UPDATE - Tuesday, September 8, 2026 - Earlier today the Maynard Department of Public Works posted an announcement, saying, in part, "The Town has reached sufficient storage capacity levels and will now be instituting a level 2 - Water Restriction. This restriction will allow for some outdoor use and all indoor uses. Please continue to monitor the website for updates as conditions may change." They provided a graphic detailing restrictions under Level 2.  I've included a copy, in an appendix, below.

Some time in the very early hours of Thursday, September 3rd, while most folks in town were asleep, a water main ruptured beneath the private road leading into the Summerhill Glen housing complex, just off Thomas Street.  Thomas street connects to Lower Beacon Street at the other end, just a few feet from the junction with Florida Road, near the Florida Road Bridge. The map, below, shows the exact location. It's easy to see how close to the river this is.

Water main breaks are almost always reported by residents who notice water bubbling up out of the ground, or running down the pavement somewhere, and then call the police.  The police answer the phone any time of day or night and can quickly contact the public works employee on duty to shut off the water in the affected area, and start the process to make repairs.
But at the time of night when this occurred, at the end of a small street with very little traffic, no one was around to notice.  Water began pouring up and over the pavement, down the embankment nearby, and into the Assabet River.
Around 5 AM, when the level of water in the town's main water tanks, at the top of Summer Hill, dropped low enough, a sensor to set off an alarm.  That alarm notified a water department foreman that there was a serious loss of water going on.

He got into his truck and began driving through town, stopping at each of the bridges over the Assabet River, looking for cloudy or muddy water below.  Water of this amount always carries soil and sand down with it, polluting the river.  Spotting  this cloudy water helps locate the source of the break.  He discovered just such discolored water at the Florida Road Bridge and worked his way up to the source, which turned out to be at the border where Thomas Street meets the access road to Summerhill Glen.

Update:  Because of his quick action, and the work of others in the department, the town was able to maintain water pressure for the rest of the town, in spite of the water loss.

A few hours later, as I was having breakfast, a friend of mine texted me that she had seen a notice posted on social media by the town.  I rushed down to have a look. 
​What I saw when I got there was a closed street, cracked and damaged pavement, soil and debris all over the roadway, and a water division truck nearby.  I talked with the foreman about the situation, he explained what happened, and shared the video with me.

In the above images, you can see the small excavator that was used to dig through the pavement at the surface.  But since there are so many pipes and lines beneath, it was too dangerous to just keep digging that way.  ​

At home, water can be turned on after plumbing work usually without damaging anything.  You just get gurgling, burping, and spitting when you open your faucets again.  But in water mains, under very high pressure, air pockets can cause surges and vibrations that can strain valves, and stress joints, couplings and older weaker pipes.  When I left, they were still at work to make sure everything went smoothly.

I returned to the site on Friday and found that the work on the water system had been completed.  All the backfilling was done, but the road was still closed because it hadn't been paved yet.  That's because the replacement soil will still need to be leveled out and compacted, then the sewer chamber and access cover, and grating for the storm drain will need to be built up to the correct height.  Later on, both a binder course and a finish course of asphalt must be spread and rolled out and allowed to cool, in two separate operations.

I created the headline for this story on September 1st, intending to cover three aspects of water in Maynard, before the water main break occurred. Now my plan is to cover the other two topics in a subsequent posting.

I have gone into a lot of technical detail in this story.  I have done this because I've become aware of the complexities of our water system and I wanted to share some of that information with you.  I figure that the more you know, the more you will understand why it costs so much to maintain a water system, how difficult it is, and perhaps have a better idea about how to help improve the situation.

Indeed, losing 1/3 of Maynard’s reserve water supply is a serious event, and many people are understandably upset.  After all, we have water restrictions every summer, rates on our water bills are increasing every year, and there are areas in town where the water is frequently discolored.  Why are there all these problems?  Why can’t town officials fix these things?
The answer lies in the complex challenges modern water systems face, and the limited money we have to deal with them.

Meanwhile, with inflation, it costs more every year to deliver the same amount of water to residents and busineses.

So, it's tempting to blame town officials and employees for our problems, but in my opinion they are good people who work very hard to stay ahead of the challenges we face in delivering water to the town, under very trying circumstances.
Now that we've had such a high volume loss of water from this break, I expect that new measures to catch this kind of thing in the future will be looked at and implemented if at all possible.  Meanwhile, clean drinking water is amazingly low in cost, when compared to other things (see section below).

What may be a little confusing is where it says 0-500 cubic feet has a rate of $3.08.  If you used 500 cubic feet of water, it would appear to cost $1540.00.  Well, that's obviously wrong.  That's because the $3.08 is for 100 cubic feet, not one cubic foot.  Water industry people often abbreviate that as "ccf," where the first "c" stands for 100, as in Roman Numerals.  Don't blame me, I didn't invent this.
So it's only 5 ccf x $3.08 that comes out to $15.40.
The other confusing thing is that this is expressed in cubic feet.  To know how many gallons that is,  each cubic foot is 7.48 gallons.  So 500 cubic feet x 7.48 equals 3,740 gallons.  I know, this seems like one of those dreaded "word problems" you may have had in arithmetic in school, but bear with me.  This means, you're paying $15.40 for 3,740 gallons of water.  Better try that with pennies.  1,540 cents for 3,740 gallons of water gives a rate of 0.41 cents per gallon.  In other words, water costs less than half a cent per gallon, at that rate.
That's for the first 500 cubic feet.  This rate is for single people living on fixed incomes who use very little water.  It gives them a break on the rates.
If you use more, you still pay the same amount for the first 500 cubic feet you use.  On my bill, we used 710 cubic feet last quarter.  That means 210 cubic feet fell into the next rate category, of $8.88 per ccf.  That's $18.65 for that amount of water.  That is equivalent to 1,571 gallons of water.  So, I'm paying just over one penny at 1.19 cents per gallon.  Still a super bargain.
When I first moved to Maynard, back in 2019, I found the bill confusing, so I took some time to figure it out, then made a video about what I learned.  It's using a bill with rates from 2020, but you get the idea.  It spells out what I've said here in more detail, in an easy to follow set of steps.  Here is the link:  https://youtu.be/BXkLAP1TmI4?si=12geblPcY8hpgrw4
​(Note: In the video, I say "I live alone" which was true at the time, but since then I've moved and am now married.) 

