The much-debated Beach Road improvement project went another round with another new design before the Tisbury selectmen Tuesday night.
Three designs will now be considered at a selectmen’s meeting next week when the board is expected to settle on a final direction for the project, which aims to create pedestrian, bicycle and safety improvements on the stretch from Five Corners to the drawbridge.
State transportation money is available for the work.
The new design unveiled at a crowded public meeting Tuesday features a traditional street design with symmetrical sidewalks from Five Corners to the Tisbury Marketplace. After that a shared user path would begin on the south side of the road, running to Wind’s Up. On the north side, the sidewalk would continue to Packer’s wharf. The new design takes elements from the two earlier layouts also under consideration. All three have been approved by the state and will be posted on the town website before the selectmen’s meeting next Tuesday, said town administrator John (Jay) Grande.
“This plan is trying to balance multiple objectives at the local and regional level and what you need to weigh is how does this plan measure up to those various objectives,” he at the beginning of the presentation.
Jim Lobdell had concerns about a crosswalk at the curve near the Shell station in the new design. “That’s a long diagonal that people are going to start using,” he said. “I see that as a problem.”
Frank Brunelle, a vocal critic of the shared-use path concept, said the new plan would not meet the town objectives of improved safety and reduced traffic conflicts, due to the shared-use path.
At the meeting on Sept. 29, people will have three to five minutes to speak about all the plans, selectmen said. Discussion will begin at 6 p.m. The town vision council also planned to discuss the project at their meeting Thursday night.
In other business Tuesday, harbor master Jay Wilbur gave a positive report on summer harbor operations.
“I see the summer as having gone very smoothly,” he said Mr. Wilbur, noting there were no major mishaps this year.
Mr. Wilbur said the pump-out boat has been busy, pumping around 20,000 gallons from boats in the harbor this summer. Marinas have yet to install their own facilities despite a town regulation passed in 2012 that requires it. Mr. Wilbur said new facilities at Owen Park pumped about 1,200 gallons by mid-summer and worked very well.
“People were using it constantly, we never or rarely had to think about it,” he said. “It turned into a do-it-yourself operation.”
Despite a smooth season on the harbor, general upkeep of docks and facilities are an ongoing issue. Discussions between Mr. Grande and Mr. Wilbur highlighted the need for organizational changes.
“The demands of the waterway of Tisbury are increasing,” Mr. Grande said. “There do seem to be some basic changes we could make to have at least two departments working more closely in a more formal way, and that would be the harbor and shellfish [committees].”
Mr. Grande said discussion is under way about possibly creating a marine or natural resources department.
“We’ve been operating pretty much the same way for lots of years now,” said Mr. Wilbur. “And there could certainly be room for improvement with more heads working on the problem.”
Jim Lobdell, chairman of the harbor management committee, noted the lack of enforcement over permit-only overnight parking spots at Owen Park.
“I checked, just for the heck of it, on Labor Day, there were five cars parked in those areas that didn’t have stickers, which meant the people that are trying to go out and use the facilities who pay the money to do it, don’t have access to that,” he said.
Town police told him the parking was managed by Mr. Wilbur, which he said is not the case.
“There’s just some problem with trying to get things in this town,” Mr. Lobdell said. “Communication isn’t there and follow through hasn’t been there. The harbor management committee decided this summer to just stop meeting because it didn’t make any difference.”
The committee will meet Wednesday night, but Mr. Lobdell called for the different agencies of the town to work together better.
“The place is getting run down,” he said. “The harbor isn’t the only place, and we all know that.”
Mr. Israel said changes in the department of public works will hopefully address some of the problems. Last spring voters agreed to bring the DPW under the control of the selectmen. Approval is needed at the state house level in Boston before that can happen. Meanwhile, selectman Melinda Loberg asked Mr. Lobdell’s committee to write a forceful letter to the state Division of Marine Fisheries supporting the town’s longstanding application for a fishing access grant to repair the Lake street boat ramp. She said the delayed project has delayed other harbor projects as well.
After hearing that Eversource (previously NStar) has begun spraying herbicides along power lines on the Cape, the selectmen voted to resend a letter about the parameters for the spraying program in Tisbury. There has been strong opposition in town to the program.
In an update on the Union street reversal, selectmen said they will review the experiment after Columbus Day weekend but continue the reversal indefinitely.
John Minnehan, Allison Brown and Jonathan Snyder are the three finalists for the finance director/treasurer/tax collector position. Public interviews will be held with the candidates on Saturday Oct. 3 at 10 a.m.
The board approved the Cycle Martha’s Vineyard Bicycle Challenge for Sat. Oct. 3, the Baptist Church Octoberfest for Oct. 10 and HGTV’s request to film in town.
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