The Tisbury town administrator pressed his select board this week to take a tough stance against the ongoing practice by Eversource of spraying herbicides beneath power line rights of way in Tisbury, some of which are also popular walking paths for town residents and their dogs.

“We need to take a lead on this on behalf of the Island,” Mr. Grande said at the board meeting Wednesday, noting that despite a series of meetings with town health officials and Eversource representatives and a lawsuit against the utility in 2017, the spraying continues without notice to the town.

“Application of herbicides at whatever background level is poison, and we should prohibit it and strongly prohibit it,” Mr. Grande said. He continued:

“I would like to see this select board take the lead on it and really . . . press this case to a conclusion.”

He asked board members to make their position known to Eversource.

“I need to send a very strongly worded letter from this board that our patience has worn thin,” Mr. Grande said. “I think we’ve waited long enough. This is a public health issue,” he said, adding:

“There are a lot of things we can put off, but this is not one of them. Time is long past they need to find a better way . . . to manage their vegetation.”

Board members agreed to send the letter of protest to Eversource and to sign an additional letter of support for state legislation co-sponsored by state Rep. Dylan Fernandes titled An Act Empowering Towns and Cities to Protect Residents and the Environment from Harmful Pesticides.

At a hearing Wednesday, the board ordered a dog owner on Rogers Farm Road to neuter and strictly restrain his three-year-old male husky, after a series of complaints about the animal getting loose and killing livestock next door.

Tisbury animal officer Kate Hoffman described an upsetting scene in the Cook Road yard as she met police there after the June 29 attacks that killed three chickens.

“There were feathers everywhere. It was a mess,” Ms. Hoffman said.

Dog owner David Dunbar paid the family $130 in restitution, Ms. Hoffman said.

Mr. Dunbar’s neighbors, William and Dawn Warner, said the birds were family pets.

Ms. Hoffman stopped short of asking the dog to be declared dangerous, because it is friendly with humans. But its pattern of harassing livestock has made it a nuisance, she said.

Mr. Dunbar will be required to neuter the dog and keep it restrained outside his house or in a 200-square-foot enclosure with double gates on his property.

He has two weeks to comply.

Select board chairman Jeff Kristal warned Mr. Dunbar that any future violations could see a harsh outcome.

“This board has a short leash with dealing with this in the future,” Mr. Kristal said.

In other business, the board set a date of April 12, 2022 for the annual town meeting.

The board granted two one-day all-alcohol licenses for the Martha’s Vineyard Oyster Festival, Oct. 1 and Oct. 2 at the Martha’s Vineyard Museum; issued a busker’s permit to singer-songwriter Scott Serkez for performances on Main street; renewed eatery licenses for the Wolf’s Den pizzeria and the Vineyard Haven Yacht Club and renewed the auto rental license for AA Island Auto Rentals.

At the request of town clerk J. Hillary Conklin, the board agreed to certify to the state that Tisbury remains a single-precinct voting community following the release of new census numbers.

“We have not reached the threshold where we are required to have two precincts yet. That would be 6,200,” Ms. Conklin said.

Because towns below that population level still have the right to subdivide into multiple precincts, the state requires the single-precinct confirmation, town attorney David Doneski said.

“Attribute this to administrative housekeeping,” Mr. Doneski said.

The board made more than 100 appointments, from harbor master, building commissioner and members of all-Island boards to fence viewer, elections warden and a host of town commission seats, and named Roy Cutrer as its representative in collective bargaining with the general union, which represents town employees.

Acting police chief Chris Habekost introduced new full-time officer Patrick Souza.

Earlier the board met in executive session to discuss three cases of litigation against the town. No action was reported during the open session.

The board meets next on Sept. 22.