NORTHFIELD — Allowing for plenty of time for discussion, town officials are holding a Special Town Meeting on Wednesday to vote on two articles related to funding the proposed public safety complex.

The meeting will be held starting at 6:30 p.m. at Pioneer Valley Regional School.

Although the warrant does not include a specific monetary amount, the two articles ask residents to “raise and appropriate a sum of money” and “transfer from available funds, or otherwise provide a sum or sums of money” to pay for the 18,200-square-foot public safety complex, proposed for the 26.96-acre property at 121 Main St. Costs will include the design, engineering, project management, construction, site preparation, acquisition and installation of furniture and equipment, and all other costs related to construction. An update on the project, shared by Town Administrator Andrea Llamas, states the financial request is expected to be $13.5 million.

Rather than wait for May’s Annual Town Meeting, Fire Chief Floyd “Skip” Dunnell III said the Selectboard opted to hold a Special Town Meeting for the public safety complex to allow time for a full presentation from planners, as well as time for questions from residents prior to a vote.

“[The Selectboard] felt it was going to be too long to do the Annual Town Meeting and the public safety” discussion, Dunnell said. “We want as much town involvement as possible [because] it is an investment the town is making for police, fire and EMS. ... There’s gonna be a lot of information that’s been out there but not a lot of people have had access to it. It’s going to be a review of where we’ve been, where we are now and where we will be in the future.”

According to a public safety complex update shared by Llamas, the Finance Committee had set aside more than $1 million for the project, some of which has been used for engineering and design work to date, reducing the borrowing needed for the new facility.

On April 13, the Emergency Services Facility Committee received two bids that came in below the existing construction estimate of $11.7 million. The committee ultimately voted to recommend a bid award of roughly $11.3 million.

“Now that the final pricing is in, a reasonable contingency has been added for the purpose of ensuring there is enough money in the project budget in case something unexpected should arise,” the update continues. “The contingency will not be expended or borrowed if not needed to construct the project as now envisioned and bid.”

Since the fall of 2022, design and engineering changes have resulted in a reduction of nearly $3.5 million. These reductions, along with the use of existing funding, brings the request for financing at Special Town Meeting to $13.5 million. The project update notes that officials are “incorporating this more detailed financial information into estimates and projections for more in depth analysis and effect on future tax bills/rates.”

“We hope to see a lot of people there and we’re looking for support,” Dunnell said of Special Town Meeting. “If you have any questions, this will be the time to get all the answers you need.”

Dunnell said the next step, assuming these two articles are approved on Wednesday, would be to select a contractor. Work still has to be done through the state Department of Transportation (MassDOT) and a few other entities who are working on this project, but it’s possible tree removal and site preparation could begin by late summer.

So far, the project has received approval from the Planning Board and the Zoning Board of Appeals. The Emergency Services Facility Committee is now waiting on approval from the Conservation Commission, with the next hearing planned for May 3.

“[There’s] quite a bit of prep work that needs to be done, such as drainage issues, catch basins and keeping rainwater away from Mill Brook,” Dunnell said. “Our thoughts are, hopefully, they could have the building started and possibly closed in before we get cold weather [and then we] can work on the project all winter long. … It’s about a year and a half to a two-year project from start to finish.”

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