In the first night of a double-barreled Tisbury town meeting Tuesday, voters passed an amended leaf blower bylaw, scaled back plans for new moorings in town waterways and shot down a $450,000 warrant article for renovations to the house at Tashmoo Spring.

The annual town meeting continues Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the Tisbury School gymnasium.

After a motion to table the leaf blower article failed to muster the required two-thirds majority in a standing vote, Tisbury became the fifth Island town to approve a ban on gas leaf blowers, which will go into effect in 2028.

Until then, voters accepted an amendment to the article, banning the use of gas-powered leaf blowers on Sundays and federal holidays. Activity will also be restricted from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday. Use will also be limited to March 15 to May 31, and Oct. 15 through Jan. 15.

Voters gathered in the new Tisbury School gym.

Ray Ewing

Voters gathered in the new Tisbury School gym.

Ray Ewing

Electric leaf blowers are unaffected by the new bylaw, which was opposed by Tisbury residents including Kirk Metell, head of the town’s public works department.

The bylaw won’t make Tisbury any quieter, Mr. Metell said, because the volume of sound produced by electric-powered leaf blowers is indiscernibly less than that of gas-powered blowers.

“We’re saying that you are able to use battery power whenever you want, but yet you want it to be quiet. That’s not going to happen in this town, I’m sorry,” he said.

The bylaw will be costly as well, with batteries for electric blowers costing as much as an entire gas blower, he said.

“Each battery is about $200, and [they] only last about a half hour,” he said, raising the prospect of bringing a gas-powered generator to the cemetery to charge electric blowers on site.

“This does not work for my department — and it does not work for me, as a person who only has the Sundays to work around my house,” Mr. Metell said.

Margot Sharff, who organized a petition to bring the leaf blower bylaw to voters, said other people who only have time off on Sundays and federal holidays would like to enjoy their homes in peaceful quiet.

Democracy on the ground floor.

Barney Zeitz

Democracy on the ground floor.

Barney Zeitz

Dan Doyle stood up to back the amendment.

“I support the Sunday no-blow zone,” he said.

“If it passes, I bet we’re going to enjoy quiet headspace even more than we think [and] nobody’s saying ‘Don’t rake your leaves.’ Just don’t make a racket,” Mr. Doyle said.

Turning to the harbor, voters weighed an amendment to an article proposing to install 35 new moorings, changing the number to 10. The decision required a standing count tallied at 59 to 56 in favor of the amendment.

Lynn Fraker, who proposed the amendment, said the town does not yet have the ability to manage the larger quantity of additional moorings.

“To install this number of moorings without solid planning is reckless,” she said, noting that a new harbor master, Michael Gately, is starting next week.

Former Tisbury harbor master Gary Kovack, who submitted the warrant article before leaving to become harbor master in Edgartown, said the money ($100,000) would be well spent on 35 moorings that could bring in rental fees for years to come.

“They’re going to create revenue sooner than later than they’re going to pay for themselves. And then after that, they’re going to keep creating revenue for the town,” Mr. Kovack said.

Tisbury voters also were divided on the select board’s $450,000 proposal to upgrade the Tashmoo Spring residence for occupancy by recently-hired town administrator Joseph LaCivita and his wife. Mr. LaCivita’s compensation from the town currently includes a $36,000 housing allowance, which would end if he moves into a Tisbury-owned residence, select board chair John Cahill said.

After Mr. LaCivita’s tenure, the house could continue to be used for employee housing, Mr. Cahill said.

“We made the decision that we wanted to move into the area of municipal housing. This is our first venture, and I think it’s not going to be our last,” he said.

The $450,000 request includes funds to replace and upgrade the septic system, which would benefit the entire Tashmoo Spring site, Mr. Cahill said.

The renovation also would be a good investment for the town, said Alex Meleney, a member of the finance and advisory committee, which recommended the article.

“We [would] have a usable asset rather than a run-down building,” Mr. Meleney said.

Ruth Konigsberg, the sole fincom member who opposed the article, said she didn’t see the upside.

“In order to make back the $450,000 that we wouldn’t be spending to renovate this place, [Mr. LaCivita] would have to stay here for 10-plus years,” Ms. Konigsberg said.

A standing vote count found 68 against the article and 51 in favor.

Most other articles on the Tisbury special and annual town meeting warrants passed Tuesday with little discussion and no controversy, but a mass departure of voters following the Tashmoo Spring article led Ms. Medders to call for a head count to see if the town’s quorum of 100 was still present.

Finding only 97 voters still in the gym, she adjourned the town meeting to Wednesday, when it will resume with warrant article 18.