Police Chief Dan Hanavan told Tisbury selectmen Tuesday that acting Department of Public Works (DPW) director Tom Mello returned four parking spaces to Union Street and one to Main Street, removed during the trial traffic reversal of Union Street, after deeming it safe to do so. Selectmen said they will hold a public discussion on the street reversal at the regularly scheduled Tuesday, Oct. 20, meeting.
After a lengthy discussion, selectmen voted to approve a change to the net metering contract agreement with the Cape and Vineyard Electric Cooperative (CVEC) for the landfill solar project completed in 2014. For two years, a percentage of the project revenue, along with a percentage from a number of other revenue streams from Cape towns, will go to CVEC to help fund their services. The change will be effective from fiscal year 2017 to 2019, when a financial re-evaluation will occur.
Chairman Tristan Israel provided an update from the Massachusetts Municipal Association (MMA), a “nonprofit, nonpartisan association that provides advocacy, training, publications, research, and other services to Massachusetts cities and towns,” which vocally objected to certain tenets of a proposed public-records bill that found strong support among newspapers and open-government advocates back in July. He said a version of that bill, with changes to the harassment policy, fee structures, and request deadlines, could be acted on by the state as soon as next week. Mr. Israel said there will be aspects of the bill undesirable by the towns as well as aspects undesirable by the media; however, it is the MMA’s stance that it will be “compromised” legislation.
Selectmen announced that former Tisbury selectman Jonathan Snyder has been offered the job of finance director. Mr. Israel said state lawmakers approved the special legislation allowing the reorganization of the DPW, and added that selectmen are in the process of looking at DPW director applications. The board voted to take no action on the possibility of a December special town meeting, which town administrator Jay Grande said could cover a number of issues.