Chilmark voters head to a special town meeting Monday, Sept. 26 to vote on a proposed dock upgrade in Menemsha. The project would raise the dock and improve its construction, strengthening its resilience against rising sea levels.

Voters will be asked to approve a $44,000 appropriation from the town’s waterways improvement account and harbormaster training accounts. The money is the town’s portion to be combined with a $176,000 grant from the Seaport Economic Council.

At a select board meeting this week, Peter Neilley, a weather forecaster and Chilmark resident helping with the project, raised the question of who would have the final say in selecting the design.

“There’s going to be many different opinions of the final design,” Mr. Neilley said. “The whole town is gonna be invested in this.” Select board member Warren Doty agreed that significant town input would be needed before a decision was made.

“We need to emphasize the fact that change has to come, we can’t leave [the dock] the way it is.”

The board, at the recommendation of town administrator Tim Carroll, determined that they would have the final say on the design, but recommended the dock working group to host a series of public meetings, and that they draft a statement of work with the harbor advisory committee and the harbormaster.

The special town meeting takes place Monday at 7 p.m. at the Chilmark Community Center.

In other business last week, the select board approved shell fishing dates recommended by shellfish constable Isaiah Scheffer. Recreational scallop and oyster seasons will begin Oct. 10 and Nov. 1, respectively, and the commercial seasons will begin on Nov. 14 and Feb. 27. Following this, Mr. Scheffer also outlined the possibility of more frequent openings at Tisbury Great Pond in the face of poor water quality and significant macro-algae growth this year, which the board resolved to explore further.

The board also decided to draft a letter in support of Chilmark’s Grey Barn Farm, to be sent to the Trustees, who are currently considering whether to renew the farm’s lease on Trustees land. The letter will outline the farm’s positive impact on the community, not commenting on the particulars of the lease dispute.