MONTAGUE — Requests to use $48,500 for a conference room and break room renovation at the Clean Water Facility and $24,000 to supplement the Turners Falls Municipal Airport are among the topics Special Town Meeting voters will consider on Wednesday.

The meeting, to review eight warrant articles, will start at 6:30 p.m. at Turners Falls High School.

The single capital request, Article 5, comes from the Clean Water Facility, which seeks $48,500 to design, construct and equip a conference room and break room at the 34 Greenfield Road facility.

After the main electric generator from the 1980s was removed, leaving empty space, it opened up an opportunity to create a more suitable break room and conference room to meet current staffing levels.

“When they built the room, there were only three people on staff,” Clean Water Facility Superintendent Chelsey Little said in an interview Monday, adding that the current space is too small for all nine staff members to meet.

Article 6 pertains to the Turners Falls Municipal Airport’s fiscal year 2025 budget. The request is for $24,000 to supplement the operating budget, where $7,000 will be for a Part-Time Intern Account, $13,000 for the Airport Building and Grounds Account, and $4,000 for the Airport Equipment Repair and Maintenance Account. The $24,000 would come from the Retained Earnings Account.

An existing intern was retained from the summer for a slightly higher rate for work in the winter and spring. Large expenses from the summer and fall have depleted the building and grounds budget, including some preemptive building repairs, and money for updated safety equipment, so the $13,000 is requested to operate the facility safely until June, according to Airport Manager Bryan Camden. Smaller, unexpected expenses also contributed to the depletion of the Equipment Repair and Maintenance Account

The Town Meeting warrant background document explains the costs that depleted the Equipment Repair and Maintenance Account, including $2,200 that was used to replace a 14-year-old flail mower, $6,000 for maintenance on the airport operations truck, and $2,000 to meet new safety codes and emissions requirements.

The funding requests from the airport raised questions from the Selectboard during its Jan. 13 meeting. Vice Chair Matt Lord felt uncomfortable with the use of money outside of the airport’s designated budget. Camden reviewed the request once more with the Finance Committee, and the committee voted unanimously to support the article.

In an interview on Monday, Camden said the request isn’t “luxury money,” but rather it is money the airport would use to maintain safe operations at the facility and keep it at its current high standards.

Article 7, involving a proposal to change the tree warden position from elected to appointed, is one of two non-financial articles for voters to consider on Wednesday.

The warrant explains that both the Selectboard and Department of Public Works have struggled to find a qualified resident to fill the position, which was held by Mark Stevens prior to his death in October 2024. On Jan. 13, DPW Groundskeeper Jason Kingsbury was appointed to serve as interim tree warden until June 30, 2025.

The tree warden receives a stipend of $1,764 and administers a $30,000 annual budget. By making this position appointed instead of elected, it would eliminate the residency requirement, thus allowing for a broader pool of applicants.

The final article, Article 8, asks voters to accept Sandy Lane as a public way. This roadway provides access to the Transfer Station, Franklin County Sheriff’s Office Regional Dog Shelter, the Franklin Regional Transit Authority (FRTA) bus garage and Judd Wire Inc.

“The main benefit to it being a public way rather than a driveway is that it makes the town eligible to receive Chapter 90 reimbursements from the state, which is determined by a formula based on how many miles of public roads you have in town,” Town Administrator Walter Ramsey explained during the Jan. 6 Selectboard meeting.

Other articles on Wednesday’s warrant ask voters to replenish the FY25 Reserve Fund by transferring $36,000 from free cash, allocate $12,500 for Montague Community Television, use $20,547 from free cash to pay for a Montague student’s transportation to Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School, and transfer $24,751 to replenish the Bid Overrun Account.

A copy of the warrant is available at montague-ma.gov/p/1564/2025-02-12-Special-Town-Meeting.

Erin-Leigh Hoffman can be reached at ehoffman@recorder.com or 413-930-4231.