Ayer Special Town Meeting Approves Bridge Easements, Rejects Billboard Amendment

AYER — July 13, 2026 — Ayer special town meeting clears bridge easements over billboard fight. Voters at the July 13 special meeting approved Article 1 authorizing the Select Board to acquire temporary and permanent easements on private land adjacent to Nonacous Brook on the north side of the West Main Street bridge, a project that carries roughly 8,000 vehicles per day and has been under active phased replacement since earlier this year. A floor amendment by resident Turner of 51 Pleasant Street to strip a second provision — which would authorize the board to grant a reciprocal easement to the Sullivan Investment Trust for access to a billboard whose footing partially encroaches on town land — failed on a voice vote after Town Counsel Mark Fitch of KPL Law argued that removing the paragraph "would simply maintain the status quo" rather than force the billboard's removal. Property co-owner Paula Sullivan told the meeting her family had once tried to donate the land to the town, which declined, and that construction crews were on the property before the family received any notification from the town. The Select Board reconvened in open session immediately after the meeting dissolved to begin acting on the easement acquisition.