Town Meeting voters next week will consider new bylaws governing barking and dangerous dogs, a moratorium on marijuana dispensaries, and whether to borrow money for textbooks, technology, and a new Municipal Maintenance gas pump.

All registered voters in Wareham are eligible to attend and participate in Town Meeting, which kicks off at 7 p.m. on Monday, April 22, at the Wareham High School auditorium.

To read about the proposed regulations on rental homes, click here.

In budget business, voters will be asked to approve a $54.2 million town operating budget, which includes $25.3 million for the School Department (not including the transportation budget).

A $700,000 gap remains between what the School Department says it needs to operate and what officials say the town can provide. Representatives from the Board of Selectmen, School Committee, and Finance Committee were scheduled to meet on Wednesday to discuss the problem.

The budget also includes nearly $2.6 million for the town's portion of the Upper Cape Cod Regional Technical School budget, which is the same amount it was funded last year, despite the regional school district asking for a $400,000 increase. However, if a majority of the five districts sending students to Upper Cape approve the school's budget as requested, Wareham will have to pay the money anyway. Money will be set aside in case that happens.

The following is a round-up of other issues on the agenda. For a full list, click the links below this story to download the warrants.

Dog bylaws

Town Meeting voters may finally have the chance to vote on dog bylaws after putting off a vote at two previous Town Meetings.

"We're trying to implement something that almost every city and town has," said Wareham Animal Control Officer Cheryl Gorvett-Dill, who notes that the town is currently without bylaws governing barking and dangerous dogs.

The Dog Bylaw Committee was established by Town Meeting in spring 2012, where Gorvett-Dill made a request for the creation of dog bylaws.

The passage of the by-laws was delayed at the 2012 fall Town Meeting when, shortly after the committee completed its set of recommendations, Governor Deval Patrick signed “An Act Further Regulating Animal Control” into law.

This gave the committee 32 pages of new regulations, and the committee asked Town Meeting for an extension to sort through the new regulations in order to ensure that the local bylaws would be in compliance with state law.

"The changes to the law are very beneficial and I'm glad they got approved," said Gorvett-Dill. "We just really wanted to make sure there was nothing in conflict."

One of the big changes in store for dog owners in Wareham, should the article pass, is that the Board of Selectmen would be responsible for dog "dangerousness" hearings, rather than the police chief.

The bylaws also clarify the responsibilities of dog owners with regard to controlling their pets, and clearly define what makes a dog "dangerous" or "at-risk."

Under the proposed bylaws, a dangerous dog can be face a number of penalties, but the punishment will not be the same for each animal and each incident. Gorvett-Dill says each will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

The penalties for a dog deemed dangerous could range from behavior training to being outfitted with a micro-chip or tattoo, euthanization, or requiring the owner to keep the dog in a secure enclosure.

The proposed financial penalties for violating the regulations regarding dangerous dogs or dogs at-risk of being dangerous are a $50 fine for the first offense, a $100 fine for the second offense within a 24-month period, a $200 fine for the third offense within a 24-month period, and $500 fines for four or more offenses within a 24-month period.

The fines would be doubled for any incident that results in serious injury to a person.

The bylaws would also establish exceptions to the rules classifying certain dogs as dangerous or at-risk. Exceptions include if a dog bites a person who is trespassing on the dog owner's property, if a person is tormenting the dog, or if the dog is protecting itself or its owner. These, and other exceptions, could be considered grounds for exemption from the dangerous or at-risk classification.

There are also proposed rules for dogs that are barking or howling excessively between the hours of 11 p.m. and 7 a.m., or be in excess of 20 minutes between 7 a.m. and 11 p.m.

A dog may be declared a barking or howling nuisance if "such noise would be found by a reasonable person to be disruptive to one’s quiet and peaceful enjoyment," according to the proposal.

Violations of the barking regulations would result in a warning for the first offense, a $25 fine for the second offense within a 12-month period, a $50 fine for a third offense within a 12-month period, and $100 fines for four or more offenses within a 12-month period.

"We all worked on these by laws and I think they are very well put together, very fair," said Gorvett-Dill.

Moratorium on marijuana dispensaries

The Planning Board is asking voters to approve a one-year moratorium on the operation of medical marijuana treatment centers, or marijuana dispensaries, so the town can consider how to regulate such centers.

The use of medical marijuana was approved by voters statewide last November. Now, there 35 licenses available statewide for people who wish to operate medical marijuana dispensaries.

While the state Department of Public Health issued a set of draft regulations for dispensaries in March, the final regulations aren't expected to be issued until May.

"We're just trying to get ahead of the curve and get it right," said Selectman Alan Slavin, who serves as Selectmen liaison to the Planning Board.

Both Slavin and Town Administrator Derek Sullivan attended the Massachusetts Municipal Association's annual meeting in January, where medical marijuana dispensaries were one topic of discussion.

