White Family Fundraiser

As you know a Bolton family was injured in the Boston bombing incident. A fundraiser has been established to help the White family. To learn more visit: 

http://www.youcaring.com/medical-fundraiser/help-the-white-family-recover-from-the-boston-marathon-explosions/53637#.UW6hXpwEF2k.email

Spring Walks in Bolton

Spring Walks

Join the Bolton Conservation Commission for three “Spring Walks” on Friday mornings in April, May and June.  We will be looking for wildflowers and emerging plants, listening to migrating and resident bird song and exploring the uniqueness of each conservation area.  Each walk will begin at 9:00 a.m. and last approximately 2 hours.  Spring trails can be wet, muddy and slippery, so please wear shoes that provide ankle support, traction and can get dirty.  The walks will be held in good and fair weather but cancelled in steady, heavy rain. 

• April 26 – Rattlesnake Hill Conservation Area.  Meet in the parking lot located between 185 and 215 Main Street (just west of Bolton Spring Farm).
• May 17 – Vaughn Hills Conservation Area.  Meet in the parking lot located 239 and 271 Vaughn Hill Road (nearest the Still River Road end of Vaughn Hill Road)
• June 14 – Welch Pond Conservation Area.  Meet in the parking lot located 326 and 376 Wattaquadock Hill Road (south of Sunset Ridge Condominiums).  *Wear boots or footwear for exploring in the pond edge.

Pre-registration is not required but if you have questions or want to let us know your coming please contact Carol Gumbart at 978-779-3304 or concom@townofbolton.com

Bake Sale for the White Family of Bolton injured in the Boston Marathon

The following is a reposting of someone else’s message:

If you feel sad, frustrated, and helpless about the horrible attacks Monday at the Boston Marathon, there is a way to help yourself and help others as well. Tragically, three members of a Bolton family sustained serious injuries in the bombing. In the  spirit of community, Lyn Slade, owner of Charlotte’s House Bed & Breakfast and a member of First Parish Church, has organized a bake sale at the First Parish Church to support a fund that has been established to help them recover.

The BAKE SALE will be held SATURDAY APRIL 20, 9 a.m. to noon, in front of The First Parish of Bolton, 673 Main St.

How can you help?

• Bake your best treats, wrap and label them, delivery to Lyn’s on Friday or to the sale on Saturday.
• Help set up on Saturday from 7:30 to 8:30 a/m/
• Help sell from 9 a.m. to noon
• Help clean up at noon
• Make signs
• Make a donation or ask for donations from merchant or friend (coffee makings/cups/table covers/grocery bags…)
• Share your ideas and suggestions

For more information, contact Lyn for details by phone at 978-779-5005 or by e-mail at  lyn@charlotteshousebandb.com

 

Rain Barrels available

The Town of Bolton received a grant for a rain barrel program through Mass DEP and the Town of Bolton Recycling Program.  Rain barrels are discounted 60% to residents of Bolton so your final cost is $49.00. Barrels come in 3 colors and are 100% recycled containers.  They need to be picked up on May 29th at the Transfer Station and must be ordered by May 22nd at 5:00 pm.

If interested you can order the barrels online/email/phone.

1) website: http://greatamericanrainbarrel.com/c-135-bolton.aspx

click on “shop local programs” click on Bolton and use coupon BOLTON

2) email: info@tgarb.com 

3) call: 1-800-251-2352

Planning Board Warrant Articles for Town Meeting 2013

The Planning Board has 8 warrant articles on for the 2013 May Town Meeting. If you couldn’t make the February 13 Public Hearing here is a quick summary:

Article 12: creates a new term for the Use Table: A sports facility. When Future Electronics was empty the Board thought a great use of the space would be a sports facility. When they reviewed the Use Table they quickly discovered that this wasn’t an allowed use. Since that time the Future Electronics space was occupied by Paragon but the Board felt it could be appropriate in other areas of Town as well. 

Article 13: Currently the Business District does not allow an outdoor use component, however the Limited Business District does. The Board felt it was appropriate to also allow an outdoor use to the Business District. This article creates the language for this use. Article 14 will actually amend the Use Table. 

Article 14: This article amends the Use Table allowing outdoors uses in the Business District by Special Permit. 

Article 15: the table of uses has a Commercial District although Bolton doesn’t even have a commercial district. It does have a limited business, business, and industrial district. The next article removes the language from the bylaw. 

Article 16: This article removes the commercial district from the Use Table.

