A downtown that encourages mixed use, including upstairs residential, and which fills in the “missing teeth” in the business district. Mixed use areas that create development opportunity while improving parts of town that are hurt by visual clutter and confusion. Housing development that permanently preserves natural resources at no cost to the town. Setback and yard requirements that protect our vital neighborhoods and business areas, while encouraging appropriate and necessary growth. Modernizing some very old industrial uses to reflect changing business investment trends. A zoning bylaw that is free of inconsistencies in procedure and terminology and is clearer and easier to use. These are the issues that the Planning Board has been thinking about lately.

The Transfer Station will be closed on Wed, June 30, 2010 in order to make the transition to Zero-Sort Recycling. This one day closing will allow the staff to orchestrate the pickup and permanent removal the existing containers (by the respective vendors) while managing the successful installation of the new compactor for the single-stream program. Thank you for your cooperation and apologize for any inconvenience.

We will have more information about Zero-Sort Recycling soon.

Saturday June 19^th 9-noon Tooker land trail build

Come help the Ayer Greenway Committee build a trail access through the newly acquired Tooker land into the existing Pine Meadow Conservation lands. We will meet on Oak Ridge drive. If you are coming up from Center Street on Groton Harvard road the first right is Oak Ridge drive. Go about π mile and you will see a representative of the Greenway committee showing you were to park. Wear long pants and appropriate shoes. Rakes, nippers and gloves suggested. Bring water as well. In the past we have found these events to be some of the most fun we have had building trails to new areas of our amazing Conservation lands.

We'll meet at the Groton-Harvard Road trail head at 9:00 am then take short walk to the Habitat Trail lookout to see if we can spot some Great Blue Herons and the Osprey pair. We'll stop along the way to observe other birds in the woods and on the pond. Please wear appropriate clothing (it's tick season) and bring water and binoculars (if you have them). Once again thanks to Takashi Tada and Beth Suedmeyer for leading this walk.

The weather forecast looks good, so please come out and join us!

Call 618.214.8593 for more information.

The town of Ayer is seeking a qualified resident to serve on the Board of Assessors until the next town election in 2011. Applicants for the position must submit a letter of interest and/or resume to the Assessors Office by May 19th at 4:30PM.

March 28th - The Board of Selectmen today declared an immediate Water Restriction covering all consumers of the public water supply.  This restriction is due to the shutdown of the town’s Spectacle Pond wells and the severely reduced capacity of the water system, according to Shaun A. Suhoski, Town Administrator.
 
“The water is safe to drink, however, all residential and business consumers must seek to immediately reduce water consumption in order to preserve the remaining water supply,” he said.
 
Selectmen Chairman Cornelius “Connie” Sullivan convened an emergency session of the board today at 1:30 p.m. to receive an update on the status of the water supply and the related repairs to a collapsed drainage culvert along state Route 119 in Littleton. 
 
DPW Supt. Daniel F. Nason advised the board that the culvert is the only outfall from Spectacle Pond and that its closure has caused upwards of four feet of additional water impoundment beyond typical springtime highs.  The high water table has forced the temporary closure of Ayer’s Spectacle Pond wellfield.
 
Given the prediction for a severe rain event on March 29 and 30, the Board of Selectmen continued a State of Emergency that was originally declared on March 16 and met with state and Littleton officials late this afternoon at the Littleton Police Dept.
 
“Today’s meeting with the state undersecretary of public safety and state fire marshall indicates that the Commonwealth has put a top priority on implementing the repairs on Rt. 119,” said Mr. Nason.  “In addition, the town is in close contact with the Mass. Emergency Management Agency and Mass. DOT to ensure availability of additional resources as may be needed.”
 
Some ways that residents can reduce water usage are to reduce shower time, do not run tap water while brushing teeth, shaving or washing dishes, and flushing toilets only when necessary, according to Mr. Nason.   Local businesses are also included in the reductions.  He added that the ban on any outdoor use of water will be strictly enforced.
 
Mr. Suhoski indicated that the town implemented a “reverse 911” call through the Worcester County Sheriff’s Dept. and that MEMA-provided message boards will be deployed tomorrow to advise of the water restriction.  Also, a meeting with the town’s major water consumers is scheduled for tomorrow in order to secure reductions in use.

The Ayer brush dump will be open on the following Saturdays and Sundays to accommodate spring yard clean up:
4/03/10
4/10/10 4/11/10
4/17/10 4/18/10
4/24/10 4/25/10
The hours on these days are 8am – 4 pm. Access for the brush dump will be from Bishop Road. No paper or plastic bags can be left in the brush dump and no trash is permitted. Please keep leaves & brush separate. The brush dump is available to Ayer residents with valid vehicle stickers only.

Effective April 5, 2010 through September 10, 2010 the D.P.W. office will be open to the public Monday through Friday from 6:30 a.m. until 2:30 p.m.

