Bitter Cold Is Getting Old

Welcome back!

It was cold out there this week. But was it as cold as the quiet demise of Valentine’s Day traditions at Sudbury Public Schools? That’s up to you to decide! While a change in Valentine’s Day programming led to a petition effort from some parents who objected to the changes, it seems the biggest loss will be revenue for the people who write the puns on the store-bought cards. No holiday has better pun game than Valentine’s Day!

Just to make sure you have the facts: SPS didn’t cancel Valentine’s Day. The schools dropped the part where kids bring in cards and gifts and candy. Instead there will be some school-wide activities and additional varied activities from classroom to classroom. At the time of publishing this newsletter, the Earth was still turning.

Okay… on to the news for the week. Here’s what we have for you:

1. Two More Pull; One Becomes Candidate

2. Fairbank Community Center: Now Open, But Work Continues

3. SudburyWeekly.com News Digest

4. After-school care is important for so many reasons. Have you taken the community survey? 

5. Economic Development Efforts Gain Momentum In Sudbury

Let’s get into it!

Two More Pull; One Becomes Candidate

By The League of Women Voters of Sudbury

Two more potential candidates have filed their intention (“pulled papers”) to run in the March 25 Annual Town Election: Megan Kelley for Goodnow Library Trustee and Robert Beagan for a 3-year seat on the Park and Recreation Commission (see complete list below).

Beagan is seeking re-election. Kelley currently serves on the board of the Goodnow Library Foundation.

Laurie Eliason returned her nomination papers and the signatures have been certified by the Town Clerk’s office, making her the second official candidate for the March 25 Annual Town Election. Eliason is seeking re-election to a 3-year seat on the Park and Recreation Commission. She is currently running unopposed.

To become an official candidate, those running must file their intention to run (“pull papers”) with the Town Clerk or District Clerk, gather signatures of registered voters on their nomination papers, return those papers to the Town Clerk or District Clerk, and then those signatures must be certified by the Town Clerk’s office.

There are 17 open positions on this year's Annual Town Election ballot. You can find a complete list here. You can find information about how to run for office here and on the www.lwvsudbury.org website. You can learn how to register to vote or update your voter registration here or at www.lwvsudbury.org.

The period for potential candidates to file their intention to run is from Thursday, Jan. 4 to Wednesday, Jan. 31. Nomination papers (“signatures”) must be returned by Feb. 2. Any Sudbury registered voter may run for office. Potential candidates do not need permission from a board or committee to run.

According to the Lincoln-Sudbury Regional District Clerk, as of 8:46 a.m. Jan. 17, and the Town Clerk’s office, as of 12:01 p.m. Jan. 19, the following people have filed their intention to run:

Select Board
(2 seats, 3 years)
Janie Dretler (official candidate)

Sudbury School Committee
(2 seats, 3 years)
Karyn Jones

Lincoln-Sudbury Regional School District Committee
(2 seats, 3 years)
Catherine Bitter (Lincoln)

Moderator
(1 seat, 3 years)
Catharine V. Blake

Board of Assessors
(1 seat, 3 years)
Joshua Fox

Goodnow Library Trustee
(2 seats, 3 years)
Megan Kelley

Board of Health
(1 seat, 3 years)
Linda Huet-Clayton

Park and Recreation Commission
(2 seats, 3 years)
Laurie Eliason (official candidate)
Robert C. Beagan

Park and Recreation Commission
(1 seat, 1 year to fill a vacancy)
William Atkeson

Planning Board
(2 seats, 3 years)
John Sugrue

Commissioner of Housing Authority
(1 seat, 5 years)
Sherrill P. Cline

Fairbank Community Center: Now Open, But Work Continues

By Kevin LaHaise

At the start of 2024 the new Fairbank Community Center in Sudbury opened for the public without the razzle-dazzle of a grand opening event. That's, in part, because there's more work that needs to be done to complete the project. The old building is scheduled to be fully demolished by the end of January, and abatement work is already complete. Exterior work will continue through the spring months. That will also include the construction of a lighted multi-sport court in the area where the old building currently stands. That's expected to be completed in May.

While work continues on site, the user groups have made the move and are now operating in the new facility. This phase has been described as a bit of a "soft opening," as work continues on site and staff adapt to the operations of a new building.

On Wednesday, the Permanent Building Committee met to discuss the project. One issue they've been encountering is that residents are entering at the old Senior Center entrance, which is currently a demolition site. The Owner's Project Manager (OPM) went to great lengths on Wednesday to ask the public to enter the new building and stay away from the old building demolition site. He noted that it is dangerous for the public to enter that area. Here's where you should NOT go:

And here's a much safer place to enter on the other side of the new building:

Demolition aside, there's still more work to be done as the project enters the home stretch. One of the challenges they've encountered is a nagging drainage problem on the site. Water is pooling in front of the building, often spilling out onto the road. The Town has been evaluating options to address the water issues that have been bubbling up since the middle of 2023. On Wednesday the Permanent Building Committee was informed by the OPM that they're close to agreeing on a path to a resolution for the drainage issues, but the committee did not deliberate or ask questions about the situation during the meeting.

