Shellfish farmer Greg Martino will represent the Tisbury select board on the Martha’s Vineyard Commission for a third one-year term, following the board’s unanimous vote Wednesday evening.
“It’s quite a lot of work but I’m happy to represent the town and I’d love to do it again for another year,” Mr. Martino told the select board. “It’s very rewarding.”
The board first named Mr. Martino to the seat in 2022, after former town-appointed commissioner Josh Goldstein stepped down.
Also Wednesday, the select board named assistant town accountant John Minnehan to the position of town accountant for no more than 60 days. Tisbury is seeking a head accountant to replace Suzanne Kennedy, who retired last month after 37 years with the town.
Other appointments Wednesday included Wendy Andrews and Linda Gorham to the council on aging board, select board chair Roy Cutrer to the police union negotiation team and Tom Perry as conditional building inspector through June 30.
Conditional inspectors work for municipalities while training for state certification as a building code enforcement official, according to the Massachusetts Office of Public Safety and Inspection.
Among other business Wednesday, the select board renewed eatery, alcohol, entertainment, lodging and other business licenses for more than a dozen local establishments and renewed its three-year memorandum of understanding with the Martha’s Vineyard Museum.
Adopted in 2021, the agreement spells out conditions for public and private events at the museum and applies a $5,000 annual payment to the town in lieu of taxes.
Town administrator Jay Grande said the museum has been a good partner with the town.
“They are one of the major hubs of our cultural district,” Mr. Grande added.
The select board also heard a presentation from Cape Light Compact on income-based energy upgrades for Island homeowners and a report from town fire chief Greg Leland on the pine beetle infestation at Phillips Preserve.
Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation, which owns the 68-acre woodland west of Lake Tashmoo, is applying to the state for permission to burn about 100 infested pitch pines this winter, using equipment known as air curtain incendiary devices to reduce smoke from the burn, Mr. Leland said.
Abutting property owners, most of whom are seasonal residents, will be notified when the burn takes place, he told the board, and strict rules for weather conditions will apply.
Sheriff’s Meadow officials have discussed using the biochar technique to dispose of beetle-stricken trees, but Mr. Leland told the Gazette that the infestation at Phillips Preserve is too large.
“There‘s really no other safe way to dispose of it,” he said.
The select board took no action on shellfish warden Danielle Ewart’s recommendation to suspend Jason Robinson’s license to harvest for 30 days, as neither Ms. Ewart nor anyone else from the natural resources office was present at Wednesday’s meeting.
Mr. Robinson told the board he did not harvest quahaug’s in a contaminated area of the Lagoon, as he is charged with having done last month.
The story has been corrected from an earlier version that referred to the shellfish harvesting taking place in Tashmoo.
