From the lantern room of the Gay Head Light to the bathrooms at the Aquinnah Circle, there wasn’t a capital improvement project that the Aquinnah selectmen didn’t discuss at their meeting on Tuesday — including improvements to the old town hall itself.

And there wasn’t much they agreed on, either.

Last month, the town was awarded a $126,500 designation grant for improving the energy efficiency of town facilities after they qualified for the state’s green communities program. The program awards money to cities and towns that show they are committed to meeting a set of green energy standards and goals.

Three selectmen and their town administrator Tuesday. — Noah Asimow

With the money now in hand, selectmen on Tuesday kicked around ideas about how to spend it. Town administrator Jeffrey Madison presented a series of proposals for improving the town hall, including a rearrangement of the floor plan, use of the second floor, and potentially connecting the back of the building to the adjacent fire and police stations.

He asked the board for direction on how to proceed with the plans. Selectman Jim Newman said it was crucial to procure a heat pump for the building and the firehouse, but that would involve borrowed funds.

“What we need to do is just bite the bullet, and do a borrowing,” Mr. Newman said. “And I think we realize that the furnace is on its way out, and the way to go would be with a heat pump.”

Although the grant would cover more minor fixes associated with energy efficiency improvements, like the heat pump, it was Mr. Madison’s view that the small changes would be relatively futile because the building needs a much larger makeover. He said any new heat pump would have to fit with broader plans for the town hall’s future structural improvements. He proposed moving forward with a three-year design plan that includes schematics.

“I believe the time to act is now, and that means we go at it as if we really want to do the project,” Mr. Madison said. “That means transferring money from the stabilization fund that will fund planning and drawings to put together a presentation to the town that will ultimately lead toward borrowing for restrooms, and an addition here to connect the buildings.”

But selectmen disagreed over how to fund the project — whether to use bonds or fundraising — and about the extent of the renovations necessary. No action was taken.

“We need a design to know what we are talking about and how much money we will need to bring it to fruition,” selectman Gary Haley said.

The conversation then moved on to repairs for the public restrooms at the bottom of the Circle. Derrill Bazzy, who has been involved with the current capital project to revitalize the lookout at the Cliffs, said the town plans to allocate about $10,000 in Community Preservation Act funds for siting new bathrooms, closer to the shops and embedded into the hillside to remove them from the viewscape. He added that the town had plans to use about $50,000 for new bathrooms at the Manning property near the lighthouse as well.

But selectman Juli Vanderhoop said the old bathrooms had fallen into such disrepair that the town would need to spend about $30,000 to immediately fix them in preparation for the summer.

“It is an awful thing to have to do, but we just can’t wait,” Ms. Vanderhoop said.

In addition, selectmen also received a $125,000 request from the lighthouse committee to determine the extent of repairs necessary for the lantern room at the light. According to the request, the mullions are failing and the glass is cracking. The total work necessary was estimated in the $500,000 range.

“It’s a lot,” selectman Gary Haley said. “We really have to go through this.”

Mr. Madison told selectmen that their decision to move the lighthouse five years ago meant that they were responsible for maintaining it as well.

“You saved the lighthouse from falling over the cliffs. Are we going to save it from crumbling in on itself? That’s not the only thing we signed on to when we saved it,” Mr. Madison said.

Considering the litany of capital improvement projects already on their table, selectmen were hesitant.

“I think we have to look at it further to see what we need to do there,” Mr. Haley said. “Let’s look into it.”

As the meeting came to a close, Mr. Newman had a different idea.

“Let’s start a fundraiser tomorrow,” he said.

In other business, selectmen heard a presentation from resident Bill Lake about a nonbinding plan that would commit the town to a bold carbon neutral goal by 2040. Selectmen expressed enthusiasm about the proposal.

The board also appointed Mr. Haley as the town eletrical inspector, after they announced he had cleared an ethics review. They then accepted the resignation of their longtime representative to Cape Light Compact, Michael Hebert,

“Cape Light Compact, with you representing us, has done so much for our community,” Mr. Newman told Mr. Hebert. “They’ve been terrific, and you’ve been the force behind it.”