Opinions on the future of Mill Pond and the future of Mill Brook were more varied than the options at a Saturday afternoon forum held at the West Tisbury Library. The townspeople and others who packed the meeting room kept coming back to a central point: The pond and the brook that feeds it are among the town’s most valued resources and worthy of concern and some kind of action.

Without any action, experts say the pond will continue to choke as more and more sediment and organic materials continue to arrive and fill it.

To dredge or not to dredge? That is the question currently being bandied about in West Tisbury.

A specially-appointed research committee has split over whether to dredge Mill Pond, the historic man-made pond that graces the entrance to town on the Edgartown-West Tisbury Road adjacent to the police station. Two of the committee members, Bob Woodruff and Craig Saunders, believe that dredging is necessary to prevent the pond from drying up and disappearing forever.

The West Tisbury selectmen and town conservation commission on Wednesday differed briefly over a proposal to create a committee to oversee the cleanup of Mill Pond, the popular 2.5-acre waterway next to the town police station.

After receiving a petition from residents last year urging the appointment of a special committee to study Mill Pond and recommend changes, selectmen pushed for the creation of the panel and even started to recruit potential members, including several residents with backgrounds researching ponds and watersheds.