Residents voted on 48 agenda items during the Annual Town Meeting on Monday at Sippican School, including a $20,455,858 municipal budget, nearly $400,000 to study operations at the wastewater treatment plant and approved a ballot question to raise funds for a fire truck.

Residents approved agenda item 21, which will ask voters at the May 15 election whether or not to approve a Proposition 2 1/2 debt exclusion to raise $540,000 for a new or used fire pumper engine. The debt exclusion would add $18.57 a year to the tax bill of a house valued at $400,000 until the truck's debt is retired.

Fire officials have requested a new truck to replace a 1999 model.

Selectman Stephen Cushing said the current model’s engine skips, performs poorly and its body is heavily rusted. Repairing the truck has cost approximately $7,000 per year for the past three years.

“We are sitting on a truck that is a complete safety hazard,” Cushing said. “I know I wouldn’t want to be on the road if that thing is coming towards me.”

This year marked the first time the Finance Committee supported the request.

Fire Chief Tom Joyce said the current truck is too long, which makes it difficult to navigate Marion’s narrower streets. Also, the truck doesn’t have enough storage space for firefighting equipment.

Some questioned if there were other ways to reduce the cost of the override, such as asking Tabor Academy for a donation.

Cushing and Steve Gonsalves said a new truck is overdue.

“We’re talking $18 here,” Gonsalves said. “I spend that much on coffee. I’d cut back on coffee to give [Joyce] a truck.”

Selectmen asked that a fire department override requesting a new $237,000 ambulance be taken up at Town Meeting in fall. Selectman Jody Dickerson said the board will research other funding for the ambulance to avoid an override.

Residents voted in favor of agenda item 16, a request for $395,000 to study alternative solutions to meet state and federal mandated upgrades at the wastewater treatment plant.

“The Environmental Protection Agency has placed technically challenging and potentially expensive demands on the [National Pollution Elimination System Permit],” said Finance Committee member Peter Winters. “The answers to this challenge are not obvious. The Board of Selectmen will need to work with a team of experts.”

The permit is required for facilities that discharge water into the environment. It identifies and limits the amount of pollutants released. To meet the guidelines as proposed, Town Administrator Paul Dawson estimated upgrades could cost tens of millions of dollars.

At just over $20,000,000, the town’s operating budget was the most expensive agenda item. The budget is up 2.73 percent compared to last year.

Residents questioned a few line items, including $20,996 more for veterans.

“We’ve had a significant increase in the number of veterans receiving services,” Dawson said, adding that’s likely due to improved outreach. He said 75 percent of veteran spending is reimbursed by the federal government.

Voters approved several capital items for town departments. The harbormaster department was awarded $63,700 to replace two trucks, the school department will use $18,000 for new security communication hardware and software and the Department of Public Works was given $56,000 to purchase a one-ton utility truck with a plow.

No action was taken on agenda item 43, a resident petition that would have limited the size of commercial buildings in town. If approved, the bylaw would restrict commercial and retail buildings to 5,000 square feet or 10 percent of the lot area. The restriction would not apply to projects in the limited industrial, marine business or campus office park districts.

Planning Board Chair Stephen Kokkins said while the proposal had some merit, his board is working on a bylaw with more nuance.

“The Planning Board has been working on an alternative that’s a little more flexible,” he said. “This doesn’t allow for a variation where a business might have very little traffic.”