Town Meeting Articles of the Day (Articles 27 through 30)
Saturday, April 23, 2022: In preparation for the 2022 Annual Town Meeting on April 25, 2022 at 7pm in the Ayer Shirley Regional High School Auditorium, the Town will be publishing the “Articles of the Day” to provide further information on each of the Town Meeting Warrant Articles. Each day, the Town will feature two or three Town Meeting Warrant Articles with a summary of each Article. The complete Town Meeting Warrant and additional information regarding the Warrant Articles can be found here.
For any questions about the Town Meeting Warrant Articles, please do not hesitate to contact the Town Manager’s Office at 978-772-8220 x100 or at tm@ayer.ma.us
For questions about Town Meeting Procedures and Rules of Order, please do not hesitate to contact James O’Conor, the Town Moderator at joconor@ayer.ma.us
Article 27: Ayer Affordable Housing Trust: This Article would fund $60,000 from the Community Preservation Fund (FY 2023) Balance Reserve from the Community Housing Category for the Ayer Affordable Housing Trust for use with the continuation of rental assistance for Town of Ayer residents.
Article 28: Ayer Library Digitization of Records: This Article would fund $25,000 from the Community Preservation Fund (FY 2023) Balance Reserve from the Historical Preservation Category for the Ayer Library to digitize “The Nashoba Valley Voice (formerly “Turner’s Public Spirit,” then “The Public Spirit”) dating from 1869 to the present, from the original hardcopies or microfilm, to ensure their historical preservation as well as to create a searchable database that will be accessible to the public.
Article 29: Community Preservation Fund – Flanagan Pond Public Access Feasibility Study: This Article would fund $25,000 from the Community Preservation Fund (FY 2023) Balance Reserve from the Open Space Category to study/research several possible locations for the creation of public access to Flannagan Pond and prepare, for future funding consideration, a conceptual design of a selected site that would provide canoe and kayak access, be ADA compliant, and offer parking.
Article 30: Zoning Bylaw Amendment – Minimum Lot Size in Light Industry Zoning District (Section 6.2 – Schedule of Dimensional Requirements): In the course of reviewing a Site Plan recently submitted in the Light Industrial (LI) District, the Ayer Planning Board discovered that the 2018 revised Ayer Zoning Bylaw inadvertently carried over an incorrect reference in its Table of Dimensional Requirements referring to the minimum lot size in said district. Rather than 120,000 square feet, the correct minimum lot size is 20,000 square feet. This warrant article would correct that error by restoring the minimum lot size in the LI District to 20,000 square feet. The Planning Board held a Public Hearing on March 22, 2022 and issued a positive recommendation. Planning Board to report at Town Meeting.