TOWN OF WESTFORD

Northeastern Massachusetts, bordered by Littleton and Groton on the west, Tyngsborough on the north, Chelmsford on the east, Carlisle on the southeast, and Acton on the south. Westford is 23 miles northwest of Boston, 35 miles northeast of Worcester, 86 miles northeast of Springfield, and 220 miles from New York City.

Westford's website

 

TOWN SERVICES:    

TOWN CONTACTS (as of June 2004)

Board of Selectmen (978) 692 – 5500
Christopher Romeo - Chairman
Robert Jeffries – Vice Chairman
Allan Loiselle - Clerk
Jim Silva
Geraldine "Dini" Healy- Coffin 

Town Manager (978) 692 – 5501
Steven LeDoux 

Town Clerk (978) 692 – 5515
Kaari Tari

Building Commissioner (978) 692 – 5527
Donald Kinney 

Asst. Town Manager (978) 692 – 5524
Jeff Chelgren 

Conservation Commission (978) 692 – 5524
Eric Fahle – Chairman
Marion McCurleys
Marilyn Frank
Mary Trubey
Ann Jeffries
Peter Mahler
Margaret Wheeler - Vice Chairman

Planning Board: (978) 692-5524
Peter Fletcher - Chairman
Michael Green
Robert Shaffer
Andrea Peraner-Sweet
Fred Palmer

Highway Department: (978) 692-5520
Richard "Chip" Barrett - Superintendent

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  Robert Welch (978) 692-2161

Chief of Fire Department: Chief Richard Rochon (978) 692-5542

Rail:
Commuter rail service to North Station, Boston is available at Lowell Gallagher Terminal or at the newly renovated 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.   

TAX RATE: Residential - $14.00 per $1,000, Commercial- $14.00 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
54 Broadway
Westford, MA 01866
(978) 692-5532

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
	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
	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 

TOWN CONTACTS (as of August 2003)

Board of Selectmen (978) 692 – 5500
Christopher Romeo - Chairman
Robert Jeffries – Vice Chairman
Allan Loiselle - Clerk
Jim Silva
Geraldine "Dini" Healy- Coffin 

Town Manager (978) 692 – 5500
Steven LeDoux 

Town Clerk (978) 692 – 5515
Kristen Fisher 

Building Commissioner (978) 692 – 5527
Donald Kinney 

Asst. Town Manager (978) 692 – 5524
Jeff Chelgren 

Conservation Commission (978) 692 – 5524
Eric Fahle – Chairman
Christie Williams – Vice Chairman
Marilyn Frank
Mary Trubey
William Harmon
Peter Mahler
Margret Wheeler
 

REGIONAL PLANNING AGENCY:  

Northern Middlesex Council of Governments
115 Thorndike Street, Lowell MA 01852
Robert W. Flynn, Executive Director
Phone: (978) 454 – 8021
Fax: (978) 454 – 8023