Jim Snyder-Grant for Acton Selectman
Working for a sustainable future
Town Elections are Tuesday April 25. I am one of three candidates running for two slots on the Select Board. Here is a sample ballot, and an application to vote by mail. Please make a plan to vote. Town election turnout is usually very low: Your vote counts, but only if you vote.
I am happy to announce that the Select Board voted this morning to recommend that Town Meeting authorize spending from the Open Space set-aside fund to secure a permanent Conservation Restriction on the land between Main Street, Brook Street, and Post Office Square.
After all the paperwork is complete, the ownership of the land will be transferred from the Conant family to the Acton Water District; and the Town of Acton and the Sudbury Valley Trustees will hold a Conservation Restriction (CR) on the land. The CR will allow people to walk on this section of the historic Isaac Davis trail year round, and will require the maintenance of the meadow at the corner of Brook Street and Main Street. Most importantly, the CR will protect wildlife and the uplands and wetlands habitats in perpetuity.
This wouldn’t have been possible without extensive work and support from the family of Brewster Conant, who have owned and stewarded this land for many decades; the Acton Water District, which has been looking to develop water supply wells here; members of the Town Open Space Committee; members of our local and regional land trusts, the Acton Conservation Trust and the Sudbury Valley Trustees; voters who put the Community Preservation Committee in business by agreeing to 1.5% surcharge on annual tax bills; and the Open Space Committee, which has kept recommending that money be placed in the Open Space set-aside fund, so that we could be ready to take advantage of opportunities like this.
This parcel has held the number one spot on the Prioritized Parcel List of multiple Open Space and Recreation Plans. I’ve been thrilled to be on the Select Board in the year we finally landed this one. Please look for and support the Conservation Restriction article at this year’s Town Meeting, which will start on May 1.
To see if the Town will conduct an objective analysis, either by establishing a working group or committee, commissioning a study, or engaging a consultant, to determine the pros and cons of creating a Sewer Commission independent of the Select Board or an advisory Sewer Committee, or take any action related thereto.
Direct Inquiries to:
Alissa Nicol: alissa.nicol@gmail.com
Be it resolved that this Town Meeting requests the Select Board to find a way to ensure that all officials have anti-bias training
Direct Inquiries to:
Madeline Cruz: morenacruz1980@yahoo.com
(978) 606-9885
Be it resolved that this Town Meeting requests the Select Board to institute a more comprehensive code of conduct for officials
Direct Inquiries to:
Madeline Cruz: morenacruz1980@yahoo.com
(978) 606-9885
Be it resolved that this Town Meeting requests the Select Board to find a way to reduce the transfer sticker price for low income residents.
Direct Inquiries to:
Madeline Cruz: morenacruz1980@yahoo.com
(978) 606-9885
To reduce the amount of food waste, this Town Meeting requests the Select Board to bring to a future Town Meeting a change in the bylaw and/or to institute town policy which would require multi-family housing owners to ensure onsite access to composting facilities for renters to use.
Direct Inquiries to:
Madeline Cruz: morenacruz1980@yahoo.com
(978) 606-9885
Be it resolved that this Town Meeting requests the Select Board to find a way and/or ways to slow the increase in the number of new single family homes
Direct Inquiries to:
Terra Friedrichs
Be it resolved that this Town Meeting requests the Select Board to find a way and/or ways to reduce the size of new single family homes
Direct Inquiries to:
Terra Friedrichs
Be it resolved that this Town Meeting requests the Select Board to find a way and/or ways to stop developers from using “extremely odd-shaped lots”, so Acton have fewer new McMansions
Direct Inquiries to:
Terra Friedrichs
As indicated by state law, the Town of Acton Board of Health must adopt and comply with all current Massachusetts laws and regulations concerning indoor air quality and the remediation of moisture and mold in rental and condo properties. The state Minimum Standards of Fitness for Human Habitation apply to all dwelling units, including rental units, and rental building owners must maintain structural elements (including foundation, floors, walls, doors, windows, ceilings, and roofs) in good repair and free from chronic dampness (the regular and/or periodic appearance of moisture, water, mold or fungi.)
