Describing trash and litter as a longstanding and growing problem in Oak Bluffs, Oak Bluffs Association (OBA) executive director Christine Todd told selectmen last Tuesday night at their regular meeting that town officials and stakeholders have formed Trash Awareness Program — TAP.
Ms. Todd said TAP flowed from an initial meeting of numerous town officials, OBA members, and a representative from the Martha’s Vineyard Commission (MVC). The goal of TAP is to raise Islander awareness of the litter and trash problem, and to enlist business owners to take some ownership, in part by keeping their sidewalks clean and providing adequate waste bins.
Highway supervisor Richie Combra told Ms. Todd he will be hiring an employee to patrol the downtown area for trash, monitor public waste bins, and identify litterbugs. Mr. Combra has also purchased a Gumshoe, a machine made to scrub chewing gum off sidewalks.
“We have more takeout restaurants than any town on the Island,” chairman of the selectmen Mike Santoro said. “Businesses have to pick up some of the slack. Richie [Combra] can’t do it all by himself.”
“There are some businesses that do a wonderful job and there are some that don’t; it’s not really fair,” selectman Gail Barmakian said.
Mr. Santoro said Police Chief Erik Blake is considering stronger enforcement of littering laws.
The responsibility of business owners was also front and center in the discussion about the proliferation of discarded “nip” bottles. Although selectmen unanimously agreed the single-serving vessels are a plague on the Island, it would require a change in state law to ban them. Since there are only five stores on the Island that sell nips, selectmen agreed that direct talks with those business owners were in order. Selectman Greg Coogan pointed out that nip bottles are unusually popular on the Island. “It’s not a statewide problem,” he said. “Distributors don’t bother with them in a lot of other places.”
TAP is also looking at ways to reduce the amount of household items, such as sofas, TVs, and mattresses, that linger by the roadside for “free” instead of being taken to the transfer station. Ms. Todd said that state or federal funding may be available to pay for trucks that make Island-wide pickups a few a times a year.
