As athletes revel in personal bests, so do town moderators. And just after 9:30 on Tuesday night, Derorah Medders briefly broke from the business of Tisbury’s annual town meeting to revel in hers.

“In my tenure, this is a milestone,” she said. Not only was it the longest warrant, in terms of articles and sub-articles, she had presided over in 11 years of running the town’s annual meetings, but it was the quickest.

Never in her time had Tisbury voters finished an annual town meeting in just one night.

It was all the more remarkable because there were more than 80 articles and sub-articles up for decision. The 180 voters present disposed of them all at a rate of better than one every two minutes, voting yes to every one.

The great majority of articles passed unanimously, most without discussion or debate. Indeed, the first nine the meeting considered were approved without question, comment or a single no vote in less than five minutes.

And though things slowed down a little after that, the meeting remained extraordinary for its lack of dissent. When voters took the microphone it was in most cases to seek clarification of a point rather than to argue one.

The biggest item in money terms, the $20 million annual budget, was a case in point. As Ms. Medders read through the seven-plus pages of line items, only three attracted comment.

One question related to the amount of insurance premiums the town paid. It was explained quickly and the questioner was satisfied.

The second comment was chairman of the board of selectmen Tristan Israel’s annual protest about the formula by which Tisbury’s share of funding for the regional high school is apportioned. He has done this every year for the past four years. For the record, the town has now paid almost $600,000 more than it would have under the old formula.

And the third comment came from a seasonal resident who queried the $24,500 cost of the Tisbury comfort station. But his question was not about the cost. It was this:

“What and where is this comfort station?”

There was little else to discuss or argue over. Almost every town department held spending to the same level as last year, or less. It was approved unanimously.

There was only one issue which caused significant differences of opinion, and that was a proposal by the selectmen to establish a municipal housing trust fund.

Anthony Peak asked if the proposal was made with the intent of supplanting the existing means of funding affordable housing.

Mr. Israel said it would not replace those arrangements, but such a trust fund would “certainly give us some other options.”

During the ensuing discussion, selectmen assured questioners that they did not believe the town was not getting its fair share of affordable housing under the current regime, but would like to have some flexibility in case a worthy project came up.

Selectman Geoghan Coogan noted that the Island Affordable Housing Fund now was “fragile to say the least.”

The strongest opposition came from public works commissioner David Ferraguzzi, who recalled that years ago Tisbury ran apartments for affordable housing on Lake street and it was not successful.

“It just doesn’t work,” he said, noting that it had involved a great deal of extra costs, administration and work.

The plan would just result in another layer of bureaucracy and the town getting “in the way of a more professional approach to housing,” Mr. Ferraguzzi said.

He said he would rather see money channeled through the regional housing authority.

The debate was not long, but when it came to the vote, there were enough voices against that Ms. Medders called for a standing count.

The article passed 89 to 36.

Other than that issue, there was some discussion related to a proposed expenditure of $225,000 resulting from a new contract with the police union, and smaller amounts to be spent from the Community Preservation Act and ferry embarkation funds.

The police contract, town finance director Tim McLean explained, entailed $100,000 for the coming financial year and $125,000 back pay for financial years 2008, 2009 and 2010.

Voters approved the article, with only one dissenter, but the question also will go to a vote on the April 27 town ballot, as a Proposition 2 1/2 override.

The cost of policing also came up in discussion of several articles, notably article 17, the disbursement of embarkation fee money. One sub-article sought $4,000 for a new Harley-Davidson motorcycle, and another sought $31,000 for a new police car.

The question about the car was pretty benign, a simple query about whether the force had considered leasing instead of buying new vehicles. Yes, they had; buying was better. Okay. It passed.

But the one about the bike was more pointed. Did the police really need a Harley? Could they not get something with “not so much ego attached to it.”

Acting police chief Daniel Hanavan said the decision was not about ego but about the fact that a Harley came with a defibrillator. Besides, he said, a motorcycle would allow police to get through summer traffic more easily.

The questioner suggested they would get through even better on a 250cc dirt bike. But the item went through anyway.

There was a more serious objection raised when the issue of the town’s pay rates for managerial and professional employees came up, and once again it involved the police.

Mr. Ferraguzzi objected to the fact that two positions, that of police chief and town administrator, had been moved up a step in the pay scale.

He complained that previously the chief was paid the same as the finance director and public works director. He thought they should all be paid the same.

No one from the personnel board was present to explain the change, so one of the beneficiaries, town administrator John Bugbee, fielded the uncomfortable question.

He said a comparison with other towns had shown the pay for the two positions was low.

Mr Ferraguzzi was clearly unhappy with the answer, but the changes were voted through anyway.

That exchange aside, though, this year’s meeting was notable for its good humor.

It was a marked contrast with meetings of previous years. With the vexed issue of beer and wine sales not on the warrant to excite passion, and with big decisions like the town’s new $7 million emergency services building and the connector road not on the warrant to encourage long deliberation, the mood was light.

Beer and wine is not totally done with, of course; it will be a ballot question in the annual town election on April 27.