“Let’s talk about concrete plans,” Housing Board Chair Cindy Pappas suggested to the group. The board was discussing ideas for the newly acquired O’Brien property. Pappas started the discussion by explaining how the project felt stalled, as she had been unable to get things moving on a topographical survey of the adjoining property, E. Searles Ball Housing. Block Island Economic Development (BIED) owns and manages E. Searles Ball Housing. Pappas had spoken to BIED President Gerry Pierce about developing the entrance for the O’Brien property through BIED’s property.But the survey had not materialized, and there was no formal word from BIED. Pappas reported she had reached out to the surveyor “ten or twelve times in the past month,” with no reply.“Everyone’s heart seems to be in the right place,” Pappas said, but she expressed disappointment that no real progress had been made.
Member John Spier reminded the group that the housing board already had its own survey of its property. “We could proceed with the access we have,” Spier said, explaining that a road into the property can be built anywhere along the frontage on West Side Road.The board had been in preliminary discussions with architect Barbara Bestor
