ERVING — After the procedure for using the new electronic voting system clicked with Erving voters, all 27 articles on the Annual Town Meeting warrant were approved.

Fifty-nine residents attended the hour-and-a-half-long meeting Wednesday at Erving Elementary School. Town Moderator Richard Peabody offered instructions on how to use a clicker-based voting software from Meridia Interactive Solutions that allowed voters to anonymously cast their votes. After some trial and error with the clickers, the meeting ran smoothly with little to no discussion on the majority of articles.

Article 15 asked voters to appropriate nearly $1.10 million for nine capital projects in fiscal year 2026, with the three largest requests coming from the Fire Department, Cemetery Commission and Erving Elementary. This article generated the most discussion on the request for $200,000 to expand capacity at the Center Cemetery by 300 burial sites. Resident Sally Delaney, who was recently elected to the Board of Health, asked where the existing cemetery could expand to, and Police Chief Robert Holst replied that the intention is to expand the cemetery northwest onto Mountain Road.

“I’m just curious when the first lots are going to be available from the new addition?” Town Clerk Richard Newton asked.

After some laughs from voters, Selectboard Chair Jacob Smith spoke to the plans for the expansion, and said the new plots won’t be made available for some time.

“This is the first phase [of] money to complete the plans, and get to a point where we can hopefully go to bid. So timeline, multiple years away,” Smith said.

The other two major requests — $450,000 for the initial installment to replace a 1989 fire truck, and $200,000 to put toward the replacement of the roof and the heating, ventilation and air conditioning system at Erving Elementary — sparked no discussion except for Fire Chief Philip Wonkka clarifying that the wording on the warrant, “apparatus,” was for the fire truck.

The other financial article that led to brief discussion was Article 6, approving Erving’s total FY26 operating budget of $7.21 million. When asked by resident Dana Dodge about the increase from the current fiscal year, Smith said when looking at the entire general fund and not just the town operating budget, the increase is 9% from FY25, equating to nearly $16.74 million.

The operating budget is made up of $1.61 million for general government, $1.41 million for public safety, $888,549 for public works, $326,739 for health and human services, and $454,387 for culture and recreation, as well as nearly $2.46 million for health insurance benefits — the largest increase in the operating budget due to increased health insurance premiums.

All three articles relating to school budgets were passed by majority votes, including the $3.81 million Erving Elementary budget, $1.29 million for middle and high school education in the Gill-Montague Regional School District, and $602,175 for Franklin County Technical School.

The two bylaw-related articles also passed, approving a bylaw addition that would allow the Fire Department to access all residential buildings with five or more units by creating a key box system, and the creation of a revolving account that a school committee can use to hold non-resident student tuition and state reimbursements for foster care children. The final article, pertaining to the Franklin Regional Council of Governments’ charter changes, also passed with no discussion or questions. The meeting adjourned just after 8:30 p.m.

Erin-Leigh Hoffman can be reached at ehoffman@recorder.com or 413-930-4231.