Acton DPW Committee Unanimously Backs Phased Facility Plan, Seeks Design Funds

ACTON -- March 5, 2026, Acton DPW Building Committee endorses two-phase facility plan and advances $900,000 design request to May Town Meeting. The committee voted unanimously Thursday to split the long-debated Option 4B into two stages: Phase 1 would construct a new building to house staff workspaces, workshops, and administrative offices, while renovation of the existing structure for vehicle storage is deferred to a future Phase 2. Committee member Greg Jarboe moved approval, seconded by Ann Chang, drawing a distinction between this phasing and earlier, costlier concepts: "That was bad phasing. This is good phasing." A draft warrant article requests a $900,000 design appropriation for the May Annual Town Meeting, with the net new borrowing reduced to $720,106 by reappropriating unspent funds from Article 6 of 2023, per budget book page 15. The Select Board reviewed and voted to recommend the article the Monday before the meeting. Design firm Weston and Sampson is currently at a schematic level and targeting a roughly November 2026 completion of full construction documents.