Oak Bluffs voters will consider a number of weighty issues at a special town meeting next Thursday, including whether to hire a firm to investigate the source of treated effluent seeping to the surface at Ocean Park and whether to rescind $400,000 in Community Preservation Act funds previously approved for the Bradley Square project.

Voters will consider a total of 10 articles when the special town meeting convenes Thursday at 7 p.m. at the Oak Bluffs school. Moderator David E. Richardson will preside.

The first article asks that $400,000 in community preservation funds approved at the annual town meeting last April for the Bradley Square project be rescinded. The article is by petition.

Donald Muckerheide, a lead petitioner, claims backers of the Bradley Square project misled voters in April when they said town residents would have preferred status for all the affordable housing units in the project. In fact four of the units will be given local preference.

Mr. Muckerheide has also accused Ronald DiOrio, chairman of the selectmen and affordable housing committee, of misleading voters by suggesting that Bradley Square would put the town over the state threshold for affordable housing, obviating the need for future affordable housing projects under Chapter 40B.

Mr. DiOrio this week dismissed the claims, and emphasized the merits of the Bradley Square project.

“I hope people don’t lose sight of everything good about this project. There is now, and will continue to be, a need for affordable housing on this Island,” he said.

The second article on the warrant asks if the town should change its bylaws to allow restaurants without a liquor license to sell takeout foot until 1:30 a.m. from Memorial Day to Columbus Day. The article would pertain to only a handful of establishments.

Another article would move $75,000 from free cash into a new stabilization fund to account for town employees’ post retirement benefits. Under a new accounting standard called GASBY 45 all towns in the commonwealth are required to start setting aside such funds.

Town administrator Michael Dutton said failing to set aside the funds would create an unfunded liability and could damage the town’s credit rating. “It’s not even a matter of getting ahead of the situation, it would be doing what already needs to be done. Starting this year all the towns were required to start setting money aside for their employees [post-retirement benefits],” he said.

A series of articles would also authorize the town to enter into a three-year lease agreement for a property in Edgartown adjacent to the Martha’s Vineyard Refuse Disposal and Resource Recovery District transfer station with an option for purchase at a later date.

The purchase would pave the way for Oak Bluffs to rejoin the Islandwide refuse district in the coming years.

The article would allow a complicated agreement between the refuse district and Tisbury by authorizing $406,000 to be transferred from the Oak Bluffs-Tisbury transfer station surcharge account to be credited against the purchase price of the Edgartown land.

Mr. Dutton said a purchase and sale agreement for the property is already in place, at a price of $1.4 million.

Another article would authorize $250,000 to be taken from the town’s wastewater retained earnings account to hire a firm to investigate the problem of treated effluent seeping to the surface at Ocean Park. In September the state Department of Environmental Protection issued the town a notice of noncompliance.

Wastewater superintendent Joe Alosso said he requested that the notice be issued in order to expedite repairs at Ocean Park. Mr. Alosso and the wastewater commission have also endorsed a plan to locate new effluent beds at a property next to the town wastewater plant commonly known as the Leonardo property.

Selectman Kerry Scott, who has raised concerns about treated effluent in Ocean Park over the past few years, has criticized the spending article, calling it too vague and lacking in details about how the money will spent.

At a public hearing Monday, called by the wastewater commission to discuss the article and other issues, Ms. Scott accused the commission of practicing “collective denial” in regard to the effluent problem at Ocean Park.

“With all due respect you [the commission] have not been on the ball. You have done nothing despite repeated warnings that something was wrong,” she said.

Ms. Scott also said the article as written is tantamount to a blank check.

Chairman Hans Von Steiger said the article failed to provide a lot of detail because there are few details available about the problems at Ocean Park. “Remember we are dealing with below-ground here. We can guess, but we don’t know what’s down there. We need this much money so we can start the project and have everything ready by next summer,” he said.

Another article from the conservation commission asks that $100,000 be taken from the town’s free cash account to fund an engineering report for the town waterfront. Mr. Dutton said the article will likely be amended downward on the town meeting floor to $75,000, following an agreement earlier this month by the selectmen.

In February a 30-ton retaining wall holding up a steeply sloping bank along Sea View avenue suddenly collapsed. Since then, selectmen have voted to remove the old comfort station at the foot of the old pay beach in order to move forward with a plan for a gentle slope to stabilize the crumbing waterfront. They have also appointed a new committee to lead the effort to repair the crumbing waterfront.

Earlier this year the town received a report from CLE Engineering of Marion which concluded a large section of the wall behind the snack shack and another portion to the north are unstable and in danger of collapse.