Tisbury’s transfer station for refuse and recycling, known in town as the local drop-off or LDO, is opening later on weekdays beginning in December.

The Tisbury select board approved the new hours last week as a cost-saving measure, at the request of public works director Kirk Metell.

“We’re trying to figure out different ways that we can save more money,” Mr. Metell told the board at its Nov. 19 meeting.

An alternative would be to raise the cost of the stickers required to dispose of refuse, he said.

Beginning Dec. 2, the drop-off will be open continuously from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., instead of from 7:15 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. with a one-hour employee lunch break at noon.

The drop-off attendant will work the morning hours elsewhere in the public works department, Mr. Metell said.

Saturday and Sunday drop-off hours will remain the same: 8:30 a.m. to noon, closed for a one-hour lunch break and then from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.

Maintaining the drop-off costs Tisbury about $135,000 a year, funded through a town meeting warrant article, Mr. Metell told the select board.

The drop-off’s expenses are expected to go up about 10 per cent when service contracts are negotiated next year, he said.

Only about 600 Tisbury residents are using the facility, down from about 1,000 a few years ago, Mr. Metell said.

“[People] are finding other places to take their trash and recyclables,” he said.

Two-thirds of the remaining local drop-off customers are seniors, Mr. Metell said.

“I’ve heard from quite a few of them this week. They are adamant that they … would like to still be able to bring their trash to the LDO,” he said.

“I think as of right now, we can probably still still do that, but eventually, in the future, we may have to think about doing something different,” Mr. Metell said.

Select board member Roy Cutrer agreed.

“I understand it’s not a money-making endeavor, but we also have to realize that sooner or later, we’re going to go to town meeting with a number the town meeting’s not going to approve,” Mr. Cutrer said.

It costs $5.50 for a container of up to 40 gallons of waste and $2 for a five-gallon container of food waste. Vehicle stickers for drop-off access cost $60, or $45 for seniors. Recycling is free.

Former select board member Melinda Loberg said she believes fewer people are using the drop-off because it excludes many types of refuse and recycling.

Tisbury accepts for recycling only paper, cardboard, cans, glass bottles and jars and two types of plastic, number one and number seven.

“People are going to say, ‘Well, should make one trip to Oak Bluffs and get rid of the ... metals and tires and everything else I have, or do I go to two places?’” Ms. Loberg said.

Among other business Nov. 19, the select board unanimously approved new mooring and waterways regulations and heard a report from Tisbury climate committee member Daniel Phelan on the potential installation of public electric vehicle chargers in Tisbury.

The revised mooring and waterways rules, which have been under development for nearly a decade, were completed by the natural resource advisory committee, a seven-member board formed in 2023 to replace the former waterways committee.

The town’s current and retired harbormasters both support the rewritten regulations, natural resource advisory committee chair Tom Robinson told the select board.

“It might not be a perfect document, but we believe it’s an improvement on our existing regulations,” Mr. Robinson said.

“Any small glitches and adjustments can be addressed as needed in the future,” he said.

Longtime Tisbury boater Lynne Fraker said the new rules give harbormaster Gary Kovack, who was hired this summer when John Crocker retired, more authority over the use and misuse of moorings.

“Your new harbormaster now has enforceable tools … and the flexibility to fix what isn’t working,” Ms. Fraker said.

Private moorings, granted by annual permit from the harbormaster, are more strictly regulated in the new regulations.

Only individual boaters are eligible for mooring permits, and they may not charge others to use them or receive any other financial gain from the moorings.

Permit holders may invite guests to moor for up to two weeks, or longer with appropriate state and federal permits.

After two weeks on a permit holder’s mooring, the non-permitted vessel will be charged rent by the town, or the harbormaster may lease the mooring to someone on his lengthy waiting list.

The changes should help reduce the number of unused moorings in Tisbury waters, Ms. Fraker said.

On the topic of electric vehicle chargers, Mr. Phelan said the climate committee recommends installing four level-three chargers, which deliver a faster charge, at the town’s 21 Beach street parking lot with funding from Eversource, which is expected in 2025.

“We anticipate that the traffic that comes through there is more of the clientele that would want a fast charger,” he said.

The climate committee also envisions six level-two chargers, which operate less rapidly, at the park and ride lot on High Point Lane, Mr. Phelan said.

Town administrator Jay Grande cautioned that a complex procurement process lies ahead, but encouraged the board to support the climate committee’s concept for electrical vehicle chargers. Mr. Cutrer, chair John Cahill and board member Christina Colarusso unanimously voted in its favor.

The board also approved the warrant for the special town meeting Dec. 17, subject to the document’s review by town counsel.