MONTAGUE — Voters adopted the Annual Town Meeting warrant’s final 14 articles on Wednesday after having deliberated on the initial 17 articles on May 7.

Action taken by residents who showed up to the Turners Falls High School auditorium included giving their blessing to $135,000 for new Department of Public Works equipment, and authorizing the Selectboard and Board of Assessors to negotiate a payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) agreement with FirstLight Hydro Generating Co.

DPW Superintendent Sam Urkiel explained he needs $70,000 for a van equipped with a camera that can be sent through sewer and drain pipes and $65,000 for a pickup truck. He said the current camera van exists in a converted 2001 Ford E-450 ambulance that was gifted by the Fire Department.

“It has a pretty significant oil leak and needs quite a bit of work,” he said. “It has been really great and useful for us up until this point, though.”

Urkiel said his department’s current pickup truck is a 2007 Ford F-150 with about 175,000 miles on it and “is primarily used if [the DPW has] a larger group going to a training or a meeting.” He mentioned the department’s custodian also uses it to move goods and cleaning equipment from building to building.

Town Meeting member James Martineau proposed an amendment, hoping to “save the town some money” by buying a trailer instead of a van.

“It’s possible we could retro-fit an enclosed trailer,” Urkiel replied. “From what I’ve discussed with some colleagues, the cost ends up being about the same. And you don’t have the same flexibility of being in a vehicle. You have to have an employee that drives a trailer well. Backing and turning is a little bit more of a challenge with a trailer, obviously.”

Martineau made a motion to change the article’s language to appropriate $85,000 — $20,000 to buy and equip a trailer and $65,000 to buy and equip a pickup truck.

Selectboard Chair Richard Kuklewicz said Martineau had a good idea, but a trailer would still need a vehicle to pull it. Finance Committee member John Hanold spoke in opposition to the amendment, as the trailer does not fulfill the same function as a van and getting one would affect staff usage.

Town Meeting member Ariel Elan said a trailer would be more cumbersome than a van and would not be able to fit into as many spaces. She said she has seen “the little converted ambulance buzz around town with a camera … and it can get anywhere it needs to go.”

Residents ultimately rejected the amendment before adopting the original article.

The adoption of Article 26 authorized the start of negotiations with FirstLight. The PILOT’s particulars will be hammered out at a later date.

Town Administrator Walter Ramsey said FirstLight is the town’s largest taxpayer and makes up about one-fifth of Montague’s tax base.

“The issue at hand is that FirstLight is contesting its assessment from [fiscal years] ’22, ’23 and ’24,” he said. In FY22, there was an $84 million difference between the town’s assessment and that of FirstLight. “So, we’re way off in what each other thinks the assets are worth.”

Reach Domenic Poli at: dpoli@recorder.com or 413-930-4120.