Oak Bluffs has followed in the footsteps of every other Island town in adopting a ban on single-use plastic bags in checkout lines.
On night two of their annual town meeting on Wednesday, voters faced two competing plastic bag bylaws, one drafted by the Vineyard Conservation Society and a more lenient alternative drafted by a group of town business owners. Following comments by VCS members and others, and an amendment by VCS to allow businesses to defer for up to three years if they can show hardship, the alternate ban was withdrawn.
The VCS bylaw passed with only one or two dissenting votes.
Also on Wednesday, voters showed support for revoking the licenses of three moped rental businesses in town in light of alleged violations of a 2004 bylaw dealing with moped safety. A large majority of voters also showed support for banning moped rentals on Martha’s Vineyard altogether. Both articles were nonbinding.
Oak Bluffs became the third Island town to approve an article asking the local police department to refrain from using town funds to enforce federal immigration law. The article was submitted by petition by the group We Stand Together. Oak Bluffs police chief Erik Blake and Irene Bright-Dumm, a representative for We Stand Together, read statements in support of the article, which reaffirms existing practice on the Island.
“While I am police chief, we will not be agents of the federal government,” Mr. Blake said.
The article passed unanimously with applause.
Highlights on Tuesday included the appropriation of $9.88 million for a new town hall and $100,000 for a town master plan, along with $470,000 in spending to begin expanding the town’s wastewater treatment system.
But a $200,000 request to stabilize the historic Island Theatre with interior bracing was sent back to the drawing board, with voters demanding a new strategy for dealing with the long-neglected building at the foot of Circuit avenue.
A total of 319 voters attended the meeting at the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School Performing Arts Center on Tuesday, with 198 attending on Wednesday.
The town election is Thursday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. in the Oak Bluffs Public Library meeting room.
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