Town Administrator Outlines State of the Town

Citing Littleton’s most recent bond rating by Standard and Poor’s, Bergman declared the state of the Town to be “stable” and “strong.” Wrote Standard and Poor’s:  “Standard & Poor's views Littleton's management practices ‘strong’ . . . strong, well embedded, and likely sustainable.” S&P gives Littleton’s bond rating of AA/Stable, which is considered ‘High Grade,’ just below the AAA top rating of ‘Prime.’”

 

Keith then outlined Littleton’s strategy for promoting economic development consistent with  community character. Both Littleton Common and the crossroads of Rt.2 / I-495 are among the State’s priorities for development in our region. He also touched upon Sam Park & Co.’s “The Point” project currently under construction.

 

Keith followed with a look at how our town government is planning for the future. These include the proposed updating of the town’s Master Plan, along with updates to the Open Space & Recreation Plan, and the Housing Production Plan, which are currently underway. The Board of Selectmen has also formed an Economic Development Committee.

 

A very important element in residential housing for towns in Massachusetts is a state statute, Chapter 40B, which enables towns and cities to control residential development within their borders provided they maintain an inventory of affordable housing of at least 10%.  Littleton is now above that 10% and Keith pointed out that the town has a strategy to retain home rule at least until 2031 by staying above the 10%.  To do this, a Housing Committee has been formed that includes the Selectmen, Housing Authority, Planning Board and Zoning Board of Appeals.  This group plans to have a Housing Production Plan Update completed by October of this year.

 

Keith then went over the improvements in Littleton’s MBTA Commuter Rail service including the addition of a second track, work on adding more parking spaces at the station and plans for an expanded train schedule akin to Acton’s by 2016.

 

The next item on Keith’s presentation dealt with how to expand transportation opportunities for local residents, commuters, and businesses in our region. Littleton is joining with the Towns of Acton, Boxborough, Concord, Maynard, Stow and Westford in a public/private partnership with area businesses to form a Transportation Management Association called “CrossTown Connect". This “TMA” as it is called, will explore various solutions to the daily travel needs of area residents including suburb-to-suburb, traditional commuting to Boston, the “last mile” local transportation and reverse commuting.

 

Keith was able to squeeze a tremendous amount of valuable information into his talk and closed with a reminder that Town Meeting will convene on Monday, May 5^th.  At the conclusion of his presentation, Keith fielded questions from the gathered Rotarians and was then thanked for his very informative talk and presented with a Littleton Rotary Club mug by Rotary Club President Marcia Marcantonio.  You can keep up with what is happening in town by go www.littletonma.org on the web where you will also find Keith’s blog: TA Blog.

 

The Littleton Rotary Club is a thirty-member service club made up of men and women from the Littleton area.  The club is a member of Rotary International, one of over 34,000 clubs with over 1.2 million members, worldwide.  Rotary is dedicated to “Service Above Self” and provides volunteers and financial support to each community, each country and the world. 

 

The Littleton Rotary Club meets every Wednesday at 7:30 a.m. in the dining room at 1 Monarch Drive, off Taylor Street.  If you would like to be a guest and learn more about Rotary, please contact Club President Marcia Marcantonio at fortpond@aol.com.