A potential moratorium on anchoring in Lake Tashmoo, a popular summer destination for boaters from Cape Cod, drew both foes and supporters at a Tisbury select board meeting this week.

The temporary ban was proposed last month by town administrator Jay Grande, who on Wednesday repeated his concerns about the impact of visiting boats on the environmental health of the estuary and the quality of life for lakeside residents.

“We’re a resort community, we’re very popular, we have some beautiful locations and we need to protect them from overuse,” Mr. Grande said at the select board meeting. “Every town on the Island has dealt with similar issues.”

Anchoring is bad for eelgrass, a key element of the marine life cycle, said Rick Homans, who lives on the east side of Tashmoo and serves on the nonprofit Tisbury Waterways, Inc.

“There’s a lot of ripping and tearing that takes place,” Mr. Homans said.

“If the anchor is set...in the intricate root system that eelgrass has, there’s no way to deny that what happens is that eelgrass gets pulled up, not only in that [anchoring] area, but all around it,” he said.

Tisbury Waterways, Inc. supports a compromise proposed by harbormaster John Crocker that would create a limited number of guest moorings, instead of unlimited anchoring, Mr. Homans said.

But longtime sailor Lynne Fraker said anchored boats are not the cause of Tashmoo’s environmental problems.

“The same issues are getting worse in [Lagoon Pond] and there’s very little anchoring there,” said Ms. Fraker. She also strongly opposed Mr. Crocker’s suggestion of six guest moorings with up to two additional vessels tied onto each moored boat.

Shellfish constable Danielle Ewart supported a ban but appealed for more time to make boaters aware of the change.

“If we’re going to eliminate anchoring, we need outreach to neighbor harbors and towns,” said Ms. Ewart, who also advised making signs, printing pamphlets and adding additional patrols of the waterway if a moratorium goes into effect.

“These things take time, energy and money,” she said.

A public discussion of the anchoring ban is set for March 22 in Katharine Cornell Theatre.

Among other business Wednesday, select board members John Cahill and Abbe Burt both rejected a seasonal resident’s offer to provide a free fireworks show in August.

Fire chief Greg Leland said the resident’s only request in return was to have the town’s monthly First Friday celebration on Saturday instead, and to move it from Main street to Beach Road, which would be closed for the event.

Select board chair Roy Cutrer liked the idea, saying it would bring more people to shop with Tisbury vendors who take part in First Friday.

But he was voted down by Ms. Burt and Mr. Cahill, who said they saw no good reason to close the road to Oak Bluffs at the peak of the summer to accommodate a fireworks display that, according to Mr. Cahill, is actually for the resident’s family wedding.

The fireworks show can still go on, Chief Leland said, as long as the host obtains the necessary permit.

The select board also voted not to have voting by mail for the May 9 town election, although absentee voting will still be available by mail and at the town hall.

Town clerk Hillary Conklin said she makes this request before every town election and displayed a sheaf of mailed-in ballot envelopes from a statewide election last year. Some had taken weeks to arrive.

While voting by mail remains an option for state and national elections, Ms. Conklin said Tisbury residents overwhelmingly choose to vote in person.