Northborough residents gather to weigh in on vision for downtown

By Laura Hayes Managing Editor

cial or residential developments or other amenities.

Northborough Selectmen Perreault, Rogers will not seek re-election

NORTHBOROUGH -

What would you like to see in downtown Northborough?

That was the topic of a community meeting held by the Master Plan Implementation Committee on Jan. 26.

Northborough completed a new master plan for the town prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2020, the Board of Selectmen established a Master Plan Implementation Committee. According to Chair Rick Leif, in the master plan, the one item that received the most attention was residents’ interest in examining downtown Northborough and efforts to, in general, make it a wonderful meeting place for the town.

The committee recommended that the selectmen move forward with a study of the downtown. The board agreed, and the firm Weston & Sampson was hired.

“The goal of this first meeting is to get your ideas,” said Weston

& Sampson’s Johnathan Law.

“We’re not coming to you with any designs because we want to find out what you want for your town.”

This marked the first of several community meetings planned by the committee to solicit input as to what residents think about the existing downtown and how it could be improved.

As part of the meeting, residents were asked to place stickers on maps of four specific study areas where they would like to see a variety of commer-

Each sticker represented multifamily housing, mixed-use housing, adaptive reuse housing, food trucks, outdoor dining, restaurants, bars, retail, flexible gathering space, green infrastructure, car charging, trails, on-street parking, parking lots, pedestrian street, accessibility, fitness and art.

Residents could also place stickers next to what they would like to see downtown.

According to Law, the committee and Weston & Sampson will take the information from the community meetings and develop it into concepts. Once they have concepts, the committee and consultants will present them to the community for discussion before returning with a preferred downtown master plan.

Election | from page 3 Northborough for 24 years. He works as a software engineer and volunteered for numerous activities, including supervising the Algonquin Junior Prom Post-Prom Party, and serving a guest reader at Zeh Elementary School and as an assistant and head coach for Starhawks Youth Hockey.

Perreault has served the town for about 25 years, including three terms as a selectman, 10 years on the Financial Planning Committee, three years on the Elderly and Disabled Taxation Fund Committee, a kindergarten through eighth grade school feasibility study committee and the Lincoln Street School building committee.

“After that period of time, signing up for another threeyear term is not something that I see fitting into my upcoming schedule, considering other events going on in my life with my family,” said Perreault.

Rogers recognized Perreault’s service during the meeting.

“He’s been an inspiration to me, and in some ways I followed in his footsteps,” he said.

Rogers was elected to his first term in 2020. According to his 2020 candidate profile, Rogers and his family have lived in town since 1995 following the end of his duty with the U.S. Air Force.

He works at UMass Medical School, and he has volunteered on the board of the Northborough Youth Soccer Program and on the operations committee for the Community Harvest Project.

“I would also like to announce tonight that I will not be running for re-election either,” Rogers said. “I appreciate the opportunity that the voters of Northborough gave me in this role, and I look forward to continuing to serving the community in other capacities.”