MetroWest Daily News Publishes Ashland's 2025 Top Municipal Earners List
MetroWest Daily News published its annual accounting of Ashland's highest-paid municipal employees for 2025 on Wednesday, ranking the town's top 25 earners and running a profile of employee Caroline Bunnell. The report gives residents a rare line-by-line look at where the town's payroll dollars went last year, arriving the same week the town's library and boards move through a full slate of late-summer programs and meetings.
TOWN HALL
Town Hall posted a News Flash Wednesday evening reminding property owners that the town does not offer a self-service look-up tool for open permits. Anyone who wants to know whether a property has outstanding permits on file must submit a formal public records request to the town to get that information, the notice said. The reminder comes as the town continues rolling out its newer OpenGov licensing and permitting portal, and it is the only new item to hit the town's official alert feed since Tuesday.
COMMUNITY & ARTS
Ashland Public Library has several dated lecture-style and family programs on this week's virtual calendar. On Thursday, the library hosts a virtual talk on Revolutionary War painter John Trumbull as part of its "Celebrating 250" series marking the nation's semiquincentennial, alongside a "Teacher Tales" segment featuring David Mindess Elementary second-grade teacher Ms. Farrell. On Friday, the library follows with a virtual program billed as "The Truth Behind The Westerns," focused on lawman Wyatt Earp. The library also runs a virtual Thrive! caregiver education session Thursday on decluttering and downsizing for loved ones with dementia, part of its ongoing caregiver support series.
ELSEWHERE IN THE NEWS
"Which Ashland municipal employees earned the most in 2025" is the headline on a MetroWest Daily News piece that ranks the town's 25 highest-paid workers and includes a portrait of employee Caroline Bunnell. The Gannett paper compiled the full list from town payroll records. (read it at https://www.metrowestdailynews.com/story/news/local/2026/08/19/which-ashland-ma-municipal-employees-earned-the-most-in-2025/91216059007/)
COMING UP
The Upper Charles Trail Committee meets by Zoom Thursday, and the Sustainability Committee also convenes Thursday. Ashland Public Library adds two more sessions Thursday, a "Make Me a Story" program for ages 3 to 7 with a caregiver and a virtual fantasy-book recommendation talk, followed Friday by an in-person mindful meditation session for adults. On the municipal side, the Conservation Commission meets by Zoom Monday, Aug. 24, and the Zoning Board of Appeals holds a hybrid meeting Tuesday, Aug. 25. The Town Clerk's office has scheduled advanced removal and depositing of early voted ballots for the Sept. 1 state primary on Tuesday, Aug. 25, Wednesday, Aug. 26, and Thursday, Aug. 27, when the Planning Board also meets.
Compiled from official town feeds, community organizations, and local press. Outside reporting is attributed inline.