Rent subsidy in the amount of $16,000, to be divided among five families living in the Morgan Woods affordable housing complex, was approved by Edgartown selectmen this week. The money will come from the town’s affordable housing trust fund.

Affordable housing committee chairman Janet Hathaway said the funds are needed to supplement rental payments for five families unable to pay their monthly rent due to unemployment or illness. “It’s a group of people at the higher-income level paying market-rate rent, anywhere from $1,400 to $1,600 per month, that are a little short,” she said. Their income levels disqualify them for state or grant assistance.

“We had no way of knowing that these families would be needing support,” Ms. Hathaway told the Gazette. “Some of these families are experiencing unemployment for the first time ever . . . They don’t need a lot . . . but they just need a little bit of help.”

The funding will be used as a credit on rental accounts for each family. “[The money] goes right into the rent, it doesn’t go directly to the families,” said Ms. Hathaway. Based on figures determined by Morgan Woods manager Jessica Burgoyne, the committee determined that $16,000 would assist the five families through the end of the fiscal year next June.

Trust funds come from development projects in Edgartown, including the Shiretown Inn project on North Water street and the Nora’s Meadow subdivision off Clevelandtown Road. Ms. Hathaway said money from the Field Club project, which accounts for a majority of the trust fund, will not be used (the money is restricted for buying or building affordable housing).

In other business, selectmen voted to support the nomination by the Martha’s Vineyard Commission of a district of critical planning concern for the waters surrounding the Vineyard. Selectmen said they do not support a DCPC over the land portion of Edgartown.

“We have a wind project in the planning stages at this time,” said selectmen chairman Michael J. Donaroma, referring to a project under way at the town wastewater treatment plant. Commission county representative Carlene Gatting told the board that projects in the works would be exempt from the DCPC under the current plan.

The commission was expected to vote on the Islandwide DCPC last night.

The board approved a request from the Edgartown Firemen’s Association to begin construction on a new addition to the firehouse museum. President Andrew Kelly said the association has raised enough funds to build the foundation and frame for the structure. The addition will house and protect two antique fire engines, along with other firefighter memorabilia. “Instead of having a garage, we’re actually going to build a museum,” he said.

Funding for the project came from donations and T-shirt sales over the summer. The association plans to break ground on the project today.