With a great deal more hope than expectation, Tisbury selectmen decided on Tuesday evening to make application for a share of $10 million in state grant money to fund energy efficiency and renewable energy initiatives.

The trouble is, the money comes with conditions attached — conditions Tisbury and other Island towns cannot possibly meet.

The Catch-22 is that in order to be eligible for the money, towns must agree to five requirements, one of which is that they must effectively give up a big part of the control over the siting of “renewable energy generating facilities” — read potential commercial-scale wind turbines — or alternative energy research and development or manufacturing facilities.

But Tisbury, like other Island towns, is reluctant to grant “as of right” siting, without first taking the idea to town meeting.

The deadline for applications for this year’s round of grants under the Green Communities program is today.

Which is unfortunate, because the program in other ways would be a boon to local efforts to reduce energy consumption. And other conditions attaching to the grants — such as auditing and reducing power consumption, buying only fuel-efficient vehicles and insisting on greater efficiency for commercial, industrial and some residential building — would likely be acceptable to the town.

And so Tisbury, like West Tisbury a few weeks earlier, has made application to the state, but done so with the attached warning that it cannot immediately meet all the conditions. The odds of ever seeing any of the money are therefore long.

Town administrator John Bugbee told selectmen he would not sign off on the conditions without their approval, and probably that of town meeting. He said he had spoken to Oak Bluffs, which had not signed off, and to West Tisbury, which had filed a grant application but without agreeing to all the conditions.

They selectmen — two of three were present — agreed the wind generators matter would need to go to the people.

Jeff Kristal said he was troubled by the prospect of effectively losing control of the siting of wind turbines.

“That scares me,” he said.

And Tristan Israel assessed the chances of the town getting anything as “30-70 and going down.”

Still, the town’s application, prepared subsequently by Mr. Bugbee, set out its environmental credentials: that it had conducted an energy audit of town properties and taken actions like installing energy efficient lighting; that it was incorporating many “green elements in the design of the planned new emergency facilities building;” that it had recently purchased a hybrid car as its new off-Island vehicle.

But hopes are not high.

And so the state’s attempt to encourage communities to use less fossil fuel, seems likely to lead to a perverse result: by insisting on conditions the town cannot meet, it could deny funds for initiatives the town is willing to meet.

Another energy issue also taxed the selectmen on Tuesday night: the sale of diesel by Island Fuel from the Lake Tashmoo town dock on Lake street.

For about a year the company has been using a truck to pump fuel, mostly for professional fishermen.

The chair of the Tashmoo management committee, Melinda Loberg, raised the issue, saying people living near the dock had complained of noise from the delivery trucks, recreational users of the dock had complained of obstruction, and there were concerns about the potential for a fuel spill into the pond.

The issue not only pitted recreational users of the dock against professional fishermen, but also departmental heads against one another.

Tisbury harbor master Jay Wilbur and shellfish constable Derek Cimeno each expressed concern about the potential for accidental spills of fuel.

But fire chief John Schilling backed the assertion of the supplier that a commercial pumping operation was actually less risky than fishermen doing it themselves, because of safety regulations such an operation is required to meet. The trucks, selectmen heard, carried absorbent cloth and booms in case of a spill, and pumping could be quickly shut off. The carrier also had insurance coverage and drivers were background-checked and trained.

Discussion ranged across a variety of concerns: that the trade could expand to attract noisy cigarette boats into the pond, that it could open the way for other unwanted commercial activity. It also canvassed possible compromises, including limiting hours of delivery, and restricting sales to local fishermen.

In the end, the whole issue was deferred to the next meeting of the Tashmoo management committee, in hopes that a solution might be found and brought back to selectmen at a future meeting.