The bucolic pond that graces the entrance to town has been the source of long-running disagreement over environmental management methods. At the annual town meeting next week voters will again consider dredging and a watershed study.
The bucolic pond that graces the entrance to town has been the source of long-running disagreement over environmental management methods. At the annual town meeting next week voters will again consider dredging and a watershed study.
At West Tisbury’s annual town meeting on Tuesday, April 8, at the West Tisbury School gym, there will be a warrant article asking the town to vote to use $30,000 of Community Preservation Act funds for design and permitting costs to dredge the Mill Pond.
The West Tisbury selectmen voted this week to approve a request for proposals (RFP) for a study of the Mill Brook watershed. Drafted by the town conservation commission, the RFP seeks consultants qualified “to prepare and deliver a study of the watershed of Mill Brook,” which includes Mill Pond as well as Fisher Pond, Crocker Pond, and Priester’s Pond and several tributaries.
The RFP limits the cost of the proposed study to $15,000, the amount approved by voters at the annual town meeting in April.
Passing by the Mill Pond, I am always struck by its beauty and the variety of wildlife that enjoy its waters all year round: the otters sliding on the ice or diving under water, the ducks and geese
I thank the town of West Tisbury for the opportunity to hear about the different options related to the future of the Mill Pond. I was troubled by the insistence of the Mill Pond committee on dredging the pond, in particular the implication that natural sediments (referred to as black gold) be positioned as a commodity.
The West Tisbury Mill Pond is a biological treasure. To remove the dam would be a biological disaster.
