Oak Bluffs voters will weigh in at town meeting next week on money for upgrades to the wastewater pump station, updating the town’s watercraft restrictions and a new drone to aid in emergency situations.

The special and annual town meetings take place Tuesday, April 8, beginning at 7 p.m. at the regional high school’s performing arts center. The quorum is 50 people. Moderator Jack Law presides.

The annual town meeting warrant consists of 56 articles, and includes a $42.8 million budget — a 6.3 per cent increase over last year.

Deborah Potter, the town administrator, said that school and insurance costs are the largest factors for the increase.

“Some of the biggest changes in the budget are due to the schools, insurance — not only health insurance but our property and liability insurance — and those are the primary driving factors,” she said.

The special town meeting warrant consists of nine articles, most of which address town funding requests. Voters will also be asked about updating restrictions on personal watercraft, a type of vehicle which includes jet-skis and surf jets.

The current bylaw prohibits the use of jet-skis in Oak Bluffs, but harbor master Emily deBettencourt said this is not enforced and needs to be updated to accurately meet the needs of the town.

The proposed bylaw would allow the use of watercraft in Lagoon Pond and Sengekontacket at headway speeds for the sole purpose of transitioning to outer waters. Watercraft users also could not create wash within 150 feet of swimmers or fishermen.

“The way the jet skis are operating is extremely dangerous,” Ms. deBettencourt said. “We haven’t had an incident yet regarding an individual, but there’s a frequent beach population that goes there,” she said. “It’s almost a matter of time because the jet skis are going so fast.”

She added that watercraft traveling at fast speeds can also put shellfish at risk.

The largest spending item on the annual town meeting warrant is to upgrade the pump station on the Dukes County avenue. Voters will be asked to approve $2.5 million to elevate the pump station and replace the electrical equipment.

Wastewater facilities manager Patrick Hickey said that 90 per cent of the town’s wastewater travels through the Dukes County avenue station, which is located in a 100-year flood zone. In addition, he said the electrical equipment in the station is at the end of its useful life.

Mr. Hickey said the station will be built to look similar to Camp Ground houses to minimize visual impact.

The spending has to be approved at both town meeting and on the April 10 ballot for a Proposition 2.5 debt exclusion. Mr. Hickey said that the wastewater department will apply for grant money to lower the cost.

Ms. Potter said that it is hard to ascertain what the exact increase to taxpayers will be before grants are approved, but that the town is hoping for a 60-40 split with grants covering 60 per cent of the cost and the town paying for 40 per cent.

According to Ms. Potter, if no grant money is received, the annual cost for a taxpayer would be around $17.50. If 60 per cent of the project’s costs were covered, the annual cost for a taxpayer would be approximately $11.50.

As in most other Island towns, voters will decide on limitations for leaf blower use. In Oak Bluffs, the leaf blower article comes as a petition article submitted by Peter Meleney. Mr. Meleney said that aim of the bylaw is to cut down on noise pollution and reliance on fossil fuels.

Residents will also be asked to create a new special education reserve fund to put money aside for unanticipated special education costs, such as out of district placements and transportation. They will be asked to appropriate $50,000 for the fund.

Jeremy Light, principal of Oak Bluffs School, said having the reserve fund would prevent the school from needing a special town meeting to find funding.

“If the situation arises, we will be more financially responsible and available,” he said. “It’s really a non-negotiable. If it is decided that this student needs this, we have to find a way.”

Several articles will ask residents to approve purchases for new equipment, including $100,000 for a self-contained breathing apparatus for the fire department and EMS, and $80,000 for a replacement pickup truck and snowplow package for the highway department.

The police department is also asking residents to appropriate $13,000 for a drone. Jonathan Searle, the Oak Bluffs police chief, said that the drone will be used to locate people in emergency situations.

“It will mostly be used for rescue operations,” he said. “Search and rescue, missing persons. It can be used for fire scenes, water scenes, water rescues.”

Chief Searle said the drone has a variety of applications depending on the type of emergency situation. Beyond being used to locate people, it can carry a life preserver which can be dropped into the water or light up an area of a crowd to direct first responders. Chief Searle added that the drone can also be used to identify the source of a fire.

“They cut down on manpower, they cover a lot of area,” he said. “Most important, it’s a lifesaver because it saves time.”

Residents will also be asked to allocate $335,000 to hire consultants for the Oak Bluffs Coastal Resilience Plan.

“There are multiple different plans that are in existence and sometimes the results of these plans...end up with conflicting reports,” said Ms. Potter. “What we’re looking to do is have an assessment of the areas identified that would incorporate the previously done plans and come up with a blueprint on how do we compress. We don’t want to work on repairing something only to have to tear it apart a few years later to fix something else.”

The Oak Bluffs annual town meeting takes place April 8 at the performing arts center at the regional high school, beginning at 7 p.m. The full warrant is available on the town’s website.