The Town of Acton Special Town Meeting scheduled for Monday, November 25 th at 6:00 PM
offers the citizens of Acton a rare opportunity to preserve the Wetherbee/Moritz property, a
highly visible and environmentally important parcel of land abutting the farmlands and open
space off Wetherbee Street. I strongly urge all Town residents interested in preserving our
natural environment to attend this Special Town Meeting and vote in favor of permanently
protecting this key 33-acre parcel of woodlands and open space.
The Wetherbee parcel is the forested land backing the farm fields on the northern (right hand)
side of Route 2, just west of the Route 2 rotary. Preserving this parcel will permanently
preserve the natural beauty of that lovely vista. But as importantly, it will preserve a diverse
habitat of wooded land and vernal pools. Located on a ridge upgradient of the Town’s School
Street well field to the south, and Nashoba Brook to the north, protection of the property also
has the potential to protect both the Town’s drinking water, and the water quality of the Nashoba
Brook. Finally, the parcel also abuts the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail, thereby offering recreational
opportunities in the form of connecting pedestrian trail access.
Importantly, funding of the purchase of this parcel will not impact the Town’s budget or taxes.
Funding of the purchase will be through the use of Community Preservation Act funds dedicated
to land protection and supplemented by a $500,000 state grant and fund-raising by the Acton
Conservation Trust.
I urge you to attend the November 25th Special Town Meeting and join with the Open Space
Committee, the Community Preservation Committee, the Select Board, the Finance Committee,
and the Acton Conservation Trust in voting in favor of this purchase.
Thank you,
Andrew Magee