ASHFIELD — Special town meeting voters Monday night made the Selectboard the head of the town’s “Municipal Lighting Plant” (MLP) and modified zoning rules regarding the citing of telecommunications facilities.

The Selectboard’s new designation will help the town meet a broadband requirement that the town designate an MLP board to oversee its fiber optic buildout. Ashfield is among the first six “unserved” towns working with Massachusetts Broadband Institute (MBI) specifically on its broadband infrastructure.

Among the changes made to the telecommunication facilities regulations is that antennas that don’t exceed height requirements will now be allowed in town without a special permit. The town’s height restrictions require a special permit for any building or structure (including towers) that are at least 50 feet above the average grade, within 25 feet of a building or structure.

Siting conditions were added to the zoning regulations, including the following:

That the applicant be prepared to install the most appropriate, up-to-date camouflage if it will lessen impacts of neighborhood character;

That setbacks for cell towers must be at least 10 times their height from existing public school boundaries, town-owned parks and the town’s historic district;

That towers must be set back five times their height from existing residences and buildings unless a right-of-way is obtained from their homeowner.

Changes to special permit regulations would require the applicant to submit any environmental impact studies required by the Federal Communications Commission to the town as part of the special permit application. Also, an amendment says adding a new antenna to an existing conforming or special-permitted tower would not require a special permit, as long as the new antenna does not make the structure nonconforming (or more nonconforming than its special permit allows.)

Voters also approved adding an associate Planning Board member to act on special permit applications, whenever the board doubles as the town’s special permit granting authority.

The following money transfers were approved:

$4,000 to the Information Technology Account.

$10,000 to cover an appropriation shortage in the General Highway Expense Account.

$10,000 for a town classification and compensation study.