With the Martha’s Vineyard Airport embarking on plans to overhaul its terminal, the Dukes County Commission appointed two members to the airport’s oversight board Wednesday. 

The county commission voted to return longtime member Don Ogilvie to the airport commission, and picked Dona Flamme, a Chilmark resident and pilot, to take a second seat vacated by Kristin Zern. 

The pair fended off challenges from Matthew Sudarsky, a neighbor of the airport, and Helene Schaeffer, a dentist who runs her practice in the airport business park. 

The county owns the airport off Edgartown-West Tisbury Road, though it largely operates independently under the guidance of the airport commission. Members are appointed by the Dukes County Commission. 

In his interview with the county commission last month, Mr. Ogilvie touted the airport’s work to improve its finances, bolster its relationship with the Federal Aviation Administration, and shepherd in a new wastewater treatment facility.

Ms. Flamme, who worked at the Vineyard-based Caroll’s moving company and has a background in electrical engineering, told commissioners in her interview that she wanted to help the airport continue to run smoothly into the future.

Mr. Ogilvie and Ms. Flamme both received five votes from the county commission, beating Mr. Sudarsky and Ms. Schaeffer.

Commissioners had a short and somewhat oblique debate about the candidates ahead of the vote. 

West Tisbury commission member Doug Ruskin said he appreciated the hard work and achievements by incumbents in any position, but was interested in getting some new faces on boards from a cross section of the community.  

“I’m a strong believer in turning over boards on a somewhat regular [basis], basically a believer in term limits,” he said. “We don’t have those here, but I believe it’s important that fresh voices be heard.” 

Others thought imposing term limits on positions that didn’t have them wasn’t a good practice. 

“I’m somewhat resistant about sort of applying something like a term limit on an ad-hoc basis,” said commissioner Randy Milch.

Christine Todd, the chair of the commission, thanked all four candidates and asked that all of them stay involved, whether they got on the airport commission or not.

“It is a big responsibility and it is a lot of time that’s required to devote to the health of that organization,” she said. “I would encourage anyone who doesn’t get the vote to be on the commission to continue to participate in committee work, or at least to go to the meetings on a regular basis.”