In a reversal, the Martha’s Vineyard Airport commission voted this week to lower wastewater fees for business park tenants.

The rate will drop from eight to three cents per gallon retroactive to the start of the fiscal year that began July 1. Payments made since Jan. 1 2017 will be retroactively refunded to tenants as credits against future wastewater fees.

The vote was 5-0; commissioners Donald Ogilvie and Clarence A. (Trip) Barnes 3rd both recused themselves (Mr. Barnes is also a tenant at the business park).

The commission voted in February 2017 to hike wastewater fees from roughly .8 to eight cents per gallon, a ten-fold increase. Commissioners said at the time that the hike was necessary to play catchup with long overdue increases and also pay for upgrades to the package treatment facility that services the airport proper and surrounding business park.

The fee hikes sparked widespread complaints from business park tenants and a legal dispute with the owner of Airport Laundromat who refused to pay them.

At the meeting Tuesday, called specifically to discuss wastewater fees and amend the 2019 fiscal year budget, airport commission chairman Robert Rosenbaum admitted that the fee hike was too much too fast.

“Sometimes we make a mistake,” Mr. Rosenbaum said. “Certainly in terms of some of the policies we put up, I like to think that when that’s brought up we recognize that and make corrections.”

He said the three cent-per-gallon rate mirrors the average rate used at other Massachusetts airports.

Business park tenants who attended the meeting called for better communication in the future.

“It’s unaffordable for a lot of tenants,” said Peter Rogers, former president of the business park tenants association. “You have to keep us in the loop . . . I think the days of ignoring us are over because we’re not going to allow it anymore.”

Connie McHugh, owner of Airport Fitness and tennis center, agreed and suggested the two groups attend each other’s meetings to improve relations.

Commissioners agreed and commissioner Peter Wharton volunteered to attend the next tenants association meeting.

There was also some discussion of changing from a flat rate to an ascending rate in the future where tenants who use more wastewater would pay higher fees — but no action was taken.

Before the wastewater discussion, commissioners entered into a short executive session to discuss the ongoing legal dispute with the owner of Airport Laundromat over the fee hikes.

As of October 2017 laundromat owner Nicholas Catt was in arrears on some $140,000 in unpaid wastewater fees, according to the commission. In April of this year, the commission voted to demand payment by May 3 or begin eviction proceedings against Mr. Catt. The eviction never happened but the fee payment dispute remains unresolved.

Mr. Catt did not attend the meeting, but Mr. Rosenbaum said later that the new reduced rate would lower Mr. Catt’s obligation to about $52,000.

As a result of the change, commissioners voted to approve an amended $5.2 million FY19 budget. About $200,000 in projected wastewater revenue is now gone, leaving the wastewater revenue line item at zero. Mr. Rosenbaum said most FY19 wastewater bills will be paid for with credits from FY18 payments.

The amended budget now goes to the Dukes County commission for review at an August 1 meeting and then to the county advisory board for final approval.