Funding for Menemsha harbor improvements, town staff training and designs for the use of land behind the town landfill are all set to come before Chilmark voters at a special town meeting Monday evening.

The meeting begins at 7:30 p.m. in the Chilmark Community Center. There are 15 articles on the warrant. Longtime moderator Everett Poole will preside. A quorum of 25 voters is needed to convene the meeting.

Town administrator Timothy Carroll said safety concerns at Menemsha harbor spurred requests for nearly $50,000 to build pedestrian walkways and retaining walls along North Road and Basin Road.

“This is to get pedestrians out of the road to keep them from being run over,” Mr. Carroll said. “We want to try to make it safe and convenient for everyone involved.”

He said the planned walkways will be stroller-friendly dirt paths and create a pedestrian loop linking Menemsha Beach to the West Dock.

Voters will also be asked to approve $15,000 to build a dirt parking area and bus turnaround at the comfort station to alleviate traffic bottlenecks in the summer during shuttle bus stops.

“This will mean buses won’t go through the beach area, so there won’t be a need to flush it out every 30 minutes to let the bus through,” Mr. Carroll said.

A request for $24,000 aims to pay for three months of training for a new harbor master starting in April. Current harbor master Dennis Jason will leave his post on June 30, 2019. The search process for a new harbor master has not yet begun.

Another $5,000 would pay for one month of training for a new fire chief when current fire chief David Norton’s contract ends on July 30 when he reaches the madatory retirement age of 65. Mr. Norton told selectmen earlier this month that he is actively searching for his replacement.

Voters will be asked to spend $15,000 for design work for eight acres of land behind the landfill. At the annual town meeting last year voters approved designating the land for municipal use, including as a training area for the fire department, storage space for commercial fishermen and a new home for the town shellfish and highway departments.

Another article seeks $100,000 from the Community Preservation Act reserve fund to continue Chilmark’s rent subsidy program for another two years. The program has been in place since 2002 and is managed by the Dukes County Regional Housing Authority and town housing committee.

Town conservation agent Chuck Hodgkinson said the program as an incentive for homeowners to rent year-round to tenants who can’t afford the higher seasonal rates. He said currently four Chilmark homes participate in the program.

“It’s designed to increase the affordable housing inventory of apartments and guest houses,” he said.

An request for $11,000 to reconstruct a Tea Lane culvert and catch basin came from the late Trina Kingsbury before her death in September. She told selectmen at a meeting in August that drainage issues exacerbated by storm damage have overwhelmed the brook running through her property.

The fire department is seeking $25,000 to add to monies from its gift fund to buy a Ford F450 utility vehicle to replace the department’s decrepit Chevy Tahoe.

Voters will be asked to spend just over $20,000 for various upgrades to town-owned buildings that include replacing two septic pumps in the town hall, refinishing wood floors in the Chilmark Library, and replacing cellar bulkhead doors in the library and police station.

“Sometimes there are questions, sometimes there are no questions,” said Mr. Carroll about what to expect at the meeting. “It always depends on the mood of the people.”