The Communications Committee in conjunction with Ayer Public Access Corporation (APAC), produces the Candidates Forum. This year's forum will be held on April 8th starting at 7:00 PM in Town Hall.  The forum provides an opportunity for Candidates running for town offices or committee’s to answer question form the public and express their views.  The Forum is video taped in front of a live audience (all are welcomed) for broadcast on Comcast Ch. 8.  For more info, or to submit a question for a candidate, please click here.

As a reminder, Town elections are April 26th, 2010. Please take the time to vote.

Common Cause Massachusetts to Present e-Government Award
to 180 Municipalities, Releases Municipal Transparency Report

BOSTON – Common Cause Massachusetts released the findings of its annual survey of municipal websites today and will present its 2010 e-Government Award to 180 cities and towns next Tuesday, March 16th at 11am in hearing room A-1 at the State House. The survey and ceremony coincide with the national initiative known as “Sunshine Week” in which media outlets and others address issues of governmental transparency.
 
Municipalities who post their governing body’s minutes and an agenda, their budget, their bylaws, and, if applicable, their town meeting warrant and results will receive the 2010 e-Government Award and are listed below.
 
Those who additionally post a year’s archive of minutes and agendas, their calendar, their zoning bylaws, their school committee’s minutes and agenda, and the minutes and agenda for another board or committee will receive the award with distinction and are bolded.
 
Acton, Agawam, Amesbury, Amherst, Andover, Arlington, Ashburnham, Ashby, Ashland, Attleboro, Avon, Ayer, Barnstable, Becket, Bedford, Bellingham, Belmont, Billerica, Bolton, Boston, Bourne, Boxborough, Boylston, Braintree, Brewster, Brockton, Brookline, Burlington, Cambridge, Carlisle, Charlton, Chatham, Chelmsford, Chelsea, Chicopee, Chilmark, Cohasset, Concord, Dartmouth, Dedham, Dennis, Douglas, Dover, Dracut, Dudley, Dunstable, Duxbury, East Longmeadow, Eastham, Easton, Edgartown, Egremont, Essex, Everett, Falmouth, Fitchburg, Foxborough, Framingham, Franklin, Freetown, Gardner, Georgetown, Gill, Gloucester, Grafton, Great Barrington, Groton, Halifax, Hamilton, Harvard, Harwich, Haverhill, Hingham, Holden, Holliston, Holyoke, Hopkinton, Hubbardston, Hudson, Ipswich, Kingston, Lakeville, Lancaster, Lenox, Leominster, Lexington, Littleton, Longmeadow, Lowell, Lunenburg, Malden, Mansfield, Marblehead, Marlborough, Marshfield, Maynard, Medfield, Medway, Melrose, Methuen, Millbury, Milton, Montague, Monterey, Nantucket, Needham, New Bedford, Newburyport, Newton, North Adams, North Andover, North Brookfield, North Reading, Northampton, Northborough, Northfield, Oak Bluffs, Orange, Orleans, Otis, Paxton, Peabody, Pembroke, Pepperell, Plympton, Princeton, Reading, Rockland, Rockport, Salem, Salisbury, Sandwich, Saugus, Scituate, Seekonk, Sharon, Sheffield, Shrewsbury, Somerville, South Hadley, Southampton, Southborough, Southwick, Spencer, Springfield, Sterling, Stow, Sudbury, Sunderland, Sutton, Taunton, Topsfield, Truro, Upton, Uxbridge, Walpole, Waltham, Wareham, Warwick, Watertown, Wayland, Wellesley, Wellfleet, Wenham, West Boylston, West Springfield, Westborough, Westford, Westminster, Weston, Westwood, Weymouth, Wilbraham, Williamstown, Wilmington, Winchester, Woburn, Worcester, Wrentham, Yarmouth.
 
“We are pleased to be able to honor over half of Massachusetts cities and towns this year,” said Common Cause Massachusetts’ Executive Director Pam Wilmot.  “Many communities rose to the challenge and significantly improved their websites over the past year. By making it easier to obtain important information online, citizens will be empowered to actively participate in their local governments.”
 
Common Cause Massachusetts launched this project in 2006.  At that time, only 24 communities met the campaign’s minimum standards and posted essential governance records. This year, 97 will receive the basic award, and 83 will receive the award with distinction, making 180 communities in total, seven-and-a-half times more than the original 24.
 
In addition to the awards presented, Common Cause released a full survey of the Internet presence of all 351 cities and towns.  25 communities, many of them small towns, had no website at all.  23 municipalities have websites but none of the documents posted.   20 communities came very close to earning an award and only had one document missing.
 
“The Internet is an inexpensive channel to get information to residents.  Posting these key records takes only minutes and costs almost nothing,” said Wilmot.  “Communities that make this information available on the web are providing an important service to their citizens and we are ecstatic that we are able to acknowledge them.”
 
For more information, go to www.commoncause.org/egov10.
 

ABOUT COMMON CAUSE

 
Common Cause Massachusetts is a nonpartisan, nonprofit, government watchdog, dedicated to citizen participation in an open, honest, and accountable government. An independent, member-supported organization, Common Cause has more than 200,000 members nationwide and 10,000 in Massachusetts.