A report card on late bar closings, staff shortages for highway, fire and police, and mooring management in town waters were all topics for discussion when the Oak Bluffs selectmen heard a summer recap from their town department heads this week.

Police chief Erik Blake, fire chief John Rose, highway superintendent Richard Combra and harbor master Todd Alexander all gave reports at the weekly selectmen’s meeting Tuesday. And while all reported a generally successful season, some problems were noted.

Chief Blake said his focus this summer shifted toward the alcohol and noise policy on Circuit avenue.

At the request of bar owners, selectmen voted to extend the closing time in bars by half an hour, to 2 a.m. Chief Blake said while he expected to receive more complaints and more disorderly conduct violations, in fact alcohol-related offenses were down by one over last year.

“The only thing that was up is that the officers had to stay past two,” the chief said.

He said noise levels were kept down partly due to an increased presence in both police and bar security outside bars that stopped people from spilling into the streets, along with a bylaw requiring that windows be closed.

Selectmen Gail Barmakian asked if the extra half hour benefit to the business owners was outweighed by the cost to the town of keeping full-time officers on duty longer.

The chief was noncommittal.

“We need to work on . . . how those three or four establishments are going to help us help them,” he responded.

He also said his department, along with other police departments on the Island, has had trouble with recruitment. The problem was slightly alleviated by summer community service officers, some of whom were Island kids, entrusted with parking tickets and bylaw enforcement.

“Overall, I think that program was a success,” Chief Blake said.

But he said he expects to lose a few full-time officers to the state police next year, and will need to recruit more full-time officers.

“It’s actually a problem for all of the chiefs on the Island . . . because what we end of doing is cannibalizing each others departments,” the chief said.

Fire chief John Rose and highway department superintendent Richard Combra also said their departments were experiencing staffing shortages.

Chief Rose said part of the problem in his department can be tracked to increased training requirements to become certified as an EMT or a firefighter, which he said has jumped from 40 hours to some 200 hundred hours. He said the job pays the same as construction work, which has no training requirements.

Mr. Combra said in his department the problem is a combination of “not paying enough . . . and there are jobs out there more exciting than sweeping and cleaning bathrooms.”

He said the highway department has had to rely more heavily on private contractors for routine maintenance, which is more expensive for the town.

“Pay scale is a big issue, unemployment is down and pay hasn’t gone up,” observed selectman Greg Coogan. “I think that is going to become a huge problem.”

Harbor master Todd Alexander had no problems with summer staffing, but said he had seen complaints from boaters about people loitering near the town bath house on the inner harbor.

“Probably the most complaints [were] about people hanging out on the bench in front of the bath house,” Mr. Alexander said.

He continued: “[Boaters] are saying they are witnessing drug dealing . . . if they get really bold they will go onto someone’s boat, usually to see if they can steal beer.”

Mr. Alexander said a growing number of transient boaters are requesting not to dock in the area near the bath house — this is the area that the dock’s largest slips, he said, so some boats would have nowhere else to go.

Chief Blake confirmed that police had received complaints.

Mr. Alexander said he has been discussing plans to install lights and webcams and also to possibly move the benches, to discourage people from congregating in the area.

The harbor master also said he is working to better manage the use of moorings in the harbor and Lagoon, where some people are renting out their moorings to other boaters, while some go unused.

Unoccupied moorings can pose a safety concern for boaters passing through.

Selectman Jason Balboni acknowledged the need for better mooring management. “There are a ton of moorings that are not being used and people asking why the rules aren’t being enforced,” he said, adding: “People are paying big money to rent the moorings . . . if anyone should be getting the money it should be the town. Not someone who is doing business, basically, on town property.”