The rates for wastewater ("sewer") are higher, but the reasons for that would probably take another whole set of articles to explain, so I'll leave that for later.

Correction - September 8, 2026 - Originally, I stated that "The town does not own such a [Vacuum Excavation] truck because of the cost (between $300,000 and $600,000), and because of the few times per year it would be needed."  In truth, the town does own such a truck, as it is more frequently used than I had realized.  The truck can not only help with delicate excavation work, but also maintenance of the sewers.

Appendix 1 - September 8, 2026 -  Here below is the Level 2 water restriction table provided by the Town of Maynard.  I obtained this table from the town's web page:  https://www.townofmaynard-ma.gov/m/newsflash/Home/Detail/572
Please note that links to the town's web site may become invalid over time, as information there is frequently updated. That's why I have included it here, will it will stay put.

As you can see by the maps above, this ground water is present very close to where the water main break was on Thomas Road.  Along with the natural ground water level near the river, this makes it very likely to cause corrosion in any underground pipes in the area.

Appendix 3 - Here is an excerpt from a paper I found on the MWRA web site:  https://www.mwra.com/node/1453
"In the early colonial days, water supply technology wasn’t very complex. If you wanted water
run to your house, you bored out your own wooden logs. If you wanted water for your town,
large scale systems of bored-out logs were needed. Incidentally, pipe laying work was as
unpopular back then as it is now because it ruined the roads. Such simple questions as proper
depth, means of connecting services and fire taps arose almost immediately. Soon after the
initial pipes were laid, the real fun began, as the leaks, outages, water quality complaints and
other facts of life for the water supplier became apparent. As with any other emerging
technology, the methods and materials weren’t always up to the challenge."

Maynard, MA - On Monday night, August 3rd, around 11 PM, neighbors in the area of Maple Street heard a loud crash.  They didn’t know it then, but Maynard had just lost a maple tree that was older than the town itself.

In these views, you can see what remained of the stump, and the extent of the wood that was moved.

According to Justin DeMarco, Director of Public Works, each case of tree damage is different.  The town does not have a bucket truck or a crane, so if a tree is damaged but still standing, they have to call in a contractor to cut off any hanging limbs from above.  But in this case, the entire tree was lying on the ground, so they could complete the work themselves.

A number of houses on Maple Street were also built in 1870.  A few still have some of the original dentals and other “gingerbread” moldings above the windows, such as the one at the lower right (you’ll have to ignore the satellite dishes to imagine how it looked originally!)

A few years later, starting around 1875, more houses were built in the Mansard Roof style, such as these.

“The best time to plant a tree was 30 years ago, and the second best time to plant a tree is now.”  Various people attribute this quote to a variety of sources.  Was it Confucius? a Chinese saying? Jean Chretien? Earl Ubell? Anonymous? ...  But the Quote Investigator web site claims that there is no evidence of such; it seems to be much more recent.  They include a related quote, from“The Pall Mall Gazette” of London in 1868.  “Blessed is he who plants trees under whose shade he will never sit.”
My point here is to imagine the feeling of planting a tree that will live longer than you will.  That you, by your action now, will give people many years from now the chance to enjoy its shade and calming effect.  I invite you to get in touch with these organizations, not only to contribute to a part of history, but also to find companionship with others in today's otherwise sometimes isolating world.  

David Mark is the one who inspired me to start this news service, after we both agreed that Maynard needed some kind of local news source in the absence of a local newspaper.  I created the Town Wide Mall web site and started by publishing my first story in April of 2023, less than a year after the Beacon Villager ceased publication.  The Maynard Voice began publishing online in July of 2025, just over two years later.
As we live here today, we are creating tomorrow’s history.  The town is always changing as people move out and others move in.  The town faces many challenges, but we continue to attempt to address them going forward.  Meanwhile, we have created a vibrant community, with many features that make it an attractive place to live, work, or visit.  Much of this is due to volunteer labor, without which the town could not function nearly as well as it does.

Recently, the town announced a public forum, hosted by the town’s Housing Production Plan Advisory Group.  The idea is to provide a way for residents of the town to learn about the details involved and weigh in on the issue.  The town updates their Housing Production Plan every five years; the last one was completed in 2021.
The group has scheduled a public forum for discussion next Wednesday, July 29th at 6:30 PM.  The forum is accessible virtually, via Zoom.  To log in, you must register in advance.  Here is the link:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/public-forum-maynards-housing-production-plan-update-tickets-1992945633037?aff=oddtdtcreator

The town’s web site also has a page to provide more details: https://www.townofmaynard-ma.gov/m/newsflash/home/detail/544

Maynard’s other news source, The Maynard Voice, has a story with a detailed background about the effort overall, contributed by Natalie Robert, a member of the Maynard Planning Board.  Here is the link: https://maynardvoice.com/maynard-is-updating-its-housing-production-plan-heres-what-it-means/
Although the article is long, I strongly recommend that everyone planning to join in on the 29th read it all the way through in order to be better prepared.  There is a poster, in PDF form, which you can download here:

Community Planning is a challenge for any town, but especially for us here in Eastern Massachusetts. Most of the towns where we live were not planned out at all, people just started farms, sometimes divided up and sold parcels, then later built housing and businesses without realizing what the future would hold.

