Aquinnah and Chilmark selectmen are taking steps to reestablish the town line that runs through Menemsha Pond. Ice floes this winter wiped out four pilings in the pond, including two that marked the town line, triggering concerns that Chilmark scallopers were overstepping their boundaries.
In response to the concerns, the Chilmark selectmen prohibited scalloping near the center of the pond for the rest of the season, which ended in April. Aquinnah’s season had been cut short in November to protect the young scallops.
Meeting jointly in Aquinnah last week, selectmen from the two towns agreed to split the cost of reestablishing the town line, which will involve hiring a land surveyor and also a contractor to install new pilings. Aquinnah town administrator Adam Wilson estimated that the work would cost around $5,000.
Chilmark has received a bid for the project from Vineyard Land Surveying, but executive secretary Tim Carroll said identifying old markers ahead of time could save money. A stone wall descending to the water at the south end of the pond contains a boulder that is thought to mark the town line.
Chilmark plans to install other pilings in Menemsha this spring and Mr. Carroll hoped the two projects would coincide. But the towns have yet to hire a contractor.
During the meeting, the two boards also discussed the next steps in redrawing the town line along Boathouse Road in Menemsha, which runs through three fishing shacks and has caused confusion for years. At town meetings last year, voters approved a new town line that clearly places each shack in either Aquinnah or Chilmark. The votes amounted to a home-rule petition, and redrawing the line will require an act of state legislature.
Mr. Wilson and Mr. Carroll met recently with state Rep. Tim Madden to clarify of what information is still needed from the towns. Mr. Wilson said both towns have submitted their town meeting warrants and minutes from last year.
Explaining the long delay, Mr. Carroll said the legislature would have been under a tight deadline to act on the town votes before its session closed in July. “We were told that if we file then and they didn’t act on it by the time they closed their session, we would have to have it revoted at town meeting, again” he said. “So we were told to postpone it until the spring.”
“It’s still got a ways to go,” Mr. Wilson said. “But the next step is definitely getting it as a home-rule petition in the next legislative session.” The legislature reconvenes in the fall after its summer recess.
Following the joint meeting on Tuesday, the Aquinnah selectmen discussed how to handle parking at the Aquinnah Circle during the Gay Head Light relocation project. With the town parking lot now filled with excavated material from the project site, a portion of the field within the Circle will be open to parking starting this weekend.
Police chief Randhi Belain favored the idea of charging for the new spots, and Mr. Wilson suggested a $10 fee, with no time limits or reimbursements for short stays. But selectman Julie Vanderhoop worried that the spots would fill up with beachgoers, threatening to limit business at the Aquinnah shops. “That’s a direct hit for the shops at the cliffs,” she said.
Mr. Belain countered that the temporary spots would allow visitors to park even closer to the shops than they could in the town lot.
Selectman Jim Newman suggested having separate areas for beach and cliff parking, but fire chief Simon Bolin said that such an arrangement would require enforcement. Mr. Belain argued for a more uniform approach.
The town lot can hold about 90 cars, but it was unclear how many cars could park in the Circle. “We don’t even know how we will really park them until we actually get into it and do it,” Mr. Belain said.
“You’ve just got to kind of play this by ear,” said selectman Spencer Booker. “It’s a first for all of us.”
Also, the selectmen conditionally approved an insurance contract that would provide $3.4 million to the town in the event the lighthouse topples during the move. It would come with a $42,000 premium, and require a $100,000 deductible to collect the insurance. The coverage would be written in to an existing insurance contract between International Chimney Corporation (the primary contractor for the move) and Houston Specialty Insurance Company.
The selectmen voted unanimously to accept the contract as edited.
As a last order of business, Emily Day was appointed as the new town accountant. Ms. Day has worked for the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) and the town of Chilmark, and was interim financial director for the Passamaquoddy Tribe in Maine, of which she is a member. Former accountant Kimberly Brown resigned in March.
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