To improve compliance with these State standards, Town Meeting recommends that:
Acton shall publish an informational brochure for renters on health inspections, and requires that the brochure be issued to renters by landlords at the initiation of their lease agreement.
When a renter calls to report a complaint in their unit or in a rental property, the Health Department and the Board of Health shall inspect the premises complained of with the occupant prior to notifying the property owner. In compliance with State Sanitary code 105CMR410,the Board of Health will only contact the property owner if a violation or citation is issued or if further information is needed. The purpose of this policy is to keep renters safe from being retaliated against or harassed prior to an inspection.
Direct Inquiries to:
Mike Gowing: mikeg.acton@gmail.com
(339) 222-2950
Be it resolved that this Town Meeting requests that the Select Board ask the Kelley’s Corner Steering Committee to review and update the 02/04/2016 Kelley’s Corner Improvement Initiative Plan this year, and to work with the Planning Department to develop an updated draft zoning plan for Kelley’s corner.
The Kelley’s Corner Improvement Initiative documents, including the 2016 Plan, can be found in Town of Acton documents:http://doc.acton-ma.gov/dsweb/View/Collection-7424.
Direct Inquiries to:
Frances Osman: frannyola@gmail.com
(978) 621-7330
I delivered this ‘member minute’ at the Select Board meeting of July 25, 2022:
The Massachusetts House and Senate have sent a major climate bill to the governor, H.5060, that includes, among many other features, a possible way for Acton to proceed to be able to regulate, and largely prevent, fossil fuel infrastructure in new construction and major rehab. The bill creates a pilot program to allow up to 10 Towns and Cities to try out a fossil-fuel ban. Before they can apply, Towns and Cities have to create a corresponding Home Rule Petition, which we already did at the 2021 Town Meeting. Before the application can be accepted, however, Towns have to fulfill one of three housing-related requirements: Achieve their 10% affordable housing numbers, achieve a “safe harbor” status under the 40B program, or implement the zoning changes called for in the recent Housing Choice law that we have started researching. As near as I can tell so far, the quickest way forward for Acton would likely be the 10% affordable housing count, since we are quite close and since there are projects under consideration that could get us the rest of the way there. Please stay tuned as we get more information about this program: when we do, I’ll recommend we put it on our agenda so we can learn more and discuss our options.
Another way forward in decarbonizing our new buildings is via what’s called the specialized opt-in stretch energy code that was invented in last year’s climate legislation. This program is still being finalized, but it may make it rather difficult to build fossil-fuel infrastructure into new buildings and major rehab. Any Green Community like Acton will be able to opt-in to this building code. It would require a Town Meeting vote to adopt this new code. I will be writing personal testimony to the DOER about this new stretch code to communicate the importance of stopping as much new fossil fuel infrastructure as possible. If the timing is appropriate, I may bring a copy of that letter to a future board meeting for your consideration as a Board letter. And, after the program gets finalized, I will recommend that we ask John to have his staff look over the program details over and evaluate the impact on Acton of adopting this optional energy code, so that we can consider bringing that to a future Town Meeting.
On a related topic, many details are coming together on working with existing building owners on decarbonizing. I hope a future Board meeting will be presented with more information.
Finally, an update on the Low Income Community Solar System program that Town Meeting approved last year. As you may recall, this program was going to give large credits on the electricity bills of any low-income electricity customers who were part of the Acton Power Choice program, at any level. The solar developers who are planning to build on the WR Grace site and the Town have had cordial and useful discussions on bringing this forward, but we are currently stuck by inaction on the part of DPU to approve the final regulations that would make this possible. As with the stretch code, I will be writing a short note to the DPU about this, and will bring it to a future Board meeting for your consideration as a Board statement.