With so many items up for votes covering so many topics across Wareham, it might be easier to ask what isn’t going to be voted on at the Town Meeting on Monday, April 25.

A $73,376,492 total budget — up 4.19% from last year. Affordable housing. Solar panels. The future of the former Decas school. Holding Town Meetings on Saturdays, and changing Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples Day.

It’s all up for a vote on Monday night at 7 p.m. at the High School, located at 7 Viking Dr. Voters are asked to arrive early to allow time to check in.  All voters registered in town can participate.

Here’s a look at some of the items that have already been discussed at length throughout town.

Sewer upgrades. Two major sewer projects are up for votes, both intended to improve coastal infrastructure. In Swifts Beach, the sewer department hopes to replace the current system and install grinder pumps at each house — that will cost $3 million. Officials say those pipes, some of which are 17 feet deep, are beyond repair. Some are underwater all the time. The department is asking for an additional $3 million to line the “force main” that connects the pump station at the Narrows to the Water Pollution Control Facility on Tony’s Lane off Sandwich Road. That pipe is heavily corroded, 50 years old and officials have said they’re worried about its potential failure. 

Solar bylaws. Two changes to the town’s solar regulations are on the agenda. See Page 10.

Decas school building. Two groups, the town-created Decas School Steering Committee and separate nonprofit John W. Decas Community Center Foundation, have been working to make the old Decas School building home to a community center. 

The group has two items up for consideration. One asks for the town to grant building access to the committee and nonprofit to help prepare it for occupancy; that the Council on Aging be moved to the building by July 1, 2022; and that the Town Administrator executes contracts on requests for proposals to bring a preschool program, solar canopy lease and food pantry into the school by the beginning of the next fiscal year.

The second proposal asks that voters allow the steering committee to make a report at Town Meeting.

Community Preservation Funds. Voters will be asked to approve two uses of Community Preservation Funds for beach mobility mats and new affordable housing units. Those funds are collected via a surcharge on property taxes and can only be used for certain purposes: Open space,  recreation, affordable housing and historic preservation. 

Harbormaster Garry Buckminster has requested $60,000 to purchase beach mobility mats for town beaches. The mats allow safe, stable access for those in wheelchairs, using crutches or facing other challenges navigating the sand, and they should last for 10 years.

The second request for Community Preservation Funds comes from the developers behind the Village at 815 Main Street, who are requesting $300,000 to help them construct six new affordable housing units at 801 Main St., next door to the existing housing complex.

Affordable housing. Last year, voters at Town Meeting passed an affordable housing bylaw meant to add to the town’s affordable housing stock. The approved bylaw tackles affordable housing in Wareham by reducing the minimum lot size in some areas. The article was designed to let homeowners subdivide their land and create new residences more easily, adding to the town’s affordable housing roster.

The wording of the original bylaw was slightly inconsistent with state law, which Attorney General Maura Healey advised should be fixed so new residences built under the bylaw would count toward Wareham’s affordable housing stock. Healey approved last year’s bylaw, however.

This year, petitioner Brenda Eckstrom has proposed an amendment to the already passed affordable housing bylaw, meant to bring the town law up to speed with what Healey recommended.

Select Board member Peter Teitelbaum has expressed concern that the updated bylaw still wouldn’t meet state requirements. At Teitelbaum’s request, Town Meeting will be asked to rescind the affordable housing bylaw it passed last year, rendering Eckstrom’s proposal null.

Future Town Meetings. Two items proposed by Brenda Eckstrom could change the format of Town Meetings if approved by voters. One article asks that future Town Meetings be held on Saturdays, while the other asks that items be voted on in order, rather than by lottery.

Indigenous Peoples Day. Voters will be asked to approve the replacement of Columbus Day with “Indigenous Peoples Day” or “Native American Day.” Several states do not celebrate Columbus Day already, and South Dakota became the first state to instead recognize Native American Day in 1989.

East Wareham School. Voters will be asked to approve transferring the closed East Wareham School back to town ownership from the school department, which would enable the town to sell the property.

Revolving funds. One article asks voters to approve the creation of two new revolving accounts for the Little Harbor Country Club and the Decas Facility. Those accounts would be funded by revenue generated by the golf course and any future uses of the former Decas School, and would cover the costs associated with each location. 

Tremont Nail Factory lease. One element of the future of the Tremont Nail Factory complex will be voted on at Town Meeting. Voters will decide whether to authorize the Select Board to lease the factory to the Bentley Companies, which was selected as master developer by the Select Board. The lease would last at least 30 years, with the option of two 30-year renewals.