Survey on town services

Town Manager Chris Whelan announced that the bi-annual survey of randomly selected residents is ongoing, polling townspeople about their level of satisfaction with town services such as police, fire, emergency, power, trash, and the like.

Whelan said 375 households are chosen randomly. The survey is conducted by an outside firm. The 2010 survey is the third in the last six years.

West Concord Master Plan

Whelan said the task force held a hearing on Oct. 5 to discuss and air possible zoning changes for the 2011 Town Meeting. The task force met at the Harvey Wheeler Community Center.

Budget guidelines

Whelan said the guideline for town departments to meet for the fiscal year 2012 budget that begins on July 1, 2011 will be set in November. To that end, his office is working with town Financial Director Tony Logalbo on assessing the status of revenue and expenses before the guideline is set. After that, departments will arrive at their operating budgets and submit them to Whelan, Logalbo and the selectmen for review.

Bruce Freeman Rail Trail

Whelan said a Reaquest for Proposals has been issued for the Acton and Concord segments of the former railroad bed that will eventually provide a bike and hiking trail from Lowell south to Concord and beyond. Whelan said Acton and Concord are "collaborating" on phase 2 of the trail planning.

Drop Off Day

Ready to clean out the garage? The town and REUSIT recycling group is hosting the semi-annual Drop Off Swap Off day on Saturday, Oct. 16. Residents of Concord are allowed to bring oversized trash and recyclables to the public works yard where volunteers will assist them in unpacking their cars. In the past, all manner of material has been turned in, from mattresses to toilet bowls to computers; styrofoam packing materials, cardboard and appliances.

In another area on Keyes Road, the swap off is a place to leave unwanted but usable goods for free, such as working toasters, bikes, TVs, radios, anything that someone else might want that still works.

Personnel Changes

Whelan reported that a new town assessor will be aboard soon replacing Lynn Masson. Also, he said the Board of Health is not in a hurry to find a replacement for Health Director Brent Reagor. Whelan said Stan Sosnicki is acting health director and the board "has not initiated a search."

Selectman Carmin Reiss, liaison to the Council on Aging, said the board for the COA is three members short. She encouraged interested residents to fill out green cards indicating committee preferences. Whelan makes the appointments.