As Saturday morning traffic jams in the village persist, the West Tisbury selectmen said this week they would ask farmers’ market organizers to consider moving the summer market to the Agricultural Hall next year.

At their meeting Wednesday, selectmen heard concerns from a village resident about the increasingly bad traffic situation.

“On the Fourth of July weekend, the traffic went way up the West Tisbury Edgartown Road during the farmers’ market time, it went, I think, even past Deep Bottom,” said Kate Warner, whose home is adjacent to the market parking lot at the Grange. Ms. Warner said she spoke to town administrator Jennifer Rand and posed the questions: “One, should it be considered to move the farmers’ market, two, if the market prefers to stay there . . . is there way to deal with the traffic going in and out of the farmers’ market to make it go more smoothly?”

The market has been staged at the Grange in the center of town since its inception in 1974. The First Congregational Church of West Tisbury, a playground, the library, Alley’s General Store and 7a, all popular destinations on a Saturday morning, surround the market. This year events at the church have begun at noon to not overlap with the market times.

The winter market is already held at the Ag Hall. Discussion about moving the summer market is not new. In October 2015, market vendors took a vote on whether to move, but opinions were heated and a final decision could not be reached. Selectmen had informally weighed in that year, saying that moving the market may relieve some of the congestion in town. This year, they are even more certain.

“I think for the well being of town, we should encourage them to move,” said selectman Kent Healy. “We have a responsibility to the town as a whole.”

Selectman Cynthia Mitchell agreed.

“I’d also like to see the farmers’ market crew revisit the question of moving — ask them to do it,” Mrs. Mitchell said. “When this was discussed previously, I was most in favor of moving it over there, for more reasons than just the traffic. There’s a whole movement happening on the Island — Island Grown Initiative . . . it seems to me that the farmers’ market could reflect that in some way and do some visioning about the future and what that might look like.”

Selectman and board chairman Jeffrey (Skipper) Manter 3rd agreed the town should ask the new managers of the farmers’ market (Lily Walter and Collins Heavener of Slipaway Farm) to sit down with various stakeholders, from the Agricultural Society to Island Grown Initiative, and consider the options.

In other business Wednesday, the selectmen took up the matter of an unpaid bill for the Mill Pond plaque that was dedicated earlier this month.

The Friends of the Mill Pond, a private group, hired stoneworker Alan Gowell to create and install a plaque commemorating the pond. The original cost estimate for the work was $3,000. The friends group raised approximately $4,700, which they gave to the town to pay for the plaque.

Later the final invoice came in for $5,800, with the stoneworker noting that the project took more work than expected, a letter from the Friends group explained. The town has paid Mr. Gowell the $4,700, leaving an unpaid balance of about $1,100.

“We suggested, I think gently, to Mill Pond group maybe they could raise a little bit more money and they’re not thinking like that,” said Mrs. Mitchell.

In the letter, the Friends group suggests that Mr. Gowell gift the unpaid work to the town.

“I think that was inappropriate for them to ask that,” said Mr. Manter.

“Never mind what their recommendation is, essentially when they said no, we’re not going to raise any more money, that’s the end of the discussion for them, and I’m not necessarily faulting them for that,” said Mrs. Mitchell. “The question is, does the town have some obligation to Alan to pay the $1,100 extra . . . . he does work for us in the cemetery, he’s a great guy to have.”

The selectmen agreed it would be inappropriate to use taxpayer dollars to pay an unmet bill incurred by a private group. And they noted there are already divided opinions in town about the Mill Pond.

“There’s a little bit of sentiment among some that the whole Mill Pond plaque business wasn’t entirely appropriate, that it was kind of a political maneuver to influence some people’s thinking about the Mill Pond,” Mrs. Mitchell said. “There is reason to be sensitive to that, in terms of now turning around and agreeing somehow for the town to pay the balance. It’s taxpayer money and the taxpayers had no say.”

The selectmen agreed to consider putting the unpaid balance on a town meeting warrant to allow voters to decide.