The Edgartown selectman met recently and agreed to use mediation to resolve issues pertaining to the Chappaquiddick ferry line. The line backs up on Simpson’s Lane during the summer when there is an influx of summer travelers into the area. Simpson’s Lane residents have threatened legal action, but there is now hope it can be solved through mediation.

A Chappaquiddick resident named Woody Filley, a retired technology director at the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School, proposed a potential resolution process to the board that would inform people of past work done on the ferry. Then they would listen and analyze the current issues and create a process to bring different groups to work together instead of against one another, as many believe is happening now.

Filley proposed a fee of $10,000 that would be split between the Chappaquiddick Island Association and the town, as well as the ferry owner and homeowners along the street. Filley’s new company, Community Support Solutions, would handle the mediation.

Those at the meeting supported the suggestion and acknowledged Filley is a good fit to head up the process. The board voted unanimously in favor of the suggestion, an outcome that received high praise from everyone aware of the situation, many of whom believe it is a much better option than taking the matter to court.  Despite the fee involved in the mediation, the cost of settling the dispute in this manner is expected to be far less than the cost of settling the matter in front of a judge.