Oak Bluffs selectmen heard from the town’s conservation agent and the chairman of the conservation commission Tuesday, who spoke out against use of a mechanical beach rake to clean and remove rocks from the town’s popular beaches.

Over the past several years selectmen and other town officials have received numerous complaints about rocks and pebbles on Inkwell Beach and Pay Beach, as well as complaints about the quality of sand from dredge projects used to renourish the two beaches.

A citizens group headed by seasonal resident Richard Seelig has asked the town to buy a beach rake to periodically clean the sand, level the beaches, and remove rocks.

Conservation agent Liz Durkee offered a presentation covering the geology of Island beaches. She said north facing beaches have a different composition than south facing beaches, because of the way the Island was formed by receding glaciers.

She referenced Jetty Beach in Oak Bluffs and Menemsha Beach in Chilmark as two north facing beaches similar to Pay Beach and Inkwell Beach.

“They never get complaints about the shoreline composition,” Ms. Durkee said. “It’s part of our Island’s character.”

Ms. Durkee said state authorities could be reluctant to issue permits for a beach rake because removing rocks and shells could hasten erosion. She said man-made interventions like groins and breakwaters have radically changed the beaches, causing erosion in some places and sand accretion in others.

Conservation commission chairman Joan Hughes said much of the sand from renourishment projects washes down the shore and is deposited in the channel under Little Bridge, or on Joseph A. Sylvia State Beach. She said she follows the sand migration down the shore during the summer, all the way to Bend in the Road beach.

“All of our sand goes to Edgartown, and I figure I might as well stand on it,” Ms. Hughes said.

Mr. Seelig, who also attended the meeting, said seven Cape Cod towns, and the island of Nantucket, use beach rakes.

“They all rake their beaches, and permitting is not a problem,” Mr. Seelig said. “I’ve heard the rocks and sand stabilize the beach. I’ve been looking for studies, and I haven’t found a single one.”

Selectmen have included a new beach rake on a wish list of capital improvements for the coming year, but have not made a final decision.

“We’re really going to have to think about this,” said selectman Greg Coogan. “It’s foolish to think we’re going to beat Mother Nature. Are we creating more problems when we start trying to fix it to make it perfect? It becomes this never-ending battle.”

Also Tuesday, selectmen voted unanimously to award Northern Construction of Weymouth a contract to repair the coastal bank and create a boardwalk along the North Bluff shoreline, reversing a controversial decision made at their Sept. 22 meeting.

Northern Construction bid about $4.98 million for the job, outbidding MIG Corporation of Acton, which offered to do the work for about $5.13 million.

The action capped a controversial bidding process, in which selectmen first voted to award the contract to MIG Corporation. After Northern Construction formally protested that decision to the Massachusetts attorney general, selectmen rejected all bids, and called for a new round of bidding.

Both firms submitted bids lower than they did in the original round of bidding. MIG Corporation’s original bid, accepted at the Sept. 22 meeting and later rejected with all other bids, was approximately $250,000 higher than the Northern Construction bid accepted by selectmen at their most recent meeting.

Selectmen discussed a proposal from building inspector Mark Barbadoro to raise fees for building permits and inspections.

Mr. Barbadoro proposed, beginning Jan. 1, to institute a flat fee of 0.65 percent of the national average construction cost, a figure that selectmen agreed is far lower than Island construction costs.

Mr. Barbadoro said the permitting costs of a 2,000-square-foot home would rise from about $900 to $1,464.

He said the increased fees would fund a position eliminated because of town budget constraints.

“Most of the developers, including the Martha’s Vineyard Builders Association, agree that it’s acceptable to raise the fee if they get more service, and that’s the reason I proposed the increase,” Mr. Barbadoro said. “My intention is to staff the department the way it used to be staffed, full time people to do inspections and zoning enforcement.”

He also proposed an exception for first time home buyers.

Selectmen agreed to study the proposal, and make a decision at their Dec. 9 meeting.