Fire finances low in Berlin

The Berlin Fire Department's finances are perilously low, said Fire Chief Bruce Ricard. The department recently fixed a 2003 fire engine after the vehicles brakes malfunctioned during a routine call last month. The repair cost around $1,200, said Ricard. Luckily, the malfunction didn't impair firefighting efforts, he said. The repair costs might not seem like much, but the department has had $14,600 in similar unexpected repairs on other trucks this year. The department's budget is $36,000, leaving Ricard with around $7,500 in free cash until the end of the fiscal year in June. Ricard said he has been in contact with the Board of Selectmen on the department's finances in case he needs more money from the town's reserve funds. - John Dyer

LIBRARY GROUNDBREAKING - Construction work on the Bolton Public Library project is scheduled to get underway in early November, according to the town website. Town officials have scheduled a groundbreaking ceremony for the project on Saturday at 11 a.m. at the public library. The total cost of the project is $7 million; the state is paying $2.4 million of that expense. - Matt Gunderson

LIBRARY REORGANIZATION - With the economy in a downward spiral, library director Nick Langhart doesn't think the town will be rehashing plans for a new library anytime soon, after the project failed at Town Meeting earlier this year. But library officials are hoping to reorganize the library sometime soon to make better use of the library's 4,000-square-foot space, he said. The library plans to hire a space planning consultant to conduct the work, said Langhart. - Matt Gunderson

SCHOOL COMMITTEE TO REVIEW COMMUNITY FEEDBACK - The Framingham School Committee will meet tomorrow night to hear a report on feedback from community focus groups on qualities people seek in a new school superintendent, said school officials. The deadline for applicants for the position is Thursday said Ann Greenberg, the committee's administrative assistant. On a related note, the committee is seeking someone to fill a seat on the committee after the resignation of member Cesar Monzon on Oct. 10. Greenberg said that residents interested in serving on the committee should submit a one-page letter of interest addressed to the Framingham School Committee, 14 Vernon St. Framingham, MA 01701. All letters must be received by Nov. 17. The committee and the Board of Selectmen jointly choose the person who will serve through April 2009, until town elections, according to Greenberg.

- Tanya Perez-Brennan

EDUCATION FOUNDATION IN BLACK - The Hudson Education Foundation has raised around $12,200 to date this year, said foundation President Marianne Vergano-Laughton. That's already an increase over the $11,800 the foundation raised for all of 2007, and the foundation has more fund-raisers planned, she said. The foundation provides money to Hudson school projects that are not funded by the ordinary school budget. To contact the foundation, call Vergano-Laughton at 978-568-8219. - John Dyer

LOCAL LAWYER ON JUDICIAL COMMISSION - Lincoln resident John J. Carroll has been appointed as an alternate member of the state Commission on Judicial Conduct. Carroll will serve a six-year appointment that started yesterday, the Supreme Judicial Court announced in a statement. Carroll, who has been a trial lawyer since 1974, is a partner in the Boston firm of Meehan, Boyle, Black & Bogdanow. The Commission on Judicial Conduct investigates allegations of misconduct by judges and was created in 1978. - John M. Guilfoil

NEW 2010 DIRECTOR - The executive director of Marlborough 2010, the city's quasi-public economic agency, has stepped down. Richard Riordan, who has led the organization since it was created in 2006, is returning to the private practice of law, a news release said. Replacing Riordan is Thomas Wellen, former CEO of St. Mary's Credit Union and a former Marlborough city treasurer. In a press release, Mayor Nancy Stevens said Wellen's mix of private and public experience would suit the organization well. The announcement comes in the wake of Governor Deval Patrick slashing an earmark in the state budget that would have given $75,000 worth of funding to the organization. - John Dyer

HIRING FREEZE - Selectmen have instituted a hiring freeze for the current fiscal year, reacting to the financial crisis the state and country is facing, said Town Administrator John Curran. The precautionary measure stems from concerns that the town's revenue streams, which are in a decline, will dry up too quickly this year to sustain the current budget, said Curran. At the moment, the board has closed a vacant position in the Water Department. If more positions open up, then the town will also freeze these positions, said Curran. - Matt Gunderson

ROTARY HEATS UP - The Northborough Rotary Club has established a $15,000 fund to provide town residents with heating oil this winter. Rotary member and Town Clerk Andrew Dowd said the fund would make up for shortfalls in other heating oil funds, which are sure to have insufficient funds this year, given the dire state of the economy and the high price of fuel. The club has teamed up with town social service agencies and local churches to identify families that might need help paying their home heating oil bills this year, he said. For more information, contact Michelle Gillespie at 508-393-1355.

