SHUTESBURY — Appealing to the state Legislature to allow noncitizens who live in Shutesbury the right vote in local elections, becoming a pollinator-friendly town and providing some money to rebuild the Amherst-Pelham 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 Shutesbury Elementary School.

Like other communities, including neighboring Leverett at Annual Town Meeting in 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 and elections, and serve on elected and appointed municipal boards, commissions and committees.

Even if the warrant article is passed, it would need approval from state legislators, who have not allowed it in other communities. The measure wouldn’t allow 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, avoid the use of insecticides and minimize the use of other types of pesticides. An affirmative vote would also mean developing 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, too. Amherst’s permitting boards are currently reviewing the project.

Other spending requests include:

■$25,000, either from free cash or the stabilization account, to make timely payments to Shutesbury police officers doing private 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 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 fiscal year’s budget to cover expenses related to assistants at the M.N. Spear Memorial Library;

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

Scott Merzbach can reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.