Reacting to an April 7 letter from the federal agency, selectmen sounded off about the decision to dredge Menemsha channel despite the town’s objections. “I’m not surprised but I am ticked off,” said selectman Jonathan Mayhew.

A spirit of cooperation traditionally prevails in the neighboring towns of Aquinnah and Chilmark, but there has been disagreement lately over an Army Corps of Engineers project to dredge the Menemsha basin and channel.

Funding for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project comes from the $50 billion Hurricane Sandy relief bill passed in 2012. Aquinnah wants the dredging, but Chilmark does not.

This is to express my concern about the proposed project of the Army Corps of Engineers to re-dredge the existing channel.

Edgartown selectmen signed off the dredge committee’s request to rent an excavator and move about 1,400 cubic yards of sand. The sand needed to be dredged as soon as possible because Edgartown Great Pond has a dredging deadline of April 1.

Work to deepen the channels at the entrance to Lake Tashmoo and at the west entrance to Vineyard Haven harbor wrapped up earlier this month. Sand was placed at the public beach in Tashmoo as well as the public beaches at Grove avenue and Owen Little Way.