ATHOL –A total of 166 voters completed the 49-article Town Meeting warrant in just under two hours Monday night.

Most of the articles passed by unanimous vote of the body, with some others receiving a half-dozen or fewer “no” votes.

Among those articles passed without dissent was Article 27, which asked that the town be allowed to repurpose the unused balance of a Proposition 2 ½ debt exclusion approved in 2022 for the purchase of a new pumper for the fire department.

Voters at that time okayed borrowing $825,000 to pay for the pumper, but a USDA Emergency Rural Healthcare Grant of nearly $437,000 allowed the town to forego borrowing the full amount.

Thus, voters on Monday gave town officials permission to use $400,000 in unused borrowing authority to purchase a new tanker truck for the department. At the same time, voters rescinded the town’s authority to utilize the remaining $37,000 in borrowing authority.

Earlier this year, Fire Chief Jeff Parker argued before the town’s Capital Program Committee that a new tanker was needed for several reasons, among them that the department has been operating without one for 15 years. This has required the town to rely on tankers supplied by surrounding fire departments under a mutual aid agreement. He also noted that nearly half of Athol lies outside the municipal hydrant system, where a tanker is crucial to fighting fires.

The first payment on a four-year lease for the tanker will be paid for with $69,829 included in the nearly $1.3 million capital improvement plan, which was also received unanimous approval at Town Meeting. The plan, recommended by the Capital Program Committee, will be funded out of Athol’s free cash account.

Other items included in the CPC’s plan are $88,000 for a new police cruiser, $65,000 for the purchase of a new Ford F-150 pickup for North Quabbin Animal Control, $136,000 for the final lease payment for a dump truck, $60,000 for road improvements in local cemeteries, and $225,000 for non-Chapter 90 road improvements, among others.

The plan also called for spending $145,000 for improvements to the downtown fire station on Exchange Street.

Also passed without dissent was a FY26 town operating budget of $20,427,416, which include Athol’s assessment of nearly $5.5 million for the Athol Royalston Regional School District, and just over $407,000 to cover the town’s assessment for the Montachusett Regional Technical Vocational School District.

Also approved was an article authorizing the Selectboard to “negotiate and execute a tax increment financing agreement for the redevelopment of the former parking deck” at 550 South St. Fitchburg developer Bill Krikorian has plans for a development on the site which will include 43 units of housing as well as first-floor commercial space.

The estimated cost of the project is around $13 million. Most TIFs last anywhere from five to 10 years and allow the property owner to pay a gradually increasing percentage of their tax assessment in each year of the agreement.

The town meeting also voted bring Athol into compliance with the state’s Affordable Homes Act, passed by the Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Maura Healey last August. The new regulations allow accessory dwelling units (sometimes called “mother-in-law” apartments) of 900 square feet to be built by-right in single-family zoning districts. Until passage of the new law, many towns required homeowners to obtain a special permit from their community’s planning board to construct an ADU.

Greg Vine can be reached at gvineadn@gmail.com.