Town Meeting at CMS? Officials considering pros and cons

Acton’s newest public building could host one of its oldest traditions. 

Town Moderator Carmin Reiss said officials will consider whether to hold Annual Town Meeting at the new Ellen Garrison Building at Acton Middle School. 

Leaders aren’t making a decision yet, but some wonder whether a change could juice participation. 

The school has plenty of plush seats — but where would everyone park?

“It’s a wonderful new building here in town, and we’re, for sure, going to evaluate it,” Reiss said during a meeting of committee chairs.

Pros and cons

Town Meeting has convened at Acton-Carlisle High School since long before the new building opened in 2015. 

Former Town Meeting Study Committee Chair Eric Moore said the middle school auditorium “looks like a really lovely space.” 

Rather than replace CCHS outright, Moore said, Acton could run a Town Meeting with multiple participating locations. CMS, on Old Marlboro Road, might be more accessible for West Acton residents.

At present, the town offers the CCHS auditorium as an overflow area. The seats are more comfortable than the hard-backed chairs in the gym, but the auditorium’s steep stairs are an accessibility hurdle. 

Select Board Chair and Middle School Building Committee member Mark Howell said the Ellen Garrison auditorium, with its gradual slope, “strikes me as a better option.” 

“The rest of the logistics probably remain to be seen,” he told The Acton Bridge. 

Reiss told committee chairs last month that she’s not sure CMS would work, in part because the campus has less parking than the high school. 

Tale of the tape: CCHS vs. CMS

Acton-Carlisle High School | Ellen Garrison Building at Acton Middle School

597 parking spaces | 141 parking spaces

600-seat auditorium | 420-seat auditorium

1,200-student capacity | 700-student capacity

‘Early stage’ talks

Schools spokesperson Thomas Lucey told The Bridge that the Building Committee considered the possibility of holding Town Meeting at CMS. 

Like Howell, he noted the auditorium slope compared with that of CCHS. He said the CMS cafeteria would be a “suitable” overflow space. 

He acknowledged parking problems and said any overflow parking would be along Old Marlboro Road. 

Reiss wrote in an email that officials are “at an early stage” of consideration and it’s too soon to know whether CMS could be a viable spot for next year’s Annual Town Meeting. 

Reiss said any decision will be a collaborative one between the moderator and other officials.

At the Acton Free Public Library, one man who gave his name only as John said he’s been to Town Meeting but “my frequency would go down to zero” if the session moved to CMS entirely. 

He lives around Acton Center and said the Ellen Garrison Building is “way, way on the other side of town.” 

Ann Yelin said she wishes Acton had remote participation and hopes the effort to run future hybrid Town Meetings succeeds. Voters approved the change this summer, and a home rule petition is awaiting state legislative approval. 

West Concordian Dick Vacca said, “If people want to do it and they say they’re going to show up, it would probably be a good thing” to run Town Meeting at CMS.

He’s skeptical, nonetheless and underscored a perception that officials have tried to change. Seated at Nashoba Brook Bakery, he said he thinks Town Meeting “is one of those avocational things.” 

“Everyone is going to go — until the day of the event,” he said. “And then they don’t.”