The West Tisbury select board this week scheduled a special town meeting for June to reconsider the regional high school operating budget.
At its Wednesday meeting, the select board voted to set the meeting on June 13 at 7 p.m. West Tisbury is one of two towns that voted down the regional high school budget at the spring town meetings. Four of the six towns are needed to pass the high school budget for it to be approved.
So far, Edgartown, Oak Bluffs and Tisbury have passed the budget. If Aquinnah votes to approve its portion of the budget at town meeting next week, West Tisbury will be required to pay despite the town's previous vote. If Aquinnah rejects the budget, the financial plan will be sent back to the school committee for revisions.
The select board also voted to sign a $170,000 contract with Wilcox and Barton, an environmental consulting and engineering firm, to handle the mitigation of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination in town water.
Released in the form of fire-fighting foams by the town’s fire department, the state Department of Environmental Protection announced their discovery of the harmful substances in January. The contract, funded by money received from the American Rescue Plan Act, is the first step in remediation efforts.
“This next phase is going to begin to inform what our future looks like,” town administrator Jen Rand said.
The board also began a discussion on alternative funding models for renovations to the Howes House, after Chilmark and Aquinnah rejected a three-way split. Board members floated West Tisbury paying between 50 and 75 per cent of the project, but deferred decision-making to their next meeting.
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