As the Chilmark selectmen begin to explore funding options for expensive reconstruction needs following last month’s fire in Menemsha, they said this week that other spending projects may need to wait.

At their meeting Tuesday night, selectmen agreed to put off a $500,000 plan to renovate and repair Tea Lane Farm, which is co-owned by the town and the Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank. “In light of our recent development, we need to proceed with a lower cost project,” said selectman and board chairman Warren Doty, who is also a member of the Tea Lane Farm Committee.

Selectmen suggested asking town voters to approve some $160,000 in Community Preservation Act (CPA) funds at a special town meeting which has been set for Sept. 27. The deadline for warrant articles is Friday, August 13. “This amount of money could be spent without affecting the tax rate because this amount of money has already been set aside,” said Mr. Doty.

Historical commission chairman Jane Slater agreed to bring the suggestion back to her committee for review.

The selectmen also discussed a shortfall in the Tri-Town Ambulance budget for fiscal year 2010. Mr. Doty called the shortfall troubling for two reasons: “One was that there was a shortfall. Secondly, that the shortfall was presented on the day of the closing of our books and some after the closing of our books,” he said. “That seemed like poor management.”

Police chief Brian Cioffi, also a member of the Tri-Town Ambulance committee, said the shortfall was related to a state mandate that requires 24-hour paramedic coverage. Chief Cioffi said Tri-Town Ambulance does not have the manpower for the coverage, and had to rely on Oak Bluffs to supply paramedic service when necessary during the winter. But the ambulance group that covers the three up-Island towns fell short in covering those bills.

But Mr. Doty said if the shortfall had been known, the town financial advisory committee could have worked to balance the Tri-Town budget by making transfers from other accounts. “We could have done different things. But on July 15 we couldn’t do anything,” he said.

Now voters in the three up-Island towns will be asked to cover the shortfall, which totals just over $10,000. The appropriation will require a nine-tenths vote at town meeting.

Selectmen also decided to hold off on a project to install a bathroom in the preschool classroom at the Chilmark School. The cost of the project is estimated at about $30,000; in previous discussions the selectmen suggested asking voters to cover $20,000 of the cost, and divide the remaining $10,000 between the preschool and a summer program which also uses the classroom. But this week the selectmen expressed concern about including another spending article on a warrant that will include previously unforseen spending articles for projects relating to the Menemsha fire cleanup. They did agree that the project is important to the function of the preschool, and said they hope it can be addressed soon.

In other business, selectmen approved an application from shellfisherman John Armstrong for a 100-by-600-foot site in Menemsha Pond for shellfish farming. Mr. Armstrong was the lone responder to an advertisement for shellfish grants in the pond.

Representatives from American Tower Company, which hopes to build a distributed antenna system (DAS) to improve cell phone service in the three up-Island towns, won approval from the board to build 24 utility poles throughout town to hold nodes and fiber optic cables. AT& T has signed up as a carrier for the system, and American Tower expects to begin building after Labor Day.

“The intent is to have this network built . . . in Aquinnah and Chilmark by the end of the year,” said American Tower representative John Costa.

He said negotiations remain ongoing with West Tisbury, which has not yet agreed to join the project.

The selectmen approved an agreement with the American Red Cross to allow the organization to use the Chilmark Community Center as an emergency response center in the event of an emergency.

And they appointed town accountant Emily Day as a permanent employee, following the completion of a six-month period of initial review. “We all feel that she’s done a wonderful job and has been a quick study,” said executive secretary Tim Carroll. “Her skills as a CPA have served her well.”

Not on the agenda was a request from the personnel board to readverstise for the position of administrative assistant to the fire chief, which is now being filled by a temporary employee. Personnel board chairman Jennie Greene invited selectmen to join in a discussion at the personnel board meeting this week. But the flustered selectmen who have been buried in business relating to the Menemsha fire, said the discussion will have to wait. Mr. Doty said that his schedule is already filled with meetings. “This discussion needs to be on the back burner for another week or two,” he said.

To open the meeting, the board asked for a moment of silence to remember Rusty Walton, the longtime town conservation agent, who died Tuesday afternoon. Mr. Walton was also a member of the planning board. “He was very much a part of this town hall, [and] had been for years,” said Mr. Doty. “He will be missed.”