Now playing: More office space?

The town of Tisbury is looking at using Katharine Cornell Theater for office space, to spread out town employees without moving them to other town buildings.

Selectman Jim Rogers objected to the idea, saying he’d like to see the space available for other things, like meetings and performances, rather than being used as office space. He suggested using the Tisbury Water Works building instead.

Town administrator Jay Grande said he’s looking at four to five work stations on the second floor. “The duration really will be determined based on what happens with this particular health event,” he said.

Rogers was in the minority. Selectman Jeff Kristal and chair Melinda Loberg agreed with town finance director Jon Snyder, who said it’s better to have employees in the same building if at all possible. It’s better for collaboration.

“Putting anybody up there removes them from contact with anybody at town hall, and that, for me, is a big drawback,” Snyder said. “It seems to me that we all do work and interface a great deal, and taking any group of three or four people out of town hall would actually impede the function of how we do things.” 

“Don’t the phones work?” Rogers deadpanned.

Town hall already has an annex where the town’s building, planning, and health departments operate.

No decision was made. For now, the town will continue to have limited staffing at town buildings and restrict public access. Grande said that works for now. “The productivity level, to maintain it with remote working, is not really going to be sustainable,” he said.

In other business, the board has decided not to take away raises approved for town employees, and instead will save money by not filling some town vacancies and by limiting the number of additional employees hired for the summer. Grande said it’s unclear at this point how the pandemic will affect overall revenues, but the town expects to lose some meals tax and short-term rental funds.

The board discussed its food truck policy, and set a date for a public hearing on them for Tuesday, June 9, at 4:45 pm. A difference of opinion emerged between Loberg and the other two selectmen about allowing food trucks. Kristal and Rogers only want them at food establishments with an existing license, which would preclude a proposal for them on the former Hinckley’s Hardware lot, where Robert Sawyer has proposed having up to four of them, along with one that’s already operating on the site.

“You’re really eliminating any newcomers to the service industry here,” Loberg said.

Kristal made no apologies, saying the idea is to protect existing brick-and-mortar restaurants, which are struggling as a result of the pandemic.

Selectmen delayed a common victualer’s license for Vineyard Grocer based on the advice of town inspectors, and approved a seasonal alcohol license for Garde East, which will have to be updated once dine-in customers are allowed.

And selectmen officially set a date for town meeting for Saturday, June 13, at 1 pm. The meeting will be held at Tisbury School in the field, with the hopes of getting the town’s business done that afternoon.

The board will ask the Steamship Authority to open both ticket booths at the Vineyard Haven terminal for the summer months. Over the weekend, traffic backed up onto Water Street because only one booth was open, Grande said. Having two booths open is especially important with the Oak Bluffs terminal not accepting any traffic at the moment, he said. The town will first reach out to terminal agent Leigh Cormie, but will back up the request with a letter to the SSA.

Selectmen approved Allan Rogers as an election warden, and Colleen Morris as an election clerk. Rogers and Morris are needed because finance committee member Mary Ellen Larsen and town clerk Hillary Conklin are on the town election ballot.