Article 17: This Wireless Bylaw hasn’t been amended since it was first created in the 1990’s (except a few years ago to create an overlay district). The current bylaw requires a Special Permit for minor modifications such as antenna swaps, ground equipment replacement etc… This article amends the Bylaw to comply with the recent Federal Telecommunications Act which doesn’t require a Special Permit for modifications that do not expand the height of the tower or expand the ground equipment.

Article 18: Creates definitions related to the Wireless Bylaw.

Article 19: This is the Planning Board’s final article and creates a Barn, Stable and Carriage House Preservation Bylaw with the purpose of preserving structures built before 1925. It would allow accessory  apartments as well as certain accessory uses such as artisan studios or an antique shop.

To read the articles in detail please click here: http://www.townofbolton.com/pages/BoltonMA_Planning/townmeetingarticles/2013%20Town%20Meeting%20Articles/

See you at Town Meeting!

Jennifer Burney

Town Planner

planner@townofbolton.com

978-779-3308

Check out New Hampshire Chronicle – People’s Service Exchange

I stumbled across this video on a program done in Antrim NH called “People’s Service Exchange”. The article says “swapping time and talent instead of money in not a new concept, bit it’s certainly one we could use again in tough economic times. The Town of Antrim, NH seems to be making that system work. Locals earn and spend “time dollars”. Watch this short video to learn more http://www.locallookpeterborough.com/live/detail/nh-chronicle—peoples-service-exchange?blockID=543907&feedID=10729

I wonder if the folks in Bolton would start something like this. Maybe they already do and I don’t know about it. I would love to hear your thoughts.

Jennifer Burney

Town Planner

978-779-3308 

Planner@townofbolton.com

Aquifers and Water Bottles…..What do they have in common?

Today I received an interesting newsletter in an email from Inhabitat.  One of the articles talked

about the neighboring Town of Concord who became the first community to ban single-use plastic water bottles. I never really explored this concept or read much on it until today. Why I find this article interesting is that it follows a conversation I had earlier today with 2 Bolton residents both concerned with preserving the Town’s aquifer.

My question to Bolton residents that may be reading this posting is do you think Bolton should follow in Concord’s footsteps and what are your thoughts on what Concord did.

 

 

Happy New Year

Jennifer Burney, Bolton Town Planner

Concord, Mass. Becomes the First US City to Ban Single-Use Plastic Water Bottles

by Morgana Matus, 01/03/13

 Cities across the country have already worked towards banning plastic bags, and now Concord, Massachusetts has become one of the very first communities to ditch the single-use plastic bottle. The result of a three-year effort by local activists and an effective Ban the Bottle campaign, the new bylaw would make it illegal to sell non-sparkling, unflavored liquids in single-serving polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles of 1 liter or less. With exceptions for emergencies, a first offense will garner a warning, the second infraction incurs a $25 fine, and the third transgression earns a $50 fine. Concord’s Health Division is in charge of enforcing the ban starting the first of this year.

 According to Ban the Bottle, single-serve plastic bottles take 17 million barrels of oil a year to produce, enough fuel to power 1.3 million cars a year. In 2007, Americans used 50 billion bottles, recycling only 23% of that amount. In 2010, the EPA estimated that the US generated 31 million tons of non biodegradable plastic waste. Banning plastic bottles in cities across the country could go a long way to reducing our petroleum footprint.

Activists are not only concerned over the amount of fossil fuels needed to make a container, but the impact that the bottled water industry has on local aquifers. Community watchdogs are angry that large companies are in effect draining water tables and undermining tax payer-funded infrastructure in order to sell back subsidized water for a profit. Ban the Bottle also cites human health as an issue, noting that antimony, a chemical found in plastic bottles, has been known to cause depression and dizziness in low doses, and in large doses can induce vomiting, anxiety, and death.

Some critics of the ban question the usefulness of the law, observing that those who want to buy single-use bottles can travel a short distance to neighboring cities to purchase them. Some businesses have also taken advantage of a loophole by selling 20 oz bottles, since the legislation only focuses on sizes 1 liter or less. Even so, it is encouraging to see a community make strides towards reducing its impact on the environment and help keep its citizens hydrated and healthy.

Via Huffington Post

Images via Wikicommons users Streetwise Cycle and Malama Pono

Read more:Concord, Mass. Becomes One of the First Communities to Ban Single-Use Plastic Water Bottles | Inhabitat – Sustainable Design Innovation, Eco Architecture, Green Building