Westford Volunteer Experience
School Site Selection Committee
The job of the School Site Selection Committee was to locate and recommend new school sites to the Town. Kirk chaired the Committee and in carrying out this task he secured and studied existing school site plans to familiarize himself and the Committee with appropriate areas for building footprints, parking and fields. Using this newly obtained knowledge and drawing on twenty years of development experience, Kirk toured nearly 100 parcels of town owned property to assess each parcel’s suitability as a possible school site. Based on these observations Kirk presented the Committee with a chart showing sites that had adequate non wetland acreage with notes listing individual site limitations such as steep slopes, restricted access and other challenges to construction. In order to facilitate Committee review Kirk also prepared schematic site plans showing that adequate sized building footprints with requisite parking and fields could be laid out on several sites. Based on Committee recommendations these site plans were further refined and presented to the Permanent School Building Committee. This information was later shared with other Town committees and departments researching sites for construction of non-school facilities.
Commission for Efficient Town Government
Working closely with the Town Manager and Town Finance Director this Committee reviewed a wide array of options for increasing revenue, operating more efficiently, lowering expenses, reducing costs by consolidation of operations, making enterprises self sufficient and the like. The Committee met with department heads from each major Town department to discuss and better understand their operations and get their perspective on ways to increase efficiency. After receiving input from the department heads the Committee brainstormed ideas for different proposals and prepared a list of options, many of which were studied in greater detail by individual members to ensure their practicality. The proposals were again presented to the department heads for feedback and then a final list of recommendations was prepared and voted on. A report was issued and presented to the Selectmen. Many of these recommendations have already been acted on and continue to be considered for future savings.
Land Use Priorities Committee
This Committee studied every parcel of Town owned land and its limitations. After discussion, the Committee prepared a report listing possible uses for each parcel studied. The Committee also looked at large privately owned undeveloped parcels and examined potential ways of working with landowners to educate them on options other than sale to developers. These options would allow large private landowners to obtain value for their land yet meet the Town’s goal of preserving significant parcels in their natural state. To that end, the Committee spoke with land planners and land trusts in other towns and came up with a list of methods by which the Town of Westford could preserve open space without having to purchase each and every undeveloped parcel. Among other things this led to the formation of the Westford Land Preservation Foundation which was created to facilitate joint ventures with private individuals in order to maximize the preservation of open space by use of limited development.
Permanent School Building Committee
Kirk has served on this Committee since 1994 during which time the Committee completed an addition to the Nabnasset Elementary School, doubled the size of Westford Academy, and fully constructed the Crisafulli, Miller and Stony Brook Schools. Each project required planning and permitting as well as securing Town funding and support. During a time when many other towns were encountering numerous difficulties in school construction, all of these schools were brought in on time and under budget and in some cases money was returned to the taxpayers - a rare occurrence in public construction.
Stony Brook Master Plan Committee
Kirk represented the Permanent School Building Committee in this large scale joint effort on a Committee that included members of the Conservation Commission, Recreation Commission, Water Department, Planning Department, Affordable Housing Committee and other interested parties. This Committee was charged with planning and permitting the multi-use Town owned property now known as the Veterans Memorial Complex. Representatives of all of these diverse interests worked together to plan and execute a project that met all individual goals and resulted in a final outcome that everyone participating could be proud of. The Veteran’s Memorial Complex serves as a great model of what can happen when groups with divergent interests are able to work together towards a common goal.
East Boston Camps Master Plan Committee
Kirk served for two years as the Chair of the East Boston Camps Master Plan Committee. This Committee was created by a vote of Town Meeting and appointed by the Board of Selectmen to devise a plan for the future use of this unique conservation parcel in the center of Westford. The Committee examined available information, collected new data and coordinated public input in the course of developing a plan to preserve and protect the characteristics of the East Boston Camps property that make it so valuable to our community. Kirk was instrumental in securing a perimeter survey of the property at approximately 1/3 of the original proposed cost. He also made the Committee aware of a nationally renowned wildlife expert who was later hired to examine the property, provide public education and propose planning measures that would protect this environmentally sensitive area. The Committee ultimately presented a plan to the Town which had goals of preserving the site, increasing public access, continuing summer camp programs and establishing an appropriate management structure along with suggestions for implementation of each goal, including transferring the entire parcel to the Conservation Commission. The Plan was overwhelmingly approved by a vote of Town Meeting in October of 2007 and is in the process of being implemented.
Library Five Year Visioning Committee
Kirk participated in this recent planning effort to project the future needs of the J. V. Fletcher Library. The visioning effort involved a broad range of community leaders with diverse perspectives. Participants attended a number of planning sessions where they responded to existing data and reports, studied library surveys and then articulated their vision of the needs of the greater community. The input from the Visioning Committee participants has guided the Library Trustees and Staff in finalizing goals and objectives for the Library’s future. These goals and objectives are now contained in the J. V. Fletcher Library Long Range Plan (2008 – 2012).