Chilmark has more than $800,000 in free cash on hand, most of which will stay in the bank for now, town administrator Tim Carroll said at this week’s select board meeting.
“We probably have the largest free cash we’ve ever had,” Mr. Carroll told the board, before cautioning that some of the $800,000 is from non-recurring sources.
“Some of that was basically bookkeeping, because we sold a lot on Meeting House Road and the money got transferred to different places, and that’s to pay back the town for taxes and other things,” he said.
Voters at next month’s special town meeting will be asked to approve about $218,000 in free cash spending, leaving nearly $600,000 for the next budget cycle, Mr. Carroll said.
Also Wednesday, Chilmark Preschool director Anja May told the board she is no longer asking the town for extra classroom space.
“Things are looking far more optimistic than I perceived at that previous meeting,” said Ms. May, who spoke to selectmen last month about the growing need for preschool spaces up-Island.
Ms. May said she is hopeful the preschool, which is licensed for 20 children, can accommodate the demand with its current classrooms at the Chilmark School and the community center.
Select board chairman Jim Malkin said the board is open to further suggestions from the preschool.
“We’re supportive, but you’ve got to tell us what you’re looking to do and then we’ll help you figure out how to do it,” Mr. Malkin said.
Among other business Wednesday, Ann Wallace of the town planning board, who also serves on the housing committee, presented a draft amended bylaw that would lift the minimum one-acre size for homesite housing, available to Chilmark residents or workers who earn no more than 150 per cent of the median income in Dukes County.
“I would certainly support the planning board moving ahead with public hearings,” selectman Warren Doty said.
Police chief Jonathan Klaren received board approval for special police officer training that is not in the department’s current budget.
“The state has decided to do away with the special police [training] program,” said Chief Klaren, who like other Island police chiefs makes extensive use of special officers in the summer.
In order to renew certificates that expire next summer, five special officers will need to complete 200 hours of training through an off-Island organization, he said.
“In future fiscal years, I can build this into the budget,” Chief Klaren said.
The town’s planned new public safety building is going out for construction bids soon, said selectman Bill Rossi, adding that the bid packages will be electronic instead of paper-based — a savings of $250 per package, he said.
Design work for the building is reaching the 90 per cent completion stage, Mr. Rossi said, with any further changes likely to add costs.
The Chilmark cemetery commission has drafted new application forms to lease cemetery plots at Abel’s Hill, commission member Sally Cook told the board Wednesday.
There are four categories of eligibility, with only two requiring a buildable lot: single property owners and owners of property held in trust.
Town residents and veterans or actively serving members of the military are also eligible.
Mr. Malkin asked the commission to provide town counsel with copies of the new forms that indicate where they have been changed from the administrative application currently in use.
He also took note that Arnie Reisman, who died unexpectedly Monday, will be interred at Abel’s Hill.
“He and his wife Paula Lyons spent many happy years in Menemsha before moving to the city [Vineyard Haven],” Mr. Malkin said.
The board meets next in a joint session with the Aquinnah and West Tisbury boards Oct. 14 at 5 p.m. to discuss the Tri Town Ambulance service.
