Northern Middlesex Council of Go

INCORPORATED 1729

TOTAL AREA: 31.33 Square Miles

FORM OF GOVERNMENT: Board of Selectmen/Town Administrator/
Open Town Meeting

TOWN SERVICES:

TOWN CONTACTS (as of March 2010)

Board of Selectmen:
Valerie Wormell - Vice Chairman
Jim Sullivan
Nancy Rosinski - Clerk
Robert Jefferies
Kelly Ross
Phone: (978) 692-5500

Town Manager:
Jodi Ross
Phone: (978) 692-5500
Email: jross@westfordma.gov

Town Clerk:
Kaari Mai Tari
Phone: (978) 692-5515
Email: townclerk@westfordma.gov

Building Commissioner:
Matthew Hakala
Phone: (978) 692-5527
Email: mhakala@westfordma.gov

Conservation Commission:
Eric Fahle – Chairman
Peter Mahler - Vice Chairman
Marilyn Frank
Ann Jefferies
Frank Winters
John Cunningham
Robert Shaw
Phone: (978) 692-5524

Town Planner:
Ross Altobelli
Phone: (978) 692-5524
Email: raltobelli@westfordma.gov

Planning Board:
Andrea Peraner-Sweet - Chairman
Mike Green - Vice Chair
Fred Palmer
Kevin Borselli
Dennis Galvin
Phone: (978) 692-5524

Highway Department:
Richard "Chip" Barrett - Superintendent
Phone: (978) 692-5520
Email: whighway@westfordma.gov

Public Water System:
Approximately 75% of the town residences and 90% of business are serviced by the public water system. Pumping capacity of the eight municipal wells is 3,580 gallons per minute. For the fiscal year of 1999 1.764 million gallons of water was used per day on average.

Trash Collection:
The Town has curbside trash collection and recycling. Recyclables collected including paper, glass, metal, plastics, white goods and textiles totaling 2,677.8 tons.

Sewer:
Public sewerage is not available in Westford. All waste treatment is handled on site.

Library:
The J.V. Fletcher Public Library in FY99 had circulation of 271,584; total library holdings including media were approximately 107,000 items.

Schools:
Westford School System is made up of four k – 5 elementary schools, one middle school and one high school. 1999 – 2000 enrollment: 4,602 pupils. The Town is also one of seven member communities of the Nashoba Valley Technical School.

Public Safety:
38 permanent officers staff Westford Police Dept. The Fire Dept. roster totals 22 full-time firefighters including the Chief.

Chief of Police: Chief Thomas McEnaney (978) 692-2161 Email: tmcenaney@wetsfordma.gov

Chief of Fire Department: Chief Richard Rochon (978) 692-5542 Email: rrochon@westfordma.gov

Rail:
Commuter rail service to North Station, Boston is available at Lowell Gallagher Terminal or North Billerica Station (Travel time 40 min). Freight rail service is available from Guilford Transportation, contact number: (978) 663 – 1073.

Bus:
Westford is a member of the Lowell Regional Transit Authority (LRTA). No fixed bus service is provided, but paratransit services, including medical trips to Boston, are available for the elderly and through the LRTA’s RoadRunner program.

FY 09 TAX RATE: Residential - $13.97 per $1,000, Commercial- $14.15 per $1,000

Population Trends – WESTFORD (2000 U.S. Census)
(Updated May 25, 2002)

1960	1970	1980	1990	2000	#Change 1990-2000	%Change 1990-2000
6,261	10,368	13,434	16,392	20,754	4,362	26.6%

Persons by Sex (2000 U.S. Census)

Male	10,324
Female	10,430

Age Distribution (2000 U.S. Census)

	Persons	%
Under 5	1,842	8.9%
5 – 14	3,873	18.6%
15 – 44	8,568	41.3%
45 – 64	4,970	24%
65 & over	1,501	7.3%

Race and Ethnicity (2000 U.S. Census)

	Persons	%
White	19,444	93.7%
Black	62	0.3%
Am Indian, Eskimo or Aleut	13	0.1%
Asian or Pacific Islander	994	4.8%
Hispanic Origin	229	1.1%

Households (2000 U.S. Census)

1980	1990	2000
3,954	5,316	6,808

Household Size (2000 U.S. Census)

3.03 persons per household

Poverty Status (2000 U.S. Census)

Persons Below Poverty Level:	Westford	Mass.
	345	573,421
	1.7%	9.3%

Households by Type (2000 U.S. Census)

	Households	%
Married Couple/ Family	5,191	76.2%
Female Householder	452	6.6%
Non-Family Household	1,002	14.7%

Income Distribution (2000 U.S. Census)

	Households	%
Less than $ 10,000	85	1.2%
$ 10,000 - $ 14,999	193	2.8%
$ 15,000 - $ 24,999	234	3.4%
$ 25,000 - $ 34,999	277	4.1%
$ 35,000 - $ 49,999	546	8.0%
$ 50,000 - $ 74,999	936	13.7%
$ 75,000 - $ 99,999	1,211	17.7%
$ 100,000 - $ 149,999	1,778	26.0%
$ 150,000 - $ 199,999	902	13.2%
$ 200,000 or more	674	9.9%

Sources of Income (2000 U.S. Census)

	# Of Households	Average Income
Wage & Salary	6,227	$113,646
Social Security	1,055	$12,314
Supplemental Security	96	$6,564
Public Assistance	36	$4,535
Retirement	850	$16,951

HOUSING CHARACTERISTICS

Housing Units (2000 U.S. Census)

