Amercian Tower’s new plan, reviewed in part by the DAS committee last week, substitutes 47 antennae nodes with eight foot whip antennas mounted on 12-inch-diameter poles in place of 25 nodes mounted on 18-inch poles throughout the three towns. The new plan also includes emergency backup generators on the nodes. ATC also plans an onsite review of the location of its proposed pole locations during the week of May 4, the committee said.

After the April 6 public meeting, some West Tisbury officials questioned whether their town ought to continue in the DAS effort. West Tisbury enjoys the best cell phone service currently among the three towns.

One cell tower is located on private property, one is on the fire tower and another is located at the Martha’s Vineyard Airport.

At its meeting last Friday, DAS up-Island committee chairman J.B. Riggs Parker, a Chilmark selectmen, asked West Tisbury selectman and committee member Richard Knabel about West Tisbury’s continued participation in the project.

“The local newspapers are reporting chinks in the armor of unity on this project. Regionalization is difficult, but I think we ought to repair [chinks] and move forward and see what we can do,” he said.

“One problem West Tisbury faces is a process problem,” Mr. Knabel responded. “We simply don’t know whether the ZBA has jurisdiction or not over placement of the poles.” West Tisbury, unlike Chilmark and Aquinnah, does not have a zoning bylaw applicable to cell phone towers, although it does have a permitting bylaw that covers them.

Asked whether a majority of West Tisbury residents favor the DAS plan, Mr. Knabel told the committee, “That’s certainly a component. We simply don’t know.”

He said that while there were negative comments at the public hearing, it is uncertain whether the views expressed reflect the majority view.

In a telephone interview this week, Mr. Knabel said “If we are persuaded by voter sentiment to withdraw, we will do it. That doesn’t mean we don’t think it’s a good idea, it means we would not participate in this particular agreement. That’s all we would be saying.”

The federal Telecommunication Act of 1996 (TCA) limits the obstacles towns may place in the way of wireless communication companies seeking to provide service where there is a lack of coverage. The act also forbids permitting bodies to use health and safety concerns as a reason for not permitting systems that meet the FCC safety standards.

“This is a very complex issue,” said Mr. Knabel. “For example, if we say no, it doesn’t mean another operator such as ATC can’t apply to build a system or that individual carriers won’t be able to exercise their right to build their own DAS system to support service they already have. Legal precedents and the Telecommunications Act of 1996 are clear on carriers’ right to build, and that local zoning ordinances may not prohibit systems.”

The examination of the DAS alternative began in Aquinnah more than two years ago when voters mounted a multi-pronged effort to take control of the town’s wireless future and prevent the erection of a tower by creating a wireless overlay district that would allow for the placement of DAS equipment at the town landfill.

Aquinnah then sought to cooperate with Chilmark and West Tisbury. Although the towns could potentially earn some income from a DAS, the selectmen said their goal is to provide better wireless service for residents and visitors, which has a public safety component, and buttress efforts to guard against unsightly tall cell towers.

Aquinnah hearing on performing arts venue at cliffs

with permission from Martha’s Vineyard Times

Following approval of the effort at a special town meeting in March, Aquinnah selectmen issued a request for proposals (RFP) seeking a tenant for a portion of the Aquinnah Circle.

To no one’s surprise, selectmen received just one proposal by the April 17 deadline, from Ted Cammann and James Glavin of Aquinnah. The two men brought the idea for an outdoor performing arts center adjacent to the Gay Head cliffs to the Aquinnah town meeting.

Mr. Cammann is a producer of live musical events, and Mr. Glavin is the owner of Deca Construction.

They propose to lease the circle area, beginning June 1, 2009 for 10 years with an option to renew. Events would be held between June 1 and Sept. 30, and be limited to 2,500 tickets for each event. The town would receive $1 per ticket for for-profit events.

Selectmen will hold a public hearing on the proposal described in a five-page letter and brochure at 7 pm, Thursday, April 30, in town hall.

In a letter to the selectmen dated April 17, Mr. Cammann and Mr. Glavin propose to negotiate a ground lease, operating agreement, and enabling document establishing a citizen advisory board, all of which could be presented to voters at a May 19 special town meeting.

They propose to use the land’s natural topography to provide a natural amphitheater. The stage would be placed in the lower section so that the audience would be looking out in the direction of Nomans Land.

Mr. Glavin described the project and answered questions from voters at the Aquinnah special town meeting on March 3.

Mr. Glavin told voters that the only way the men could make the plan work financially and attract needed support was if they had a guaranteed lease term within which to work and recoup their investments. At the town meeting, Mr. Glavin said the town would share in the profits, if there were any, and the town and Island organizations would gain a professional performance venue.

By a vote of 40-15 voters approved an article that authorized the selectmen to solicit requests for proposals to construct a performing arts center stage.

The proposal has faced some opposition from Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) officials, most notably from Bettina Washington, the tribe’s historic preservation officer.

Initially, moderator Walter Delaney said the circle lease proposal would be presented on a special town meeting warrant to be convened prior to the annual town meeting on May 12. Instead, anticipating extensive discussion, selectmen decided to move the special town meeting to May 19.