Upholding a New England tradition that dates back to the 17th century, Oak Bluffs voters will gather at the Oak Bluffs School for a special town meeting at 7 pm Tuesday, followed by the annual town meeting, scheduled to begin at 7:15 pm. They will be asked to decide, mostly by voice votes, how their collective tax dollars will be spent, and approve a $26,512,523 operating budget for the new fiscal year.
On Thursday, voters will go to the polls to elect town officers. The polls are open between 10 am and and 7 pm in the Oak Bluffs Library meeting room. The only contested race is for two seats on the Oak Bluffs board of selectmen. The field of candidates includes incumbents Kathleen Burton and Chairman Gregory Coogan, who will face a challenge from Abraham Seiman, Raymond Taylor, and Brian Packish.
A nonbinding vote on the continued fluoridation of the town water supply may decide the outcome of a heated debate that boiled over in the fall.
Chiropractor Dr. John Campbell, a member of the board of health, is an outspoken critic of fluoridation, and has been at the forefront of an effort to remove fluoride from the town water supply.
After a contentious public meeting on Sept. 25, board of health Chairman William White said he was undecided, and would cast his vote in accordance with the popular vote at town meeting. Board member Patricia Bergeron indicated she would do the same.
The question has not divided the Island medical community. Taking a unified political stand in a Letter to the Editor published last week (“Physicians united on fluoride question”), 16 well known Island dentists and healthcare professionals strongly urged Oak Bluffs voters to continue to fluoridate town water and vote no when they go to the polls on April 16.
Vehicles and body cameras
The special town meeting warrant includes a slew of spending requests to be paid out of free cash and the Ambulance Reserve Fund.
The police department requested $74,000 from the Ambulance Reserve Fund to replace one unmarked police car and one unmarked vehicle for the police chief. The department has also requested $50,295 for body cameras, speed trailers, and new Segways.
Chief Erik Blake told The Times that he believes the time has come for body cameras for his officers. “I would like Oak Bluffs to be ahead of the curve on this,” he said. “It’s about transparency, accountability, and protecting my officers against false allegations. As a chief, I want my own video. I’ve talked with chiefs across country about this, and although sometimes it’s met with resistance, the value speaks for itself pretty quickly, and they love it. The first step [for Oak Bluffs] is getting the funding and the townspeople on board.”
Voters will also be asked to take action on Fire/EMS department requests to tap the Ambulance Reserve fund to the tune of $260,000 for a new ambulance to replace a 2004 model with more than 200,000 miles on it.
Free-cash requests include $92,000 for a new highway department dump truck, $23,000 for upgrades to the town website, $36,250 for technology updates in town hall, $80,000 to replace the Seaview Avenue beach railing, $20,000 to repair the steps to the beach at Samoset Avenue, $10,000 for engineering and permitting work to repurpose the former town landfill (possibly as a parking lot and/or solar farm), and $30,000 for roof repairs at the Sailing Camp.
Because the state Department of Revenue (DOR) had not yet certified the town’s free cash at the time of their vote, the Financial and Advisory Board (FinCom) voted unanimously to recommend votes be indefinitely postponed on the dump truck, website, town hall technology upgrade, and repairs to the Sailing Camp roof. On Tuesday the DOR certified the town’s free cash at $453,796. However, $215,000 of is needed to pay back the amount that was borrowed from the $600,000 Proposition 2.5 override that voters approved last year. “We will have another look at the postponed items on Thursday, if we can get our agenda posted in time,” FinCom chairman Steve Auerbach told The Times.
Holding the budget line
At annual town meeting, voters will be asked to approve a proposed $26,512,523 operating budget for the town for the 2016 fiscal year (FY16), which begins July 1, 2015. The FY16 total is $795,000 more the FY15 budget of $25,717,645, roughly a 3 percent increase.
The Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School (MVRHS) district assessment accounts for $479,260 of the increase. The Oak Bluffs School accounts for an additional $335,981. These increases were slightly mitigated by small reductions in several department budgets, including the the Council on Aging (COA) and Veteran’s Affairs. Maturing debt interest is also down over $60,000 from last year.
Voters will also be asked to OK the transfer of of $1,422,667 from the Wastewater Enterprise Fund, $221,000 from the ferry-fee account, and $250,000 from free cash to help pay departmental expenses and town debt service.
The big-ticket items on the warrant include a request for $279,800 from Community Preservation Act (CPA) funds to complete engineering, geotechnical work, and permitting on a project to stabilize the East Chop Bluff. Other CPA requests include: $120,575 for additional studies to preserve the town beaches, from Jetty Beach to Inkwell Beach; and $63,000 for a new high school track.
Farm Pond restoration is also getting a lot of attention. The town has received a $1 million federal grant to replace the culvert that connects Farm Pond to Vineyard Sound. The grant requires an estimated $500,000 local match, half to be funded through the Community Preservation Act, and half to be funded through a warrant article. Detailed studies have concluded that the larger culvert and increased tidal flow will dilute the nitrogen loading in Farm Pond and bring Farm Pond into compliance with the federal Clean Water Act.
No to VNA purchase
The FinCom did not endorse several expenditures geared toward the Island’s elderly community as part of a regional agreement proposed by the county’s Healthy Aging Task Force.
These included a request for $16,726, the town’s share, for a First Stop Information and Referral Service, as well as $1,048 to create an activity registration and tracking system.
FinCom did not recommend a request to contribute $335,680 to a County deal under which the six Island towns would purchase the former Vineyard Nursing Association (VNA) building in Tisbury, for $1.6 million, to provide a permanent home for the Martha’s Vineyard Center for Living. If any of the six towns balk at their respective expenditure, the deal will be tabled.
In a Letter to the Editor published in this week’s issue, FinCom chairman Steve Auerbach said, “We just don’t think that the former VNA building is the right choice.”
Voters will be asked to consider an extensive set of bylaws that will provide residential and commercial property owners the right to construct and operate building-mounted and small-scale ground-mounted solar energy systems. The bylaws also provide a protocol for review of large-scale solar energy systems, exemptions for community-shared systems, safety and technical requirements, and guidelines for conversion of existing agricultural land to solar farms.
A petition article that grows out of a long-running property dispute asks voters to require Partners Healthcare, owner of Martha’s Vineyard Hospital, to install and pay for a “greenway barrier” between the Windemere neighborhood and the hospital campus.