Prepare Yourself for Special Town Meeting in Concord

A special Town Meeting will convene at 7 p.m. this Wednesday at Concord-Carlisle High School and its warrant includes, among other articles, bids to repeal the town's landmark bottled water-banning bylaw and to purchase 6.5 acres of land off Knox Trail in Acton to use for parking buses and other school vehicles.  

On Tuesday, the town took strides to help the voting populace prep. The following message was blasted out to the community via email, text and phone calls (links added by Patch): 

The Board of Selectmen would like to remind the residents of Concord that a special Town Meeting is scheduled for tomorrow, Wednesday December 4th at 7:00 PM at the high school. Please be advised that babysitting services are available and a shuttle bus will be running from the Alcott School.

Additionally, town officials posted article presentations online on Tuesday, affording voters the chance to read up on what they'll consider tomorrow night. And the full warrant is also available on the town website. 

To recap:

Article 1 deals with a land acquisition of 55 and 55R Knox Trail in Acton. Approval of the article would authorize the Board of Selectmen to purchase about 6.5 acres of land on Knox Trail in Acton, which abuts the 80 acres in Concord owned by the WR Grace Corp, which a 2012 Town Meeting voted to acquire. Should this parcel be acquired, the School Committee proposes utilizing the land as parking for buses and other school vehicles and supporting in-district school transportation operations on the premises. Officials and residents in Acton have spoken against the proposal, raising concerns about the potential impact on drinking water sources in their town. 

Article 2 "would authorize the Board of Selectmen to purchase approximately 0.67 acres of land on Commonwealth Avenue in Concord, located across from MCI Concord, for construction of a parking lot to support users of the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail."

Article 3 is a resident's bid to repeal the town's landmark bottled water bylaw, which prohibits the sale of unflavored, unenhanced drinking water in PET bottles of one liter or less. 

For more on each article, check out the anticipated presentations as they're posted online: 

• The Town Manager's presentation on Article 1 
• The School Committee's presentation on Article 1 
• The Planning Director's presentation on Article 2
• Mike Benn's (repeal the ban) presentation on Article 3
• Scott Richardson's (for the ban) presentation on Article 3