Town Manager, Sean Hendricks, reached out to one of our neighbors, the author of the citizens petition to “Rename Aldrich Avenue to Aldrich Avenue,” to inform us (the petitioners), that Town Meeting (the registered voters of Millbury) does not have the authority to rename an official street acceptance, as the citizens petition requested and as we were previously advised by another town official was the formal process to be followed.

We were informed that the Millbury Board of Selectmen have justification over official street acceptances and in this case, renaming Aldrich Street to Aldrich Avenue. This matter has been placed on the Millbury Board of Selectmen’s agenda for Tuesday, February 28, 2023, beginning at 6:00 PM, at the Millbury Town Hall located at 127 Elm Street in Millbury, Massachusetts.

The citizens petition was submitted to correct the street name to match the intended street name on the approved subdivision plans, the legal and governmental documents, and other local, state, and federal databases and geographical information systems (GIS), for example:

• the original subdivision plans

• individual deeds

• Millbury property cards (assessors and tax records)

• the official street signs

• United States Postal Service (USPS) addresses

• Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles driver’s licenses, registrations and titles

• Massachusetts excise tax invoices

• Massachusetts E-911 and NextGen 911 emergency systems

• MassMapper (formerly MassGIS)

• Apple Maps

• Google Maps

The town records that we discovered that have a name other than Aldrich Avenue are:

• official street acceptance (has Aldrich Street)

• street listing (has Aldrich Street)

• zoning map (has Aldrich Street)

• Millbury Web GIS (map) (has Aldrich Road)

There may be other town records or documents that may need to be changed to Aldrich Avenue from Aldrich Street or Aldrich Road.

However, based upon this new information provided by the Town Manager and assurances that the Millbury Board of Selectmen will amend the official street acceptance to Aldrich Avenue, the citizens petition has been withdrawn. Therefore, no town warrant article will voted upon at the next Town Meeting on May 2, 2023.