Chilmark has picked a seasoned Vineyard building inspector to take over the same role in the up-Island town.
The board voted unanimously on Friday to offer Reade Milne, the current Edgartown building inspector, to Chilmark building inspector position left by outgoing inspector Adam Petkus. The appointment is pending contract negotiations, which officials said would come in at a higher rate than her current pay.
Mr. Petkus took the Oak Bluffs building commissioner job in March, and since then Chilmark has been looking to fill its position. Ms. Milne was interviewed along with former Oak Bluffs building commissioner Matt Rossi.
While both candidates that interviewed for the position last week were qualified, Ms. Reade demonstrated the “better sense of the community of Chilmark and what building inspector style would serve Chilmark well,” said select board member Matt Poole on Friday.
Select board members said they also appreciated her experience on multiple state boards that deal with building codes and standards.
The Edgartown building inspector since 2019, Ms. Milne grew up on Chappaquiddick, and has a long history in the many facets of the construction industry, from building houses to architectural design.
The volume of work in Edgartown means that Ms. Milne delegates many of the tasks associated with her position. In Chilmark, she would be able to handle zoning enforcement, permitting, plan review and inspections herself, she said during her interview last week. It’s a fascinating process, she said, and she hoped to be able to work on the “entire picture” of a project.
“The three-acre zoning is pretty unique up here,” Ms. Milne said in her interview. Protecting the character of the town is important to her, and zoning is “the nuts and bolts of what can hold a community together as the physical sense of what a community is.”
This article appears in June 5, 2026.
As a Chilmarker- Welcome, Reade!