Maynard has an area of only 5.4 square miles.  During World War II, over one square mile of that was seized by the US military by eminent domain (from the families who farmed that land) to use as an ammunition storage and distribution facility.  When the war was over, the site was used for various other purposes, which left the ground heavily contaminated with toxic elements and compounds..  That area is what has become the Assabet River National Wildlife Refuge. (See more details here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assabet_River_National_Wildlife_Refuge

On the one hand, community planning is a very complex process.  There are so many factors to consider, such as terrain, water resources, roads and transportation,, energy and communication infrastructure (electricity, gas, phone, cable TV, and internet lines), as well as neighborhood character. On the other hand, public participation is essential.  It makes no sense to develop plans without the community being aware of and having a say in how things proceed.  As town government is responsible for some infrastructure (roads, fresh water, waste water, storm water runoff, etc.), it does not actually build buildings, or run other utility lines; those are all built and maintained by private developers and contractors.
Thus, planning involves a give and take between the residents and local businesses, government, and these private interests in an attempt to reach a satisfactory result. 
Community Planning  is often a forgotten and neglected aspect of town and regional government.  Do it really well, and no one notices.  But make a mistake, then everyone notices and they often get very unhappy about it!  Often, problems aren’t evident until the roads are paved, the buildings built, and people start living or working there.
So, I sympathize that it can seem like a heavy lift for average citizens to consider all these factors when preparing for a public forum like this.  It takes time and patience that not everyone can afford to devote. I happen to have a long history of involvement in town government, having served on various committees and as an elected Town Meeting member when I lived in Arlington (where I resided for 44 years).  So, I’m pretty used to lengthy meetings with plenty of factors being discussed.  And I’m prepared to cut the planners some slack if things don’t go perfectly well.  It’s a tough job!

With all that said, I encourage you to do what you can to participate in the public forums available, when they are scheduled.  I know it’s the middle of the summer, and many people want to get out for some recreation or go on a vacation, but if you’re around and have the time, please see what you can do. Because of a commitment to a prior scheduled family event, I will not be able to log into the forum itself this time, but I visit the Maynard planning department periodically, and I’ll be sure to review the notes taken by others when I return.

Although the State Election in November may seem to be the more important one, the results of the primary may be the “final answer” as to who gets elected in November for offices such as Senator and Representative in Washington D.C. and Senator and Representative in the Massachusetts State House on Beacon Hill.
​The reason is that many more candidates from the Democratic Party run for office in Massachusetts, when compared to Republicans or those from other parties.  Often, whoever wins the Democratic primary in September, automatically wins the election in November.  That’s because they will likely run unopposed by then, or run against candidates with very little chance of winning.

If you didn’t receive a card, check with the Town Clerk to make sure you’re properly registered to vote and, if necessary, obtain a Vote by Mail form there. See:  https://www.townofmaynard-ma.gov/167/Town-Clerk   For details on the election timetable, see the Town’s Election web page:  https://www.townofmaynard-ma.gov/170/Elections
​To vote by mail, you must fill in the form on the back of the card and mail it in before the deadline.  To vote in person, or participate in early voting at Town Hall, you don’t have to mail anything back, as long as you’re registered to vote.  For those who are not yet registered to vote, once you register, you will have the chance to request a ballot to be sent to you by mail, but you must register before August 25th, either way (for voting by mail or in person).

Whatever method by which you plan to vote, if you want to vote in the primary, you must select which ballot you want: Republican or Democratic.  For this election, there are no other parties having a primary contest.
On the mail in card, if you don’t check one of those two boxes you won’t get a ballot mailed to you for voting by mail the primary.   If you vote in person, you have to specify which ballot you want when you check in at the polling place.
Unlike the rules decades ago, asking for a specific primary ballot in a primary election will not change your registered party affiliation.  For example, if you are registered as an Independent, Green Party, or even “Unenrolled,” you can still vote in either party’s primary and your registration will not be changed as a result.

If the State Primary is so important, then why is it scheduled for the first week in September?  It seems like an awkward time to have it.  This is when many people’s vacations come to an end, just before returning to work. Children are starting school or parents are driving college students back to campus.  Team practices for youth sports are starting up, and it’s very close to the Labor Day holiday.  There are a lot of things to think about, but voting?  It’s easy to forget.
​This also means that challengers must run their campaigns during the Summer.  But who is paying attention to politics while off at the beach or somewhere else on vacation?  It’s typically time to relax and get away from it all, not sit staring at screens, reading the news all day.  When September rolls around, it’s too late for voters to catch up. 

This arrangement seems to favor incumbents, in that they are already a known quantity, when compared to any challengers who need to establish themselves in the minds of voters.  Also, the State Primary is for candidates associated with an established political party.  Independent candidates, if there are any, won’t appear on a ballot until November.
​Of course, there are various logistical reasons why it’s scheduled this way.  There is a whole sequence that candidates must go through to get on the ballot in the first place, as specified by state law (See:  https://www.sec.state.ma.us/divisions/elections/getting-on-the-ballot/how-to-run-for-office-2026.htm )
The last deadline in the sequence is in late July.  By then, there are just a few weeks for clerks to get ballots printed and mailed out before September 1st.  Once the primaries are completed and the votes tallied, there are only 8 weeks left to finalize, print, and mail out the ballots for the election in November.  If the result in a primary race is challenged, that doesn’t leave much time to resolve the conflict before doing all that.

When you hear someone talk about “threats to democracy,” it’s almost as if the government itself gets in the way sometimes, regardless of who you want to vote for.  For my friends who engage in conspiracy theories (“The corrupt politicians have done this on purpose!”), I prefer to think that the system ended up favoring incumbents almost by accident.  But with that said, there may not have been much motivation to change it.
​Running for office takes a huge amount of work and time.  It’s likely that people who do so are inspired by the promise of making positive changes in government.  If they get elected, it takes awhile to learn the ropes and start becoming effective. I can’t imagine anyone wanting that to come to an end prematurely.  The urge is to stay in office to get things done and do more in the future. So, it’s not necessarily all about maintaining power.  It’s a lot more complicated than that.

