Tisbury selectmen cautioned Jason and Erin Leone, owners of Adventure Rentals on Beach Road in Tisbury, when they came before the board Tuesday night with a request to retroactively renew their town business license to rent mopeds. The Leones operated this past season without a current license, which expired in April.
Discussion focused on whether their application was on time or not, and the failure of the town to respond when Mr. and Ms. Leone tried to follow up. The Leones said that in years past, the town notified them it was time to renew the license. This year there was no notification, they said.
Town administrator Jay Grande said that there was a “delay in processing” part of their license. “I think tonight what we want to address is the current renewal of the license of the moped, which I believe is capped at 90 [mopeds]. There was some confusion with the check, and led to some delay that I only learned about recently,” Mr. Grande said.
Their application was made on April 29 for their renewal, according to Mr. Grande. He said that the fire chief, police chief, and building inspector have said that their current moped operation is in compliance with the moped bylaw, and that it should be renewed.
Former Oak Bluffs selectman and businessman Todd Rebello said he’s been watching Adventure Rental’s business operations in Oak Bluffs, and that he’s written a lot of the previous rules and regulations on mopeds. Mr. Rebello said he took an interest because of the amount of moped accidents on the Island.
“What we found was there were a lot of dead ends as far as after an accident, there would be public concerns, with pickets, with attempted legislative moves. We tried everything to rein in the safety issues on Vineyard roads.” Part of the legislation was requiring test tracks in Oak Bluffs.
He said that 400 people were given refunds this season alone for failing their driving test on a test track in their Oak Bluffs operation. He said in Vineyard Haven they have a similar practice, and that the driving tests have helped keep accidents down.
A long-dormant campaign to ban mopeds from Island roadways was revived last month in the wake of a serious accident in which two 19-year-old women from New Hampshire sustained serious injuries when the moped driver lost control and hit a dump truck on Barnes Road.
“I’m not a fan of mopeds,” selectman Tristan Israel said. He said that the Island needed to find better ways to manage them.
Selectman Larry Gomez asked when Adventure Rentals applied, and emphasized he would “vote no” on any license renewal that came in past the April 1 deadline.
Mr. Rebello said that there was no written correspondence from the town to the business owners. Typically, a letter goes out to serve as a reminder before the deadline. He said Mr. and Ms. Leone made 12 phone calls to follow up, and never heard back after they sent their application in. Their check was never cashed.
“In the future, when we do get you out a letter, and you don’t apply and get your license approved before the deadline, I will be voting no,” Mr. Gomez said. “And let me say one other thing; if our regulations are different from 90, which you have now, and it’s reduced to 25, I’m going to vote that we keep you at 25 and not 90.”
Mr. Gomez said they’d take responsibility for their errors in correspondence. Ms. Loberg echoed what Mr. Gomez had to say.
“All three of us will vote no next year to any lateness as long as we have done what we’re supposed to do,” Ms. Loberg said.
After some debate, selectmen chairman Melinda Loberg made a motion to approve the renewal and “clean up the paperwork” after Mr. Israel and Mr. Gomez declined to make the motion. Ms. Loberg and Mr. Israel voted to approve Adventure Rentals’ renewal. Mr. Gomez was opposed.