A long-planned new firehouse and public safety building and a rare slate of Proposition 2 1/2 override requests top the agenda when Chilmark voters convene their annual town meeting and election this week.
The town meeting will be held Monday, outdoors on the basketball courts behind the Chilmark Community Center for a second year. The meeting begins at 5:30 p.m., with masks and social distancing required for all. There are 37 articles on the warrant.
The annual town election is Wednesday. A series of questions exempting spending from the provisions of the state tax cap and a two-way race for the board of health are on the ballot. A special election ballot will include a single slot for the recently vacated town moderator seat. Janet Weidner, a longtime member of the town planning board, is running unopposed for the seat.
As with last year, a quorum of 25 voters is needed.
A moderator will be elected for the evening, after veteran town moderator Everett Poole stepped down from the position in March. Town clerk Jennifer Christy will open the meeting and accept nominations from the floor.
“I’m assuming Janet will be there and I’m hoping she’ll stand for nomination,” town administrator Tim Carroll said.
Voters will take up an $11.2 million town budget, a 4.1 per cent increase over last year, pushed upward by increased school spending, public safety salaries and insurance costs. Two general override questions on the town ballot Wednesday correspond to the town budget: one to remove $36,000 from the total town tax levy for the up-Island regional school budget, and another to remove $70,000 from the tax levy for the regional high school operating budget.
Topping the warrant is an $11.1 million request to construct a new joint firehouse and Tri-Town Ambulance building at 399 Middle Road in Chilmark. The article seeks funding for construction and original equipping of the new facilities.
The three up-Island towns have agreed on a formula to bond the construction expenses, splitting costs equally for the construction of the EMS portion of the project, as well as half the firehouse construction. Chilmark will cover the remaining construction costs. If approved, the project will raise the tax rate by 15 per cent, nudging taxes up by $150 for every $1 million of assessed property value. The spending request will require two-thirds majority on the town meeting floor, as well as majority approval in the ballot box.
A flurry of school spending articles will also come before voters Monday, including capital projects deferred from last year and building improvements for both the Chilmark and West Tisbury schools.
Among the articles are a request for $153,376 for window replacement and $52,202 for door replacements at the Chilmark School, $41,151 for a roof replacement at the West Tisbury School and $9,547 more for a walk-in refrigerator.
Seven of the up-Island schools capital spending articles totaling $311,000, as well as the budget increases for the regional high school and the up-Island school district, will also require approval at the ballot box.
Other school articles include money for a re-shingling project at the superintendent’s office, the purchase of electric school buses and a technology infrastructure upgrade at the high school
“The school is moving the request of the town forward,” said Mr. Carroll of the articles. “We asked them to take care of their facilities, we asked to keep them up and to do the maintenance that’s required . . . I think the school system has been very responsive to do these kinds of maintenance and improvements.”
Voters will decide a series of Community Preservation Act projects totaling $177,000, with requests to contribute to a female homeless housing project though Harbor Homes, a feasibility study to reconstruct the commercial docks in Menemsha Basin and plan for rising sea levels, and roof repairs at the Oak Bluffs Tabernacle.
Voters will also be asked to transfer $751,000 from the sale of a town-owned land at 4 North Ridge Road to the Molly Flender Affordable Housing fund.
In a slate of town improvement articles, voters will be asked to fund upgrades the harbor, including rebuilding the bulkhead behind the charter dock and installing security cameras on all town docks.
Another article requests funding for water sampling and testing at Stonewall, Chilmark and Tisbury Great Ponds to determine sources of high bacterial contamination.
In an Islandwide initiative, voters will be asked to adopt a series of non-binding, aspirational goals for climate action in the years to come, including looking to reduce fossil fuel use on the Island by 50 per cent by 2030 and increasing renewable energy use by 100 per cent by 2040, among other measures. The article asks the town energy committee to monitor progress toward the goals.
Mr. Carroll said the article has already sparked discussion among residents at recent review of the warrant.
“Of all the articles, that was one of very few articles that was brought up by people at the meeting,” Mr. Carroll said.
As with other towns this year, voters will also be asked to approve the changing of the name the board selectmen to the select board.
The annual town election Wednesday will see one contest: a two-way race for a three-year seat on the board of health. Incumbent Jan Buhrman, 63, a chef and caterer who has held the position since 2006, will be challenged by Curtis L. Cetrulo, 78, a retired physician.
Incumbent and current chairman of the select board Bill Rossi is running for reelection unopposed.
The ballot includes 10 questions.
Polls are open from noon to 8 p.m .at the Community Center.
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