How can any representative expect to know and understand more than a tiny fraction of their constituents? How can they even respond to all the incoming mail, email, text messages, and phone calls from people, both from within their district and from others elsewhere who want press them to vote on certain issues?
Yes, they may have a small office staff, but with the volume of messages, the best they can do in many cases is scan for only three things:  Is this person from our district (or our state), what issue are they writing about, and are they in favor of it or opposed?  Then, they push a button that generates a stock reply letter to you, thanking you for writing.  I don’t call that true representation, and I don’t recommend that you do, either.  We’ve become little more than a bunch of faceless statistics.  Our individuality has been all but completely lost.

At the state level, we have about 7 million people with 40 senators and 160 representatives.  So, State Senators represent an average of 175,000 people each and each House member represents an average of 43,750.  That’s a more reasonable number, but it’s still a pretty tall order when it comes to really knowing the individual people in your district and what their needs are.

But I’m convinced that there is a whole lot more to democracy beyond voting or trying to get a message to elected representatives in the mean time.

The word democracy comes from the ancient Greek: demos, meaning "the common people" and kratos, meaning "to rule" or "have strength." (See:  https://www.etymonline.com/word/democracy )
However today’s world is shaped by much more than just government!  There are corporations and industries, along with many other institutions, large and small.  Although it may seem natural to feel powerless in the face of today’s news headlines, everything you do has a potential impact.  Consider the choices you make as to where you shop, what you buy, how you get around, what you eat, and even how you discard things.  How much of your free time do you spend alone, with other people, out in nature, or staring at screens?
​When you decide to change anything in your life, you have an impact on both your own experience and on the world around you.  The more people who make similar changes, the bigger the impact.
I don’t say this to urge you to feel guilty for not behaving better, but only to suggest that there is power waiting to be had, as soon as we start using it.

When the pandemic started, everyone deserted the public places that used the large rolls and stayed home instead. Those big rolls piled up in warehouses with nowhere to go.  Meanwhile, demand for the packaged ones in supermarkets increased dramatically.  Everybody was now using their bathrooms at home.

The lesson here is this:  If enough people do something, they can have a great impact on big organizations.  In this case a giant industry was forced to change because we changed.
This is the untapped power we can exercise just by changing habits and spreading the word to everyone we know.  We can literally pull the financial rug out from under an industry and support a different one instead, or turn to more locally sourced alternatives.  No legislation is needed and no government regulations need to be imposed.  No massive street marches are required, nor is there a need to form a new lobbying organization.  And there is definitely no need to buy a share of stock in a corporation just to attend the annual stockholders meeting and yell at the directors.
Every dollar in your pocket is a vote.  Every time you keep that dollar (or debit card) in your pocket and don’t spend it is also a vote.  Every time you go out for a walk with family or friends (instead of watching TV or logged into a social media site) that makes a difference.

We’ve come a long way from the days when water was provided only from private wells and people relied on outhouses rather than indoor plumbing.  The mid to late 1800s were a time of rapid development in public water systems.  Maynard started building its public water system in 1889.  As the town grew, more and more water mains were installed.  Many houses were built in the early 1900s.  The first house I lived in, at 5 Maple Court, was built in 1920.  Back when it was built, it had fresh water plumbing, but only an outhouse in the back yard until later on when a bathroom was built onto the back of the building, behind the kitchen.
I say all this, because when more houses were built in town (such as in the “Presidentials” neighborhood), water mains were added beneath the streets to serve them.  By now, it’s 100 years later, and the metal pipes that form the network of water mains underground don’t last forever.  Corrosion, vibration from traffic traveling overhead, shifting soils, minor earthquake tremors, and other factors mean that they must eventually replaced.

The cost of digging up and replacing them all today would be astronomical.  So the best the town can do is plan to upgrade them in stages, according to a Water Master Plan (See ​https://www.townofmaynard-ma.gov/623/Water-Master-Plan ).
In spite of our best efforts, it’s difficult to predict when conditions underground will stress some pipes more than others.  Since water pipes are made up of separate sections, coupled together, it’s often those joints where failure is most likely.  As there are thousands of such joints, and they must be buried deep enough in the ground to prevent freezing in the winter (that is, below the frost line), inspecting them all periodically is just not practical.
As a result, the town has to be both proactive (implement the master plan as best it can) and reactive; that is be ready to repair the unexpected failures when they occur.  And keep enough money in the budget to cover the cost.

We are all fortunate that someone noticed this unexpected flow of water along the street and called the police to report it.  If they hadn’t done that, the damage could have been a lot worse.  Water Department personnel have asked me to remind everyone that if you see anything that might indicate a water or sewer emergency, please call the Police Department right away.  You can call the dispatcher at 978-897-1011 or call 911 if you only have emergency access on your phone.  The police department can receive calls any time of day or night, even when other Town Government Offices, including the Water Department, are closed.  The Police have information readily at hand to contact Water Department workers who can be dispatched to the scene.

Maynard, MA - The School Committee meeting Thursday evening, June 18th, began with four of the five committee members present in the Fowler School Library and the fifth one attending virtually, via Zoom. The first item on the agenda was a time period for public comments.  Committee member Maro Hogan read the rules, including that each person had three minutes to make their comment.

All 16 comments related to the book “Gender Queer,” by Maia Kobabe, and its inclusion in the high school library.  A citizen of Maynard had previously requested that the book be removed from the library, prompting the comments.  All of the commenters spoke in favor of keeping the book available to students in the school. There were no comments from people opposed to having the book available that I’m aware of.

