Although two items related to public safety drew discussion and criticism at Mattapoisett Special Town Meeting on Monday, both passed.

One agenda item asked voters to OK the expenditure of $45,000 for speed signs at bike crossings on Mattapoisett Neck Road and Brandt Island Road, and for a trailer with a speed sign. The signs are meant to alert drivers if they are going too fast, and the trailer sign could be used anywhere in town. All of the signs would also collect data that the town could use, said Police Chief Mary Lyons.

The speed signs were determined to be the best option by a committee tasked by Selectmen with improving safety at the bike path crossings.

Residents voiced numerous concerns with the flashing signs. One comment was that there are already too many signs in the area.

“It seems to be getting a little blinding there if we have radar,” said Jack Duff.

He also thought it could be a liability and said bikers should stop at crossings anyway.

Lyons said she is looking at reducing the deluge of signs and didn’t disagree that cyclists should stop. The problem is that they often don’t.

“As far as the liability piece goes, we’re liable for almost everything we do whether we do it or we don’t do it. I guess you err on the side of more caution and more safety than not,” said Lyons.

One person suggested pumps on the bike path to slow bikers near intersections. Lyons said that would prohibit wheelchair accessibility and would be a liability for roller blades.

Resident George Randall suggested building tunnels or overpasses instead.

Others suggested painting brighter crossings in the road, which Lyons said is part of the funding request. She would also like to see the 40-mile-per-hour speed lowered, but that has to be approved by the state.

Ultimately, the item did pass.

The other public safety item was a request for $30,985 to fund a new police officer and firefighter. The funds would supplement funds already available in both departments through the end of the fiscal year.

In the past, Lyons said “succession planning” with jobs hasn’t been done well, so she is trying to improve that as officers retire. The new officer will first attend the police academy and be able to patrol in early summer.

“We have the opportunity to send somebody while we still have people available to work those shifts before they do retire,” explained Lyons.

Fire Chief Andy Murray also presented his case, saying his department has had an increasingly difficult time recruiting on-call firefighters even as there is more demand on the department.

“People don’t call us just to tell us how their day is going,” said Murray. “They call us at their most desperate moments.”

Many existing firefighters work out of town, so can’t respond during the workday. Others have recently moved out of town, taken full-time positions elsewhere or are recovering from surgery.

The new position will make a total of three full-time firefighters, including Murray.

“Maybe the town needs to purchase a camera because there is something definitely wrong with this picture,” said Randall.

He said the chiefs run their departments well, and so don’t need extra staff. Randall made a motion to effectively kill the proposal.

Stepanie Capizzo said she was “perplexed” that the town would approve funding for bike path safety and potentially deny additional safety personnel.

“Vote it in and let’s get modern with what’s going on in the world,” she said.

Others agreed and voted down Randall's motion and then approved the original funding request.

Voters approved the remaining eight agenda items, which included $300,000 for design costs towards a major Village road project, $60,000 for security improvements at the school and $200,000 for the stabilization fund.