Chilmark is gearing up for summer at Menemsha harbor, where several ongoing improvement projects are 
underway.

In one, the town plans to create a five-foot walkway along the Menemsha parking lot from the public restrooms to the beach. The path will extend 395 feet and will be separated from the asphalt lot by beach grass and rosa rugosa.

“The reason for doing this is to try to get people out of the road, so that people will be walking on a designated path instead of in front of cars that are trying to get around,” said selectman Warren Doty at a meeting this week. Voters will be asked to approve the project at the April annual town meeting at a cost of $10,000.

In order to move forward, the plan also needs approval from the conservation commission. For now, the town plans to simply level the path, but if funding allows, wooden platforms will be purchased.

In another improvement project which aims to divert cars from the fishing village, park-and-ride service between Menemsha and a parking lot on Tabor House Road will continue this summer.

The Vineyard Transit Authority is finalizing a schedule for the service, which will be marketed to employees of downtown businesses as well as the daytime beachgoer and the sunset enthusiast.

“The market segment would be to push employees out of Menemsha and to the lot,” said VTA administrator Angela Grant.

The shuttle will serve the lot from morning to night, replacing a route that served the town beaches in past years but saw little demand as of late.

“We are killing the beach bus and making it a park-and-ride bus for this summer,” executive secretary Tim Carroll said at the meeting Tuesday. “And then next summer, if the beach committee changes its mind, we may be back to having a beach bus.”

Plans have also been drawn for a new floating dock in the Menemsha Channel. The platform will be used as a temporary tie-up spot for boats and kayaks coming in and out of the harbor.

Funding for the project will come out of a grant awarded by the Massachusetts Seaport Advisory Council following the boathouse fire in 2010. There is $106,000 remaining in that fund, Mr. Doty said.

In other board action, the selectmen agreed to accept a payment of $1,600 from the Martha’s Vineyard Film Festival for the use of the Chilmark Community Center this month.

The festival begins Thursday, March 19, and continues through the weekend.

Use of the town-owned community center by local nonprofits has been a subject of some debate in Chilmark. In July, a committee on utilization of town-owned spaces recommended that all groups planning to charge admission pay a $500 minimum fee, plus 20 per cent of admission sales.

At the time, festival organizers balked at the higher fees, saying they would pose a burden for the nonprofits.

Jim Malkin, a resident who chaired the committee, said the town needs a way to distinguish between entities who use the space.

“Going forward, to have the film festival and its large draw paying wedding rates for operating under a wedding condition of hire somehow does not seem appropriate to the committee,” he said.

Selectman William Rossi said he felt remiss for not addressing the recommendations of the utilization committee.

“We have discussed several times trying to codify a pricing structure for different organizational structures that utilize the community center,” Mr. Rossi said.“Thank you for reminding us that we need to do that."

The selectmen also voted to require applicants before the zoning board of appeals to pay for their own newspaper advertising.

“There is no sense in us paying $2,500 a year for their advertising,” Mr. Carroll said.

He said he would work with the ZBA to make the policy change.