Fears of a superspreader event have led to the postponement of Tisbury’s 350th anniversary celebration, which was scheduled for Sept. 19.

At the recommendation of the board of health, town officials voted Tuesday to postpone the party until 2022.

“We’re three and a half weeks out, our [case] numbers are really high and they don’t seem to be going down,” Tisbury health agent Maura Valley told a joint meeting of the select board and the board of health.

“It being a town-sponsored event really makes me nervous,” board of health chairman Jeff Pratt said, citing data that suggest close to 50 per cent of Covid cases are occurring among vaccinated people.

Town administrator Jay Grande said the cost of calling off next month’s community barbecue, live music and dancing is minor compared with the need to prevent disease transmission.

“The monies involved — they’re not insubstantial, but . . . they’re not necessarily so overwhelming that you wouldn’t put public safety and health foremost,” Mr. Grande told board members.

“It’s not critical to have this event,” he said. “It should be postponed.”

Select board members concurred, voting unanimously with the board of health to call off this year’s party.

“The prudent thing would be to put this off until next spring, depending on the [Covid-19] numbers,” board chairman Jeff Kristal said.

“We can call it 350-Plus,” suggested select board member Roy Cutrer. “If we’re going to have a celebration, we should do it in a way that the most people can enjoy it, and right now I think our participation would be limited,” he added.

Ms. Valley also raised the topic of a vaccine mandate for town workers.

“This is just to begin the discussion,” she said, noting that a high percentage of town employees are already vaccinated.

Board members showed little enthusiasm for pursuing a mandate.

“I think we would be pushing people to get vaccines first,” Mr. Kristal said. “I would imagine that when the visitors leave the Island, we will see the [case] numbers drop,” he added later.

In other business Tuesday, the board backed a recommendation from Mr. Grande and police chief Chris Habekost to drop the Daggett avenue speed limit from the current, unposted 30 miles per hour to 25.

“I think that 25 miles an hour is quite a bit on that road, 30 miles an hour even more,” Chief Habekost told the board. “It’s the road most people take to get to the beach, so it’s a pretty well-traveled stretch.”

Residents in the thickly settled neighborhood have asked for a lower speed limit, Mr. Grande said. Chief Habekost said that while his department has stationed a cruiser in the area and used a radar speed sign, both could be better used elsewhere in the town.

Public works director Kirk Metell said the town already has the 25 mph speed signs in stock, ready to install.

Chief Habekost also told the select board he would like the town to invest in three more radar speed signs, at a total cost of about $10,000. The purchase is not eligible for available grant funding, the chief said.

The board met jointly with assessors to name Jamie Norton as a new assessor, and with the financial and advisory committee to appoint Louise Clough to that board.

Meeting jointly with the planning board, select board members agreed to appoint a climate committee with seven members which will subsume the town’s energy committee and act as an advisory body for both the select and planning boards.

Mr. Grande said he will begin advertising for qualified town residents to volunteer for the committee,

Finally, select board meetings will move from Tuesdays to Wednesdays, beginning Sept. 8. Mr. Grande said the switch should give town employees and board members more time to prepare, particularly after three-day weekends.