Chilmark selectmen voted Tuesday to postpone the annual town meeting and annual town election to the end of May, after the state authorized the shift in a last-minute law change this week.
The new date for town meeting will be May 24, while the annual town election — which will include override votes and a race for the recently vacated role of town moderator — will be held on May 26.
In a memo announcing the new law, released by the state earlier on Tuesday, the legislature authorized the town to postpone its annual town election date to May, resolving several organizational conflicts, town administrator Tim Carroll said. Town officials were still working out whether there would be one ballot or two, given the need for a special election for moderator, Everett Poole announced this month that he would step down.
An original configuration set out by the state required the town to hold its usual election for town offices on the state-sanctioned date of April 28 with a subsequent special election including override votes and the town moderator position.
Town clerk Jennifer Christy said the postponement would be preferable for the town.
“I think it’s better for town voters, which is always my first consideration to have one election that is well advertised and has all of the annual offices on it,” Ms. Christy said.
Selectmen endorsed the idea, but a question about adding the position of town moderator to the election ballot meeting raised concerns about inadvertently re-opening the entire nomination paper process for other town offices, which closed last week.
Agreeing to bring the issue to town counsel, selectmen voted unanimously to postpone the election and meeting dates. They also voted to notify the town clerk of the vacancy in the moderator position, directing her to make nominations available.
In other business, plans for summer and fall programming at the Community Center dominated discussion Tuesday, as selectmen reviewed a request from center director Alexandra London-Thompson to put up tents on the property for summer camp.
Ms. Thompson requested four tents for the program, placed by the playground, the school entrances and the garden. A larger tent would also be placed on the soccer fields, while a smaller one would sit on the school basketball court.
The tents could also be used for other outdoor summer events, she said.
Selectman Warren Doty raised myriad concerns, citing issues around placing a tent on the soccer field, encouraging large gatherings and inviting possible misuse of the unsupervised tents at night.
“The big tent on that field I think is worrisome,” Mr. Doty said. “What kind of control do we have about what happens in the tents on Saturday night . . . [they] will be up for six weeks and it is a huge change for the town green.”
But selectmen Jim Malkin disagreed, noting that a Covid provision would not set a precedent for tents moving forward. Ms. Thompson suggested placing the largest tents on the smaller field as an alternative.
With many details remaining, selectmen voiced general support for the summer camp program, agreeing to continue their review of the tents at a site visit on March 27.
Subsequent discussion about using a room in the Community Center as a preschool classroom this fall also sparked debate, with selectmen voting to prioritize preschool use of the room.
According to the proposal, the Chilmark Preschool hopes to use the center’s small room to expand its program to 24 students during the upcoming school year.
Selectmen worried that town and residential events — like weddings and funerals — scheduled at the Community Center could complicate the school’s use of the space.
“The question remains who’s going to take responsibility for breaking down their classroom and setting it up again,” Mr. Rossi said.
During a brainstorming session, preschool director Anja May suggested starting school a month late, but selectmen opposed the suggestion, agreeing to prioritize preschool use over other events. Ms. May also suggested that high school volunteers could help re-arrange the classroom when needed.
After much deliberation, selectmen voted to restrict Community Center use to town and residential events only, hoping to limit the scope of events held this fall. Under the policy, all sponsored non-residential events will be prohibited and the preschool will have priority in the space during the school weeks, they said.
Also Tuesday, selectmen made two additions to the town meeting warrant, including an article about beginning a home rule petition with the state legislature to formally change the name of the board to select board. Selectmen voted to informally use the new term in the interim.
The board also voted 2-0-1 to accept a bid from Chilmark resident Frederick Khedouri for a town-owned property at 4 North Ridge Road, with Mr. Malkin recusing himself. Selectmen also voted to add a warrant article authorizing the use of the sale profits for affordable housing.
Mr. Khedouri was the high bidder on the property in a public process last week.
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