Chilmark picks new harbormaster

After whittling down six candidates to two, Chilmark selectmen chose Ryan Rossi to take over as the next harbormaster after Dennis Jason retires in June. Selectman Bill Rossi did not vote because Ryan Rossi is his nephew.

Rossi is a native Islander who has served in the Coast Guard, and was a wharfinger in Menemsha.

“I think he knows the ins and outs, the goods and bads of Menemsha,” chairman Jim Malkin said. “One of the most important things we do as selectmen is hire the best people we can for the positions and department heads in our town. I think this is a great decision.”

Selectmen also began developing a timeline for hiring a new fire chief to take over after David Norton retires on July 1.

Norton, along with other members of the fire department, expressed strong support for an in-house candidate. Rossi said the town would have to go through a formal process and advertise the position, but they would make it clear it would be a weighted decision on the fire department’s recommendation. The fire department agreed to put together an outline for the duties and expectations for the position. Selectmen agreed to get the hiring process started in mid-April.

Norton was also at the meeting with fire department liaison Don Leopold to discuss poor road signage throughout the town that has become a matter of public safety.

Selectmen said they don’t want to attack the “rural character” of the town, but need to come up with a template people can work from to know what kind of signage is acceptable for their roads.

Of the signage, Norton said, “Keep it as simple as possible, but effective.”

In other business, selectmen approved the town warrant for the April 22 annual town meeting, but not before making some changes. Selectmen voted unanimously to amend the Martha’s Vineyard Housing Bank article that asks for 50 percent of the revenue made from the tax on all short-term rentals, which includes hotels, motels, bed and breakfast, Airbnbs, and VRBOs. The amendment changed “50 percent” to “a percentage.”

There are four articles relating to the Housing Bank on the Chilmark warrant. The first, which was amended, is an article submitted by the finance committee that says the town supports affordable housing, but at this time does not support the Housing Bank as proposed. The next two articles are from the Housing Bank, and ask to create and fund it. The last is an invalid article that was submitted by petition, which is expected to be postponed indefinitely.

“The issue with the Housing Bank as proposed is it’s a lot of emotion and short on facts. We support doing something, but until governance is established, more facts are established about how this money comes, what towns’ responsibilities are … we can’t commit to the Housing Bank petition as proposed,” Malkin said.

Reached Wednesday, Doug Ruskin of the Housing Bank declined to comment because he had not read the Chilmark warrant.

Also on the town warrant is an article that if approved, would allow the town to purchase a plot of land for $900,000 that would be used for a new, 7,470-square-foot firehouse and a 3,200-square-foot Tri-Town Ambulance facility. A separate article would also award $200,000 for the design of the buildings. The conceptual hard design has a total construction cost of $6.7 million.

“It’s about time something happened. Land in the center of town, as you all know, is a precious commodity and therefore an expensive commodity, but based on what the fire department has said and what Tri-Town has said, this is the location that we need to have,” Malkin said.

Selectmen also brought up a letter sent to the Martha’s Vineyard Commission that detailed concerns about the impact of the casino project on Chilmark. The town wants information on hours of operation and EMT assistance needed.