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',!,. J # nnimL <ycepari C^own ofOfclon igoo \JYlm Special Uomervation Jvepori OF GENERAL INTEREST Incorporated as a Town: July 3, 1735 Type of Governmeni: Town Meeting-Selectmen Location: Eastern Massachusetts, Middlesex County, bordered on the east by Carlisle and Concord, on the west by Box- borough, on the north by Westford and Littleton, on the south by Sudbury, and on the southwest by Stow and] Maynard. Name: Acton as the name of our Town has several possible derivations: the old Saxon word Ac -tun meaning oak settlement or hamlet in the oaks, the Town of Acton, England, the Acton family of England, a member of which supposedly offered a bell for the first meeting^ house in 1735. Elevation at Tov;n Hall: 268' above mean sea level. J^and Area: Approximately 20 square miles. Population: Year Persons Density 1910 2136 106 per sq. mi. 1950 3510 175 1955 4681 233 1960 7238 361 1965 10188 507 Climate: Normal January temperature 27.7°F. Normal July temperature 72.0°F. Normal annual precipitation 43.02 inches. Public Education: Pupil enrollment (December 1966): Grades 1-6, 2016; Grades 7-12, 1498 (Regional) Number of teachers and administrative staff: 190 Pupil -teacher ratio: 1 to 29 (avg. all grades) Expenditure per pupil: Grades 1-6, $346; Grades 7-12, $530. Tax Picture: Year Tax Rate Assessed ValuationI 1962 $82 $14, 168, 525 1963 83 15,799,455 1964 86 17,207,395 1965 92 18,408,058 1966 29 70,309,795 United States Senators in Congress: Edward W. Brooke (R), Newton, Massachusetts Edward M. Kennedy (D), Boston, Massachusetts . Massachusetts Representative in Congress, 3rd Congressional Dist: . Philip J. Philbin (D), Clinton, State Senator, Middlesex and Worcester District: .... William I. Randall, Framingham, Massachusetts Representative, General Court, 13th Middlesex Dist: . Jolin A. S. McGlennon, Concord, Massachusetts Governor's Council, 3rd District: George F. Cronin, Jr., Boston, Massachusetts OFFICE HOURS Town Office (Selectmen, Clerk) 8-4:30 (Tues. 7:30p.m.) Town Hall 263-271 Treasurer and Collector 8-4:30 (Tues. 7:30-8:30p.m.) Town Hall 263-701 Assessors 8-4:30 (Tues. 7:30-8:30p.m.) Town Hall 263-5( School Superintendent 8-4:30 A-B Regional H. S. 263-57^ Boaid of Health 8-4:30 Office at 69 Hayward Rd. 263-47S Veterans' Agent No Regular Hours At Home 263 -47i Library Hours: Memorial Library Mon.-Frl., l-9p.m. 263-22! Saturday, 10-6 p.m. Citizens, W. Acton Mon., 7-9p.m., Tues., 3-6p.m. Thurs., 3-5 p. rn. Mail to: Secretary, Board of Selectmen Box 236 Acton, Massachusetts 01720 PUBLIC SERVICE REQUEST Name Telephone: Home Business Address, , , _____^ I am interested in serving on the following Town Committees: (Indicate your choice in order of preference. See reverse side for listing of offices and committees.) 1. 2. 3. I would be available on and could devote hours per week as a public servant. PRESENT BUSINESS AFFILIATION AND WORK BUSINESS EXPERIENCE EDUCATION OR SPECIAL TRAINING TOWN OFFICES HELD: Date Appointed Office Term Expired GOOD GOVERNMENT STARTS WITH YOU Finance Committee Board of Appeals Town Forest Committee Recreation Commission Fence Viewers Field Drivers Burial Agent Veteran's Agent Director of Veteran's Services Transportation Advisory Committee Director and Deputy of Civil Defense Archives Committee Town Report Committee Personnel Board Industrial Development Commission Permanent Building Committee Town Building-Land Acquisition Committee Public Ceremonies and Celebrations Committee Conservation Commission Sidewalk Committee Street Lighting Committee Town Administration Study Committee Sewerage Study Committee Regional Refuse Disposal Study Committee The filling out of this form in no way assures appointment. i ANNUAL REPORTS TOWN OF ACTON MASSACHUSETTS FOR ITS TWO HUNDRED AND THIRTY-FIRST MUNICIPAL YEAR FOR THE YEAR ENDING DECEMBER THIRTY-FIRST 1966 Partridge Pond CONSERVATION ANNUAL REPORT OF THE CONSERVATION COMMISSION In June, the Conservation Commission purchased 22.8 acres of land in East Acton from the Pope Road Land Trust. The Commission is hoping to purchase an additional 27 acres, that abuts this land, at the Annual Town Meeting in 1967. Several other land owners have been contacted during the year, relative to land available for conservation purposes. The Commission is interested in the purchase or gift of land that would serve conserva- tion ends. Any suggestions from townspeople would be welcome. For five weeks this summer, Frank Brooker, a Brandeis student, assisted the Commission. While here he made a card file of all lands in the Town, cross indexed with the Town Atlas, surveyed and reported to the Conservation Commission on some 15 Hatch Act Cases and identified land in Town where ownership is unknown. The Commission assisted in getting the Town of Acton into the Metropolitan Area Planning