The West Tisbury selectmen hope to get a sense of community opinion about bike lanes when the town gathers for a special town meeting Nov. 1.

With the moderator’s blessing selectmen said this week that they hope to get a “sense of the meeting,” the first step in finding whether there is community support for bike lanes on State Road.

West Tisbury resident Kate Warner first broached the issue with the selectmen in June, asking if bike lanes could be added to the busy road the next time roadwork is done.

A letter from the state said the addition of bike lanes would be a long and difficult process because the road is in an environmentally sensitive area and bike lanes would require taking land by eminent domain. The state said bike lanes would not be considered unless there was a swell of community support.

To check for that support, the selectmen will turn to residents at the town meeting.

Board chairman Richard Knabel said the town shouldn’t limit the discussion to one road.

“The number of bicyclist that I’m encountering day by day these days — somebody is selling tours or something, because there seem to be an awful lot of them,” Mr. Knabel said at the selectmen’s meeting Wednesday. “If there’s a feeling in town that we should do something about bike paths, let’s not limit it to one road. The state roads seem to be the ones that are used the most.”

Town administrator Jennifer Rand recommended looking at the state’s complete streets program for ideas.

In other business, selectmen agreed to propose a stipend of $3,000 in next year’s budget for town herring warden John Hoy. Mr. Hoy told selectmen Wednesday that the hours and physical labor needed for the job has increased to the point where compensation makes sense, estimating that he works 150 hours a year.

“At first I didn’t think the emailing and meeting people counted for anything, but then I realized how much time it takes,” Mr. Hoy said.

Mr. Hoy is also responsible for the physical labor involved in clearing town herring runs. In March, Mr. Hoy along with several volunteers hand-dug the run at James Pond. The physical activity is generally kept to March through June, he said. The town has runs at Deep Bottom, James Pond and Mill Brook.

“This is more crawling down the stream, trimming and digging and helping state guys when they come,” he said. “It’s heavy work.”

The selectmen also asked Mr. Hoy to work with the town accountant to put together a small budget for the herring warden. The budget has to be approved by town meeting.

At last week’s meeting the board added their support to a letter of concern about changes to the Community Development Block Grant program, a source of child care and housing rehabilitation funds on the Island. The state Department of Housing and Community Development proposed changes in August that some Vineyarders have said will weaken an important safety net for Island families.

“It had been working well for our community for a long time,” said selectman Jeffrey (Skipper) Manter 3rd.

The letter critiques the elimination of joint applications, the limit of one program per application and the increase from a one to two year implementation period. It states that the new one year plan will have a negative impact on the Vineyard, while the previous system worked well.

“We are grateful to DHCD staff for your support and urge the undersecretary to reconsider what amounts to dismantling a highly successful program that benefits so many in need,” the letter concludes.

In other business, tree warden Jeremiah Brown notified the selectmen of several dead trees in town that need to be cut before the winter. Mr. Brown was not present at the meeting due to illness, but Ms. Rand said the removal requires $15,000, nearly Mr. Brown’s entire budget.

Ms. Rand said the unexpected number of trees that need to be removed is probably due to the drought.

The selectmen agreed to place an article on the special town meeting warrant in November to replenish the funds, while also suggesting Mr. Brown ask the finance committee for a reserve fund transfer.