The book is in the form of a “graphic novel,” meaning that the story is told as a series of hand drawn illustrations with the characters’ thoughts or spoken words shown as hand written text within each frame.  There are no photographs.
The story is essentially an autobiography.  In it, the author is very open and direct about their experiences and feelings growing up.  They delve into issues such as, asexuality, gender dysphoria, intersex, and autoandrophilia, among others.
​The book references scientific research into how hormones affect fetal development, leading to the physical development of sex organs, and the development of gender identity, and sexual orientation in the brain.  Slight variations in these processes seem to be what gives rise to some of the variations that people experience after birth, while growing up, and later in life.
Perhaps most importantly, the author details their own feelings of embarrassment, self doubt, and isolation throughout their childhood and teens, similar to what many young people experience as they go through puberty, especially if they find that their lives are taking a different path from most of those around them.

I found the entire story to be honest, engaging, informative, and heart-felt, and am glad to have read it.
Clearly, I have my own bias, in that I experienced many of the same feelings growing up, especially as I often didn’t “fit in” well with most other people my age.  I didn’t begin to ask certain important questions about my gender identity until I was past age 50.  Of course, I grew up in the 1950s and 1960s, when questions of gender and sexual orientation were not widely discussed.  In my mid 60s, I wrote my own book about my experiences, entitled “a man wearing a dress."

We live in times of stark differences when it comes to deeply intimate issues.  For some people it’s time to open up more conversations regarding sexuality and gender.  For others, it’s time to hold onto what they see as traditional norms.
​I can understand how someone might be taken aback by one or two of the illustrations in the book.  And yet, I found the story deeply moving and had the sense that it could be extremely valuable for readers in their mid to late teens, as well as for parents and others who seek to understand the challenges facing young people today.
Conversations about sensitive topics are often difficult, and yet to ignore them, or fail to provide enough detail, may leave young people uninformed and thus unprepared to deal with the challenges that may arise in their lives, especially when they reach full adulthood.
​I have heard countless stories from friends of mine who report that, when they were younger, they were not told much at all about puberty, sexuality, or gender identity.  For example, I know of numerous women who, while in their early teens, had started their menstrual cycles without any adult ever mentioning to them what was about to happen.  That just seems so tragic to me!

From what I understand, there has been an effort started by a few people in town to remove this book from the high school library (where it has been in the collection already for some time by now).  News of this effort is what sparked the comments at the school committee meeting Thursday night.
​But the question I want to ask is this:  What impact does an effort to ban a book from a school library have in today’s world?

As for access to this particular book, there are already many options beyond the school library. It can be ordered online, or even in a “reader” version (such as for Kindle, Nook, or the iPad). People can share copies with each other or even buy them to give away to others, if they so choose.  From asking around, I’ve learned that the effort to ban the book has already increased interest in it throughout the town and has increased sales, both locally and from online sources.

One of the people who attended the School Committee meeting and stood to deliver their remarks provided me wth a copy of their remarks.  I’m including it here, below.  Remarks from others at the meeting may be available from School Committee minutes.

This has been a difficult story for me to write.  My commitment here at Town Wide Mall has always been to keep each story as locally focused as possible and avoid partisan politics, especially related to regional or national controversies.
I set this goal for myself because I want everyone in Maynard to read and benefit from what I post here, regardless of what views they might hold regarding politics or public policy elsewhere.
However, as with this story, and a few others, that has proved to be rather difficult.  For example, back in November, the suspension of SNAP benefits during the the federal government shut down definitely had an impact on residents in Maynard, but it was also directly connected to politics on the national level.  I never did a full story on that, as the situation kept changing too fast for me to complete an article and post it, before it became irrelevant.

§ § §

I published a story to introduce this new system, here on this web site, back on May 3rd, entitled, "Got Trash?"  Also, Maynard’s other online news source, The Maynard Voice, ran a story, back on May 15th.  I’m told they will have a follow up story in their next edition, due out on June 15th.

The following Question and Answer series, here below, picks up where I left off in my first article.  I’m planning two more stories on this topic, one with more of a history, overview, and long term view, and the other a more practical one on how to reduce how much trash we generate.  It may seem that we’re all victims of rising costs, but I think there is a lot we can do to help prevent the next “sticker shock.”

Question:  Why is it suddenly so much more expensive?
Answer:  Maynard began the sticker program in 1996.  It was $1.00 per single bag or $2.00 for a barrel full.  Stickers remained at that price until 2022. That’s 25 years without a price increase!  During that time, just with normal inflation, that $2.00 sticker should have increased to $3.65.

Question:  So if costs went up faster than sticker prices, how’d the town pay for it all?
Answer:  The town had to take funds out of the “general fund,” which is government-speak for property taxes, state aid and other miscellaneous funds.  Property taxes are limited by a state law known as “Proposition 2½.”​ That means less is left over for other town needs. This also meant that even people who had private contractors take their trash were paying a portion of their property taxes to help cover everybody else’s trash collection.  And yet, if they put their recycling out for the town to pick up, that cost the town to provide that service (see recycling question, below).  Also, throughout the years, voters in Maynard have established a tradition of paying separately for various services, rather than just take it all out of property taxes.

Question:  What about recycling?  Don’t we earn some income from our recyclables?
Answer:  Unfortunately, not anymore.  The cost of running the program exceeds the value of recyclables that we can sell in the open market. For years, most of the recycled materials in the U.S. (after being sorted out into separate categories) were typically shipped to other countries to be manufactured into new products.  But in 2018, the global market changed dramatically, when many of those countries stopped taking them, so we had to resort to industries here in the U.S., which were not prepared to take the load.  So, although it may seem “free” to put recycling on the curb, the remaining cost of the program had to be subsidized by general tax revenue and sticker fees.

