Oyster farming in Edgartown continues to grow beyond Katama Bay, with the Edgartown selectmen Monday awarding two more aquaculture grants off Eel Pond.

Nic Turner and Dan Donnelly were each awarded two-acre aquaculture bottom grants for oyster farming sites in the Middle Flats, an open-water area in Nantucket Sound just north of Eel Pond.

Twenty acres of water in the Middle Flats are have been approved to lease for oyster farming, with the lease areas limited to two acres or less. Six other leases have been granted by the town.

Mr. Turner and Mr. Donnelly both raise and harvest oysters in Katama Bay, which is maxed out with a dozen oyster farmers in business. The more open water in the Middle Flats offers additional opportunities for oyster farming, as well as a fallback in case of closures in Katama Bay.

“I’m looking to have another site, just for growing more oysters, or possibly during the summertime having some out there in a different spot,” Mr. Turner told the selectmen.

Both applications have been approved by the shellfish committee and the conservation commission. The grants will also need to be approved by the state Department of Marine Fisheries.

In other business Monday, selectmen inked two long-planned agreements with Island organizations.

An agreement between the town and The Trustees of Reservations to take over the lease for Katama Farm gained the final approval. The Trustees will continue to work with the nonprofit Farm Institute, which previously leased and managed the land, to continue educational programs at the teaching farm.

“We wish you lots of luck and continue the good programs going on there,” selectman Arthur Smadbeck said.

New deal: Preservation trust executive director Chris Scott shakes hands with selectmen Monday after signing $1 lease for old Carnegie Building. — Sara Brown

Selectmen also formally handed over the old Carnegie library building, which housed the town library for 112 years, to the Martha’s Vineyard Preservation Trust. The new Edgartown library next to the Edgartown School opened earlier in the day.

Plans have long been in the works to hand over the old brick library to the preservation trust for use as a maritime history museum and visitor center. Last summer selectmen accepted the trust’s proposal to take over the building.

“We’re really looking forward to digging in to the Carnegie,” preservation trust executive director Chris Scott told selectmen before handing over a check for $1. “It is time to renew it....we’ve got some great plans.”

“We’re very pleased to turn it over,” selectman Margaret Serpa said.

Administrative assistant Kristy Rose announced that the town will be awarded $29,000 in reimbursement through the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency to offset snow removal costs from January 2015.

Selectmen also sounded off over a county initiative to require a $15 minimum wage for county employees or contractors. The initiative has created a wrinkle in the county’s agreement with the Trustees to manage Norton Point Beach.

Mr. Smadbeck, who also sits on the county advisory board, said the county’s recent insisitence that the Trustees follow its wage rules is misguided. “Things have gone very well since the county made a contract with The Trustees of Reservations,” he said. “I think anything that would jeopardize that would be a great concern not just to the town but to everybody that uses the beaches or drivers on the beaches.” He continued:

“ My biggest concern is that I’m not sure that I agree that the county should be in the business of telling other organizations what to charge. I have big concerns about this seemingly simple vote affecting something that . . . could cause us a problem on the beaches if The Trustees of Reservations say they’re not going to do it.”

Mrs. Serpa concurred and said she didn’t want the county to micromanage the Trustees. “They’re doing the job that the county asked them to do,” she said.

Town administrator Pamela Dolby also updated selectmen about water leaks at the Edgartown Post Office caused by construction on the second story of the building. Mrs. Dolby said the Martha’s Vineyard Savings Bank next to the post office had to close Monday because of leaks, and the post office also continues to have leaks. Mrs. Dolby said the post office is looking for a temporary new location because of the problems.

Building inspector Leonard Jason Jr. and Mrs. Dolby will continue meeting with the building owner and his agents, she said.