Aquinnah Tackles $2.9 Million Budget

By IAN FEIN

Aquinnah voters will take up a $2.9 million budget and a series of
relatively small spending requests at their annual town meeting next
week.

Town officials are hoping the evening will proceed more smoothly
than last year's meeting, which was postponed for a month because
voters were unhappy with the budget as presented.

"Town finances are in better shape than they've been for
years, and there are no really contentious articles," said
selectman James Newman, noting that the town meeting will also be the
final send-off for board member Michael Hebert, who steps down the
following day after nine years as a selectman. "We're
looking forward to a calm departure for Michael."

Town moderator Walter Delaney will bang the gavel at 7 p.m. in the
old town hall on Tuesday night, when voters will convene a nine-article
special town meeting before moving on to the 16-article annual warrant.

The race to replace Mr. Hebert as selectman will headline the annual
town election the following day, on a ballot that includes two
Proposition 2 1/2 debt exclusions and a home rule petition that would
allow the sale of beer and wine with meals in restaurants. The polls
will be open from noon to 7 p.m. on Wednesday in the town hall.

The proposed fiscal year 2008 budget is up some $250,000, or almost
ten per cent, from the $2.6 million approved by voters last year. A
large bulk of the increase comes from the public safety section of the
budget, which is up from roughly $500,000 to almost $650,000.

Driven by contractual salary hikes, the police department budget is
up almost 25 per cent. Police chief Randhi Belain explained that the
increase represents the third year of a three-year contract, which
called for a seven per cent raise and four per cent cost of living
adjustment.

"The purpose of it three years ago when we negotiated the
contract was to try to bring us closer in line with the other up-Island
departments," Chief Belain said this week. "After this year,
we feel we'll be right where we need to be. And when we go to
renegotiate our contracts next year, it probably won't be the
percentage jump that it has been."

With a rise from $20,000 to more than $45,000, the assessing
department budget is also up significantly this year. Town officials are
trying to improve operations in the department, which came under fire
from the Massachusetts Department of Revenue for some sloppy practices
last year.

The overall $2.9 million budget may actually be amended downward on
town meeting floor. Because Oak Bluffs voters forced a switch in the way
Vineyard towns share the costs of the Martha's Vineyard Regional
High School, Aquinnah taxpayers will see their contribution drop from
the $380,000 listed in the town budget to a smaller amount of $320,000.

Aquinnah voters at their town meeting next week can also force a
similar change to the Up-Island Regional School District. Though no one
has calculated the exact effect such a change would have to next
year's budget, school officials estimated that the change this
year would have saved Aquinnah more than $90,000, with the difference to
be made up by Chilmark and West Tisbury taxpayers.

Meanwhile, the up-Island school district is returning more than
$30,000 to Aquinnah for unexpended funds from the current year's
budget, money which town officials are looking to divert to other town
expenses.

One such request is $10,000 to pay for final permitting of the
capped town landfill, which town officials recently learned was never
fully completed. The town in the late 1990s hired engineer James J.
Decoulos to oversee the landfill capping. According to selectmen, there
was a verbal agreement between the town and Mr. Decoulos to complete all
the permitting for the project, but the Massachusetts Department of
Environmental Protection recently informed the town that it did not have
its final permit. In the decade following the landfill project, the town
has been involved in multiple lawsuits with Mr. Decoulos over his
attempts to gain access to and develop a number of vacant lots off
Moshup Trail.

A new $45,000 highway department dump truck and $80,000 in old town
hall repairs are the two Proposition 2 1/2 debt exclusion questions that
voters will face at both the polls and on town meeting floor next week.

The old town hall roof has been leaking, resulting in the collapse
of some ceiling plaster, and plans to renovate the kitchen area have
stalled for years. On top of the $80,000, town officials are seeking
$5,000 in a separate warrant article to cover roof and chimney repairs
for the building, and another $30,000 for structural repairs from
Community Preservation Act funds.

In all, the town community preservation committee is looking to
distribute more than $90,000 to a variety of projects, including the
restoration of the Edwin Vanderhoop Homestead, painting of the historic
Aquinnah Library, creating a new town center playground, and preparation
of some affordable housing sites. The finance committee is not
recommending the community preservation article, because members do not
agree with some of the spending requests.

"Most of it seemed fine, but there were a few items in it that
we felt needed to be discussed," said finance committee member
John Walsh. "Basically, we felt the voters and the political
process needed to spend a little more time on some of these
projects."