After an initiative to ban plastic bottles passed with enthusiasm at town meetings up-Island, students from Plastic Free MV are setting their sights on the three down-Island towns.

Oak Bluffs selectmen had a lot of questions and some hesitation about the measure at their regular meeting Tuesday evening, opting not to take action to put the question on next year’s town meeting warrant just yet.

The bylaw is based on similar laws in other Massachusetts towns. It would ban the sale of water and soda in bottles smaller than 34 ounces. Vendors would be fined for violating the rule for more than one day. West Tisbury School sixth grader Jasper Ralph and teacher Annemarie Ralph of Plastic Free MV asked the Oak Bluffs selectmen to place the bylaw directly on next year’s annual town meeting warrant, rather than doing so by petition. Jasper said students are motivated by environmental concerns.

“Plastic is really bad; it ends up in fish,” he said, adding that the students had held public forums up-Island and planned to do the same in the down-Island towns.

Selectmen acknowledged the environmental problems caused by plastic, but they were quick to distinguish between their town and their more rural up-Island counterparts when it comes to the ban.

“Our town is very unique. We have a lot of restaurants, take-out type places that it will affect,” said selectman Mike Santoro, who is also a businessman himself. He suggested a committee of stakeholders including business owners, be convened to discuss the proposed bylaw.

Selectman Gail Barmakian questioned whether the town could legally ban the sale of certain drinks from certain businesses.

“I just want some background on this because it’s quite extreme,” she said. “It’s quite an impact.”

Ms. Ralph said similar laws in other communities had been approved by the Attorney General, and that the bylaws adopted by the up-Island towns were still awaiting review.

Selectman Brian Packish said he was in favor of starting slowly.

“I think it’s really important to start a conversation in a healthy way which begins with a dialogue with the public,” he said.

Jennifer Freeman, who identified herself as a family member of the owners of Reliable Market in Oak Bluffs, said the law unfairly targets businesses.

“You’re saying to me as a small store in Oak Bluffs, you cannot sell this product, but you’re not making it illegal for someone to possess it in their home. So they can go to Amazon, Walmart, order it and get it shipped to their door,” she said. “How is that not a restriction on trade?”

Pending approval from the Attorney General, the plastic bottle ban will go into effect in West Tisbury, Chilmark and Aquinnah in May 2020.

In other business Tuesday, county manager Martina Thornton presented a draft agreement between the town and the county outlining the county’s oversight responsibilities for administration of health and human services. Ms. Thornton is circulating the agreement to all Island towns.

Selectmen asked Ms. Thornton to return at a later meeting after they had reviewed the proposed agreement.

Selectmen appointed Alice Goyert, Rose Ryley and Sharon Cooke to the town conservation commission. There were two vacancies on the commission and another member was made into an alternate.

Selectmen approved licenses for two new businesses, a new art gallery owned by Valerie Francis on 91 Dukes County avenue and a new spa called Claire Day Spa owned by MingJing Liu at 97 Circuit avenue.