The Edgartown select board said Monday it will support a one-time funding formula for a major renovation project at the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School, after town administrator James Hagerty broke down the potential cost to each town.

The one-time funding formula was proposed by the Chilmark select board two weeks ago as a way to break political gridlock among the six towns over how to pay for a future new regional high school. The high school recently made the eligibility list for the Massachusetts School Building Authority, which reimburses a significant percentage of the capital costs for school building projects.

Under the proposed one-time formula, the three down-Island towns would each pay 25 per cent of the cost while the three up-Island towns would collectively pay 25 per cent. The formula is based on population data from the 2020 Census.

“We should thank Chilmark for putting this forth, getting the ball rolling,” selectman Arthur Smadbeck said at the meeting Monday. “I think it seems to be a pretty fair way of doing it.”

Mr. Hagerty gave a presentation assuming the project would cost $100 million and would be paid for through a 20-year loan. After subtracting the MSBA reimbursement and adding the interest accumulated over the course of the loan, each 25 per cent share would be around $26 million, according to his calculation.

Under the current funding formula, OB would pay almost $30 million and Tisbury roughly $28 million. Edgartown would pay almost $25 million and the three up-Island towns (collectively) would pay roughly $22 million.
 
“I think it’s a compromise . . . it tries to be as equitable as possible based on the various concerns,” Mr. Hagerty said. “The school needs to be built and we can all agree on that.”

Islandwide discussion on the matter will continue next Monday, when a joint meeting of the regional high school committee and the six town select boards is planned.

The meeting begins at 6 p.m. over Zoom.

In other Edgartown business this week, Mr. Hagerty informed the board that the town had received no responses to an invitation for bids for the Fourth of July fireworks display. The budget was increased from $45,000 to $90,000 and bids will go out again, Mr. Hagerty said.

“I want to make sure that we have the fireworks for obvious reasons,” he said. “I’m going to keep putting the pressure on and then hopefully we’ll get a bidder.”

The annual fireworks and parade will return this summer after a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic.

Also this summer, restaurants will no longer be able use public space to expand outdoor dining. For the last two summers the town has allowed the use of sidewalks and some blocked-off street areas in order to accommodate pandemic restrictions. But with cases abating as the Island heads towards summer, Mr. Hagerty said he would let that accommodation expire.

“We said we’d do it during the height of the pandemic, we did it another year, we were the only Island town to do it, but my recommendation would be not to continue,” he said.

In conjunction with the Vineyard Transit Authority, the town will apply for a state grant for small street clean-up projects on Church street and Peases Point way.

The board also voted to allow the conservation commission to change its fee structure for permits.

Corrected from an earlier version which misstated the numbers under the current funding formula.