The other item discussed was an ongoing issue with malfunctioning wave-access door systems. These systems allow people to wave, rather than pressing a metal plate, to mechanically open some exterior and interior doors. Some of those are working properly, others aren't, and the manufacturer can't figure out why. The committee seemed to reach a consensus that eliminating the wave feature and reverting to traditional mechanical functionality via the metal plate that you press was best. The alternatives would be either a complicated legal dispute, or to leave the partially-functioning systems in place, which can cause confusion for users.

The complexity of this phase of the project was evident throughout the meeting. They are simultaneously finishing some interior work, demolishing the old building, processing what were described as fairly typical change requests from the users, and gearing up for work to finalize the Park and Recreation entrance and pool viewing room once demolition is complete. After that, exterior work and landscaping begins.

While the risk of delay is ever-present in today's construction environment, the OPM voiced confidence in the remaining timeline for completion. The members of the Permanent Building Committee appeared eager to get to the official completion of the entire project, but for residents that may be a distinction without a difference. The new building is already open, programs are already operating inside, and the Fairbank Community Center is ready to welcome the public.

SudburyWeekly.com News Digest

Here’s a sampling of what you can find on the new website this week:

Town of Sudbury Will Not Pursue Ban of Gas-Powered Lawn Tools

It turns out that gas-powered leaf blowers aren’t just a hot topic in Sudbury. The Town doesn’t seem to be headed towards an effort to ban them… at least for now.

First Official Candidate for Select Board

Incumbent Select Board Chair, Janie Dretler, is the first official candidate of the 2024 Town Election. The League of Women Voters of Sudbury had the story.

L-S School Committee Listening Session — January 30

The next listening session is coming up quick. Mark you calendars!

Apply Now To Vote By Mail

The League of Women Voters has all the details you need to vote by mail.

After-school care is important for so many reasons. Have you taken the community survey? 

Submitted by Parents for Sudbury After-School Care Solutions

[Editorial note: this opinion article first ran on SudburyWeekly.com]

Parents for Sudbury After-School Care Solutions started because of the silent cry that happens when a caregiver hears:

Your child is on the waitlist.

Only one of the four days requested is available.

The program doesn’t fit your child’s needs.

You can no longer work remotely.

And, the list goes on.

For many caregivers, the hours between the beginning of the school day and the end of the traditional workday leaves a gap, which has grown even wider with the change of school start time. With more and more families needing to return to the office for some or all of the weekdays, caregivers are juggling childcare more than they were before. 

After-school care has become a topic of discussion around town, leading two Sudbury parents, Karyn Jones and Becky Chisholm, to try to do something about it. After researching 20 different towns, they discovered that yes, there are other towns doing a better job in supporting families’ after-school care needs, especially families with children in grades K-5. Communities who “solved” this problem got there by soliciting feedback from families and proactively bringing together different boards and commissions, current after-school care providers, and small businesses. Suddenly “that is not my purview” became “let’s solve this together.”  

Now we are asking families who will have children in grades K-5 in the 2024-2025 school year to complete a community survey. The survey leverages questions of what was successful in other towns, modified based upon feedback we received from over 85 members of the community. This included Parks and Recreation, existing after-school programs like Sudbury Extended Day, families, and outside enrichment programs who wish to expand offerings. 

The survey is composed of 21 questions. It is for families who do or do not currently utilize an existing after-school program. The purpose is to gain an accurate picture of what our community’s needs are. It takes less than 5-minutes to complete.

You can access the survey by visiting www.sudburyafterschoolsolutions.com.

The survey launched this past Tuesday, January 16, and 200-plus families have responded already. We are so thankful for your input and confidence. We will provide updates through our e-newsletter. You can sign-up for our e-newsletter through our website: www.sudburyafterschoolsolutions.com.

Economic Development Efforts Gain Momentum In Sudbury

By Kevin LaHaise

In May of 2023, Select Board Vice-Chair Lisa Kouchakdjian recommended the formation of an Economic Development Committee to the other members of the Select Board. She noted that the timing was right, in part because Sudbury was on the cusp of opening two rail trails. The minutes summarize her comments:

The other members of the Select Board were supportive, but felt it was premature, in part because Sudbury had significant vacancies in the Planning Department.

Sudbury disbanded its economic development committee in 2008, nearly two decades ago, and in May of 2023 it looked as though economic development work would stay on the back burner in Sudbury indefinitely. But when the Select Board got to its annual goal setting meeting later in 2023, economic development emerged as a high-priority goal. (Goals here.)

