Tisbury selectmen discuss snow removal, scallop closure, firearms

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Photo by Steve Myrick

Tisbury shellfish constable Danielle Ewart told Tisbury selectmen at their regularly scheduled meeting Tuesday that she intends to close the town side of Lagoon Pond and the outer harbor to scalloping.

“We have a lot of seed that I want to protect,” Ms. Ewart said. “The sooner the better.”

She initially proposed the closure go into effect on Saturday. However, selectmen pushed the closure off so it could be put on their meeting agenda and be subject to discussion.

“People should be given the opportunity, if they have an issue, to come here and say whatever,” selectman Tristan Israel said. “The issue to me is being public about the decisions we make.”

State law gives Ms. Ewart the authority to close the lagoon at any time.

“I’ve actually closed a lot of different areas in the lagoon … and I’ve talked to the commercial fishermen about closing it,” she said. “It’s starting to thin out, so before the damage is done, that’s what I’m thinking about.”

“I feel strongly that the shellfish constable should set a recommended date for closure,” town administrator Jay Grande said. “The purpose for Tuesday is just to publicize it.”

Selectmen agreed to put the closure on the Nov. 24 agenda, and close the lagoon to scalloping on Nov. 25.

Snow plans

Assistant Department of Public Works (DPW) director Tom Mello provided selectmen with an update on snow emergency protocol for this season. Last winter the department faced sharp criticism for its snow-removal efforts, which sparked a move by selectmen to wrest back control of the department.

Mr. Mello said the DPW and its snow-removal subcontractors will plow the same routes they have in the past. He said there will be a larger effort toward pretreating heavily trafficked roads with salt prior to a snowstorm, which will keep snow from collecting as quickly. He said the group of subcontractors for this season is “very good and dependable” and have “all kinds of equipment” to offer. Plowing public roads will be the first priority, but they will continue to plow private roads that are open to the public.

“We will continue to make sure that an emergency vehicle can make it to any house,” Mr. Mello said.

They will focus on plowing on the opposite side from the sidewalks, he said. Mr. Mello and selectmen agreed to have someone at the town hall and DPW facility answering calls during a major storm situation.

Chairman Tristan Israel stressed that business owners know they must clear out the snow in front of their business, regardless of whether they are open.

“There are people taking the time to do the sidewalk, and then you come to a stretch where it’s not done,” he said.

Gun control

Also discussed Tuesday was the language of a more than century-old town bylaw that says, “No person, shall for practice or sport, discharge any gun, pistol or other firearms, in or upon any street or highway, wharf or public place, or in any yard, garden field or enclosure in said Town.”

The Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank allows hunting with muzzleloaders in Ripley’s Field. Land Bank executive director James Lengyel said his agency is following state policy.

This is not the first time the town bylaw has come under question. At the request of former selectman Tom Pachico, Tisbury town lawyer David Denesky reviewed the 1883 bylaw and concluded it did not support a blanket ban.

In a letter dated Nov. 6, 1997, Mr. Doneski said, “As the bylaw is over 100 years old and could, by its terms, create reasonable questions regarding where firearms may be discharged, the Town may wish to consider amending the bylaw or adopting a new bylaw which more clearly identifies those areas of the Town in which firearm discharge is prohibited.”

State law prohibits the discharge of firearms within 150 feet of a roadway or 500 feet of an occupied building without permission of the owner. The Land Bank practice is to close properties during the state’s two-week shotgun season which begins Nov. 30 to all but permitted hunters, and open properties during the week-and-a-half muzzleloader season that follows. Signs cautioning the public that hunting is allowed are posted, and hunters must be registered with the Land Bank. The issue arose when a person who had been walking in Ripley’s Field complained.

“Maybe we need to revisit the bylaw at town meeting, but I would also like us to communicate to the Land Bank that the board of selectmen has looked at the old bylaw, and have expressed the opinion that we don’t want hunting in Ripley’s Field, and the selectmen are the voice of the town,” Mr. Israel said. “I’m not anti-hunting deer, but Ripley’s Field is a a place where people walk, and I think it’s not the best place for that to happen.”

“I think the legal opinion does see some holes in the bylaw, so we really need to correct that,” selectmen Melinda Loberg said. “But what we’re doing right now is asking for a courtesy.”

Selectmen will ask the Land Bank to prohibit the use of firearms in Ripley’s Field, while still allowing archery hunting, as they contemplate an article for annual town meeting.

In other business, Tisbury resident Scott Tuttle went before selectmen to request town holiday decorating include the Owen Park gazebo. The DPW is in charge of town decorating. Mr. Mello and selectmen agreed it would be worthwhile, and will include the gazebo if the costs of doing so can be covered.

Selectmen approved changes to the fee structure for use and rentals of the Tashmoo Spring Building as proposed by Tashmoo Spring Building committee members. Changes include eliminating the half-day rental option, collapsing the cleaning fee into the rental fee, and increasing the private and nonprofit rental fees slightly.

Selectmen voted to create a winter-season permit for the Tisbury park and ride from Jan. 1 to May 15 for $150, to keep people from leaving their vehicles there for the whole season.

The board voted to schedule the annual town meeting on April 12.

Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly reported that the Land Bank allows shotgun hunting in Ripley’s Field. It does not.