In Chilmark Squibnocket beach is expected to dominate discussion when voters gather for their annual town meeting tonight. In Tisbury tomorrow night the main theme is spending, with the town facing its first general override in 20 years.

The controversial improvement project for Squibnocket beach is the talk of the town and comes to a vote Monday night in the Chilmark Community Center. Moderator Everett Poole said he will give a free rein to debate.

The lead sentence in the April 14 story in the Gazette said it best: public discussion over the Squibnocket Beach and access project has grown “increasingly complicated.”

Observing nature and geology are lifelong interests and passions of mine, and some of the reasons I fell in love with this beautiful Island, like so many other people who choose to live in Chilmark.

The headline of the Gazette’s March 7 front page article about the proposed changes to the Squibnocket beach, parking lot, and two-lane bridge project was “Careful Study Advised at Squibnocket.” We could not agree more!

Stewardship is defined as "the responsible overseeing and protection of something considered worth caring for and preserving."

While I’m not against the folks at Squibnocket Point having access to their supersized summer homes, I’m passionately opposed to the current plan and the Chilmark selectmen’s handling of it.

Last summer I began to attend meetings about a proposed project in Chilmark. The proposal is multifaceted and includes extending the Squibnocket town beach, building a parking lot on a barrier dune area and the construction of a bridge to the former Hornblower property now known as Squibnocket Farms.

At annual town meeting next month, Chilmark voters will weigh in on a major Squibnocket Beach project. The plans calls for removing the stone revetment, moving the parking lot and building an elevated roadway.

A plan to reconfigure the town beachfront at Squibnocket could be a model for future coastal restoration projects, concludes a report by Greg Berman, a coastal scientist with the Woods Hole Sea Grant Cooperative Extension. But he advised a go-slow approach and said more study is needed.