West Tisbury voters could set the tone for the future of Mill Pond, and they’ll debate a long-discussed event bylaw — those are just a few of the requests among more than 60 town meeting articles up for approval on Tuesday.
A highly anticipated vote will come near the end — article 64 — to form the Mill Pond Preservation Committee. “Mill Pond … is so significant and central to the history, the landscape and the wildlife of West Tisbury,” the citizen’s petition states.
This follows the town’s Mill Brook Watershed Committee, formed in 2014, recommending in February to return the pond to its natural state by removing spillway boards and a dam, noting damage to water quality in the pond.
Voters will decide a long-sought event regulation in articles 31, 32, and 41. These define an event as a gathering for a range of purposes with more than 100 simultaneous guests for over an hour, and restrict a property owner to one such event per calendar year, with further events requiring a special permit.
Voters will also decide a leaf blower bylaw, article 40; this appears in all town meetings except Aquinnah’s.
This phases out gas-powered leaf blowers by June 1, 2028, restricts all blowers to certain hours, and bans them on Sundays.
Voters will also decide on a ballot question for a $1.6 million general budget override in article 3. Officials have pointed to inflationary pressures for the increase in the budget. That will have to be approved at the ballot on Thursday as well.
West Tisbury’s annual and special town meetings start Tuesday, April 8, at 5:55 pm at the West Tisbury School.