Dedicating Resources

While any formal Town economic development plan, let alone programs, remain in their nascent stages, the priority given to this issue by the Select Board is a fundamental change in a town that was unique relative to most of its peers in the region. Sudbury Weekly researched nearly two-dozen municipalities surrounding Sudbury and found that all but three had either an economic development committee or a dedicated position for economic development on their Town staff.

Sudbury, Weston and Carlisle stood out as the three that had neither a committee or a staff position at the time of our research in 2023. Across the towns that have a committee, their work ranges from advisory services to the Town, to the operation of grant-making programs for small businesses to open or expand. Others focus on promotional work for local businesses, and enticing desirable businesses to open locations in their towns. Westborough’s Economic Development Committee stood out in our analysis for being quite robust compared to all others in our analysis. Their efforts include all of the above, and more.

A Blend of Optimism and Pragmatism

While Sudbury does not currently have an economic development committee, it does have a long-standing and active Chamber of Commerce. They recently announced an economic development event with guest speakers from the Town of Sudbury. Sudbury’s Town Manager, Andy Sheehan, Director of Planning and Community Development, Adam Burney, and a Select Board member, Jennifer Roberts, will be joining the Chamber of Commerce to gather input from the business community before they engage a consultant to develop a plan.

The Chamber of Commerce has opened the March 20 event to the public at no charge. Though attendees are asked to register here.

The Chamber of Commerce was emphatic about the opportunity this initial discussion presents to the community:

The Select Board goals call for economic development efforts to be anchored in the Master Plan. But the Master Plan, depending on how you read it, is either pragmatic or pessimistic about Sudbury’s economic development potential. The section on economic development opens with:

While the opening words may feel like a wet blanket to some, the Master Plan also has a section dedicated to Route 20/Boston Post Road, and speaks about the significant opportunities along the corridor to address needs ranging from housing to economic development. One of the challenges cited is the absence of wastewater systems for larger development on Route 20.

Both the wastewater issue and the geography-driven transportation constraints have been discussed at length in Sudbury going back decades, but progress towards improvements has been slow. The Master Plan even calls it out: “The Town has been studying the Route 20 Corridor intermittently for approximately 20 years, recognizing it as a unique and important asset in the community.” (Page 20)

While plans and studies are a necessary part of municipal work, they often end up sitting on a shelf after they’re completed. In the case of Route 20, the comprehensive wastewater management plan (CWMP) has actually been making steady forward progress in recent years. (Timeline here). The advancement of that work could eliminate or mitigate one of the major barriers to improving the Route 20 corridor.

As for the other challenges: it remains unlikely that someone will pick Sudbury up and plop it down closer to a major highway. And the odds of MBTA service coming to Sudbury are about as good as the odds of the MBTA operating smoothly where it already exists.

But Sudbury is on the cusp of opening two rail trails, the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail and the Mass Central Rail Trail, that intersect in the heart of the Route 20 corridor. Rail trails are unique insofar as they serve as both recreational assets and transportation corridors. That could fundamentally change how many people get around within Sudbury when a they have an active transportation option, and it could draw in more retail customers from the broader region served by the trails. A 2023 study commissioned by the Norwottuck Network estimated that the Mass Central Rail Trail alone could generate over $200 million in economic activity.

While it may appear as though economic development advocates are watching the perfect storm form in Sudbury, the Master Plan also prioritizes preserving Sudbury’s rural character and feel. As economic development activity picks up in Sudbury, the delicate balancing act with preservation of Sudbury’s so-described rural character might make the difference between a revitalized Route 20 and another plan on the shelf.

Parting Thoughts

The Select Board meets next week, and they’re covering some topics that have led to disagreements in the past. (Agenda) Those include the Sewataro financials, and ongoing discussion about the firearms business zoning bylaw they’ve been working on. From there they go one to discuss the first evaluation for Town Manager Andy Sheehan, the status of the Select Board-created DEI Commission, and an Open Meeting Law complaint related to the firearm business zoning bylaw, among other agenda items.

Budgets and capital will quickly become the center of attention next week. The Finance Committee will be discussing articles, Lincoln-Sudbury has its budget hearing, and the Capital Improvement Advisory Committee returns. It’s all building up towards “Capital Night,” which is currently scheduled for February 12. That’s when the Select Board, Finance Committee and Capital Improvement Advisory Committee open a giant joint meeting and hammer Town Meeting articles to within an inch of their lives discuss their positions on Town Meeting articles.

The bitter cold remains in the forecast through the weekend. If you, like me, are going to avoid exiting your home until mother nature offers up conditions that are suitably humane, you might want to check out the new features and functionality on SudburyTV’s On-demand page here. In addition to committee meetings, they do a ton of coverage of L-S sports, and it’s all organized nicely on the new page.

Onward!