West Tisbury selectmen reluctantly agreed Wednesday to move forward with plans to take back control of the town dump and Dumptique from the regional refuse district, and seek up to $80,000 from voters for needed repairs to the facility.

Selectmen met for the first time with Don Hatch, manager of the refuse district, and heard confirmation that the district would close the facility rather than make necessary safety repairs to a retaining wall at the town’s trash dropoff.

“The funds don’t exist at the district at this moment to make those repairs, and further, the district doesn’t really want to be responsible for [the facility] in the long term,” town administrator Jen Rand explained. “If the town wants to be responsible for determining if the local dropoff stays open, the town needs to be prepared to take on the capital costs.”

Mr. Hatch said that action would be part of a larger movement Islandwide to shift control of the local dropoffs to the town level, as the regional district focuses on expanding and centralizing their operation to the main facility in Edgartown. He said Chilmark and Aquinnah were already moving in that direction.

“I think the easiest way to say it is the control shifts over to the town from the district, so you have full control of your facility,” Mr. Hatch told selectmen.

Selectmen Skipper Manter and Kent Healy expressed irritation with the district.

Mr. Manter said the district was giving the town an unfair ultimatum between footing the bill or closing the dropoff. He also said local control of the facility would complicate the relationship with Island residents from outside of West Tisbury, who could previously use the dropoff under a regional agreement.

“We didn’t join the refuse district to have our local dropoff closed, people want the facility open and they expect it to be run by the refuse district,” he said, adding: “The cost of capital improvements should be shared by people using it, not just put on the shoulders West Tisbury. . . that’s part of how the region operates.”

Mr. Healy also took issue with the estimated renovation cost, which over the last few months has fluctuated between $114,000 and $55,000 before landing, as it currently stands, at $80,000.

“You want us to have the expense of fixing it, but you want control,” Mr. Hatch responded. “We said we were going to close it, then you were concerned.”

In other business, selectmen directed Ms. Rand to work with the other five town administrators to try to resolve issues with the funding formula for the regional high school, with the goal of going forward with a feasibility study for the school’s renovation.

“The six town administrators have made some real progress in the last couple years . . . in being able to talk about these issues that people in political jobs haven’t been so successful,” said selectman Cynthia Mitchell.

Selectmen also appointed John Rau to the town zoning board of appeals, announcing the resignation of Toni Cohen, who served on the board for over three decades.