I’m writing in support of Article 38 and the formal acceptance of Auciello Drive as a public road at Town Meeting. The facts are simple: Auciello Drive was built in the 1990s, and the developer was taking steps to get the road formally accepted by the town but passed away in 2018 before completing the process. Until 2024, the town plowed the road and periodically repaired Auciello Drive over 30 years, but the town suspended plowing for Auciello residents in 2024 over a technicality. It turns out paperwork filed by the builder of the road in the 1990s marked the road as private, even though it functions as public, not gated, with open access to anyone.

Accepting Auciello Drive is also the difference between being proactive vs. reactive. Acceptance means the road is incorporated into long-term infrastructure plans rather than excluded from them. It also means residents, who had no control over the paperwork filed in the 1990s, won’t be left without plowing.

Please support Article 38. It’s the right thing to do!

— Steve Munier, Hopkinton

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