Environment - Page 4

Pizza + Heat Pumps in Acton

December 13, 2024

On Wednesday, December 4, the Town of Acton Sustainability Office, in collaboration with Energize Acton, hosted a Heat Pump Pizza Party in Room 204 of Acton Town Hall to educate residents about the benefits of heat pumps as a sustainable alternative for home heating and cooling. (Yes, heat pumps do both!) The event drew approximately 130 participants, including State Senator Jamie Eldridge and State Representative Dan Sena, who joined residents eager to learn about heat pumps. The event featured presentations from David Martin, one of Acton’s Clean Energy Coaching Program coaches, and Kit Wu of the Laminar Collective, a group…

AWD Commissioners vote a 50% increase in water rates for FY25

February 1, 2024

by Kim Kastens

At a joint meeting of the Acton Water District (AWD) Commissioners and the AWD Finance Committee (FinCom) on January 22, the Commissioners voted for a 50% increase in water rates beginning in July 2024. The water rate increase will be applied evenly across residential, municipal, and commercial water…

Zoo New England Proposes to Improve Habitat for Wood Turtles in Acton

January 8, 2024

by Bettina Abe

In the fall of 2023, Zoo New England and the Massachusetts Natural Heritage and Endangered Species program contacted the Acton Conservation Department with a plan to enhance the habitat for Wood Turtles (Glyptemys insculpta) along Nashoba Brook in Acton. The enhancements are designed to protect overwintering turtles from…

Acton Water District Finance Committee Discusses Financial Policy and Fiscal Year ’25 Budget and Water Rates

January 8, 2024

by Kim Kastens

The Finance Committee (FinCom) of the Acton Water District (AWD), along with the District Treasurer and Manager, met on January 4 to continue crafting the District Financial Policy, review the draft Fiscal Year ‘25 (FY25) budget and Annual Meeting warrant articles, and discuss water rates for FY25. FY25…

State Approves Acton’s Participation in Fossil Fuel Free Building Construction and Renovation Demonstration Project

January 3, 2024

by Jim Snyder-Grant

On December 22, 2023, the Town of Acton received approval from the Department of Energy Resources (DOER) approving the Town’s participation in the Municipal Fossil Fuel Free Building Construction and Renovation Demonstration Project. This approval means that beginning March 22, 2024, new buildings and major rehabilitation projects in…

Car in motion heading towards the new Pedestrian Traffic Light

Pedestrian-friendly Traffic Signal Installed at Great Road and Brook Street

January 3, 2024

by Kim Kastens

On December 29, workers and a pair of bucket trucks were observed setting up a new traffic signal on Great Road, near the intersection with Brook Street. This intersection was the site of a fatal accident in October 2022. At several meetings in the fall of 2022, the…

A dard arrow and an outlined location on a topographic map

Planning Board Discusses Quarry Road Development Project

January 3, 2024

by Ron Beck

The Acton Planning Board convened on Wednesday evening, Dec 20, for a “continuation” hearing for a Planned Conservation Residential Community (PCRC) application for 123 Quarry Road. According to Acton’s Zoning Bylaw section 9, PCRC’s are communities with housing clustered in one section, leaving at least 60% of the…

Rushing flood waters as seen from the stream bank

Stormwater Rages Across Acton

December 21, 2023

by Kim Kastens

Every fifteen minutes, 24/7, the US Geological Survey stream monitoring station on Nashoba Brook in Acton reports how much water is flowing through the brook. Since monitoring began sixty years ago, the highest streamflow ever recorded on December 18 was 99 cubic feet per second (cfs). In this week’s storm,…

Two Towns Collaborate to Plan the Powder Mill Road Corridor

December 14, 2023

by Franny Osman

Maynard and Acton residents gathered around large posters depicting their shared Powder Mill Road Corridor on the evening of November 15 at a public Open House in the Maynard Elks Lodge. The Corridor is the section of Route 62 from Stop and Shop in Acton to the intersection…

