A volunteer beautification project at the Vineyard Haven post office can remain, but no more donations will be accepted, U.S. postal officials said this week.

Steve Doherty, a U.S. postal service spokesman, said there has been no decision to remove the plantings put in by volunteers in recent weeks. Care of the plants will likely fall to the regular maintenance staff at the building, he also said.

“While we appreciate the sentiment behind the donation for physical improvements in Vineyard Haven, the postal service has made the decision to restrict its gift-acceptance authority with respect to such gifts and will decline offers to donate any physical improvements, including, without limitation, exterior improvements such as landscaping,” Mr. Doherty said in an email. “At this time there is no decision to remove the completed landscaping, however we will not accept additional donations.”

Postal service said plantings will remain, but no further donations will be accepted. — Mark Lovewell

Bryan Cimeno had begun the project this summer, donating landscaping services to spruce up the area around the post office. The project had the blessing of the town postmaster and was in memory of his uncle, Derek Cimeno, the former town shellfish constable who died in 2009. But two weeks into the project, he was told to stop all work by higher-up postal officials who said the government agency was barred from accepting gifts.

For the Tisbury selectmen, the issue highlighted a divide between the federal office and the town.

“The people who made this decision are not the local people, and they have no connection to what’s going on down here,” said selectman Tristan Israel.

At their meeting Tuesday evening, the selectmen voted to send a letter to the postmaster general, copying their federal legislative representatives.

The letter was drafted by selectman Melinda Loberg. “No one here can understand why our government, which is all of us, would be so uncomfortable with such a generous community effort,” it said in part. “We are a community that depends on and really values community voluntarism. Why not our government? Please consider your policies and imagine that each of your outlets is part of a community of folks who feel a real kinship and identity with it.”

Fire chief John Schilling recalled that the original landscaping around the post office was done by the Friends of Tisbury, a community group.

“For a long time they were the ones who took care of that and maintained that,” he said.

Board chairman Larry Gomez speculated that the online donation page for the project caught the attention of postal officials.

“To me it looks like the rub is the money, the donation, the Go Fund Me donation, I think that’s what caught their eye,” he said.

In other business, selectmen considered the effect of parking changes recently adopted for Daggett avenue and heard complaints about a party-like atmosphere and lack of summer enforcement on Lake Tashmoo.

A change in the checkerboard-like parking pattern on Daggett avenue went into effect after fire and police officials approached the selectmen with concerns about navigating emergency vehicles along the narrow road that runs from Main street through North William street.

Residents complained about speeding cars, mailboxes being blocked and the placement of signs.

Resident Jim Jones said his strongest objection was the process.

“I find it hard to believe, with all due respect to the two chiefs behind me here, that there was enough of an issue that you had to have an emergency to go from a discussion to an action item to an implementation item in 12 hours, when I’ve been there 12 years,” he said.

Hearing the complaints, the selectmen were apologetic about not following a more usual process.

“Because we didn’t follow our process and talk to the people, we end up having to revisit whatever we did . . . we didn’t get the best solution the first time,” said Mrs. Loberg.

The selectmen voted to have the department of public works paint bracketed parking spots on the north side of the street and revisit the placement of signs. Mrs. Loberg abstained.

Abutters and users of Lake Tashmoo shared concerns about lax enforcement of the rules.

“There isn’t adequate enforcement in there,” said Lynn Fraker, showing pictures of boats anchored in the channel over the weekend. Peter Guest said he was unsuccessful in contacting harbor officials over the radio on the weekend. Theresa Morrison, an abutter to Tashmoo, asked if there are noise regulations to combat excessive music from boaters on the lake.

“Truly over 50 years it’s a changed place, and we’re going to see it change some more, because it’s so special,” she said.

The selectmen agreed to revisit management and rule enforcement at Tashmoo.

Selectmen also accepted a donation of $8,593.40 from Tisbury Waterways to buy nitrogen testing equipment for town waterways.