For the past several weeks, the town of Edgartown has floated purchasing the former Land Bank headquarters at 167 Main street, battling a competing offer from Dukes County. This week, the select board voted to extend an informal offer on the property. The actual sale would need to be approved at town meeting next year.
“The worst case scenario is that this gets sold on the private market,” town administrator James Hagerty said.
The town plans to offer $1,550,000 for the property, which includes the former Land Bank building and an adjoining parking lot. The town has not yet decided what the property would be used for, but Mr. Hagerty remarked that its location, close to bus lines and downtown Edgartown, made it an ideal opportunity.
“I think the town should look into that for as many purposes as can be considered,” select board member Margaret Serpa said.
In other business, Edgartown became the sixth Island town to adopt Cape Light Compact’s discount electricity rate for low-income residents. Although administered by Cape Light Compact, the discounted rate is part of a Vineyard Power program to increase resiliency on the Island. The program also grants the town $800,000 in funding to go towards resiliency projects, energy committee chair Alan Strahler told the select board.
The funding will be used to install solar panels and batteries to town buildings, he added, following in the footsteps of other Vineyard towns who have embarked on similar projects.
Tuesday’s meeting marked the first time the Edgartown select board gathered in-person in town hall Tuesday afternoon, sitting shoulder to shoulder instead of logging in online.
Although the town will still offer a video conference option, Tuesday marked the first time since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic that the select board has met in person. Each town official remarked how pleased they were to see each other face-to-face as they covered town energy updates, liquor license approvals, and the potential purchase of 167 Main street.
“It feels really good to have everyone here,” chairman Arthur Smadbeck remarked at the start of the meeting.
