February 20, 2010
Dear Chappy Neighbors, 
The Sharing Chappy Roads Committee has been following carefully any actions taken by the Chappy Path Committee, CPC, in the past months. The CPC has gone to the Board of Selectmen who denied support for their bike path plans and sent them to the Planning Board who denied support and sent them to the MVC which also has not supported them. These boards have made clear that unless the Chappy community is in agreement about a mixed use path there will be no support from them. However, the CPC has continued to move ahead very aggressively. 
Since then, they made an agreement with Northeastern University to have civil engineering graduate students under the direction of instructor Dan Dulaski study path options and report back to the community. 
On Monday, December 14th, a last minute tactic got the CPC on the Selectmen’s agenda in order for them to “ask permission” to hold public meetings in Town Hall with the purpose of reporting the findings of the Northeastern University graduate students’ study. They also stated that they wanted public input and that they would involve the whole community. Members of our committee spoke about the importance of first establishing the need for such a project before bringing in outside people, but after chastising the CPC for coming back to them without community support, the Selectmen saw no harm in having these students do their study. 
Our committee immediately composed a letter which was sent to Dan Dulaski, the instructor of those students, explaining our positions and asking to be included in the process. When we had still not heard from him by Friday, February 12th, we sent by mail a cover letter and the original letter. (Should anyone want a copy, please let Norma Costain Kontje know). 
We learned on Thursday, February 18th that a public meeting had been scheduled by the Planning Board and Highway Department for Friday the 26th at 11 a.m. at Town Hall. In Margaret Knight’s “Chappy” column in yesterday’s Gazette, she writes the following: 
“The Chappy Path steering committee invites all to attend the Northeastern University civil engineering students’ presentation of findings and alternative concepts for a potential bike path on Chappy. The design team, supervised by instructor Daniel Dulaski, has been working on generating designs for a multi-use path, the Dike Bridge intersection, and the ferry parking area on the Chappy side. At this meeting at the town hall, they will solicit comments on the various options, and will use the feedback to advance their plans. This is a public presentation under the auspices of the Edgartown planning board and Stuart Fuller of the highway department.” 
We have also learned that the Planning Board Assistant erroneously submitted a public notice to the Vineyard Gazette stating that the presentation was going to be a public meeting of the Planning Board. Members of the Planning Board state that the public meeting was never discussed nor was any plan made for any meeting. She reported that she was given the ad for the paper by Stuart Fuller. Members of our committee have written a letter to the Selectmen and Planning Board criticizing these actions and reminding them of their public positions of not supporting a Chappy path. 
This Friday’s meeting suggests a foregone conclusion, that there will be such a path. The community is being asked to give feedback on the various options presented by the Northeastern students. 
We strongly recommend to all of you that you write or email a letter to the Selectmen and Planning Board before next Friday explaining your position regarding a mixed use path on Chappy. Both boards need to be reminded that there is a majority of Chappy property owners who do not want a path along the side of Chappy Road . We would ask that your letter reinforce the question which needs to be determined before anything else, “Do we need a bike path and why are we not debating that issue before discussing designs?” And we urge you to express your frustration with the faulty newspaper information which would lead the public to believe that the town boards support a bike path. If any of you could attend the meeting that would be even better. 
The address of Town Hall is 70 Main St. P.O. Box 5158 and the email address is selectmen@edgartown-ma.us. 
Thank you, 
The Sharing Chappy Roads Committee