SHUTESBURY — Appealing to the state Legislature to allow noncitizens who live in Shutesbury the right vote in local elections, making the town pollinator friendly, and providing some money for the rebuilding of the Amherst Regional High School track, will be presented to residents at a special Town Meeting.

The eight-article warrant will be taken up Tuesday, Dec. 3 at 6 p.m. at the Shutesbury Elementary School.

Like other communities, including neighboring Leverett at annual Town Meeting in the of spring 2023, voters will decide whether to allow “lawful permanent residents 18 years or older who reside in Shutesbury” to be registered to vote and be able to participate in town meetings, elections and actions, and serve on elected and appointed municipal boards, commissions and committees.

Even if approved, this would depend on action by legislators, who have not granted it to other communities, though it wouldn’t allow these noncitizens to vote in any state or federal election or hold office at the state or federal level.

By being designated as a pollinator friendly community, Shutesbury would “prioritize native plantings and pollinator-friendly practices in municipal landscaping and restoration efforts,” as well as encourage landowners, land trusts and others to prioritize the planting of native species in landscaping, land management and restoration efforts, avoid the use of insecticides and minimize the use of other types of pesticides and develop a Shutesbury Pollinator Habitat Action Plan that includes public education about protecting pollinators and their habitats.

The petition cites that bees, moths, butterflies, and other pollinators are an essential component of a healthy ecosystem and provide ecological services that support plant and animal life.

“Our local ecosystems that support pollinators are under tremendous threat from climate change, habitat loss and fragmentation, proliferation of nonnative plant species, the expanded use of pesticides, light pollution, and the spread of pollutants, pathogens, and parasites,” the article states.

The most spending is $136,000 from the Community Preservation Act account for the $4.41 million track and field project at the high school. Most of that is for reorienting the track to north-south and creating a new interior field with grass. Being located in Amherst, the project will depend on mostly Amherst financing, with some money requested from Pelham and Leverett, as well. Amherst’s permitting boards are currently reviewing the project.

Other spending includes:

■$25,000, either from free cash or the stabilization account, to provide the money to make timely payments to Shutesbury police officers doing private duty details;

■$25,000, from either of those accounts, to be placed into the Finance Committee’s reserve fund;

■$20,000, from either of those accounts, to cover cover various expenses associated with the town administrator position, including transition, vacation accrual payout and a potentially higher salary, following the recent departure of Town Administrator Becky Torres to take on a similar role in Sunderland;

■$2,541, from either of those accounts, to increase the current year’s budget to cover expenses related to assistants and aides at the M.N. Spear Library;

■$876 from free cash to pay prior year bills.

Scott Merzbach can reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.