1970	1980	1990	2000
2,758	3,954	5,530	6,941

Median Household Income (2000 U.S. Census)

1970	1980	1990	2000
$11,897	$27,118	$62,880	$98,272

Median Home Sale Price (Banker & Tradesman)

	1992	1994	1996	1998	2000
1 – Family	$189,700	$209,000	$233,500	$229,900	$297,500
Condo	$85,000	$237,890	$223,087	$242,325	$277,000
All Sales	$176,000	$216,000	$231,000	$269,900	$312,250

Housing Unit Permit Data

1990	1992	1994	1996	1998	2000
68	176	157	184	195	92

Housing Breakdown by Occupancy (2000 U.S. Census)

		% OF TOTAL
TOTAL HOUSING UNITS	6,941
Total Occupied Units	6,808	98.1%
Owner Occupied	6,258	91.9%
Renter Occupied	550	8.1%
Total Vacant	133	1.9%

LAND USE CLASSIFICATION (Mass. GIS 1991)

WESTFORD LAND USE	ACREAGE	% OF TOTAL
Residential	4,931.03 Acres	24.6%
Commercial	172.48 Acres	0.9%
Industrial	288.76 Acres	1.4%
Agriculture	996.91 Acres	5.0%
Open Space/ Recreation	12,399.91 Acres	61.8%
Transportation/Mining/Waste	660.41 Acres	3.3%
Water	609.39	3.0%
TOTAL ACREAGE	20,058.90 Acres	100%

RECREATION

Patricia Savage - Director
Parks and Recreation Department
35 Town Farm Road
P.O. box 2444
Westford, MA 01866
(978) 692-5532
Email: psavage@westfordma.gov

Recreational Facilities include:

Nashoba Brook Area (350 Acres)
Cross country skiing, hiking, hunting, nature observation, and snowmobiling

East Boston Camps (241 Acres)
Camping, swimming, picnicking, fishing, boating

Nonset Brook – Vine Brook (174 Acres)
Hunting, nature observation

Tadmuck Swamp Area (142 Acres)
Fresh water fishing, hunting, nature observation

Wyman’s Beach (140 Acres – private fee charged)
Non-motorized boating, camping, hunting, nature observation, picnicking, pool swimming

New Westford Academy (111 Acres)
Baseball/softball, other team sports.

Mystery Spring (106 Acres)
Cross country skiing, hiking, hunting, nature observation, and snowmobiling

Nashoba Valley Ski Area (50 Acres)
Down hill skiing, 4 chairlifts, 3 rope tows, 9 trails

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Employment Base – 2000

LABOR FORCE – 2000	12,230
# Residents Employed	12,044
# Residents Unemployed	186
Westford Unemployment Rate	1.5%
NMCOG Region Unemployment Rate	2.5%
State Unemployment Rate	2.6%

Employment by Industry Sector – 2001 (Mass Division of Employment & Training ES - 202 Series)

Agriculture/Forestry/Fishing	59
Government	1,001
Construction	309
Manufacturing	4,019
TCPU	180
Trade	2,390
FIRE	400
Services	3,982
Total Employment/Westford	12,341

TCPU = Transportation, Communication and Public Utilities
FIRE = Finance, Insurance and Real Estate
conf = Data suppressed due to confidentiality

Means Of Transportation To Work - 2000 (Census Transportation Planning Package 2000)

Subject	1990 Census		2000 Census		Change 1990 to 2000
Subject	Number	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent
Workers 16 years and over	8,881	100.0	10,745	100.0	1,864	21.0
Drove alone	7,876	88.7	9,457	88.0	1,581	20.1
Carpooled	612	6.9	570	5.3	-42	-6.9
Public transportation (including taxicab)	55	0.6	125	1.2	70	127.3
Bicycle or walked	115	1.3	60	0.6	-55	-47.8
Motorcycle or other means	54	0.6	16	0.1	-38	-70.4
Worked at home	169	1.9	517	4.8	348	205.9

Travel Time to Work - 2000 (Census Transportation Planning Package 2000)

Subject	1990 Census		2000 Census		Change 1990 to 2000
Subject	Number	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent
Workers who did not work at home	8,712	100.0	10,228	100.0	1,516	17.4
Less than 5 minutes	216	2.5	168	1.6	-48	-22.2
5 to 9 minutes	770	8.8	823	8.0	53	6.9
10 to 14 minutes	1,165	13.4	1,043	10.2	-122	-10.5
15 to 19 minutes	1,168	13.4	1,153	11.3	-15	-1.3
20 to 29 minutes	1,815	20.8	2,326	22.7	511	28.2
30 to 44 minutes	2,365	27.1	2,215	24.6	147	6.2
45 or more minutes	1,213	13.9	2,203	21.5	990	81.6
Mean travel time to work (minutes)	25.0	X	30.0	X	4.9	X

MEDIA:

Lowell Sun
15 Kearney Square, Lowell, MA 01852
Phone: 458 – 7100

Westford Eagle
15 Fletcher St. Chelmsford, MA 01824
Phone: 692 – 4244

Cablevision
4 Liberty Way, Westford, MA 01886 Phone: 692 – 6500

The Merrimack Journal
1794 Bridge Street, Unit 27B, Dracut, Ma 01826 Phone: 978-441-2770

REGIONAL PLANNING AGENCY:

Northern Middlesex Council of Governments
40 Church Street
Lowell MA 01852
Beverly Woods, Executive Director
Phone: (978) 454 – 8021
Fax: (978) 454 – 8023

Population Trends – WESTFORD (2000 U.S. Census) (Updated May 25, 2002)