"They were explaining that there was going to be a delay getting the regulations in place," explained Slavin. "With help of town counsel, we put together, through the planning board, a temporary moratorium."

Municipalities are not permitted to place outright bans on dispensaries, however, a moratorium is acceptable.

According to Slavin, it will give the town time to ensure it is in compliance with state regulations and to decide where, if at all, a dispensary would fit in the community.

"Within a year's time, hopefully we'll have a set of bylaws in place," said Slavin.

Purchases and borrowing

Voters will be asked to allow the town to borrow $397,000 for the purchase of textbooks and technology for the School Department, to OK the use of up to $200,000 to purchase or lease school buses, and to allow the town to borrow approximately $44,000 to replace a gas pump at Municipal Maintenance.

Officials from the School Department, which was unsuccessful last summer in garnering voter approval for a temporary property tax increase to pay for textbooks and technology, say that approximately $355,000 will be used to buy books, with the largest portion for math books at Wareham High. Approximately $42,000 will be used to complete "wireless access" infrastructure in the schools.

The use of up to $200,000 for school buses to replace some of the vehicles in the district's aging fleet will be taken from a Transportation Department account that includes money the district takes in from completing bus runs for other school districts, among other funds.

The gas pump at the Municipal Maintenance Department is failing and the town can no longer buy parts to fix it, Town Administrator Derek Sullivan said.

"The computer system that runs [the pump] can no longer track who's using what," Sullivan explained, noting that Municipal Maintenance purchases the gas, but bills usage back to the individual town departments.

A new pump will cost approximately $88,000. Fortunately, the town has some money left over from when a recent repair of the Wareham High roof came in under-budget, so the town will only have to come up with approximately $44,000 more for the pump.

Preserve a smokestack?

The Community Preservation Committee is asking voters to approve the use of $100,000 in Community Preservation funds to restore a 112-year-old smokestack at the British Landing Condominiums and Yacht Club, located at 53 Main Street.

The estimated cost of the project is $140,000, and the homeowners have raised $40,000 to put toward the project.

"It is a radial smokestack. ... It's a unique piece of history that should be preserved," said Community Preservation Committee Treasurer Sandy Slavin. "There's a lot of history in that particular building and that smokestack."

Community Preservation money is generated by a 3% property tax surcharge, with the first $100,000 of a property's assessed value exempt from the levy. Matching state funds come from a tax on property transfers.

The money can be put toward projects that involve recreation, historical preservation, open space, and affordable housing.

British Landing got its name from an incident during the War of 1812. In the year 1814, 200 British troops came ashore, and terrorized the town before leaving with several hostages.

The building also has roots in Wareham's economic history, having once housed the Wareham Manufacturing Company, then the Franconia Iron Works, and others.

During World War II the building was used by the A.D. Makepeace Company to dry out excess berries for shipment to troops overseas.

Slavin says that the project is solely for purposes of historical preservation.

"This is a privately owned building ... but it's not as of this is going to make money for this group," said Slavin.

The Community Preservation Committee is also asking to use $30,000 for a study to find out just what is needed to restore the decrepit playgrounds around town, and to establish new recreational facilities.

The committee want to conduct an assessment of town-owned playgrounds, and to look into developing more "passive recreation" at the Bryant Farm, Ahern property, and the Westgate property.

Passive recreation includes things like kayak launches, bike paths, and walking trails.

"It was recommended that the Community Preservation Committee, before they give out money for a specific project, does an assessment of what we have in town," said Slavin.

Reorganizing Finance Department

Town Administrator Derek Sullivan is hoping to provide "stability" to the town's Finance Department by putting a finance director in charge of the accounting office and eliminating the assistant town accountant's position.

The move would actually save the town money. As the department is currently set up, the town accountant serves as the finance director. The previous town accountant, who departed last fall, was paid $93,000 per year. (Assistant Town Accountant Judith Lauzon has been filling the seat since then.)

If the measure is approved, the finance director would be an "upgrade" of the town's treasurer/collector position. The salary for the town accountant's position would then be lowered to the low-$70,000s per year, Sullivan said.

"At the end of the day, we'll be able to finance the town finance director position and save roughly $60,000 in salaries," Sullivan said.

The town accountant would no longer be in charge of overseeing the entire department.

"Their hands are on the books," explained Sullivan. "That's what this town needs is a hands-on, roll-up-your-sleeves town accountant."

There have been a series of staffing changes in the administration and finance departments over the past few years, resulting in sometimes unfavorable Mass. Department of Revenue assessments of the town's books and unfavorable comments by the town's private auditor.

"We need to have some stability in the Finance Department," Sullivan said. "Having a finance director will help stabilize that, make sure that the day-to-day activities that are supposed to be done are done. ... It's an additional layer of oversight."