BUCKLAND — Voters Wednesday night approved a $4.41 million town budget — with $2.36 million of it going for the town’s school assessments.

They also voted to seek a $50,000 park grant that would help to ensure that Vets Field, also known as Cricket Field, would remain a town ballfield forever.

Buckland saw a $131,341 increase in its assessment for the Mohawk Trail Regional School District, which is a 6.6 percent hike. To prevent the town from needing a levy limit override, other budget lines within the town operating budget were reduced, including $40,000 that was to have been used to repave Bray Road this year.

According to the Finance Committee, the newly approved budget means that Buckland will see a tax increase of about $87 per $100,000 valuation.

Voters approved only one of Mohawk’s three regional agreement amendments, because the others will be addressed at a special town meeting on May 16. According to the Board of Selectmen, the other articles weren’t ready to be acted upon at the annual town meeting because of a delay in legal review by the town’s attorney.

They approved the borrowing of $295,000 for the town’s share of capital projects at the Buckland Shelburne Elementary School, just as Shelburne had done one night earlier. Asbestos abatement, new flooring, masonry repairs are part of this project.

Residents unanimously approved a Mohawk amendment that would allow future changes to the regional agreement to be approved by a two-thirds majority of member towns at town meetings. Currently, all towns must vote in favor of any change in the regional agreement. Under the new provision, changes to the regional agreement would be possible if they are approved by at least six out of eight member towns.

For other school costs, Buckland agreed to spend $140,000 for 10 students to attend the Franklin County Technical School — a savings of $4,000 from the current school year. Also, they voted to spend $60,000 to pay tuition and transportation costs for two students to go to Smith Vocational School.

The warrant article for $100,000 to buy the ball park from the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW Post 8503) was actually “a freebie,” selectmen’s Chairman Rob Riggan explained. The town has been discussing the purchase, when it was approached by TransCanada with an offer to help pay for it. If Buckland can secure a $50,000 parks grant from the state, TransCanada would provide $50,000 in matching money to buy the ball park, which has been appraised as worth $115,000. The parcel and buildings consists of about 3¼ acres, and it has lighting for night games.

The town first had to vote to acquire the park before the town could apply for the grant. The money from TransCanada comes from the company’s community funding. The town will now apply for the grant and work on a purchase and sales agreement. If the grant doesn’t come through, the land goes back to the VFW.

Polly Barlett pointed out that the field has been used for baseball for at least 46 years.

Voters have given the selectmen the green light for establishing a $500 “Farmer Series Pouring Brewery and Winery Permit,” a new state liquor license that will be required for a new business that brews beer and makes cider to sell on premises in a vacant State Street shop that formerly housed a framing shop. Selectmen said the interested business would grow the ingredients, brew on premises and offer sample tastings of their beers and ciders in the shop.

The town also unanimously agreed to join the Municipal Coalition Against the Pipeline (MCAP) — a group of towns and cities that worked together to prevent construction of the now-suspended Northeast Energy Direct pipeline. This group is also working measures to ban fracked gas pipelines and champion renewable energy. The selectmen said they were interested in joining this group because of concerns regarding the safety of liquefied gas being transported through town by rail.

Voters also agreed to update the Shelburne Falls Wastewater Treatment Facility sewer bylaws, as was also approved in Shelburne. The treatment facility serves residents on both sides of the village of Shelburne Falls.