Question:  So does that mean that recycling is not worth it?
Answer:  No, recycling is definitely worth it.  First, the value of recycled materials is likely to rebound over time, especially as raw materials continue to get more expensive in today’s world markets.
Second, the regular trash disposal system is not designed to handle these materials anymore, so the costs of disposing of our trash would skyrocket if we didn’t keep recycling.  But even more importantly, recycling helps reduce our destruction of the natural environment, both from mining new materials, and from burning or dumping our waste.  For all these reasons, putting recyclable items into the trash is a bad idea and is actually now forbidden by state law.  

Question:  If I generate only a small amount of trash, perhaps only one bag per month, why do I now have to pay as much as the people who have a lot more?  That doesn’t seem fair!
Answer:  I agree, it’s not fair.  Unfortunately, the town was stuck in a very difficult position.  When we asked for bids from various trash and recycling companies, only one company, E. L. Harvey, qualified.  The others were too far away to serve Maynard, for one thing.  If we tried to add yet another option, such as once per month, that would reduce revenue for the program, but the overall cost to the town would not be reduced.  The basic problem is, even if they don’t pick up at every address, the trucks still have to drive up and down all the streets in town, every week, to reach the carts that are put out on the curb.  Just having the biweekly option is a stretch.  It’s almost a “gift” to residents, as the cost of collecting is much the same for all, regardless of which option is chosen.
​Note:  See more about this in the Background section, below.

Question: With this flat fee, what’s the incentive for anyone to reduce their amount of trash?
​Answer:  There isn’t a direct financial incentive per household.  But there is definitely a financial incentive for us all!  That’s because if we all work together to reduce the amount of trash we create, that will lower the overall cost to the town and keep rates from rising even faster in the future.  You see, the town pays a certain amount for each ton of trash collected that has to be dumped at the incinerator plant.  The fewer tons, the lower the cost to us.
With the passage of Article 26 at the annual town meeting last month, all revenue and expenses for trash and recycling are now recorded in a separate account, known as an “Enterprise Fund.”  That means that the program no longer depends on funds mingled with the other town budgets.  So if we can manage our costs, that helps reduce rate increases in the future.

Question:  But doesn’t the trash to energy plant earn money from the electricity it generates?
Answer:  Yes, it does.  But the income from electricity generation is still less than the cost of running the plant overall.  Every town that delivers their trash there has to pay per ton of trash they deliver there, to cover the difference.

Question:  Well, at least that gets rid of the trash, right?
Answer:  Well, no. Not everything in our trash burns.  For every 100 tons of trash burned, there can be as much as 30 tons of unburned material that comes out the other end of the plant.  People throw away all kinds of things that don’t burn, including clay cat litter, broken coffee cups, old toilet bowls, and many other items.  And, because not everyone takes their toxic waste to special collections, some toxic stuff ends up in there as well.  (See: https://energyjustice.net/incineration/ash/)
All this “Bottom ash” (as they call it) still has some of this toxic stuff mixed in. Elements such as arsenic, cadmium, or lead, for example, don't burn up in the furnace.

And Maynard’s program guarantees the same rate for a whole year.  I’d be very careful to examine any contract to see how often the company can change rates, whether they provide the carts you’d use (as Maynard will do) or you have to buy or rent them, etc. ​

Question: What can we do about all this before it gets worse?
Answer:  There are a number of things we can do.  One way is to separate all our food waste from everything else and compost it instead. Food waste has a high water content, so it takes more energy to burn it in the furnace.  And it also weighs a lot, so every ton of it that we don’t compost and send to be incinerated instead costs us.

Regarding the folks who currently only put out one bag of trash per month, the town’s Solid Waste and Recycling coordinator sent me this statement, to provide more detail and perspective:
"At this point in time, unfortunately, offering a monthly trash collection choice is not financially sustainable. Our Town gets billed for trash collection at every household each week, even when a household is on a bi-weekly choice plan, for example. Every municipal hauler bills that way, because their drivers have to go down each street anyways, so they are not saving on fuel costs, etc. It is also difficult to find municipal haulers who offer a monthly collection option, as it makes scheduling their drivers extremely difficult, and is not a break-even part of their business models.
​The good news is that Maynard is considered a trail blazer on this front! We are among the first municipalities in MA to offer a bi-weekly trash collection option.
When calling or emailing private haulers, our Solid Waste Management Coordinator was able to find one private (not municipal) hauler who was offering to collect garbage on a monthly basis for approximately $40/month. For that reason, enrolling in the Town’s bi-weekly trash/recycling/yard waste choice may be the most cost-effective option for you, since it costs $15/month. If you choose that, please remember that billing will occur AFTER the first three months of service and will appear as a third line on your quarterly water/sewer bill. Since billing is for three months, the charge on that trash/recycling utility line will appear $45 (3 months x $15/month)."

I don’t have much to say, here, as much of my Q and A, above is already partly my commentary, of sorts.  Over time, in order to improve this situation, we will have to find ways to make significant changes to our high consumption economy, in order to reduce waste overall.
As for me, even when I was relatively young, seeing something like clothes thrown into in a wastebasket just seemed strange to me.  In my family, we always used such things for rags or to cut and sew up into something else.  And just the idea of incinerating food definitely felt wrong to me.  Food waste belongs in the ground where the nutrients can help grow new plants.  This was not just a logical reaction for me, but a visceral one.  It’s as if I could imagine the living things in the soil just yearning to receive the food matter when we were done with it.  For us, food with rot or mold is repulsive, and naturally so.  But to the microbes and insects in the soil, it’s “yum.”
​Even these days, I save all the metal waste that I can (beyond the food and beverage cans that our recycling system can take) and then, when I have enough, I call a man who shows up in his truck and takes it all to the scrap metal yards down in Chelsea.  It just seems right and good to do that.
During World War II, people pitched in and collected all kinds of materials to be reused.  In today’s world, the need is just as critical, even though it’s for an even bigger cause, the preservation and health of the natural world on this planet.  That’s harder to conceive of in practical terms, when compared to saving metal items for a war effort, for example, but I’m fully behind such efforts.
Lastly, I want to take this opportunity to thank the all the volunteers and town employees who have put in literally hundreds of hours of work, extending well over two years, to work diligently to solve Maynard’s trash and recycling problems.  I also want to thank the folks at The Maynard Voice for joining in to help everyone understand the importance of what we’re doing.

