Officials in Tisbury are planning to renovate the former office building at the water works on Lake Tashmoo into a home for municipal employees, beginning with incoming town administrator Joseph J. LaCivita, select board chair John Cahill told the Gazette Friday.
“We don’t see the cost being exorbitant,” Mr. Cahill said, estimating a cost of between $200,000 and $300,000 to update the building for residency early next year.
An article on the upcoming town meeting warrant will ask Tisbury voters to approve the spending, he said.
The town is providing Mr. LaCivita, who officially begins his job March 3, with a $36,000 housing stipend until the Tashmoo house is ready to occupy. Mr. Cahill said, Mr. LaCivita and his wife have a year-long lease for home on Main Street.
The couple chose the water works building over other housing possibilities, Mr. Cahill said.
“We gave Joe some options, and he and his wife were the ones [who said] ‘Why would we give money to a landlord when we have this town asset?’” he said.
The site comes with some drawbacks, Mr. Cahill acknowledged, including some 50 public events a year at the Tisbury Amphitheatre and elsewhere on the Tashmoo property, which has parking and picnic tables near the water’s edge.
“We want that to continue, and people will continue to be able to access their dinghies, rowboats and kayaks,” he said.
“Nothing is being taken away,” Mr. Cahill said.
The Tashmoo office building was first converted for housing in 2022, when it became the Island residence for construction project managers working on the recently-concluded Tisbury School renovation and addition.
Mr. Cahill said additional work on the house will include new paint, carpeting, second-floor bathroom and other improvements that will make it more valuable to the town for years to come.
“We realized that in order to attract good talent to the Vineyard, housing is always going to become an issue,” he said.
On the mainland, Mr. Cahill said, administrators working for wealthy towns can commute from more affordable communities.
“We don’t have that luxury on the Vineyard,” he said, citing high real estate prices Island-wide.