HVAC mini-split unit mounted high on wall

Acton Clean Energy Coaching Program to Expand

December 5, 2023

by Debra Simes

The Town of Acton’s Clean Energy Coaching program, which launched in late winter 2023, is expanding its cadre of trained volunteer coaches. The program provides free access to coaches for residents, businesses, and organizations in Acton interested in learning about and making clean energy upgrades to their homes,…

A man adjusts an item while another man appears to hold a cell phone

Fix-It Clinic

November 28, 2023

by Alissa Nicol

A Fix-It Clinic was held at the Acton Memorial Library on Saturday, November 25 from 10:00 – 1:00 PM. The event attracted seventeen individuals and families with a variety of items in need of repair. These items included a clock, handbag, lighted tree, wheelchair, miniature sewing machine, miniature…

Celebrating Open Space Preservation in Acton

November 20, 2023

by Joe Cooney

Members and friends of the local non-profit Acton Conservation Trust recently gathered to celebrate President Susan Mitchell-Hardt’s lifetime achievement award from Sudbury Valley Trustees. It felt like a reunion of sorts as leaders of conservation efforts in Acton from the past decades, many now retired, returned to celebrate…

Senator Eldridge’s Green Advisory Council Meets with Municipal Sustainability Directors

November 20, 2023

by Kim Kastens

On November 18, State Senator Jamie Eldridge convened the fall meeting of his Green Advisory Council at West Acton Villageworks. Residents and community leaders from across Senator Eldridge’s district assembled to share ideas about how to protect the local environment and respond to the global climate emergency. The…

A group of people around a stone marker and street sign

Acton Hosts Creative Placemaking Workshop

November 6, 2023

by Franny Osman

Last winter, when the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) was looking for two communities to participate in a Regional Trails Creative Placemaking Project , Acton stepped up. Economic and Community Development Director Julie Pierce recognized an opportunity to use art to enhance our new trails and adjacent business…

Acton Conservation Trust’s Susan Mitchell-Hardt Receives Life-Time Achievement Award

October 30, 2023

by Nancy Knoblock Hunton

In the 1600s, Concord farmers used the land now known as Acton as a grazing pasture for their cows and other animals. Today the community of Acton has more than 24,000 residents and depends on conservation lands to preserve open space for present and future generations. Susan Mitchell-Hardt,…

After Hours Archaeology Tour for Pine Hawk Friends

October 23, 2023

by Alissa Nicol

On Sunday, October 15, seven Friends of Pine Hawk members traveled to the Robbins Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology in Middleborough, home of the Massachusetts Archaeological Society and a collection of 200,000+ cultural items. This after-hours tour of the museum was led by Greg Lott and Judi Macioci.…

Map shows existing water pipe trending east-west across the southern edge of the map, and a network of proposed water pipes crossing Concord, Acton and other towns.

Report Estimates Cost and Timeline to Connect to the MWRA Water Supply

October 22, 2023

by Ron Parenti

Since its incorporation in 1912, the Water Supply District of Acton has supplied water to the residents of Acton through a distributed network of wells that pump water from shallow sand and gravel aquifers that were formed at the end of the last Ice Age. The Water District…

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Environment - Page 4

Pizza + Heat Pumps in Acton

AWD Commissioners vote a 50% increase in water rates for FY25

Zoo New England Proposes to Improve Habitat for Wood Turtles in Acton

Acton Water District Finance Committee Discusses Financial Policy and Fiscal Year ’25 Budget and Water Rates

State Approves Acton’s Participation in Fossil Fuel Free Building Construction and Renovation Demonstration Project

Pedestrian-friendly Traffic Signal Installed at Great Road and Brook Street

Planning Board Discusses Quarry Road Development Project

Stormwater Rages Across Acton

Two Towns Collaborate to Plan the Powder Mill Road Corridor

Acton Clean Energy Coaching Program to Expand

Fix-It Clinic

Celebrating Open Space Preservation in Acton

Senator Eldridge’s Green Advisory Council Meets with Municipal Sustainability Directors

Acton Hosts Creative Placemaking Workshop

Acton Conservation Trust’s Susan Mitchell-Hardt Receives Life-Time Achievement Award

After Hours Archaeology Tour for Pine Hawk Friends

Report Estimates Cost and Timeline to Connect to the MWRA Water Supply

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