Kim Kastens

Kim Kastens is a volunteer editor and writer for the Acton Exchange, and serves on the Acton News Initiative Board of Directors.

Two people standing next to each other. One is holding an instrument and showing the other person how to use it. A third person is looking over the shoulder of the first person.

Water Quality Volunteers Train at the Acton Canoe Launch

April 30, 2024

by Kim Kastens

On Friday evening April 26, twelve volunteers gathered at the canoe launch on the Assabet River in the southernmost corner of Acton. We were there to learn, or re-learn, how to sample and measure the quality of the water in the river, continuing the program of pollution monitoring…

Concord Town Meeting Warrant Requests Funding for Nagog Pond Treatment Plant

April 27, 2024

by Kim Kastens

Concord Town Meeting Warrant Article 17 requests $50 million debt authorization for “Nagog Pond Improvements and PFAS Mitigation.” This article has three potential impacts for Acton: the possibility that a new water main would be installed under Great Road across the full width of Acton, the possibility that…

Erika Amir-Lin

Q&A with candidate for Acton Water District Commissioner

April 19, 2024

by Kim Kastens

This article is adapted from the website of Green Acton. This year, there is one candidate running for the position of Commissioner of the Acton Water District (AWD): Erika Amir-Lin. This post contains Ms. Amir-Lin’s answers to questions prepared by the Green Acton Water Committee, with the goal…

Side-by-side comparison of the first week of April content in the old blog-style website and the new newspaper-style website.

The Acton Exchange Debuts Redesigned Website

April 12, 2024

by Kim Kastens

On April 9, 2024, the Acton Exchange Team unveiled a redesigned website, with a more attractive layout, more flexible navigation scheme, and capacity for new content types. The URL remains the same as before: www.actonexchange.org The home page of the new site functions like the front page of…

The 2024 Annual Water District Meeting; Alexandra Wahlstrom, Environmental Manager; Barry Rosen, Commissioner; Stephen Stuntz, Commissioner; Erika Amir-Lin, Chair of the Board of Commissioners; Mary Basset, retiring District Counsel.

2024 Acton Water District Annual Meeting

March 28, 2024

by Kim Kastens

A sparse group of about a dozen Acton voters gathered on Wednesday, March 20, for the Annual Meeting of the Acton Water District (AWD). The AWD is a separate municipal entity from the Town of Acton, with its own governance structure. AWD Annual Meeting is analogous to Acton…

Acton Exchange Accepted for Full Membership in the Institute for Nonprofit News

March 28, 2024

by Kim Kastens

On Friday, March 15, the Acton Exchange leadership received the news that the organization had been admitted for full membership and became eligible for fiscal sponsorship with the Institute for Nonprofit News (INN). INN is a membership organization that connects and supports non-profit news organizations that provide journalism…

A portion of the FEMA National Flood Hazard Map covering southern Acton, from Acton's Stormwater Management Asset Plan

NEWS BRIEF: Town of Acton kicks off Hazard Mitigation Planning Process

March 6, 2024

by Kim Kastens

The Town of Acton has begun the process of revising its Hazard Mitigation Plan (HMP). A municipal HMP documents the types of natural hazards that may harm the community, and details actions the town has taken and is planning to take to mitigate potential damage from such hazards. Natural hazards…

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…

Entrance to Acton Water District office

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…

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…

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,…

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…

Attendees at a Farmers Market stand before informational paperwork on a table.

Farmers Market Visitors Learn about Testing their Soil and Protecting Acton’s Streams

October 9, 2023

by Kim Kastens

On September 10 and October 1, visitors to the Acton Boxborough Farmers Market had a chance to learn how phosphate in fertilizer runoff can harm local aquatic ecosystems and how gardeners can test their soil to see whether phosphate is necessary as part of their fertilization plan. This…

Volunteers remove massive pile of invasive water chestnut from Ice House Pond

September 23, 2023

by Kim Kastens

On Saturday Sept 23, a flotilla of a dozen canoes, two kayaks, and one stand-up paddleboard set forth onto Ice House Pond in East Acton. More than forty volunteer “Pond Defenders” fought back against invasive water chestnuts, which have been clogging the north end of the pond and…

Trail in the woods blocked by fallen tree and two men working to clear the trail.

Land Stewards Clear Trail Blockages following Recent Storms

September 16, 2023

by Kim Kastens

Following the storms of September 8 and 10, regional headlines and newscasts were filled with photographs of downed trees across roads, railroad tracks, cars and buildings. Out of sight, the forested lands of Acton also suffered. Across the 1700 acres of Acton Conservation Lands, scores of trees fell,…

Wetlands

Acton’s Wetlands Still Protected

September 11, 2023

by Kim Kastens

On August 29, 2023, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) weakened federal protections for wetlands by limiting which lands that are wet qualify for protection under the Clean Water Act. The EPA’s new rules respond to a Supreme Court determination in the case of landowners in Idaho who wanted…

Two maps side by side, each showing a dashed line extending from Rt2A to "existing sewer."

Options for sewering Great Road discussed

August 19, 2023

by Kim Kastens

At their August 16, 2023 meeting, Acton’s Water Resources Advisory Committee (WRAC) discussed and critiqued the July 2023 draft of the Great Road Wastewater Solutions report. The report was commissioned by the town and prepared by environmental engineering firm Wright-Pierce for the purpose of providing “a technical basis…

Photograph of a horseback riding arena with woman on horse in the foreground.

Choreographed Horseback Riding Benefits Equine Therapy Program

August 7, 2023

by Kim Kastens

On August 5 and 6, over a hundred horses and riders gathered at Bear Spot Farm on Pope Road in Acton to showcase their riding skills and raise money to benefit the equine therapy program of the Bear Spot Foundation. The equestrian discipline on display was “dressage.” In…

Photo of tree with species identified in Mandarin and English.

The Intersectional Environmentalist visits the Acton Arboretum

July 24, 2023

by Kim Kastens

This summer, Acton residents are joining together in the first annual Community Read, part of a program called “Stories Connect Us.” The book for this summer’s read is The Intersectional Environmentalist, by Leah Thomas. The author examines the intersection of environmentalism, racism, and privilege, and makes the case…

Space image with stars in foreground, Horsehead shadow.

Local Astrophotographer Marsha Wilcox Exhibits at the Griffin Museum of Photography

July 17, 2023

by Kim Kastens

The Griffin Museum of Photography in Winchester is currently featuring Ancient Light, an online exhibit of nine spectacular celestial images created by Acton photographer Marsha Wilcox. The exhibit runs from July 10 through October 8, 2023, and can be accessed via https://griffinmuseum.org/show/marsha-wilcox-ancient-light/. [Editor’s note: As of October 29,…

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