COMMUNITY PROFILE
In Ashland, the number one issue is growth
By Thomas Grillo, Globe Correspondent, 2/09/2002
ASHLAND - As in many other Massachusetts communities, the biggest dilemma facing town officials in Ashland is how to solve an expected budget deficit next year.
[an error occurred while processing this directive]State Representative Karen Spilka, an Ashland Democrat who also serves on the School Committee, said Ashland hasn't faced such hard times since the recession of 1989-1990.
"We may have to consider a Proposition 2 override or cut up to 10 percent of the school budget, which would decimate programs," Spilka said. "Hard decisions are coming."
Good schools, a low crime rate, and relatively affordable housing in Ashland continue to lure families from Greater Boston. In the last 10 years, Ashland's population has grown 22 percent.
Tenth-grade students at Ashland High School were ranked 44th in the state on the 2001 Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment Test, ahead of their peers in Brookline, Franklin, and Natick.
A school enrollment rate that is triple the state's average and an aging high school convinced members of the School Building Feasibility Study Committee to recommend construction of a new high school. The committee found that building a new school was the least expensive option and provides the community with a new theater and athletic fields.
In 2000, the most recent year for which data are available, there were fewer than 100 violent and property crimes in Ashland, including one rape, 39 aggravated assaults, 12 burglaries, 45 larcenies, and two motor vehicle thefts, according to the State Police.
In earlier times, Ashland was a stopping point on an Indian trail that later became known as the Bay Path, connecting Cambridge and Connecticut. It was here that Natick Indians established the village of Magunkaquog in 1659. Once the original starting point of the Boston Marathon, which still runs through Ashland, the town is also known as the place where Henry Warren invented the electric clock.
Ashland is bordered by Sherborn on the east, Framingham on the north, Southborough on the west and northwest, and Hopkinton and Holliston on the south. Principal highways are state routes 126 and 135 and the nearby Massachusetts Turnpike.
Commuter rail service to Back Bay Station and South Station is available from Framingham. Later this year, residents will be able to board the train in Ashland when a new station opens on High Street.
With the median price of a single-family at $293,500 in the third quarter of last year, according to the Warren Group, Ashland is one of the few affordable towns in MetroWest. A home in nearby Hopkinton, Sherborn, or Southborough will cost at least $100,000 more, on average.
According to the Multiple Listing Service, 29 single-family homes are for sale in Ashland, from a three-bedroom ranch for $229,900 to a new nine-room Colonial with two baths for $749,900. In the middle price range is a three-bedroom home on a tiny lot in the new Sudbury Park development, for $339,900.
Last year, Ashland's voters rejected adoption of the state Community Preservation Act, which would have imposed a property tax surcharge. The revenue would have been used to purchase open space, preserve historic buildings, and build affordable housing.
Anticipating the construction of schools, a library, and a fire and police station, Ashland residents and town leaders opposed the Preservation Act surcharge. But the matter will be on the ballot again this year, oon May 14, with voters being asked to approve a 3 percent surcharge.
At 3 percent, the additional tax on a home assessed at $250,000 would be $75 annually.
Historically, a lack of commercial development has hurt Ashland, officials say, in part due to a lack of sewer access in commercial and industrial areas and to the fact that Ashland is miles from Route 128 and from interstate routes 95 and 495.
"We're experiencing dramatic growth while in the midst of a $2.3 million budget shortfall for FY 2003," said Dexter Blois, town manager. "There's pressure on the budget because there are more kids in school, more roads to plow, more police and fire calls, and more trash to pick up. Growth has its impact."
AT A GLANCE
Incorporated: 1846 Area: 12.93 square miles Distance from Boston: 24 miles Population: 15,000 Tax rate: $16.79 residential, $17.92 commercial Government: open town meeting, 5 selectmen, town manager Median house price: $293,500 Municipal services: full-time police and fire, town water and sewer in most areas, trash collection and recycling Schools: Pittaway (K-1), Warren (2-3), Mindess (4-7), Ashland junior and senior high (8-12) Houses of worship: Roman Catholic, Congregational, synagogue, Hindu
More information on Ashland from Boston.com's Your Town section.
© Copyright 2001 Globe Newspaper Company
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