Millions in capital spending to restore the eroding East Chop Bluff and upgrade the town wastewater treatment plant will come before Oak Bluffs voters when they gather for their annual town meeting Tuesday night.

The meeting begins at 7 p.m. in the high school Performing Arts Center. There are 37 articles on the annual town meeting warrant and nine articles on a special town meeting warrant. Moderator Jack Law 3rd will preside.

Town administrator Deborah Potter said the goal is to finish the meeting in one night, but she said it will depend on the voters.

“We would always hope so, but we’re prepared to do whatever it takes,” she said.

Voters will take up a $35.5 million operating budget for fiscal year 2023, a 4.3 per cent increase over the current fiscal year.

The Oak Bluffs finance committee recommended the budget 6-3 but flagged concerns about budgetary increases at the regional high school putting a squeeze on other parts of the town budget.

By far the biggest ticket item on the warrant is a $26 million upgrade and expansion at the town wastewater treatment facility, which has reached its capacity. The project has already been through a design planning phase, and will modernize and expand the 20-year-old plant in accordance with a comprehensive wastewater management plan aimed at protecting saltwater estuaries from nitrogen pollution. The plan also calls for adding more sewer lines, which will open the door for a number of development projects on the Edgartown-Vineyard Haven Road, including a town affordable housing project near the Southern Woodlands.

Voters will be asked to allow the town to appropriate up to $26 million for the project, and determine whether the cost will be met by borrowing or other methods. The town will seek to fund the project in part through grants.

“The expectation is that we’re going to secure some additional funding,” Ms. Potter said.

A two-thirds vote is required to pass the article. Before any future borrowing for the project can take place, a Proposition 2 1/2 debt exclusion question would need to be approved at the ballot box.

Ms. Potter said the town is optimistic that it can secure supplemental funding for the project, noting the availability of grants from the American Rescue Plan Act and other funding avenues.

“There are resources available now that haven’t been available in the past,” she said.

In another major environmental initiative, voters will be asked to approve $6.9 million to go toward the long-planned project to shore up the East Chop Bluff, which has been eroding for many years. The problems were accelerated by Hurricane Sandy in the fall of 2012. Today much of the part of Atlantic Drive that runs atop the bluff is in danger of collapse and closed to vehicle traffic.

The town expects to receive a matching grant from FEMA for the project, with a target date of 2025 to complete the work, Ms. Potter said. Other sources are funding are also being explored.

“We’re still going to be looking for grants and other means to fund this,” Ms. Potter said. “Our expectation is that our actual cost to our restoration and construction is going to be significantly less than [$6.9 million].”

The article needs a two-thirds vote to pass.

In another capital project, $600,000 is needed to replace an ailing boiler at the Oak Bluffs School. Ms. Potter said replacement of the elementary school heating system has been on the capital projects list for some time.

“You can’t exactly operate your school in the middle of winter with no heat,” she said.

She said the town will pursue reimbursement money from the Massachusetts School Building Authority to help defray the cost. The project needs approval on the town meeting floor and also at the ballot box next Thursday.

If voters agree, the town will spend $50,000 to take over the popular August fireworks display that draws throngs of thousands to Ocean Park every summer. Long sponsored by the Oak Bluffs Firemen’s Civic Association, the fireworks were paused during the pandemic. But even before the pandemic, the firemen’s association had struggled to raise enough funds to keep the event going.

A planning board article seeks a zoning bylaw amendment that would add an associate member to the planning board who could sit on special permit applications in the event of recusals or absences among regular members. The associate member would be appointed by the planning board chairman.

The high-profile housing bank question is last on the warrant in Oak Bluffs, but despite that, Ms. Potter said she expects ample time will be given over to discussion on the town meeting floor.

“It’s an opportunity for people to voice their opinion and exercise their ability to vote,” the town administrator said.

The town finance committee made no recommendation on the housing bank.

“FinComm members expressed a variety of concerns regarding the proposed article but felt it is too early and there was insufficient information to make a recommendation at this time,” the committee wrote in its voter guide.

The annual town election will be held April 14. A select board race tops the ballot, with three candidates running for a single seat. Longtime incumbent Gail Barmakian is being challenged by Dion Alley and Jim Bishop.

Polls are open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. in the Oak Bluffs Library.