Updated, April 10
West Tisbury lumbered through a 64-article warrant on Tuesday night, rejecting a number of proposals, including the creation of a new committee aimed at preserving Mill Pond and a request for $700,000 to study the building needs of the West Tisbury School.
But it wasn’t all rejections, as voters approved a new bylaw that allows the use of accessory dwelling units, funding to continue PFAS-contamination mitigation work and other environmental studies, a leaf-blower ban, and, despite concern about an inflating budget, a number of new town positions, including a building maintenance manager.
It was also the first town meeting under the direction of new moderator Caroline Flanders, who, from all reports, handled West Tisbury voters well, despite a loaded warrant.
“It is the night of amendments,” zoning board of appeals chair Lawrence Schubert quipped to laughter, as the nearly five-hour meeting moved closer to 11 o’clock, with much debate throughout the night.
Outside of the leaf-blower ban, likely the most anticipated article was a citizens’ petition aimed at creating a new committee that would work to preserve Mill Pond. The proposal came following a new town report highlighting the poor water quality in the watershed, with a major culprit being a dam that keeps Mill Pond a pond, rather than the natural, cold brook it once was.
Proponent Sean Conley, a member of the town’s historic district commission, called Mill Pond the symbol of West Tisbury. But he noted that it is in rough shape and in need of help, which the committee would provide. A number of other residents gave emotional appeals to voters in support as well, noting their historic ties to the pond and its iconic look. One voter went as far as comparing the town’s select board to the current administration in the White House for not taking care of the pond; and Rosemary Van Nes said the pond was important to her and her family, noting that her son still swims in it, which was met with a laugh.
But environmentalists won the day, as many voters reinforced the recent town findings that keeping the unnatural pond was leading to habitat degradation for native species. And while historically minded speakers worried about what would come next if the pond gave way to a brook, others said that there was an ability to rethink the area while also recognizing the history of West Tisbury and the era before the town was established. Many speakers said that the town already had a committee working on the watershed, and that the newly proposed committee would have a preordained outcome that would favor preserving the pond.
“Free the Mill Brook,” said Luanne Johnson, executive director of BiodiversityWorks, to a round of applause. “We don’t need another committee.”
The request for the committee was rejected, with 89 voters opposed and 55 in favor.
A request to fund a feasibility study of the West Tisbury School also failed, despite the recommendation from school committee members and some parents. The school committee was requesting $700,000, a price tag that many in attendance said was too high, and the reasons for needing the funding too vague.
As explained by school representatives, the idea was to consider upgrades to a school that was last renovated about 30 years ago. These would include energy upgrades to make the building more energy-efficient; the study would also consider space needs to keep up with a changing education system, but not necessarily because of a growing student enrollment.
Mark Friedman, school business administrator, spoke to the high price tag, saying that the money was calculated after speaking with architects and managers in the field. He said that a study of this kind would be about 15 percent of the total cost for design work that the school project would require, not including contingency costs and the cost of hiring a manager.
Simon Athearn, a parent of students who attended the school, said that he hadn’t heard enough from the schools to know why a study was needed. He urged voters to wait and spend the money on supporting teachers instead.
Voters rejected the request in a vote that was not close enough for a count.
Voters also rejected a select board request to change the quorum needed for the special and annual town meetings to 100 people, rather than the existing 5 percent requirement. The board, in its explanation, said that the town of West Tisbury, especially after the pandemic, has continued to grow, but the number of residents attending town meeting has not necessarily increased. Select board member Skipper Manter said that at two recent special town meetings, the town didn’t reach a quorum, and had to continue business at subsequent town meetings.
But voters pushed back, saying that the town has done a better job getting the word out about town meeting, as witnessed by the nearly 300 people who attended Tuesday’s meeting. Many suggested that it was important that voters do get to the polls and make their voices heard in this day and age more than any other; the town should instead work harder to get the word out rather than reducing the quorum needed.
Voters also set a bylaw in place that will let residents build accessory dwelling units to keep up with a state law that recently passed. While originally intended to limit a dwelling unit to no larger than 900 square feet or 50 percent of the main house on the project, whichever is smaller, voters amended the article to allow it to be as large as 900 square feet, period.
This post was updated to reflect that the West Tisbury School was last renovated about 30 years ago, not originally built.