End Notes:
• For more about landfill closures, see: https://thebostonweekly.com/massachusetts-faces-growing-recycling-and-waste-management-challenges/
• Technically, what we call “Proposition 2 1/2” is called an “initiative petition” in Massachusetts, but the name was borrowed from a similar vote in California, known as “Proposition 13,” which was big news at the time.See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1980_Massachusetts_Proposition_2½
Also see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1978_California_Proposition_13
• Our trash is taken to the plant known as “WIN Millbury.” See:  https://www.mass.gov/guides/municipal-waste-combustors#-material-separation-plans-

Maynard, MA - In a few days, Maynard’s town government will hold its annual Town Meeting.  But before we get into the details, let’s have a little fun with the public perception of meetings.

If you are new to town or are unfamiliar with Town Meetings, you might want to read my (unofficial) introduction on the Perspectives page on this web site.  You can download it as a PDF document, or click on the link I have there and read it as regular text on a separate web page.
Also, pages 2, 3, and 4 of the warrant booklet give some additional information along with a list of other terms (aka, a Glossary), and their meanings.
If you didn't receive a Warrant booklet in the mail (tucked into the previous edition of the Action Unlimited ad flyer), you can obtain a copy at the Town Building, at 195 Main Street.
To better understand the concept of "Free Cash," my news story "The Finance Committee, If You Dare” from back in 2023 has a diagram and explanation, if you scroll down a little.  No, it’s not actually free money, it’s money left over from prior years that wasn’t spent, for one reason or another.  The “free” part means that it’s no longer devoted to (or freed up from) the purpose for which it was originally budgeted.

Of the 32 articles to be considered, a number of them are either routine or otherwise likely to be voted on quickly.  Of course some will require time to understand, discuss, and vote, but from what I can tell, everything you need is either in the warrant booklet, will be in the reports from the finance and other committees, or will displayed on the large screen at the front of the room.

Article 7. The Budget
This is where the bulk of the funding for the town for the next fiscal year. The comments say "See Attachment Appendix 'A'" but I believe it should refer to Appendix B instead.
In that Appendix, it details where the money comes from (not all of it is property tax), as well as a detailed breakdown by each account where it is to be spent. Most of this is actually not that earth shaking.  Most increases are small and related to adjustments for inflation from one year to the next.

Article 25. Regulation of Outdoor Lighting
It is important to note that this article regulates only new and replacement outdoor light fixtures.  Residents will not be required to remove or replace any pre existing fixtures on their property or buildings.  However, light pollution is one of those things we seldom think about, even though the impact of light spread sideways (Glare) or upward into the sky (Uplight) can have important consequences, as detailed in the article's description.  Yes, this article covers 9 pages in the warrant booklet, but that's because it includes all the language in the proposed bylaw, along with some background on the sources of light pollution and why it can cause trouble. 

Article 26. Solid Waste and Recycling Enterprise Fund Budget
The vote on this article specifies the income and expenses for the Enterprise fund created back in October of 2024, for the collection and disposal of trash (aka solid waste) and recycling.
It's important to note that this is not a vote on the replacement of the existing trash bag sticker payment system with a new automated truck collection system, funded by direct billing.
Yes, this new system comes with some controversy (See my recent news story "Got Trash?" for details.). However, I hope that voters refrain from taking up too much time at the Town Meeting to debate the merits of the new system!
My point is, the cost of collecting and processing our trash and recycling has increased dramatically in recent years and much of this is not within the town's control.  The price of stickers hasn’t increased for a few years by now, so the increase in costs the town must pay have had to come out of property tax revenue instead.
If we didn't go to a new billing system (which is now being implemented), the price of stickers would have to rise substantially to keep up with these costs. Even worse, the town would risk losing the one contract we have (with E. L. Harvey) and end up with no program at all.  If every household had to contract with a separate trash company, the cost would be substantially higher, there would be more chaos with various trucks coming and going, and the wear and tear on our streets would be worse than it now is.
The overall issue is, we have to pay for these costs somehow.  If we continue to subsidize the fees for trash collection with property taxes, that cuts into other budgets.  If we pay for it in the form of fees instead, we get to keep our property tax revenue for the other purposes that we need.
In a sense, trash and recycling collection is a "utility" just as water, sewer, electric power, or data service are utilities.  As far as I have been able to tell, from my research on this issue, the town has done what it can to keep these costs down to a minimum and keep the budgets balanced.
NOTE:  I plan to publish a separate news commentary piece about why trash and recycling are such an issue these days.  I'll send out links when it is ready.

Article 30.  Zoning Change, 141 Parker Street
One of the most frustrating things I have frequently experienced in town meetings is a Zoning article that gives an address, but I have no idea where that actually is!  Apparently many other people don’t know either, judging by how many questions they frequently ask.
I’m a very visual person.  I want to see and get my bearings.  Although the “slide deck” that will be presented at the meeting includes some photographs and a simple boundary line map of the property (aka the “parcel”) in question, I’m including some additional photographs and maps here. Hopefully, this will save time, since once people understand the situation better, they’ll be more likely be ready to vote.

That's the extent of my comments for this one.  I plan to be at the meeting Monday night, so perhaps I’ll see you there!

