WESTFORD — Welcome to the July 30 edition of Weekend Wrap-Up. Here, we highlight the most important news you may have missed this week in Westford.
Officials seek consensus after second public hearing for firearms business bylaw
Amid the public hearing process for a proposed bylaw that could regulate future firearms businesses in town, a number of attendees shared their thoughts on the proposal as the Planning Board seeks to find consensus among residents.
Planning Board member Robert Shaffer hoped to bring the two groups to a “strong consensus” during the meeting to ensure a higher chance of the bylaw passing during Town Meeting in October.
“We as a town would be much better off with a compromise on this matter before Town Meeting…My fear is that without some type of consensus nothing will pass, and we will be without the benefit of any regulation,” Planning Board Chair Michael Bonenfant said.
Planning Board member Joan Croteau said she wants the public to “trust” the board.
“I hope that folks see the controls that have been put in place, edited, and corrected with input from the Attorney [in this bylaw]. I hope you see [how] we have tried to deal with the characteristic of the town,” Croteau said.
Members of the board also clarified that the bylaw proposal is not intended to deal with gun violence, but rather to “deal with the characteristic of the town.”
“We have a national crisis, but the number of gun stores…. somebody can go to Nashua and buy a gun so I think what we have to all think about and I think what’s getting lost is ‘what is the intent of this bylaw,’” Croteau said.
She added, “what do we want to see this town become? We’re not going to solve the problem of gun violence here [at the Planning Board] and we’re not going to solve it with this bylaw.”
Legal analysis
A number of residents raised concern over the specific number of allowable special permits that could be granted in Westford. According to a letter to the board from Town Counsel at KP Law, the Planning Board would retain discretionary authority to deny a permit should it choose.
“Even if the record reveals that a desired special permit could lawfully be granted by the board because the applicant’s evidence satisfied the statutory and regulatory criteria, the board retains discretionary authority to deny the permit,” wrote attorney Justin Perrotta.
However, Perrotta noted that the board’s discretion “is not unlimited.” The board must apply the same standards among new and existing applicants.
“Simply preferring one applicant to another is a legally untenable ground, because the special permit granting authority injects criteria not found in the enabling act,” he wrote.
However, according to Perrotta, local zoning and the Second Amendment has “yet to be widely considered by reviewing courts.”
In both Teixeira v. County of Alameda and Ezell v. City of Chicago, Federal Courts have “ruled that the Second Amendment right to bear arms includes both the right to acquire firearms and ammunition, and the right to establish and maintain proficiency in their use.”
Even still, Perrotta says that a zoning bylaw regulating firearms businesses “could be constitutionally challenged” in the future.
Budget Task Force holds first community forum, seeks additional input
The new Budget Task Force — which aims to recommend a number of scenarios to address shortfalls during the FY25 budget — held its first community forum on Monday.
Budgetary challenges
Officials noted several budgetary challenges the town is facing amid rising costs and stagnant revenue.
According to Finance Director Dan O’Donnell, Westford typically receives approximately $3 million in new revenue to address increased costs from year to year.
However, a number of new challenges will arise in the coming budget cycle that will result in increased costs for services, including:
- A new solid waste contract that will begin in FY25. ACME Waste will no longer provide municipal waste collection. Officials estimate a new provider could cost upwards of $500,000 to $1 million more than the town’s current contract.
- Energy costs, including natural gas and electricity could result in up to $500,000 in new costs for the town. The Select Board has approved new natural gas and electric contracts, which see a 70% and a 40% increase in costs respectively.
- Town and school union contracts are currently up for renewal. Officials project contracts could cost more than $2 million in revenue to provide cost of living increases to each of its unions.
- Employee salaries for non-union members could cost up to $500,000 in new spending. O’Donnell notes that the town “wants to make sure is paying market wages.”
- Health insurance costs are slated to rise $1 million to $2 million in new funding. The town is partially self-insured through its health insurance trust fund, meaning that the town is responsible for claims up to $125,000.
- New bus contract with Dee Bus Service could cost up to $500,000, as comparable communities have seen up to an 11% increase in costs.
- Special education private school tuitions will increase by 14% in FY24. Currently, the schools are using one-time funds to offset this increase, but the town must “find a way to work it into the budget” next year, according to O’Donnell. This increase could be upwards of $1 million.
- Officials anticipate that findings from the school feasibility study could incur costs over $2 million as the town looks to address school infrastructure.
Additional challenges, including leases for special education vehicles, uncertainty of future growth and additional expenses could arise in future budget cycles.
“We’re just in the beginning stages of this process, the final report will have more detailed information on each of these line items,” O’Donnell said.
