By MEGAN DOOLEY

Aquinnah selectmen are warning residents to keep their household trash out of town dumpsters, and backing it up with a new $500 fine for violators.

A large, open dumpster at the West Basin intended primarily for fishermen has been regularly filled to the brim with household and commercial trash, said selectman and board chairman Camille Rose at a selectmen’s meeting yesterday morning. “It was overflowing,” she said.

Ms. Rose jokingly suggested a $5,000 fine, but the selectmen settled on $500. They also agreed to replace the open-topped large dumpster with several smaller bins with smaller openings, like the trash barrels used at Philbin Beach. The smaller bins are intended to foil illegal trash-dumpers.

The selectmen said town employees do not have the time to closely monitor activity at the dumpster, so they are hoping the fine and the new trash receptacles will be enough to dissuade residents from illegal dumping.

In other business yesterday, the selectmen appointed Molly Purves to the Martha’s Vineyard Cultural Council and Richard Skidmore to the cable advisory committee. The board also approved the promotion of police officer Ryan Ruley to detective.

Town coordinator Jeffrey Burgoyne gave an update on the Code Red program, which, once installed, will help alert Aquinnah residents in the event of an emergency. The program is planning for an Islandwide test run sometime in late July. Town residents can visit the town Web site, beginning July 13, to enroll in the program. A meeting about the new emergency notification system will be held at the Wesley Hotel in Oak Bluffs at 7 p.m. Tuesday night.