WILBRAHAM – The Town of Wilbraham will conduct a Special Town Meeting on Oct. 18 at 7 p.m. in the Minnechaug Regional High School auditorium. There are six articles upon which to vote, the first four of which do not require funding to be raised through taxes.

Article 1 is a shifting of Board of Health funds and would move $65,000 from the department’s regular salaries account to the professional services account. The change is the result of a retirement and the move toward a shared health services structure, between Wilbraham, Hampden, Monson and Longmeadow. The salary that would have been paid to the retiring person would pay for costs associated with regionalization.

Article 2 would pay for a new ambulance using $83,000 from ambulance receipts and another $276,000 from an account dedicated to vehicle depreciation. The truck it would replace is at the end of its life.

Article 3 is a zoning bylaw change to 384 Main St. The property is on the corner of Bulkley Road and Main Street. The majority of the surrounding area is zoned as residential (R-26), while the properties along that section of Main Street are zoned for neighborhood offices (NO). This change would change the property from NO to R-26, matching the zoning of its residential neighbors.

Article 4 accepts the donation of the property at 96V Lake Dr. to the town, including all implied responsibilities for the land.

Articles 5 and 6 are arguably the most impactful to the town. Article 5 would appropriate $10.9 million to construct a new senior center on town-owned land behind the Town Hall on Springfield Street.

Although the language on the warrant describes the building as an “adult community center,” the Senior Center Building Committee has worked to make the public aware that the vote is for a new senior center. The current senior center is housed in rented space at the Scantic Valley YMCA in Post Office Park.

The funding for this project would be acquired through a mixture of borrowing and available funds. Article 6 requests that $41,583 of the funding would come from an account containing money from the sale of the Grange Hall in 2012.

The location of the town’s new senior center has seen controversy as a small but vocal portion of the public has pushed for the facility to be located in the shuttered Memorial School on Main St. The Springfield Street property is the only location up for consideration with this article. If the articles fail, it would end the question of a new senior center, at least for this fiscal year.

Approving the senior center would then require that residents turn out to a special election to approve or reject a debt exclusion, which is a 15-year bond that would add $20 to the average property tax bill, with a reduction to $14 in the last year.

The election is set for Oct. 23.