Writing about Lancaster, Massachusetts

  During her time in Lancaster, Kate Hodges struggled to maintain professional relationships.  Nine months into her new job, she’s threatening to deploy the police inappropriately and the School Superintendent is threatening to sue her.   For people in Lancaster and Concord, it all sounds very familiar.

                              In exchange for a approving a zoning change in 2023, Capital Group Properties/702, LLC promised two $100,000 contributions to Lancaster.     The second contribution is more than three months late.  The town administration is considering its options.    

  Interested in a novel that includes some Lancaster history?   I received a nice email from the author of a new biographical historical novel:  Made to Last Forever: A Family. A House. A Nation. . It's primarily about the Fairbanks family, but they were close friends with the Prescott family -- the founders of Lancaster.    You can find it on Amazon.

  Residents uncovered that the source of a string of anonymous Facebook Messages, including social media messages accusing the chair of the Planning Board of "hiding something," is another Planning Board member, Kendra Dickinson.    

  Image by Firefly AI: "A tangle of ethernet cables shaped like a Christmas Tree" For much of Lancaster, Xfinity is our internet provider.  We have a few different plans to pick from: which should we pick?   This years infrastructure upgrades allowed higher upload speeds - that's changed the choices drastically.  If you haven't looked recently, it might be time to check if a cheaper plan would meet your needs.

  Image by Adobe Firefly AI Last night the Select Board held the town's Tax Classification hearing, clearing the way for the town to submit tax rates for FY2025.    Though the appropriation approved in May was up 4% over the previous year, many tax payers will pay less in taxes for FY2025 (the year ending in June) because the town approved a budget that uses $1,000,000 in free cash (unused balances from prior years) and stabilization funds.    This is a victory for residents who pressed for a budget that more accurately portrayed expenses after two years of wildly inflated budgets, but we'll need to continue pressing for transparency and accurate budgeting.

  Photo by Brian Wangenheim on Unsplash It's official:  Town Administrator Kate Hodges has delivered her notice and will resign effective Friday, January 10th, 2025.   Her first contract with Lancaster was due to end on June 30th.