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, with summary of Town Meeting results.
First night overview
On the first night of Town Meeting, Moderator Jo-Ann Berry greeted the small audience (under 400 people) and noted that Acton has held town meetings since 1735. She also, in a long held tradition, asked how many people were attending for the first time and introduced the Select Board and Finance Committee before getting down to the business of conducting the meeting.
On that first night, articles 2 and 14-29 from the consent calendar (those expected to pass without discussion) passed. Articles 24 and 29 were “held” for questions and a comment and then passed. The comment about Article 24 on authorizing easements was one of concern for the abutters of the intersection of Hayward and Main St. and land takings. Select Board Member Martin replied that this project is not being considered this year and also that abutters have been negotiated with and have come to agreements.
The meeting ran smoothly, although there were questions raised about some consent articles and differences between Community Preservation Act funds and other funds.
The meeting ended shortly before midnight after discussion of Article 10, the Community Preservation Act appropriations.
Second night overview
The second night of Town Meeting opened with awarding the Joseph A. Lalli merit award to two town employees. The Public Safety Employee award recipient is Detective Doug Mahoney, who has worked his way up through the Acton Police Department. The Municipal Employee award recipient is Marty Abbott, an Assessing Analyst in the town Assessor’s office.
After the awards, Town Meeting picked up again with Article 11. Although things occasionally got a little bit raucous on the floor (with people yelling out possible amendments and speakers going over time), the Moderator kept control of the meeting and the very last article was wrapped up just before midnight.
After the meeting finished, the two new School Committee members and re-elected Select Board members took their oaths of office before heading home after a very long two nights.
Detailed article information
A wide variety of Acton’s residents stepped up to report on specific articles for the Acton Exchange. Most articles are discussed in this special edition of the Exchange except for the following placeholder and consent calendar articles:
- Article 12 was a placeholder that was not used.
- Articles 2, 14 – 29 and 34 – 36 were part of the consent calendar, all of which passed. Article 34, affirming a home rule petition to charge for checkout bags, elicited many comments, and narrowly passed after the discussion.
The links below take you to more in-depth coverage of Articles of interest:
Article 1: Choosing Town Officers
Articles 3, 4, 5 and 6: Town spending authorizations and appropriations
Articles 8 and 9: Town meeting passes Acton-Boxborough Schools and Minuteman High School assessments
Article 10: Community Preservation Act funds appropriated for town projects
Article 11: Home rule petition concerning Acton Memorial Library trustees
Article 13: Town Meeting OKs the sale of 13 School Street parking lot
Articles 30, 31: Amend zoning bylaws concerning accessory dwelling units and “Habitat for All”
