Voters approved a host of issues during the second and last night of Town Meeting on Tuesday, including an Affordable Housing Trust item, an appropriation of community preservation funds and a roughly $64 million budget for the next fiscal year.

Several other items, including changes to the scheduling and agenda of future Town Meetings and a temporary moratorium on large solar projects, were voted down, though not without vigorous discussion between residents.

Town Administrator Derek Sullivan presented several highlights from the town’s $64 million budget, which voters approved.

The Council on Aging will now have a full-time director, and the library’s budget is sufficient for it to maintain accreditation — and add a part-time employee funded by the town.

The Police Department will see a new patrol officer, whose salary will be covered by reallocating the funds formerly used for seasonal officers. The Municipal Maintenance Department will see a new laborer position.

Sullivan said that the town has struggled to fill its existing open positions. He said that he’s considering proposing abandoning the civil service requirement for hiring at the police department — a change that would need to be negotiated by the union and approved at Town Meeting. Another potential money-saving move, Sullivan said, could be privatizing the Water Pollution Control Facility. 

The Affordable Housing Trust requested voters approve an item to effectively require 50% of the net proceeds from property sales the town takes by tax title to go toward the trust’s fund account. 

Trust member Sandy Slavin spoke on behalf of the item and asked voters to help the trust work more quickly in the future to assist qualifying people with rent or mortgage payments or the addition of deed-restricted affordable unit, for instance.

“We’re looking to supplement our funds so we can work on projects,” she said. “We don’t have a specific project in mind.”

Select Board member Alan Slavin questioned the item, adding that his concern was that the trust has no specific project on the books at the moment. He proposed passing over the item, but voters failed to support that motion before approving the original proposal. 

Voters also approved another item relating to affordable housing: the Villages at 801 Main Street.

The affordable housing development, which is being developed by the same company as the existing Village at 815 Main Street complex, would include seven affordable housing units split between three buildings. 

The article asked for $300,000 in Community Preservation funds, which residents debated as some voiced their concern about using public money for private enterprises.

Others shared their support for the addition, noting that the project isn’t a huge development and would move the town closer toward meeting its affordable housing quota.

“It maintains the character that we want to see in Wareham,” Community Preservation Committee Joan Kinniburgh said.

A number of items however, did not make it past the Town Meeting Tuesday night.

Petitioner and Select Board candidate Brenda Eckstrom asked voters to approve two of her items, which addressed the format and scheduling of future Town Meetings.

One article asks for Town Meetings to be held on Saturdays, starting at 11 a.m. and ending at 4 p.m. with a continuing date of the following Saturday. The other proposed to eliminate the lottery system, which Eckstrom said would help people plan to show up for articles they’re interested in for Town Meeting.

The issue of people leaving in the midst of Town Meeting was brought up several times throughout the night, particularly during Eckstrom’s articles. The exodus of town voters was especially fresh in voters’ minds after Monday night, when many dozens of voters left after the contentious Decas school item was passed.

“This is for people who … they can’t get here the whole time,” Eckstrom said.

Some town residents took to the microphone to protest the articles, saying they felt voters’ departures were disrespectful to other people who stuck around for the whole meeting. Others raised the issue of child care and accessibility of Town Meetings. 

One resident, who said she is disabled, said holding Town Meetings on Saturdays would help her and elderly residents be able to attend. 

Neither the Saturday schedule change nor the lottery system passed.

Later, a temporary solar moratorium failed to pass after residents shared their concerns over what kind of message the passing of two solar bylaws would send to the attorney general. The moratorium would have barred the town from allowing any new large-scale solar fields for a year.