Chilmark voters zipped through their annual town meeting Monday night in 80 minutes flat, approving a $10 million annual budget and spending to pay for school repairs.
But they played spoiler on a regional request to establish a high school stabilization fund, turning it down.
A total of 148 voters took their seats in the Chilmark Community Center when longtime moderator Everett Poole called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. There were 29 articles on the warrant and no hot button issues this year.
The meeting began with a moment of silence for Menemsha fisherman Gregory Mayhew, who died April 11.
Two microphones were set up in the aisles for voters to use, but they were rarely used. Those with comments typically sat or stood in place to speak.
One article that saw prolonged discussion was the proposed stabilization fund for the regional high school, a regional request that drew a mixed response from Island towns this year.
School leaders said the fund is intended to collect monies for ongoing capital spending needs.
Approval was needed from four of the six Island towns for the fund to pass. Edgartown and West Tisbury had turned the proposal down while Oak Bluffs, Aquinnah and Tisbury had approved it, making Chilmark the deciding vote.
Selectmen and finance committee members argued against the article, citing a lack of details and transparency. The article did not include any numbers on total funding or a list of what capital improvements are needed.
“This is a general request to set up a bucket with no accountability or process tied to it,” said selectman Jim Malkin. “It’s premature.”
“We felt that there wasn’t enough information on this article,” added Robert Hanneman, a member of the finance committee.
Vineyard schools superintendent Matthew D’Andrea outlined more details.
“We have a tremendous amount of maintenance needs at the high school,” Mr. D’Andrea said. “This stabilization fund will give us a middle of the road, budgetary, capital expense area that can accumulate each year. I feel that it will be a more transparent matter of doing business because it puts a line item right in the budget and you can see year to year what it’s been spent on.”
He added:
“One of the needs we have is a horticultural classroom . . . It will fall between $300,000 and $600,000. This will be used as a savings fund towards that.”
But voters remained unconvinced and after more discussion, the article was indefinitely postponed.
A request for $227,000 for ongoing repairs to the HVAC system at Chilmark School was approved in a standing vote 137-9.
The article had faced scrutiny from the finance committee over possible procedural errors in the bidding process and lack of clarity on how what will happen to any leftover funds, but those questions were later resolved.
Selectman Warren Doty and school committee member Robert Lionette spoke about the necessity of the repairs and the fact that the project has been ongoing for years.
“We’re going through a period of time when all the school buildings on Martha’s Vineyard need extensive work,” Mr. Doty said. “We’ve put a lot of money into construction and not enough into maintenance. I think it’s up to us to make sure the school is in good shape,” he added.
“We are in the midst of redoing the entire heating system at the school. Stopping at this point wouldn’t be prudent,” added Mr. Lionette.
The work is expected to be put out to bid.
More school spending included voter approval of $70,000 for a new big toy for the Chilmark School playground. Mr. Doty amended the article to allow the funds to be available this year instead of in 2019 so the playground can be rebuilt in time for summer programs.
“A committee of school parents has been working on the project for a long time...they’ve raised a lot of money for it,” Mr. Doty said. “It would be a nice, new playground that would be used by the public, especially in the summertime.”
The article passed overwhelmingly.
A series of small funding requests for health and human services were passed but needed approval in the ballot box at the annual town election Wednesday.
A request from the county sheriff’s department for $6,000 to help pay for the regional emergency communication center was indefinitely postponed.
Voters also quickly and unanimously approved $112,000 for town stabilization funds, $80,000 for Menemsha hill triangle road repairs, $32,000 for a Kuehn’s Way affordable housing project in Vineyard Haven and $17,000 as the town’s share of the regional adult education program.
Roof maintenance funding requests for the town hall and roofing on the North Road fire station were also approved.
At the close of the meeting, Mr. Poole received a standing ovation after recognition by Mr. Doty for a profile published by the Boston Globe.
The meeting adjourned just after 8:45 p.m.
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