LEVERETT — Accepting a gift of an actively managed 146.3-acre woodlot and recommending resurfacing and possibly paving the length of Dudleyville Road are among the actions to be decided by residents at Saturday’s Annual Town Meeting.

The 37-article warrant, including a $7.99 million operating budget for fiscal year 2026, will be taken up beginning at 9 a.m. at Leverett Elementary School. The first article is the town election, with Leverett remaining unique in Massachusetts in having candidates both nominated and then elected from the floor of Town Meeting.

The operating budget is up $458,396, or 6.1%, over this year’s $7.53 million operating budget. More than half of this increase is attributable to the $230,356, or 14.1% rise, from $1.63 million to $1.86 million, in the assessment for the Amherst-Pelham Regional Public Schools. The Selectboard voted 2-1 to endorse this assessment.

Known as the Two Brothers Woodlot, the mostly forested site at 353 North Leverett Road is near the Shutesbury town line. Its acquisition has been recommended by the Town Forest Exploratory Committee and would necessitate the creation of a Town Forest Committee, which would report annually in writing to the Selectboard, as well as the hiring of a forester to work with the town.

For the 1.4-mile section of Dudleyville Road, in March 2024, Tighe & Bond consultants performed an evaluation, finding that “the gravel portion of the roadway requires extensive maintenance to remain serviceable, and often becomes impassible after large rain events or during the spring thaw.” The warrant article would set the stage for an extensive rehabilitation and allow opportunities “to resurface the length of Dudleyville Road with pavement in any form.”

Aside from the regional schools assessment, the other large increase in the budget is the $124,388 increase, or 4.1%, associated with the elementary schools, going up from $3.04 million to $3.16 million. The town budget otherwise has minimal increases, aside from some salary adjustments, mostly related to 3% cost-of-living increases. There is also $6,229 added to the Council on Aging salaries, bringing that to $10,440, so a community and events coordinator position can be created, and adding $2,854 to animal control, boosting that to $6,629, related to a contract with the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office for these duties. Among cost savings is removing $8,730 by reducing a Highway Department part-time laborer position to 12 weeks.

Voters will be presented with two proposed transfers from the stabilization account: $250,000 to complete sprinkler system repairs inside Leverett Elementary School, and $75,000 to buy and equip a new police cruiser. There are also a series of free cash articles, including $185,548 going to the School Choice account to fix an accounting error made in fiscal year 2024; $83,000 going into the stabilization account to fund the capital plan; $25,000 paying for town legal expenses; $19,901 going to the after-school account to correct an accounting error made in fiscal years 2020 to 2022; $9,450 to rebuild the walkways and handrail at Town Hall; $3,200 to buy and equip a new copier for the Public Safety Complex; $1,486 to pay some fiscal year 2024 electricity and phone invoices for Town Hall; and $1,000 to pay for heat at the Field Building.

There are three significant draws from the Community Preservation Act account being proposed, with the largest being $374,529 for construction of a multi-use, accessible pocket park at the Leverett Library. Another $265,000 would be used to restore and improve the discontinued town-owned section of Rattlesnake Gutter Road, preserving it for recreational trail use. Finally, $176,000 would go toward the $4.11 million renovation of the Amherst-Pelham Regional High School track, interior field and surrounding athletic fields that begins in late June.

Other CPA spending includes $24,500 that would go to the town’s Historical Commission to map the archaeological remains of Graves Ironworks, which is located on town conservation land downstream from the historic Slarrow Mill in North Leverett; and $8,000 to restore the 1848 cabinet containing the town’s set of weights and measures so it can be placed on public view.

Other articles include amending the definition of kennels and allowing personal kennels in all parts of town; changing the term “mobile homes” to “manufactured homes” in the town zoning use table; removing various zoning restrictions for siting of small-scale solar; adding the Leverett Transfer Station and the Leverett Library as required posting places for the Town Meeting warrant; adopting and enacting amendments to the Franklin Regional Council of Governments charter; and establishing a Leverett Fire/EMS Public Education account for fees and donations.

As for the election, a recent candidates forum gave residents the opportunity to make campaign pitches before the Selectboard, either at Town Hall or via Zoom. The only incumbents who spoke were Selectboard member Patricia Duffy and Finance Committee Chair Phil Carter, who said they would like to continue their service.

The only newcomer at the forum was Tim Shores, an elected Planning Board member who is running for School Committee. If elected, Shores said he would be interested in serving as the town’s representative to the Amherst Regional School Committee and to put all ideas on the table for addressing the ongoing funding challenges.

To view the full 37-article warrant, visit leverett.ma.us/n/13198/May-3-2025-Annual-Town-Meeting-Warrant.

Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.