A pit bull on the loose in Oak Bluffs has been the cause of some concern among residents, and selectmen took steps this week to have the owners control their dog.

The board held a hearing for a dog nuisance complaint after the dog escaped from the Pennsylvania avenue home of James Chaplin and Alyson Woollcott a number of times in recent weeks. Neither Mr. Chaplin nor Ms. Woollcott appeared for the hearing. Oak Bluffs police officer Michael Marchand said he expects it may not be the last time the dog will roam. The problem is compounded by the fact that the town has been without an animal control officer since funding for the position was voted down at a spring special election.

On August 11 Mr. Marchand responded to Linwood avenue where a pit bull had jumped a fence and frightened residents Ron and Debbie Whitney and their dogs. Mr. Whitney was able to place the dog in a cage, and when Mr. Marchand responded he found a familiar dog, even without any identification tags or a collar.

“I immediately recognized the dog as being in my yard on three separate occasions in the past five days, approximately three quarters of a mile from the dog’s present location,” he said.

Mr. Marchand said he paid a visit to Mr. Chaplin and Ms. Woollcott and was discouraged at the outcome.

“We discussed at length the public’s perception of pit bull dogs, and the panic it causes children, the elderly and other pet owners,” he said. “Both James and Alyson Woollcott did not appear to understand the severity of the incident. It appears highly likely that the animal will be on the loose causing public alarm to the citizenry of Oak Bluffs.”

Selectmen voted to place a $200 bond on the animal to be forfeited if the animal escapes again. The bond expires after a year. Oak Bluffs police chief Erik Blake warned that more extreme steps were available to the selectmen pending further incidents.

“Other boards of selectmen have ordered that dogs be removed from their community and you can go so far as to actually destroy the dog,” he said.

Selectmen also voted on Tuesday to allocate $2,700 from the Oak Bluffs Affordable Housing Trust Fund as a town share for an Islandwide housing needs assessment, providing that all the other Island towns vote to do the same. That could pose a problem, as Edgartown selectmen have already rejected a request for a similar amount of money.

The Island carried out housing needs assessments in 2001 and 2005, but Martha’s Vineyard Commission affordable housing planner Christine Flynn said the economic picture of the Island had changed drastically since then and another assessment is long overdue.

“The study has become an integral part of grants that are being pursued by the towns particularly state and federal grants and private fund-raising,” she said at the meeting. “We’ve secured over $14 million over the last eight years in community development block grants and the housing needs assessment from 2001 and 2005 has been submitted as part of that application. This document is becoming almost a requirement that state and federal housing entities expect from municipalities.”

West Tisbury and Tisbury have already voted to support the project while Chilmark and Aquinnah are considering Community Preservation Act articles for their special town meetings in September. Oak Bluffs is the fourth town to stipulate that they would support the project if all other Island towns did.

“Let’s get Edgartown on board,” said selectman Walter Vail.

In other business, Edno Carlos Miller appeared before the board to apply for a special permit to house four vehicles as well as piles of rocks, brush and compost at his home in connection with his landscaping business. Board chairman Kathy Burton read from the town’s special permit bylaw for home businesses: “Such business must be clearly incidental and secondary to the use of the premises for residential purposes ... There shall be no exterior display or exterior storage of merchandise material or equipment.”

Ms. Burton said: “My issue is that we have conditions that we have determined through town meeting vote.”

Selectman Gail Barmakian agreed.

“We’ve had problems with these types of home businesses for landscaping with trucks being stored on the property, people starting up at early hours of the morning and the noise that’s generated,” she said. “I think that may be why there was a planning board bylaw that gave the criteria, and if it doesn’t meet that criteria it’s sort of bypassing those regulations and we’re just going to create the same problem.”

Selectmen tabled the issue until their next meeting to hear from Mr. Miller’s neighbors.

Selectman Mike Santoro said he had spoken with assistant treasurer Sharon Jackson who recently sent out notices on properties with tax liens and in the past three weeks had collected $133,921.67, including $57,000 from the Oyster Bar and Grill.

Mr. Santoro also took issue with the official backlash to the town decision to make use of the Island’s reverse 911 system to air an announcement about the town’s fireworks.

“I know it came from Tisbury that we were trying to flex our power by doing the Code Red,” Mr. Santoro said. “To say that we were flexing our power or that we were trying to advertise the event, I think that’s just totally out of line,” he added.

Ms. Burton chimed in. “I’ll take responsibility for that because when [police chief Erik Blake] called me and suggested it, I thought it was a great idea because normally his department, which should be worried about public safety, is answering constant phone calls for two days before the fireworks, and since he sent the message he only answered two or three phone calls. It sounded like a great idea but I assure you I would never do it again,” she said.

“I don’t need to advertise the fireworks,” said Mr. Blake, the police chief. “It was a matter of public safety.”

Also, highway superintendant Richard Combra Jr. announced that he had waived the fee at the landfill for dropping off brush this week after tropical storm Irene. The town will begin charging again next Tuesday, after Labor Day.