Please consider making a modest donation to support my work.  My only financial support for this effort is from you, my readers.  I run no advertising and everything on this site is free to read.

When my shift was over, I went upstairs to warm up a little and talk with some of the people who had come up to visit.  By the time I realized what time it was, I had missed the fashion show at Secondhand News; the carpet had been removed and the clothing racks were back in their normal places.

Then, from outside, I heard music.  Someone said there was a flashmob dance going on.  So I went out to see.  Up until this time, I had not planned to step into my role as reporter.  But as soon as I saw what was going on, I took out my video camera (my iPhone) and began recording a bit of it.  When it ended, I hung around chatting with some of the people there before heading home.

Last night, I took a look at what I had recorded and decided to edit it a little bit. I had so much fun watching it when I was done, I lost track of time and didn’t get to sleep until well after midnight.

​So, here it is.  It’s just over 2 minutes long.  It’s nice to reflect on the fact that, with everything going on in life these days, we can still dance!

I hope to see you at next year’s Spring ArtWalk!  Meanwhile, the Business Alliance hosts other events in Maynard throughout the year, along with a whole host of other organizations.  Check out the Discover Maynard web site for more.

Please consider making a modest donation to support my work.  My only financial support for this effort is from you, my readers.  I run no advertising and everything on this site is free to read.

NOTE:  This story has been revised at 9:15 AM on Tuesday morning 5 May 2026.  A link to information on write in candidates has been added in the main news section.

Update:  The crew at The Maynard Voice has just published statements from Write-In candidates for some of the open slots on the ballot.  Their story is available here:
https://maynardvoice.com/maynards-annual-town-election-is-tuesday-heres-whats-on-your-ballot/

Tip for write-in voting:  I’d recommend printing out or copying down the exact spelling of the name of the candidate and their address, along with the name of the office for which they are running, then keep it in your back pocket of purse when you go to vote.
​Election laws specify that you cannot openly display any information about a candidate or ballot question to anyone else in the polling place (or within 150 feet of the polling place), but once you are in the privacy of the voting booth, it is permissible to refer to any notes you have brought with you.  Make sure to use the marker to fill in the oval to the right of the person you are writing in.  Otherwise, your vote will be ignored by the system.  Make sure to take your private notes away with you and keep them hidden until you submit your ballot and leave.

Once the election is over, preliminary results will be published on the town’s web site soon after the polls close, on Tuesday evening.  Those numbers come from the automatic counts provided by each ballot box scanner, but they only list candidates who appeared on the ballot.  Write in votes must be hand counted, so those results won’t be available until the following day.  Official results for all vote totals have to wait until a thorough review of the results is done to insure accuracy.

If the existence of this election escaped you, I’m not surprised.  Even though I try to keep track of these things, missed it myself, until a few days ago.
After all, no one has mailed out campaign cards asking for your vote.  There have been no press releases or other news.  The Warrant booklet for Town Meeting does not mention the election (the town’s charter only requires that election notices be posted in certain public places around town and on the web site, but not mailed out). As a result, turn out is expected to be extremely low.

So, why the lack of publicity?  A look at the sample ballot (see link above) should give you some idea.  Of the five boards and committees shown, not one of the seats is contested!  Beyond that, only one candidate is running for School Committee even though two seats are open.  And there are no candidates at all for Library Trustee, or for either of the two Housing Authority seats (one for a four year term, the other for five). When I contacted the Town Clerk, she told me that there are a few write-in campaigns going on, but I have not had time to research who is running for which seat (However, see Update, above).
Some voters may want to show their approval for the incumbent candidates by voting for them, even if they’re bound to be re-elected anyway.

This kind of situation has become more and more common over the past few decades.
On the state and national level, we often hear the accusation that someone, or some political party is "a threat to democracy."   Most of that centers around redistricting (“Gerrymandering”) and voter suppression (limiting access to the polls).  But here in town, we have a different issue to face: Insufficient candidates to fill the positions open.
Each local election in Maynard costs close to $6,500 to run (state and national ones cost a few thousand dollars more).  So, why not just cancel elections where no candidates face opposition and save the money?  Even if we wanted to, state law and the town charter require that we hold an election for local offices each Spring. And it’s possible that some of those empty seats will be filled with write-in candidates.  Although one might ask, is it still democracy if just a handful of people write in a name that “wins’ the seat, without the rest of the voting public aware of who will be serving until the election is already over?  Interesting question.

I found a news story from a small town in New Hampshire, just published this April.  Here is the link: https://ledgertranscript.com/2026/04/13/volunteer-crisis-small-towns/
It’s clear from this story that this phenomenon is quite widespread throughout New England.  Maynard is certainly not the only town. The author of the article suggests that once one gets familiar with how the meetings work and what the issues are, serving on a board or committee may not be quite as daunting as it may first appear.  Nice idea, but I suspect that not many people have the time or energy to even give it a try.  Today’s town governments have become increasingly complex and face more and more challenging issues to resolve, given the uncertainty of the economy along with rapidly changing technology.
​A time of shrinking budgets may also deter people from volunteering these days.  When there is an increase in revenues, people are happy to jump in with ideas on how to spend the newly found money.  But when costs keep going up, while revenues are capped, we’re left with difficult decisions to make that no one is really happy about.

If there were any easy answers to all this, we’d have changed things by now.   Meanwhile, the trend seems to be continuing.  A few years ago, I wrote an essay entitled “Low Voter Turnout.”  You can read or download a copy on my Perspectives page.  Most of the factors I mentioned cannot be easily reversed. 
What we may need is some new “way outside the box” thinking.  Perhaps some functions provided by local government will have to be spun off to be handled by community groups instead.  There may be other ideas.  I’m interested in what you think.  Feel free to submit something in the comments, below.