News

Another Town Meeting in the books

May 10, 2025

by The Acton Exchange Team

After a very long two nights on May 5 and 6, 2025, Acton has successfully wrapped up another Town Meeting. You can view Town Meeting recordings on the ActonTV YouTube channel: For an overview of Town Meeting outcomes, see the May 7 update section of UPDATED May 7,…

Anchor and Pastor Liz Walker writes book, speaks to Friends of the COA

May 10, 2025

by Meg Stafford

Liz Walker, author, pastor, and former Channel 4 TV news anchor, captivated an audience of 85 at the Acton Senior Center on Tuesday, May 6 as she explained her journey from News Anchor to author of No One Left Alone. Dressed in deep purple with a spring green…

Community Lane closed Tuesday, May 13 – Thursday, May 15

May 10, 2025

by The Acton Exchange Team

As part of the Kelley’s Corner infrastructure project, MassDOT’s contractor, MGI Corporation, will begin major road reconstruction work on Community Lane, which connects Mass Ave to Main Street and provides access to many local businesses, on Tuesday, May 13. The road work will involve pulling up the asphalt…

Project Graduation: A cherished community tradition that keeps our graduating seniors safe

May 10, 2025

by Ruchi Jain

Spring not only brings the fragrance and vibrancy of flowers—it also ushers in graduation season, a time of joy, pride, and one big question: how do we make sure our teens celebrate safely? For over a generation, our community has answered with a powerful tradition: Project Graduation or…

The Bulletin Board – May 10, 2025

May 10, 2025

by The Acton Exchange Team

The Acton Exchange Bulletin Board is for volunteer opportunities and other announcements not tied to a single specific time and date. Please send your Bulletin Board announcements to editors@actonexchange.org. (Calendar events are submitted separately to calendar@actonexchange.org.) Discovery Museum holding Online Auction Fundraiser May 5-14 Discovery Museum kicked off…

McManus Manor groundbreaking: rain is no deterrent

May 10, 2025

by James Conboy

On May 6, an assemblage of local and state officials crowded into a large white tent (rain-proof, thank goodness) to celebrate the groundbreaking of a housing development named after the late Betty McManus, a longtime director of the Acton Housing Authority. The complex, expected to open in June,…

Acton celebrates Holi at the library

May 10, 2025

by Alissa Nicol

For the third year in a row, the Acton Libraries celebrated Holi on the back lawn of the Memorial Library. Holi, also known as the Festival of Colors and the Festival of Spring, is a major Hindu festival, celebrating love and the arrival of spring. It is an…

Ribbon cutting at The Shop

May 10, 2025

by David D. Martin

The next time that you’re looking for something unusual to decorate your home, consider heading for The Shop, which just opened on the corner of Massachusetts and Windsor Avenues in West Acton. Acton’s new Economic Development Director, Patricia Costa, held a ribbon cutting for co-owners, Jami Hoyle and…

AB baseball: Revs rally to tie, but Weston takes it in the 8th, 6-3

May 10, 2025

by James Conboy

May Day served up perfect weather for the annual A-B Youth Baseball Day, and a crowd-pleasing comeback, albeit short-lived, for the home team. Revs’ pitchers Jackson Healy and Graeme Giannetto held the 9-1 Wildcats to five hits and three runs through six innings, while being supported by just…

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Town Meeting Article 1: Choosing Town Officers

May 10, 2025

by The Acton Exchange Team

The following officers were nominated and elected: The nominations were voted as a group by voice, except for Trustee of the West Acton Citizens Library, which the Moderator held out for separate consideration, as she anticipated a possible additional nomination from the floor. Terra F. stated that the…

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Town Meeting Articles 3, 4, 5 and 6: Town spending authorizations and appropriations

May 10, 2025

by Pat Clifford

The first significant business on Monday night was consideration of a suite of financial articles (3,4,5, and 6) authorizing expenditures for municipal operations and the capital program. In all, voters agreed to spend approximately 50 million dollars using a variety of funding sources, to provide services to residents…

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Town Meeting Article 7: Select Board proposes, and voters approve, $150K for exploration of alternatives and public outreach on DPW building

May 10, 2025

by Tom Beals

Acton’s Department of Public Works (DPW), like the Fire and Police Departments, ensures essential but often overlooked services (snowplowing, stormwater management, rapid emergency services) that keep the town running. Operating from a facility on Forest Road behind the transfer station, the DPW maintains a fleet of vehicles and…

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Town Meeting Articles 8 and 9: Town meeting passes Acton-Boxborough Schools and Minuteman High School assessments

May 10, 2025

by Diane Baum

On May 5, Acton Town Meeting voted to approve Warrant articles 8 and 9, which permit the Town of Acton to fund its portion of the budgets for the Acton-Boxborough Regional School District and the Minuteman Regional Vocational Technical High School District for the fiscal year 2025-26. Article…

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Town Meeting Article 10: Community Preservation Act funds appropriated for town projects

May 10, 2025

by Peter J. Berry

In 2002, the Town adopted the Community Preservation Act (CPA), which established Acton’s Community Preservation Fund through a 1.5% annual surcharge on real estate property tax bills, with certain exemptions, and made the Town eligible to receive annually additional monies from the Massachusetts Community Preservation Trust Fund. Under…

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Town Meeting Article 11: Home rule petition concerning Acton Memorial Library trustees

May 10, 2025

by Franny Osman

Article 11 asked the Town to petition the state legislature to increase the size of the Acton Memorial Library Board of Trustees from nine to 12. The added three trustees would be the Citizens’ Library Trustees, elected at Town Meeting as usual. In her presentation, Select Board Member…

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Town Meeting Article 13: Town Meeting OKs the sale of 13 School Street parking lot

May 10, 2025

by Jeff Brown

During the second night of the Town Meeting, voters passed Article 13 authorizing the Select Board to convey the parking lot at 13 School St. to a qualified developer. The property, which was taken for non-payment of taxes in 1990, is being used as public parking for neighborhood…

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Town Meeting Articles 30, 31: Amend zoning bylaws concerning accessory dwelling units and “Habitat for All”

May 10, 2025

by Tom Beals

Acton has two sets of detailed bylaws, the General Bylaws of the Town of Acton and the Town of Acton Zoning Bylaw. At the 2025 Town Meeting, Articles 30 and 31 proposed changes to the Zoning Bylaw. Article 32 and 33, covered in a separate Acton Exchange story,…

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Town Meeting Articles 32, 33: New Leaf blower and tree clearing bylaws

May 10, 2025

Jeff BrownandMiriam Lezak

The general bylaws of the Town of Acton direct how various aspects of the town are to be governed and administered. Article 32: Town Meeting outlaws 2-cycle gas powered leaf blowers, partially in 2028, completely in 2029 To reduce noise and air pollution, Article 32 prohibits the use…

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Town Meeting Articles 37-41: Citizens Petitions

May 10, 2025

by The Acton Exchange Team

Acton’s Town Charter contains a provision for “Petitioner’s Warrant Articles.” These are articles brought forward by ordinary citizens, rather than by the Select Board or a department of Town government. The Charter requires ten signatures to place a petition on the warrant for Annual Town Meeting. Articles 37,…

UPDATED May 7, with summary of Town Meeting results

May 3, 2025

by The Acton Exchange Team

(If you are on the home page of the Acton Exchange, click headline of the article to see details.) May 7 Update: All Town Meeting articles passed as proposed in the warrant, with the following exceptions: Video recordings of Town Meeting are available on ActonTV: Pre-Town Meeting news…

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