Oak Bluffs selectmen on Tuesday rejected three applications for new tour bus companies in town, postponed action on a request from the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital for permits for four fuel storage tanks, one of which is 38 years old, and agreed in principal to a new reverse 911 system to alert residents via cell phone, text messages and e-mails during emergencies.

The board voted unanimously to deny road licenses for three tour bus applicants: Ron Minkin of Martha’s Vineyard Transport LLC, Barry Lopes of Native Island Tours and Jason Correia of Castaway Coach. They cited an opinion from the roads and byways committee, which last week recommended that they deny all three requests.

The committee — made up of the police chief, fire chief and members of the selectmen and planning board — found there was limited room for additional tour busses and little need for additional services. The committee also found that tour bus companies take people out of town, providing little boost to local businesses.

Selectmen also received a letter from Angela E. Grant, administrator of the Vineyard Transit Authority (VTA), opposing the applications.

“We as the town underwrite the VTA, and we should always be great advocates for public transportation,” selectman Ron DiOrio said. “What we are considering here is [supporting] someone who is competing directly with the VTA, and that is not good policy,” he added.

“In fact the existing tour bus company on the Island tells us ridership is going down — it’s not going up,” added selectman Duncan Ross.

The three applicants have applied for licenses in all six Island towns, although this week’s decision by the selectmen could effectively kill the plan, since all three companies would pick up most of their customers in Oak Bluffs.

The applicants have 60 days to appeal the decision to the state Department of Transportation.

In other business, selectmen also voted without dissent to back a request from the town emergency management department to hire the CodeRED Emergency Communications Network to install a new reverse 911 system in town.

Emergency coordinator Peter Martell said the town stepped up efforts to install the system after coliform bacteria was found in the town water supply in September, prompting the state to issue a boil water order that affected nearly all town residents.

The crisis exposed problems in the town’s ability to disseminate information during an emergency. In a Jan. 15 letter to selectmen and other public safety officials, Mr. Martell explained the need to hire CodeRED.

“As you are aware the town of Oak Bluffs recently had a water problem. As we discovered, we did not have the ability to notify the residents in a timely and efficient manner. This was embarrassing,” Mr. Martell wrote.

Mr. Martell on Tuesday said the system will send out a blast of messages during an emergency, via cell phone calls, text messages, e-mails and phone calls on landlines. The system will give local control to each Island town through the use of a password that would allow town officials to log on and send out a message to its residents.

In addition the county communications center will have a “super log-in” so it can send messages out across the Island. The company usually charges between $15,000 and $19,000 for each system, Mr. Martell said, but agreed to the lower rate of $12,520 for a three-year contract for the Island that would include the county communications center.

The company has said the system would cost Oak Bluffs $3,025 a year, Tisbury $3,086, Edgartown $3,184, West Tisbury $2,136, Chilmark $786 and Aquinnah $264. The proposal needs approval in all six towns; Chilmark selectmen voted to approve it last week.

Mr. Martell said county sheriff Michael McCormack would serve as administrator, and the system would be overseen by a committee made up of town emergency coordinators.

Mr. Martell said there are many applications for the system, including terrorists attacks, an outbreak of a virus or pandemic, a natural disaster or a health crises like the water emergency last fall. “We like this system; it has all the bells and whistles we were looking for . . . my estimate is this will hit 95 to 98 per cent of our [residents] during an emergency,” he said.

Mr. Martell said the system could also be used to get important information to residents during non-emergency situations.

“If the water district has to shut down a few roads because they are installing a new water main, we can isolate that neighborhood and blast out a little message to those people telling them the road will be closed that day,” he said.

An article will appear on the warrant of the annual town meeting in April.

Selectmen also fielded an application from the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital seeking permits for four tanks that hold flammable and combustible liquids. Connie Bulman, project manager for the hospital renovation project, appeared before the board on behalf of the hospital.

The hospital needs permits for a new 2,000-gallon propane gas tank, a new 8,000-gallon oil tank, and two existing tanks: a 20,000-gallon underground oil tank installed at Windemere Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in 1996, and a 10,000-gallon underground oil tank installed at the hospital in 1972.

Selectmen had some concerns about the older underground oil tanks. “I am surprised you can still bury [oil] tanks at all,” selectman Kathy Burton said. “I am a real estate professional, and we can’t bury oil tanks at a residence. In fact it’s very scary when you come across a buried tank.”

Mr. Bulman said he has already conducted tests of the tank at Windemere, and determined that there are no leaks and the monitoring system is operational. He said he was not so sure about the 10,000 gallon tank at the hospital, and has ordered a series of borings around the tank to be sure that all is in working order with no leaks.

Mr. Bulman said the plan is to replace the underground tank with a double-hulled tank with a new monitoring system.

“That makes me a feel a lot better about the whole process,” selectman and board chairman Gregory Coogan said.

Selectman agreed to put off a vote on all the permits while they consult with fire chief Peter Forend about the older underground tank at the hospital.