After no one from the public attended last week’s public hearing, the Tisbury selectmen voted unanimously to raise the fines for parking violations by $10 apiece. The new fines will go into effect next spring.

Ten-dollar parking tickets for violations like parking overtime, in the wrong direction, or more than one foot from the curb will now be $20. Fifteen-dollar parking tickets for violations like parking in a restricted or prohibited area, within 10 feet of a fire hydrant, or overnight will now be $25.

“I think it’s appalling that the business community isn’t here,” said Jeffrey C. Kristal, zoning board chairman and owner of the Crocker House Inn, who regularly attends selectmen’s meetings. No member of the public came to speak at the public hearing.

He urged the selectmen to raise their parking fines in concert with Edgartown and Oak Bluffs, so that Vineyard Haven’s shopping and dining district will not be at a disadvantage.

The rise in fees follows a visit by Dukes County parking clerk Carol Grant, who manages parking tickets for the whole Island. In return, the county receives 15 per cent of parking ticket revenues.

Ms. Grant told the selectmen that $10 and $15 tickets are unheard of these days; the state now allows tickets up to $50. She said that people who come to her office to pay their parking tickets are pleased to pay only $10 for overtime. She also said that she has heard people brag about parking all day to go off-Island for only a $10 ticket.

The selectmen voted to put the change into effect on May 1, as the county will be ordering new tickets next spring. All six Vineyard towns now have the same parking tickets with the same fines, although they are not required to be in accord.

Selectman Denys Wortman noted that $20 is still a small price to park all day and it would still not deter all-day parkers. He suggested that the police be allowed to ticket a vehicle multiple times.

Police chief John Cashin said he was uncertain how many times the state allows police to ticket per day, but thought it might be three. At a previous meeting, he told the selectmen that if they wanted tickets to accrue, signs should be posted that say “tickets accrue hourly.”

Board chairman Thomas Pachico said that he would not want multiple ticketing in the wintertime, since there is not as much competition for parking spots. He noted that Edgartown does not ticket for overtime in the off-season.

In other business, the board discussed the handicapped parking spaces at the Water street parking lot, which has a new layout and striping as of this spring. The town and Stop & Shop — which borders one side of the lot — have had a number of complaints from handicapped people and their families who say the spots are in awkward locations and are not large enough to access a wheelchair properly.

Stop & Shop store manager Sam Koohy and handicapped advocate Anson W. Krickl Jr., who is Dukes County’s associate commissioner for affairs of handicapped persons, contributed to the discussion. While no changes were agreed on, Mr. Krickl said he would visit the parking lot again and return with recommendations if necessary.

In a related discussion, Mr. Pachico asked Mr. Koohy to set a time for when the tractor trailers must be out of the parking lot’s loading zone alongside the building. This would free up the spaces for shoppers. Signs could tell drivers that the loading zone becomes legal parking after a certain time of day, like 4 p.m., Mr. Pachico said.

In other board business, Tisbury fire chief John F. Schilling asked the selectmen to approve a policy setting 65 as the maximum age for firefighters, to address a gray area in state law that may create a liability for the town if it does not have a formal policy. The board declined to make a new policy and plans to meet tonight with fire department personnel.

Mr. Wortman said he wanted to hear what the other firefighters thought about the policy and said it would be bad for morale if the policy went into effect without feedback from the department.

“While I welcome input from men in the department, this is really a question of liability to the town,” Chief Schilling said.

The issue came to light recently, when a firefighter informed Chief Schilling that he had just turned 65. No one else in the department is within five years of turning 65, Chief Schilling said.

Under state law, Tisbury’s legal counsel believes the 65-year-old would have to retire by the last day of this month. The issue is unclear because firefighters are on-call, rather than on salary, and are not part of the county’s retirement program. Town counsel believed that if a policy were created, the town could grandfather the individual who just turned 65, so the policy would not apply to him, Chief Schilling said.

“There’s young 65 and there’s old 65,” Mr. Pachico commented. “You know, some people age better than others. I wouldn’t want to kick someone to the curb who’s really into it.”

In other town business, Tisbury’s public works director, Fred LaPiana, asked the board to support a proposed sidebar agreement with the union that would allow the department of public works to hire unskilled labor and train them for skilled positions. The employees in the program would be paid more as their skills grew.

“We just can’t compete with the private sector,” Mr. LaPiana said. “I think it’s very important to our organization. I have people waiting in the wings to do this apprenticeship.”

In other business, Chris Fried from the Tisbury Energy Committee told the selectmen that the committee had come to recommend the Cape Wind project and hoped the selectmen would endorse it. He read a letter from the committee to the selectmen that called the project necessary and sensible.

Board chairman Thomas Pachico told Mr. Fried that while “that was a nice TV commercial,” the board had already taken a public position against the Cape Wind project, along with Barnstable and Nantucket.

The three selectmen then spoke against the project in turn, citing the location, technology and maintenance costs. Mr. Wortman suggested that Noman’s Land might make a more sensible location in terms of maintenance and environmental impact. Mr. Israel noted that the board’s position on Cape Wind does not mean it does not support alternative energy in general.