Acton Select Board and Finance Committee Split Over $43 Million DPW Facility Proposal

ACTON -- January 13, 2025, Acton Select Board receives $40.9 million FY2026 budget as Finance Committee declares unanimous opposition to $43 million DPW facility project. Town Manager John Mangiaratti presented the recommended municipal operating budget, a 4.79 percent increase over the prior year, to a joint session of the Select Board and Finance Committee on January 13, proposing to borrow for five capital projects including a $1.5 million fire engine and $1.9 million in sidewalk and street improvements. Finance Committee Chair Kristi Anderson called for a moderated joint session on the DPW facility, saying the two boards were "not hearing each other," and stated flatly that the committee is "unanimously against the DPW building at this size and scope," citing both the project's timing, coming immediately after a Prop 2.5 operating override, and its $43 million scope. Finance Committee member Steve Noon noted that general fund debt exclusion spending in the capital plan is 55 percent higher than in the prior year, and that the DPW building alone represents 39 percent of the town's entire $111 million 10-year capital plan. The board also voted unanimously to approve a plan to build a 300,000-gallon equalization tank at the Adams Street Wastewater Treatment Facility for the Powder Mill sewer extension at an estimated cost of $2.6 million, and Fire Chief Anita Arnhem announced a three-to-four-month pilot program beginning in February that will consolidate department operations into two stations, north and south, to improve staffing, training, and fire scene safety.