After a one-time Saturday adventure, it’s back to Tuesday for town meeting as residents will gather May 5 to answer 61 questions. Then they’ll be called back two evenings later to deal with a couple more issues (see separate story).

Among the challenges they’ll face — deal with a budget in an especially lean year, answer two costly questions involving the middle school’s fate, and consider buying vehicles and fixing facilities without access to Proposition 2 1/2.

The move back to Tuesday wasn’t deliberate — just the opposite.

In an article the year before last, voters were asked if they’d like to have town meeting moved to Saturday in 2014. Voters agreed and the meeting was moved to Saturday for one year only.

The bylaw, however, still states that town meeting is held on Tuesday “and that hasn’t changed,” Town Moderator Steven Fors said last week. “Town meeting never debated or decided whether to meet on Tuesdays or Saturdays” in future years, so by default it fell back to Tuesday.

Mr. Fors said he tried to insert an article calling for voters to decide the issue but Selectmen didn’t put it on the ballot.

He declined to express a preference, saying “My interest is only in setting the time that presents the fewest obstacles to the greatest number of people.”

He said he doesn’t know whether turnout would be better on Tuesday or Saturday — he said he suspects that turnout is driven more by issues than day of the week.

Asked to predict whether this year’s meeting will last one night or longer, Mr. Fors said he guesses that it may fit into one night — that he doesn’t see the sort of issues likely to draw it to more nights.

“But my predictions on this are utterly worthless.” Sometimes ‘big’ items fly right past and something entirely unexpected stirs debate.

As for which issues might bring discussion this year — “Who knows. It’s like picking a final-four bracket.”

Big questions

Beyond the $34,354,819 budget for FY 2016 — which is balanced without layoffs but heavy reliance on the ‘free cash’ account— questions of interest awaiting voters include:

• Article 6 which asks voters to approve $700,000 to conduct a feasibility study of Westport schools given that the middle school is about to close. Such a study is required by the Massachusetts School Building Authority which would help the town pay for construction of a new school if the town decides to go that route. If this passes, taxpayers won’t pay the whole study cost — the state will pitch n 46 percent.

The school building committee wrote last week that passage of this question is critical given the woeful condition of the middle school.

“The necessity of the town to unite as a community to pass this study is vital to the growth of our students to make them 21st century learners and competitive with other districts.”

• Articles 7-10 ask voters to approve additional money needed in the coming year to cover added costs brought about by contract agreements with several town employee unions.

• Article 11 asks for approval of $294,000 for two school projects and a number of town vehicles. The budget committee recommends approval of  $222,000 of that: Macomber School parking lot, new well for the high school, and one vehicle for the fire department. Voters have already rejected the idea of exempting these expenditures from Proposition 2 1/2 cap limits.

• Article 12 seeks to buy two highway department plow trucks for $300,000. The finance committee recommends buying one truck for $150,000.

• Article 13 asks for $113,000 to buy three police cruisers. The finance committee recommends two for $76,000.

• Article 14 seeks to “acquire” (not by eminent domain) a small piece of land near the Knubble to make room for a turnaround at the end of contentious Beach Avenue. No paving would be allowed.

• Article 18 requests $20,000 for the board of assessors to update the revaluation process to put the town on a 100 percent valuation basis. The finance committee recommends passing over this article.

• Article 20 would boost the selectmen’s cable services fund from $100,000 to $175,000 (finance committee recommends approval).

• Articles 25 and 26: Two bits of good news. Voters are asked to rescind borrowing previously approved but not now needed … $500,000 for septic loans and $610,000 for costs due to seeing, 2010 floods and Tropical Storm Irene.

• Article 35 seeks to transfer the so-called Quinn and Perry parcels of land to there Westport Affordable Housing Trust.

• Article 37 forbids walking of dogs, leashed or not on town beach and recreation areas from April 16 to Sept. 15. Dog walking there is now forbidden from May through October.

• Article 40 seeks to add a bylaw that requires hunters on private property to have all state-mandated licenses and permits was well as written permission of the landowner.

• Article 43 sets conditions whereby the zoning board can allow “detached accessory apartments” to, in part “Provide older homeowners with a means of obtaining rental income, companionship, security, and services, thereby enabling them to stay more comfortably in homes and neighborhoods they might otherwise be forced to leave.”