New revenue opportunities
The task force is investigating a number of new sources of revenue to offset the impact of new expenses.
Some proposals include the sale of town-owned real estate, town and school fee increases, a split tax rate for commercial and residential property, short-term rental fees and revisiting the town’s moratorium on recreational cannabis dispensaries.
Other ideas, such as a Proposition 2 1/2 override, which would allow the town to increase its property tax levy permanently, were proposed.
Next steps
The task force aims to present its initial report to the Select Board on Sept, 29 and a final report on Oct. 18.
In the meantime, the task force plans to attend the Strategic Planning Retreat at Kimball Farm on Sept. 7 as well as host a second public forum on Sept. 13.
Members of the community can submit feedback and suggestions to the task force online.
Select Board approves ARPA funding for strategic plan
The Select Board has approved American Rescue Plan Act funding for a town wide strategic plan.
The board voted 4-1 to allocate $95,000 of ARPA funding towards the plan. Select Board member John Cunningham cast the dissenting vote.
What is a strategic plan?
The plan, which could take up to a full year to develop, is a “living document” that “grows with the town” as the town continues to develop according to a May 4 memo submitted to the Select Board. This plan could serve as a guiding document for the town for up to 30 years.
The plan, which relies heavily on community engagement, can help to guide the town and “take it to the next level of government,” Town Manager Kristen Las told the Select Board during a July 25 meeting.
“We also would want to be comparing ourselves to others. How do we want to do better, do well, really stand out as an excellent government,” she added. “Any other plan that the town or the board or other boards and commissions create would sit under that strategic plan.”
The town has already created a number of plans for specific departments and goals, including its Comprehensive Land Use Master Plan from 2009, its Climate Action Roadmap from 2022, and its Stormwater Management Master Plan from 2016 among others.
This strategic plan could inform the town on what plans it should update in the future. A number of plans, including the town’s Sidewalk Master Plan from 2000 and Route 110 Master Plan from 1999 are over 20 years old.
The town will now submit a request for proposal for a consultant to engage with the town on the plan.
Select Board cautious on spending remaining funds
Two other plans, including creating an updated Land Use Master Plan and a new Community Health Assessment and Community Health Improvement Plan were proposed but ultimately did not receive funding during the meeting.
The updated Land Use Management Master Plan would cost $175,000, while the Community Health Assessment and Community Health Improvement Plan would cost $75,000.
Select Board member Andrea Peraner-Sweet says she “still sees ways in which these plans interact with each other.”
She added, “it seems to me if we’re going to do that [townwide strategic plan], that it is the first one that gets done, and from that plan, we will get a lot of information that can be used.”
Peraner-Sweet also aims to exercise caution with the town’s remaining ARPA funds.
“I’m very cautious at this point. I really want to make sure that these last funds that we spend that we’re doing it in a way that we get the most for our buck,” she said.
Select Board member John Cunningham hoped to wait for a report from the Budget Task Force, which is slated to be released in September.
“I’d also like to see the funds that we have left spent supporting people of the town on something we can accomplish in the next year or so. I’m not convinced that planning everything is the way we use these funds,” Cunningham said.
He added, “I’m not convinced at the urgency at this point.”
After the vote, the town has $384,459 of its initial $7.4 million in ARPA funding it received between 2021 and 2022. This funding must be allocated by Dec. 31, 2024 and spent by Dec. 31, 2026.
Footbridge to connect O’Brien Farm trails
A footbridge will soon connect two sections of O’Brien Farm.
O’Brien Farm offers two main trail loops which feature classic stone walls, a wooded swamp, marshlands and forested uplands.
The property, jointly managed by the Conservation Commission and Sudbury Valley Trustees, is bisected by Pond Brook.
For visitors to access both main trail loops, visitors must walk along the shoulder of Vose Road. A new footbridge will connect both portions of the parcel and link the public parking area.
An 80-foot public footbridge will be constructed by Conservation Works, LLC. A contract for $63,415.40 was unanimously approved by the Select Board during a July 25 meeting.
The Town of Westford was initially awarded a $27,970.50 grant from MassTrails in 2021 construction costs. Annual Town Meeting also allocated $37,294 in 2021 in Community Preservation Act funds for the project.
Conservation Resource Planner Matthew Salem initially sought $9,600 in American Rescue Plan Act funds to supplement the cost of the project, which was not funded during a May 9 Select Board meeting.
However, the the project will be funded through $24,471 from a MassTrails grant, $28,484.31 from the town’s CPA appropriation, $9,600 from the Conservation Commission Trust Fund and $860.09 in contracted services for the Land Use Management Department.
Contractors anticipate construction will take approximately eight weeks.
WestfordCAT News
