Chilmark annual town meeting

Chilmark Overwhelmingly Passes Bylaw To Limit Home Size

After a passionate and at times emotional debate around preserving the character of Chilmark, voters readily approved a zoning bylaw to regulate house size in town at the annual town meeting Monday night.

The measure carried 162 to 51.

Edward Edward Miller Monina Von Opel

Chilmark Voters Green-light Estuaries Study, Elect Bill Rossi Selectman

Chilmark voters elected a new selectman, pledged money for studying town ponds and approved a hefty budget hike at the annual town meeting and election this week.

Voters elected real estate agent and Chilmark Store owner Bill Rossi for a three year term to the board of selectmen on Wednesday. Mr. Rossi won with 186 votes. He succeeds longtime selectman Frank Fenner, who did not seek reelection after four terms. A late write-in campaign by Alan Porter earned him 54 votes.

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Chilmark Voters Argue Little, Finish Annual Town Meeting

Chilmark voters made speedy work of their annual town meeting on Monday night at the Chilmark Community Center, approving an overhaul of the town personnel bylaw, a new set of rules for swimming pools and tennis courts and a $7 million budget in two hours flat.

A total of 107 voters attended; longtime moderator Everett Poole presided over the session.

The budget, up $238,000 over last year, includes a 2.6 per cent cost of living increase for town employees, the highest on the Island. Chilmark town employees received no increase last year.

Wind Turbine Moratorium Tops Chilmark Annual Town Meeting

A one-year moratorium on wind turbine applications and an array of housing initiatives, including a bylaw that addresses the thorny issue of inheritance for the children of affordable housing recipients, top the list of business for a double-header special and annual town meeting in Chilmark next week.

The meeting is Monday night in the Chilmark Community Center; longtime moderator Everett H. Poole will preside. The special town meeting begins at 7:30 p.m., immediately followed by the annual town meeting at 8 p.m. There are a total 31 articles on the two warrants.

meeting

Chilmark Voters Curb Spending

Chilmark voters opted for smaller government and a quieter town at Monday’s annual town meeting, approving a reduced town budget and stricter new noise bylaws.

The budget cuts, however, amounted to the lightest of prunings — about $6.64 million for fiscal year 2010 compared with 2009’s $6.68 million appropriation — after the meeting rejected proposals for a more serious attack on staff costs.

zack weisner listens in on town meeting

Chilmark Allows Peaked Hill Tower

Despite the small size of the crowd, the debate among Chilmark voters at their annual town meeting this week was passionate and at times heated.

On Monday night voters gathered at the Chilmark Community Center to take up a 27-article warrant. Moderator Everett H. Poole presided.

A total of 113 voters attended, well over the quorum requirement of 25.

It was a meeting which saw a rare moment when Mr. Poole laid aside his gavel for the third time in his 31-year career to speak from the floor.

Chilmark Voters Address Fishing Concerns at Annusl Town Meeting on Monday Night

The Island's troubled fishing industry will be a major
focus of the Chilmark annual town meeting on Monday night.

In a town meeting warrant otherwise characterized as "very noncontroversial" by the chairman of the Chilmark board of
selectmen, J.B. Riggs Parker, "the shellfish articles will
obviously get much of the attention on the meeting floor."

Chilmark Voters Dispatch Town Business

A busy week in Chilmark began Monday with voters moving briskly through the annual town meeting, continued Wednesday with high turnout at the ballot box and ends today with another bit of important business - the reopening of the Chilmark Store.

And so goes the short and relatively quiet political season in the small up-Island town.

Chilmark Voters Breeze Through Meeting

Chilmark voters breezed through their annual town meeting on Monday
night without batting an eye, approved a $5.7 million budget and voted
in favor of the Martha's Vineyard Housing Bank and two versions of a
renewable energy resolution along the way.

But when they came to the final vote of the evening -- whether to use
$23,000 from the community preservation committee's open space reserve
fund to fight an invasive reed in Chilmark Pond -- the debate began over
how to vanquish the mighty phragmite.

Town Meeting Time: Chilmark Grapples with School Costs

School costs are driving budget increases across the Island, but in Chilmark, one expense forcing voters to dig into their wallets for education spending may come as a shock.

The Menemsha School, barely four years old, already needs $100,000 in repairs that include replacing moldy floors and rotten doors. Voters will be asked Monday night at annual town meeting to foot the bill. The meeting begins at 7:30 p.m. in the Chilmark Community Center.

The annual town election takes place Wednesday and will feature five override questions, but no contested races.

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