Chilmark executive secretary Tim Carroll and West Tisbury firefighter Glenn DeBlase boarded a plane for the Caribbean on Wednesday morning this week, kicking off the first initiative for the recently founded Sister Islands program between Martha’s Vineyard and the island of Saint Vincent.

The town of Tisbury will be able to start one of its planned dredging projects ahead of schedule. Dredging on the small harbor entrance will begin June 1. The projects, approved at town meeting earlier this month, were not scheduled to begin until after fiscal year 2014 began on July 1. Voters approved a $500,000 borrowing item at the April 9 annual town meeting to approve the dredging of the harbor and Lake Tashmoo. Town treasurer Tim McLean said the town will borrow $260,000 at this time to dredge the harbor, the more pressing of the two projects.

The Tisbury board of selectmen will meet with producers and staff for the ABC reality show The Vineyard at their next meeting on May 7. At Tuesday’s meeting, town administrator Jay Grande said he and a group including selectman Jeffrey Kristal and the town’s harbor master, police chief, department of public works chief and Steamship Authority representative spoke with producer David Broome via conference call about general plans for proposed filming.

After a passionate and at times emotional debate around preserving the character of Chilmark, voters readily approved a zoning bylaw to regulate house size in town at the annual town meeting Monday night.

The measure carried 162 to 51.

A bill that would drastically change post-retirement health insurance benefits for municipal employees is making its way through the state house and has caused a small stir among Island town employees.

How to preserve the rural character of Chilmark while planning for the future: the question is expected to take center stage when voters consider a proposed bylaw to regulate house size at their annual town meeting Monday night.

After a few years of annual town meetings that were quiet and largely routine, the Chilmark warrant is packed with weighty issues this year, including an $8.1 million operating budget, up nearly five per cent over last year, largely due to increased education costs.