West Tisbury and Oak Bluffs will both be holding special town meetings this month, and spending requests are high on both towns’ warrant articles.
West Tisbury will be holding its special town meeting on Oct. 15 at West Tisbury School at 6 pm. The warrant can be viewed at bit.ly/WT_SpecialTownMeeting.
Oak Bluffs will be holding its special town meeting on Oct. 29 at Oak Bluffs School at 7 pm. The warrant can be viewed at bit.ly/OB_SpecialTownMeeting.
Here’s the rundown of what voters will be deciding on in each town.
West Tisbury
West Tisbury’s warrant, consisting of seven articles, primarily consists of spending requests from the town.
There are some large requests on the warrant. The largest is spending $298,000 to purchase a water “dive” rescue truck for the fire department.
Another large spending request is $120,000 to install a new 20,000-gallon water storage tank at Lambert’s Cove Beach parking lot, in case of a fire. This is in addition to the $115,000 for the water storage tank approved during the 2022 annual town meeting, adding up to $235,000 for the project.
Meanwhile, the town is looking to amend its personnel bylaw to require all town employees and volunteers to undergo a Criminal Offender Record Information check. Additionally, it is asking voters to rescind warrant articles from the special town meeting, held last November, “which established an opioid settlement stabilization fund, and dedicated all opioid settlement revenues to this fund.”
Oak Bluffs
Among the eight warrant articles for Oak Bluffs voters to consider, a major one is allowing the town to spend $332,000 to replenish a grant that was meant to go toward the affordable housing project Southern Tier (Takenash Knoll).
The grant money was allegedly stolen in August by a cyber fraudster impersonating a representative from Affirmative Investments, one of the organizations developing the project. The case is currently under investigation by the FBI and Oak Bluffs Police.
Other spending requests include using up to $750,000 toward designing, installing, and operating a solar photovoltaic system and a battery storage system, and two articles requesting a total of $9,000 for the upkeep and expansion of the town cemetery.
The town is also looking to update several town bylaws.
