BOURNE — Voters at special town meeting Monday planned for the future by approving the extension of a ground-mounted solar overlay district along the Scenic Highway and moving to set aside more than $500,000 for post-employment benefits.

The Bourne High School auditorium was packed for the special town meeting, which included hotly debated questions about marijuana, one that would ban recreational marijuana establishments and one to regulate them, as well as medical marijuana facilities.

“The March special town meeting was at times out of control and I want to make sure that does not happen again,” said John Fuller, who stood in temporarily as town moderator. “There will be removal of people who do not behave appropriately. Let’s come together to make decisions as a community however divided we may be.”

The majority of attendees came together to approve the solar overlay district extension.

Bourne property owners are permitted to install solar energy systems of less than 250 kilowatts; anything over that requires a special permit or must be located within the solar overlay district.

Town meeting also voted to transfer $541,601 from free cash toward its Other Post-Employment Benefits liability.

This year, a new formula set by the Finance Committee calls for the contribution of 10 percent of the excess free cash balance over 5 percent of the general fund operating budget to the Other Post-Employment Benefits trust fund.

Massachusetts requires towns pay 50 percent of the health insurance of ex-town employees, according to Mary Jane Mastrangelo, chairwoman of the Finance Committee. But the town previously voted to pay 75 percent of that cost.

“It’s a huge future liability for the town and it is starting to show on the balance sheet,” said Mastrangelo.

Special town meeting had not dealt with the marijuana rules as of the Times deadline but took the following actions:

Approved the transfer of $900,000 from the Department of Integrated Solid Waste Management retained earnings to increase other contracted services expenses by $400,000, along with increasing the facility's reserve fund by $400,000 and increasing the budget to pay host community fees by $100,000. Voted to indefinitely postpone amending the sewer budget, meaning that the Board of Sewer Commissioners would increase the sewer user base rate for the second billing of the 2019 fiscal year from $401.50 to $424.50. The decision came after the Finance Committee found out that emergency repairs of the septic systems on Savary Avenue will be needed. Approved the transfer of $475,000 from the Integrated Solid Waste Management retained earnings for the purpose of providing additional funding for a linger project currently underway that will expand the existing landfill operations. Voted in favor of appropriating $6,832.15 to provide funding of payments of bills that arrived after the close of the previous fiscal year. Voted to change the definition of affordable housing units by eliminating the requirement that the annual cost of the unit to tenants or purchasers be no more than 30 percent of their gross household income. Instead, the Bourne Housing Partnership would adopt annually the U.S. Department of Housing and Development fair market rents based on published federal standards for Barnstable County. The Housing Partnership said that the 30 percent income requirement has become an impediment to developers getting financing.. Moved to appropriate $46,000 to pay the costs of two capital outlay projects. Approved $3,000 for the the Department of Public works to replace holiday lights, signs, and bulbs. Every holiday season, the town installs about 20,000 feet of lights at two Buzzards Bay rotaries, town hall, community building, and Buzzards Bay Park. Approved $16,000 for the Fire Department to replace the exterior and garage doors at the Buzzards Bay station. There are six exterior doors that the Fire Department deemed a security risk by not locking properly. In addition, a 54-year-old garage door needs replacing. Voted in favor of making a budget adjustment of $100,162, to go towards the Department of Natural Resources where several employees are retiring and new positions will overlap to facilitate the training of new staff. Voted to appropriate $25,000 for the purpose of updating and completing the Local Comprehensive Plan, which outlines the goals, policies and action plan for the future of Bourne. Voted to transfer $150,000 from free cash for the purpose of paying the costs of a feasibility study and schematic design for the replacement of roofs at the high school. This will set the town up to be eligible for a grant from the Massachusetts School Building Authority accelerated repair program that will provide 41 percent reimbursement from the state for the roof projects. The total estimated cost of repairing the roofs is $1.2 million in the five-year plan.

— Follow Beth Treffeisen on Twitter: @BTreffeisenCCT.

Editor's note: The original version of this story contained the wrong spelling for Savary Avenue. The story has been corrected.