SHUTESBURY — Addressing chemical contaminants found in wells near the Fire Station, adjusting the zoning bylaws to allow battery storage with solar arrays, and permanently protecting land on Pelham Hill Road will be considered by voters at Thursday’s Special Town Meeting.

Action on the five-article warrant begins at 6 p.m. at the Shutesbury Elementary School.

To deal with the PFAS, otherwise known as “forever chemicals,” that were found near the Fire Station on Leverett Road, the town is looking for voter approval to spend $136,948 to pay consulting firm Tighe & Bond to handle work that will extend through June 30. PFAS are human-made chemicals and have been used in products such as water-resistant clothing, stain-resistant furniture and carpets, and paints and varnishes.

The proposed change to the zoning, which needs a two-thirds majority to pass, would regulate energy storage systems that are used in conjunction with photovoltaic arrays, but prohibit them as a principal use in all zoning districts.

Two articles deal with the preservation of 34 acres of woodland on Pelham Hill Road that Kestrel Land Trust pre-acquired in May 2022 for $265,000 and that will be used for passive recreation. The property also has the headwaters of the Amethyst Brook and connects to a larger wildlife corridor west of the Quabbin Reservoir.

The funding for the purchase, and the awarding of a conservation restriction to Kestrel Land Trust, comes in the form of $45,000 from the Community Preservation Act account approved by Annual Town Meeting voters in May 2022, $20,000 from the Conservation Commission’s reserve account, $197,716 in federal Forest Legacy Program funding and $2,284 in donations.

Bridget Likely, conservation manager for Kestrel Land Trust, wrote in an email that Kestrel has raised additional money to cover the rest of the sale price and closing costs. The idea is to approve the funding before the end of the month, when the federal money will expire.

“Approval of these two warrant articles will ensure the town of Shutesbury acquires this high conservation value forestland for public access and passive recreation in the southern portion of the town,” Likely wrote in an email. “Kestrel Land Trust is pleased to partner with the town of Shutesbury and support this conservation effort.”

The final article asks voters to approve using $18,602 in free cash to buy VADAR Systems financial software for the Tax Collector’s Office.

The full warrant can be viewed at bit.ly/3ZG03Ei.

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

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