Aquinnah voters approved all seven articles on the warrant at a special town meeting Tuesday, allocating nearly $352,000 for town projects.
The meeting opened with residents applauding town veterans after moderator, Mike Hebert, asked veterans to stand for a moment of recognition.
Roughly 60 people were in attendance, with voters allocating $65,000 for a new police cruiser, $10,000 to the shellfish hatchery in Oak Bluffs which houses the Martha’s Vineyard Shellfish Group, $25,000 in community preservation money for the pre-development of affordable housing in town and $200,000 in available funds for repairs to the Gay Head lighthouse’s curtain wall and lantern deck, among other items.
The town expects the money for the lighthouse will be reimbursed by a state tourism grant.
Aquinnah police chief Randhi Belain said the price tag for the police cruiser was so high because of the equipment needed in the vehicle. He said the old cruiser will likely go to the fire department, which will then give one of their vehicles to an animal control officer the town is seeking to hire.
Voters also approved increasing the town’s income cap for senior tax deferral eligibility from $20,000 to $40,000. Aquinnah Town Administrator Jeffrey Madison reminded voters that deferring is optional.
Before voting to transfer $22,000 in available funds to pay for the town’s grant writer, Mr. Murphy announced that the current writer, Gisele Gauthier, had brought in over $1 million for the town. The town voted to continue employing Ms. Gauthier.
Bill Lake, the chairman of the climate and energy committee, gave a presentation about the potential financial benefits if the town increases its solar energy generation. He said the committee plans to finalize their report and have an open meeting at the beginning of next year to share its findings and answer questions.
Article six, which called for the allocation of $65,000 to go towards a new dump truck for the highway department, was amended after selectman Tom Murphy suggested that the current dump truck could be repaired instead of replaced. The article was amended to allocate $30,000 in existing town funds to repair the truck and passed by a near unanimous vote.
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