WHATELY — Residents approved numerous housekeeping articles at Tuesday’s Special Town Meeting, such as cleaning up Whately’s zoning bylaws and matching a grant to fund a feasibility study of the former Center School.

In an approximately 42-minute meeting, 18 residents joined the Selectboard in approving each of the 10 articles on the warrant, with the feasibility study and an Agricultural Preservation Restriction (APR) eliciting the only discussion of the evening.

The feasibility study, Article 7, involved a request to transfer $14,000 from the Community Preservation Fund to match a National Trust for Historic Preservation grant. The study would lay out potential reuse options for the former Center School, which will then help guide the town in determining potential repairs and upgrades needed.

“The feasibility study gives us a real understanding of what the building offers,” said Richard Korpiewski, a member of the Center School Committee II, which is undertaking the planning process for the school. “Every time we talk to a contractor, they ask us, ‘What are you ultimately going to use it for,’ that makes it difficult when we don’t know what we can use it for.”

Korpiewski noted that at the very least, the study would identify what repairs are needed for the deteriorating structure — such as the roof — to keep it standing and would let Whately “preserve it for an indeterminate amount of time” while the community determines a future use and identifies funding sources.

Any future movement on the building, though, will have to wait, as the Center School Committee was not awarded an Underutilized Properties Program grant that would have covered work on the roof, windows and masonry. The feasibility study, though, may aid the town in future grant applications, according to Center School Committee member Judy Markland.

The APR article also drew discussion, as it requested a transfer of $13,500 in free cash to buy the restriction on 40.84 acres at 269 River Road, which is owned by Jonathan and Justin Galenski.

Some residents, like Neal Abraham, questioned the timing of the warrant article, noting that APR purchases are eligible for Community Preservation Act funds.

“Why are we using free cash rather than requiring an approach to the CPC for an allocation recommendation?” Abraham asked.

Town Administrator Peter Kane said the funding schedule for this purchase would happen several months before the spring Annual Town Meeting.

Despite the timing of the APR purchase, several members of the public, including Agricultural Commission member Margaret Christie and Selectboard member Joyce Palmer-Fortune, said it was worth allocating money to preserve the land.

“This is the first APR I’ve ever seen come out of free cash after 14 years on the Selectboard,” Palmer-Fortune said. “One mess up on the timeline in that period of time, we’re doing well.”

The remaining articles were swiftly approved, including a trio of zoning amendments focused on codifying and clarifying Whately’s bylaws by cleaning up terminology — for example, the terms Board of Selectmen or Selectmen will be replaced by Selectboard — and numbering bylaws for clearer organization.

Voters also rescinded the Opioid Settlement Special Purpose Stabilization Fund and replaced it with a Special Opioid Revenue Fund, which, at the advice of the state, would allow the money to be expended without further appropriation. Voters also transferred $37,366 to the new account, which can be used to fund programs that support prevention of substance use disorder, harm reduction, treatment and recovery.

Also approved was a 10% grant match of $8,426 to fund an update of Whately’s comprehensive plan, $6,553 for costs associated with the enforcement of a dangerous dog order and euthanization, and a $450 transfer to pay assessing company CAI Technologies for a bill from the previous year.

Chris Larabee can be reached at clarabee@recorder.com.