The annual Fall Town Meeting, set to begin Monday, Oct. 25, at 7 p.m. in the Wareham High School auditorium, has a long agenda of 91 "articles." Following is a brief description of those articles.

The full "warrant" (the agenda), complete with town officials' explanation of each article, is attached to the online version of this story.

Budgets. Articles 1-3 ask voters to make changes in the town, school, and sewer department budgets to accommodate changed circumstances since the original budgets were approved last spring. The most significant changes involve having less money available from the state for the town and school budgets, resulting in spending cuts, and state requirements that the sewer department increase staffing, to be funded by an increase in sewer user fees.

Equipment purchases. Articles 5-7 involve the purchase of new computer equipment for Town Hall, communications equipment for emergency services departments, vehicles for Municipal Maintenance, and other miscellaneous equipment.

Community Preservation funds. Articles 12-17 involve the expenditure of Community Preservation funds. Collected by the town through a tax on real estate sales and a surcharge on property taxes of properties assessed at more than $100,000, and supplemented with state funds, Community Preservation funds are required to be used for historic preservation, affordable housing, and open space preservation.

This fall the Community Preservation Committee has proposed using funds to help purchase 50 acres of land along the Weweantic River, assist a private developer in rehabilitating two houses and converting them to affordable-housing units, assist in the restoration of the exterior of the Webster Hall building on Main Street (now housing Piper Beau's Restaurant), and planning for restoration of the Everett Educational Center (once Wareham's two-room high school, now the school department building sitting next to the Congregational Church by Center Park on Gibbs Avenue).

Union agreements. Articles 18-30 would fund the result of union contract negotiations, some of which have been completed.

Town charter changes. Articles 36-66 are recommendations by the Charter Review Committee. Last spring, the same group recommended that Wareham switch to a mayor-and-town-council form of government. When that proposal was rejected by Town Meeting, the committee went back to work with the intention of amending -- rather than replacing -- the existing town charter.

The group's recommendations range from simple clarifications of wording currently in the charter to proposals that would strip both the Finance Committee and Town Meeting of much of their current decision-making authority, have selectmen elected to represent individual precincts, and allow a "transition period" after elections in which a defeated candidate (or one who had chosen not to run for re-election) would remain in office for several months after the town election.

Bylaw changes. Articles 67-78 are recommendations by Town Clerk Mary Ann Silva. They include increasing fees that have not been increased since 2002, rewriting the rules for various types of dog kennels, prohibiting town employees from serving as selectmen, moving the annual town election from April to May, and narrowing the role of the Finance Committee.

Nitrogen bylaw. Article 80, submitted by the Clean Water Committee, would require that the developers of medium-sized housing projects (10 units or more) take steps to ensure that no project adds any nitrogen to the town's watershed. For developments not on the town's sewer system, that would mean the installation of a special septic system to eliminate all nitrogen from waste and/or finding a way to eliminate another source of nitrogen discharge -- such as getting a cranberry bog taken out of production.

Noise bylaw. Article 81, submitted by Selectmen, would add to the town's bylaws specific restrictions on noise levels in public places.

Bay Pointe. Article 82 is essentially a do-over of an article that Town Meeting approved last fall -- but which was later rejected by the state's attorney general because of a mistake in how notice of the bylaw was posted in Town Hall. It would establish a Special Permit process for land zoned "Conference Recreational," with the goal of allowing the current owners of the Bay Pointe Country Club to plan for development of their property. Added since Town Meeting last saw the article: A prohibition against the siting of "big box" stores in the district.

Westfield. Articles 83-84 have been submitted by a committee appointed to study the proposed Westfield senior housing project after Town Meeting rejected the proposal for a third time last spring. The report on the group's study activity (Article 83) is not yet available, but Article 84 recommends approval of the project: Giving Selectmen the authority to lease town land off Charlotte Furnace Road to a private developer for the purpose of constructing senior rental housing that would be deemed "affordable" by state standards. Added since Town Meeting last saw the article: the article seeks to clarify issues including appropriate land uses at the site, and requires that the developer rehabilitate and maintain the recreation fields.

Council on Aging. Article 85 would reduce the number of members of the Council on Aging from 11 to nine.

Citizens petition articles. Article 90, submitted by residents of Rock Marsh Road, would get the town to take ownership of and responsibility for Rock Marsh Road. Article 91, submitted by Lynne Burroughs, would require a Town Meeting vote before any wind turbine is built in Wareham.

The remaining articles are what officials describe as "housekeeping": routine approvals that need the vote of Town Meeting but are rarely -- if ever -- controversial.