CRANBERRY ISLES – Town meeting voters decided Monday to delay for another year the testing of chemicals that would kill mosquitoes to give fishermen time to test the toxic agents on lobster larvae.

“They’re not worried about adult lobsters, they’re worried about the babies,” First Selectmen Richard Beal said after the nearly three-hour meeting.

Mosquitoes have been a problem on Great and Little Cranberry islands for as long as anyone can remember. In fact, a magazine article published in the late 1920s shows a photo of island residents digging ditches and draining the swampy areas of the islands in an effort to control the infestation.

Last year, a special commission was established to study options for controlling the mosquito population because of the added concern about the West Nile virus, an often-fatal virus spread by mosquitoes.

The panel has recommended testing slow-release larvicide on likely mosquito breeding areas, but Beal said the 64 town meeting voters agreed with fishermen who asked that the chemicals first be tested on lobster larvae this summer before proceeding with other field tests.

The Cranberry Isles is composed of five islands off Mount Desert Island, with only Great and Little Cranberry islands inhabited year-round. There are 111 year-round residents on the two islands and about 550 during the summer.

Only year-round residents can vote at town meeting.

In other town-meeting action Monday, voters:

. Elected Orville Blank of Little Cranberry Island to a three-year term on the Board of Selectmen, replacing Denise McCormick who filled an unexpired term and did not seek re-election.

. Elected Theodore Spurling Jr. of Little Cranberry Island to a three-year term on the Cranberry Isles school committee; and re-elected Cindy Thomas to her third term on the board.

. Elected Robert Phillips to replace Tim Moran on the shellfish conservation committee and re-elected Kelly Sanborn to that board.

. Endorsed a new solid waste collection and disposal system that selectmen think will be far more cost-effective and efficient than the existing system, and approved $100,000 to finance it. The new system would provide compacting equipment that would allow 10 times more trash to be collected than the current noncompacting system, along with other features, Beal said.

. Doubled funding for the volunteer fire departments on Great and Little Cranberry islands, from $3,000 to $6,000; and added $12,000 to the $50,000 in reserve to build a salt and sand storage shed on each island.

The municipal budget endorsed Monday totals $722,700, up from $457,350 last year. The school budget was unchanged by voters at $294,104, Beal said.

Selectmen project a property tax rate of 9.4 mills for 2003, Beal said, or $9.40 per $1,000 in property value, an increase of 1.4 mills over last year.

The single largest increase in municipal expenses for the new year is debt service on the 3-acre waterfront parcel the town bought last year in Southwest Harbor for a future intermodel transportation hub and parking area. The interest and debt on the town’s $2.4 million loan for the property is estimated at $230,000 this year.

Town meeting voters approved an operational budget of $77,250 for the Southwest Harbor facility, minus $44,450 in anticipated rental income from buildings on the property, including the Hinckley Insurance office.

The budget includes $20,000 for maintenance, $27,740 in property taxes and $7,150 for floats and moorings.

The annual town meeting went smoothly, Beal said. He thought a detailed annual report by selectmen gave residents ample information before the meeting to feel comfortable making decisions from the floor.

The Cranberry Isles Ladies Aid Society offered a lunch of Cornish game hens and homemade pies after the meeting. Beal said about 80 people gobbled up nearly all of the food, noting that about 20 of them skipped the town meeting but not the lunch.