NORTHFIELD — Between vehicle expenses and a citizen’s petition seeking a moratorium on large-scale solar projects, voters will consider a variety of topics at Monday’s Annual Town Meeting.

The 28-article warrant will be addressed starting at 7 p.m. at Pioneer Valley Regional School.

As for the operating budget for fiscal year 2025, the town is requesting $4.44 million, a 7.5% increase from the current budget of $4.12 million.

In Article 13, the town will take a vote to transfer $113,572 from free cash to buy a police cruiser, radios and other related equipment. The new cruiser would be in line with the Police Department’s 10-year capital improvement plan.

Article 14 is also a request to transfer free cash in the amount of $225,000 to pay for a used rescue truck for the Fire Department. The truck would replace the department’s current 1986 GMC rescue truck.

“The 37-year-old truck engine is getting very tired and parts are hard to find,” the Town Meeting warrant reads. “The truck cab is showing signs of rust and the rescue body has developed issues with the compartment door hinges, locks and corrosion.”

The warrant adds that the town has “pushed this request off for several years hoping for a new facility.” Furthermore, the rescue truck carries extraction equipment such as the Jaws of Life, hazmat equipment, water/ice rescue gear, high-angle ropes and hardware, a generator and lights for night operations.

Article 15 entails a vote to raise and appropriate $400,000 to buy a Highway Department truck and related equipment. If approved, a new 2025 Western Star 47X would replace a 2005 truck, which is “starting to cost a lot of money,” the warrant reads. The truck has “computer issues, wiring issues and the body is starting to rot out. The engine has had a lot of work done.”

Also on the subject of the Highway Department, Article 16 entails a vote to transfer $35,000 from free cash to buy radio equipment.

The town also received a citizen’s petition that proposes a temporary moratorium to “allow sufficient time to engage in [the] planning process to address the new reality of the impact of large-scale industrial ground-mounted solar photovoltaic projects and associated structures on the town, and to enact bylaws in a matter consistent with sound land-use planning goals and objectives.”

On Thursday, the Planning Board held a public hearing on the citizen’s petition, which they unanimously approved to support as an article at Annual Town Meeting.

“I feel like what’s coming from the state is putting a lot of pressure on towns and maybe overriding town independence,” resident Lynn Hansell said during the hearing. “I feel like the towns need opportunities to decide how large a solar array of this size we want in our town.”

Other articles include an amendment to the zoning bylaws that would add a new section on battery energy storage systems (Article 26); to authorize the Selectboard to request special legislation to allow Fire Chief Floyd “Skip” Dunnell III to serve in his position until Aug. 13, 2025 when he’s 72 years old (Article 25); and to transfer $300,000 from free cash, and raise and appropriate $200,000 for the Emergency Services Facility Account to help with funding facilities for police, fire and ambulance apparatus.

The full 28-article warrant is available at tinyurl.com/NorthfieldATM2024.