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Library trustees, patrons urge Finance Committee to reconsider denial of Acton Memorial Library upgrade funding
Summary
Library trustees and patrons asked the Finance Committee to reverse or reconsider its decision not to recommend Article 5.2 (Acton Memorial Library upgrades including ADA bathrooms and new carpet); trustees also sought guidance about a separate Article 11 proposal to merge trustee boards, which the committee deferred for legal review.
Several library trustees and patrons spoke at the meeting asking the Finance Committee to reconsider a decision to not recommend library upgrade funding and to clarify Article 11, a separate Town Meeting warrant item that would change trustee membership.
Miriam Lisak and Tina Stovall, trustees at Acton Memorial Library, described the library bathrooms as not ADA‑compliant and said the carpet and fixtures are beyond their useful lives. "This is Acton's living room," Lisak said, urging the committee to support the upgrades. Trustee supporters noted the proposed work is part of a multiyear preservation and accessibility project and said completed upgrades reduce the need for near‑term repeat appropriations.
The committee also considered Article 11, a separate home‑rule petition to align governance between the Citizens Library and Acton Memorial Library by expanding the Memorial trustee board from nine to 12 members and allowing the Citizens trustees to continue to be elected at Town Meeting while serving as members of the combined board. Select Board liaison Alyssa Nickel said the Select Board voted unanimously to recommend Article 11 and described an earlier Citizens Governance Advisory Committee process that led to the proposal.
Members of the public and one commentor with legal concerns asked the committee to obtain Town Counsel's written opinion about deed constraints on the Citizens Library property before the committee makes a recommendation on Article 11. Finance Committee members agreed to defer Article 11 to allow the petitioner and the committee to seek a Town Counsel review and to return with clarifying language. One committee member said he would abstain from participating in further legal advisory conversations to avoid conflict of interest.
The Finance Committee did not take an immediate vote to change its recommendation on the library upgrade funding; the committee asked staff to route the library's petition and any legal memoranda to committee members and to revisit the recommendation when counsel and additional details are available.
