West Tisbury voters acted diligently at a special town meeting Tuesday night, readily agreeing to fund the final design phase for a new town police station and approving the remaining eight articles with little discussion.
A total of 124 voters attended the special meeting at the West Tisbury school. After waiting 10 minutes to reach a quorum, the meeting finished in 20 minutes flat. Moderator F. Patrick Gregory presided over the session.
Voters agreed to fund the $80,000 remaining monies needed to finalize the design for a new 5,200 square foot police station at the town public safety building on State Road. The money, which was transferred from the overlay surplus fund, will also be used to prepare construction documents for bidding and to complete the bidding process. Voters will be asked at the annual town meeting in April to fund construction of the new facility, estimated at $2.6 million.
After the vote passed, police station building committee chairman Norman Perry recognized the volunteer work provided by civil engineer Kent Healy, which was met with rousing applause.
Mr. Gregory also acknowledged Mr. Healy.
“Every meeting at exactly the time it should start, [Mr. Healy] helps me out by looking at his watch,” he said.
In other business, voters agreed to correct an address in a 2008 annual town meeting article at 250 State Road, a town owned affordable housing project. They also approved changing language in the article that allows property owners to refinance mortgages while “still maintaining the town’s ability to purchase the lots in the event banks want to foreclose” on the property, selectman and board chairman Cynthia Mitchell said.
Voters agreed to transfer $20,000 from the general fund to the town affordable housing trust fund for future affordable housing. The money came from the sale of a lot at Bailey Park, but the funds needed to be placed in the general fund before being transferred to the trust.
Voters approved authorizing the board of selectmen to dispose of two small parcels of land on Long Point Road. The lots are located in the middle of the property owned by The Trustees of Reservations at Long Point.
“It looks as if the original owners meant to give these lots, too, and somehow it didn’t happen,” town treasurer Kathy Logue said. “It doesn’t make sense not to. They have no value to the town and it does not make sense to hold on to them.”
The article carried 118 to 3.
Voters also approved including two parcels of land at the intersection of Indian Hill and State Roads in the mixed business district, 115 to 7.
Other approved articles included establishing a new reserve fund for unused sick and vacation days for retired town employees, adding $800 toward the Martha’s Vineyard Center for Living cost of living adjustment for the fiscal 2013 budget line, adding $2,500 toward the county retirement program and rescinding $5,000 in unspent money from the town’s $285,000 purchase of the Field Gallery.
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