- John Dyer

SEEKING A GREENER LIBRARY - The new face of the Shrewsbury Public Library could end up a little greener than initially planned, according to library director Ellen Dolan. In advance of tomorrow's deadline, Dolan said library officials have filed a letter of intent with the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners to secure eligibility for a Green Library Incentive. If awarded, the incentive stands to add $198,000 to a previous state grant of $3.9 million for new construction and renovations. Dolan said the Shrewsbury Public Library Trustees would now study the impact of building with the eco-friendly materials and designs required to receive the incentive. There is no deadline set for the decision, but if the trustees decide to go green, "beyond reducing our carbon footprint . . . the real incentive for me is reduced [utilities] costs going forward," Dolan said.

- James O'Brien

40B AND WETLANDS - The Southborough Conservation Commission is asking the town's Zoning Board of Appeals to reject a planned housing project because it could harm wetlands. In a letter, commission members asked ZBA members not to waive rules that keep developments from going up within 20 feet of wetlands. The proposed housing project, Woodland Meadows, would include around 40 units near Route 9 near some wetlands and a stream. The project is being proposed under Chapter 40B, the state law that allows developers to bypass local zoning laws as long as a quarter of a development's units are sold at affordable prices. The commission has already rejected the project's site plan, but its developer, Robert Heavey, is appealing that decision to the state, said Beth Rosenblum, conservation administrator. The ZBA next considers the project on Nov. 10. - John Dyer

BOOSTER RAFFLE - The Nashoba Regional High School Boosters are holding a series of raffles to help raise money for a new sports center for the high school, which would include a track and turf field. The project is estimated to cost $1.28 million, and the boosters hope to raise $150,000 a year to pay for a 10-year bond to build it. Voters in Bolton rejected a measure last spring to rebuild the school's track and field. All three towns in the district had to approve the spending measure. The raffle drawings began last week and there will be seven more on Fridays until early January. The prizes are based on total ticket sales. For more information about the raffles, call Cathy Giunta at 978-779-6069 or check the school website www.nrsd.net. - Matt Gunderson

COMMUNITY PRESERVATION FUNDS MATCHED - The Sudbury Community Preservation Committee has announced it has received a 71 percent funding match from the state for money raised through a property tax surcharge under the Community Preservation Act. The state funding totals about $966,000, making Sudbury one of the top 10 highest funded communities in the state. Sudbury residents have approved 35 CPA projects since the program's inception in 2003. - John M. Guilfoil

UPDATE ON RAYTHEON CLEANUP - Raytheon Co. representatives will update residents on the ongoing hazardous-waste cleanup at the company's former site at 430 Boston Post Road on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. in the Community Meeting Room in the Wayland Public Safety Building. The area, formerly a research and design facility now being used as an office park, takes up 83 acres, including 32 acres of wetlands and 41 acres of undeveloped grass and woodlands adjacent to the Sudbury River. At the meeting, Raytheon will discuss progress on soil and ground-water remediation and wetland restoration for areas polluted by its former operation. More information is available online at ermne.com; to access the information, type in username: raytheon and password: wayland, all lower case.

- John M. Guilfoil

LEE HIKE - The Westborough Community Land Trust is conducting a tour today of the Lee Property off Main Street, a 27-acre parcel of land that was given to the town last year as part of an agreement with a developer building a housing complex near the town's commuter rail station. The walk will begin at the Mill Pond boat ramp at 1:30 p.m. Town officials are still deciding what to do with the property. To sign up for the walk, contact Annie Reid at 508-366-8429.

- John Dyer

ASPERGER'S EXPERT TO SPEAK - The Medway Special Education Parents Advisory Council will meet Tuesday at 7 p.m. at the guidance office at Medway High School. The featured speaker will be Dr. Daniel Rosenn, an expert in the autism spectrum, a child psychiatrist, and founding member of the Asperger's Association of New England. For more information, contact chairwoman Carla Cataldo at ccc@post.harvard.edu. - Rachel Lebeaux

WESTON ROAD RECONSTRUCTION - For the last time, the town's plans for reconstructing one of its busiest roads will be up for discussion this week. The Board of Selectmen will host a public meeting Wednesday at the Wellesley Middle School to examine the plans - now 75 percent complete - for a 1-mile stretch of Weston Road from Route 9 to Central Street. Town engineer Steve Fader says the plans reflect specific issues addressed at previous public meetings, including pedestrian safety measures. He said the town hopes to undertake the bidding process during the winter and begin construction in early April or late May of next year. He said the plan calls for the project to be completed about this time next year. The meeting begins at 7:30 p.m. - Lisa Keen

DESEGREGATION PIONEER TO SPEAK - As part of Weston Middle School's curriculum focus on race and tolerance this fall, desegregation pioneer Dr. Terrence Roberts will speak to eighth-graders on Friday. Roberts was a member of the "Little Rock Nine," a group of black high school students who integrated Central High School in Little Rock, Ark., in 1957 amid widespread, and sometimes violent, opposition by whites.

- Christina Pazzanese