Council. A long range Conservation plan for the Town has been prepared by the Commission. It is hoped to conserve the lands along Nashoba and Fort Pond Brooks; the quaking bogs. Will's Hole and Grassy Pond; the Town Forests; water impoundment areas and open spaces (see map on center fold). During the year members of the Connmission have attended ten Hatch Act hearings and will continue to attend all hearings on Hatch Act cases. They will maintain an active interest in the results of the hearings. The Commission, realizing that open spaces are of economic value to the Town, is currently developing a plan by which the tax burden upon land owners of large undeveloped tracts of land in Acton can be eased. Efforts to preserve the Isaac Davis Trail are continuing. Two more easements have been obtained and hope- fully will be presented to the Town for acceptance at the Annual Meeting. In May, Dr. Samuel Sutcliffe, Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering, Tufts University, was appointed to fill the term vacated by David Tinker. Robert Ellis, Chairman of the Commission, has been appointed a Director of the Massachusetts Association of Conservation Commissions. Franklin Charter of the Town Forest Committee has been made an associate member of the Conservation Commission. As a result of the work of the Natural Resources Committee, of which Chan Waldron is a member, a Town resources inventory has been received by the Town. Many ideas from the report were incorporated in the over -all conservation inventory plan for the Town. CONSERVATION AND THE CITIZEN In the minds of many, a Conservation Commission is just a group which comes to Town Meetings asking for money to buy a few acres of swamp or soggy woodland so that it will not be turned into a supermarket by a developer. These same citizens might wonder what conservation has to do with them. To answer this question, it must be said that the goal of conservation is not to deny people the pleasure or convenience of visiting their local handy-dandy shop- ping center at ex Mosquito Corners. It is. the goal of conservation to assist the Town in maintaining plentiful water supplies, preventing future flooding, obtaining recreational areas, and providing educational opportuni- ties for children of the area. Stated in these terms, conservation goals are identical to the goals of the * - ..,-•'«. responsible citizen who is thus a subconscious (or con- scious) conservationist. Beginning with the obvious -- what one can see -- the appearance of a Town plays a part in attracting resi- *s^- dents. Conservation practices keep a Town attractive by insuring variety in land use. Citizens expect their Town to be a desirable place in which to raise families. Con- servation enters the picture here through the acquisition of public recreational areas. Conservation, through pro- vision of formal and informal nature study areas, can give children an intimate look at their natural heritage and first-hand experiences of nature at work in their lives. A matter of vital importance to a Town's citizens, their water supply, can be directly affected by conserva- m,' tion pi'actices. Water' run-off is delayed by swampy ai'eas which hold water, allowing it to seep gradually back into the ground, thus replenishing the water sup- ply. Ti-ee farms also can assist in water retention. Finally, conservation can, by expenditure of money, save the taxpayer's dollars. Up to a point, undeveloped land is an asset in that it does not re- quire services and, in fact, produces appreciated evaluation in properties near it; but, beyond that, land purchased by a town for conservation provides -^fe. a back-log of resources for the future. Helter- skelter growth in some towns has led to the need for expensive water projects; lack of space for efficient town services; and difficult choices bet- ween land -taking by eminent domain, time-consum- ing, expensive and distasteful to many; and loss of irreplaceable park or school land. ^m' The answer to the question as to who has a real stake in local conservation is everyone. Conservation, or the lack of it, touches us all where we feel it the most -- our homes, our children, and # our pocketbooksl THE STREAMS OF ACTON Acton has only two main streams within its bounds. Both flow in an easterly direction and join together in West Concord to flow into the Assabet River. Fort Pond Brook begins in Littleton on the west- erly side of Fort Pond. From there is meanders through the highlands of West Acton, passes under Massachusetts Avenue, skirts Jones Field, and is dammed at Erikson's Dam in South Acton. Below this dam there is a series of abandoned dams, all in a state of disrepair, none of which impound a significant amount of water. This once lovely stream is now severely polluted. It is unsafe for swimming. Only the hardiest of fish can survive.