"It costs a lot of money to look this cheap."

Welcome back!

Capital Night came and went without much drama on Monday. If you are unaware, “Capital Night” is a Sudbury tradition when the Select Board, Finance Committee and Capital Improvement Advisory Committee harass question Town staff about projects.

In truth, they’re just vetting some of the capital projects to make sure they’re in the best interest of taxpayers. But it often ends up looking like an awkward competition to be the most “fiscally-conservative” town official, or the most extreme stickler for process. This year was no different.

Here’s what we have for you this week:

1. Lincoln-Sudbury School Committee Listening Session: February 28

2. Capital Night Highlights Budget Pressures for Sudbury

3. A Look at Super Tuesday Primary

4. Lighting Retrofit Project Clears Funding Hurdle

5. Last Call for Candidates’ Forum Questions

6. Construction Zones Offer Pleasant Enjoyment for Sudbury Residents

7. SudburyWeekly.com News Roundup

Let’s get into it!

Lincoln-Sudbury School Committee Listening Session: February 28

The Lincoln-Sudbury School Committee will hold a listening session for students, families, and community members on Wednesday, February 28 from 7:00–8:00 p.m. on Google Meet. The purpose of the listening session is to give individuals the opportunity to raise items with members of the Committee. In attendance will be Committee members Lucy Maulsby and Ravi Simon.

This listening session is one of several being held by the Committee throughout the school year. No more than two members of the Committee will be at listening sessions. These sessions are not public meetings with an agenda, but rather a casual opportunity to meet with Committee members.

Google Meet joining info:
Video call link: https://meet.google.com/fng-diud-sxz
Or dial: (US) +1 570-729-5087 PIN: 943 118 519#

Capital Night Highlights Budget Pressures for Sudbury

By Kevin LaHaise

Monday February 12 was Capital Night in Sudbury. That’s when the Select Board, Finance Committee and Capital Improvement Advisory Committee get together to review capital articles and the Town Manager’s Capital Budget. The committee members tend to ask clarifying questions, vet the proposed projects/purchases, and try to assemble a broader picture of how the Town is prioritizing capital projects.

Much of the discussion on Monday was procedural. Sudbury Town Manager Andy Sheehan presented the Town Manager’s Operating Capital Budget, and department heads presented other capital articles on the warrant for Annual Town Meeting. At a high level, the takeaway was that the town is continuing to implement recommendations from the Division of Local Services (DLS), as well as requirements from the Select Board’s updated Financial Policies.

There was some posturing and grandstanding by some of the panelists about the implementation of the capital policies toward the end of the meeting, but the Town Manager’s Capital Operating Budget itself reflects continued progress implementing both the Select Board policies and the DLS recommendations. Town Manager Sheehan noted that the Town charter, capital bylaw, and Select Board financial policies each provide different guidelines, so there might be more discussion in the future about how to get all of those aligned. Select Board member Roberts noted that even the financial policies leave room for the Town Manager to decide how to implement the processes prescribed by the policies, and signaled support for giving the Town Manager enough room to operate. (3:42:25)

The Town Manager’s Capital Budget is dropping very slightly year over year, and there’s a clear effort to do more debt-financed projects within the tax levy, rather than excluding the debt. That aligns with one of the major recommendations from the Division of Local Services in 2020, as Sudbury has often relied on debt exclusions for capital projects:

In-levy debt is precisely how Town Manager Sheehan hopes to fund the Atkinson Pool renovation. The warrant article currently estimates a need for $2.3 million to do the project and on Monday the stated intent was that it would be funded by in-levy debt if the warrant article is passed by Town Meeting in May. (3:04:01) If you want a peek into the future, you can review the 5-year capital plan here.

While the budget was sufficient to fund most of the capital requests, there were still a few that didn’t make the cut, or would need to seek other funding sources. The Town Manager’s Operating Capital Budget is still being tapped to fund recurring maintenance work that should be funded via operating budgets, and the hope is to address that in future budget cycles. Town Manager Sheehan also alerted the committees to the growing pressures created by cost escalation and inflation. (1:13:30)

The Town Manager’s Proposed Budget for FY25 was uploaded to the Town website recently. It tallies up to $124,379,269 and includes similar warnings:

Longstanding requests for additional staff in the Police Department, Fire Department, Department of Public Works and Recreation Department were once again unable to be funded in the proposed budget.

For context and comparison, Concord’s FY24 proposed budget totaled $132,097,792 (page 4). So the Sudbury budget for FY25 is a good deal smaller than the Concord budget for FY24, and Concord has a similar population and similar total enrollment in Concord Public Schools when compared with Sudbury and Sudbury Public Schools. No two town budgets are exactly alike, and revenue sources can vary significantly from town to town, but the challenges municipalities are facing across the state appear to be much the same. For example, the Concord Finance Committee voiced similar concerns to Sudbury in their FY24 Annual Report:

In light of some of these challenges, the Municipal Empowerment Act has been filed by Governor Healey. The act would allow municipalities to increase local taxes and fees such as the local option lodging tax, the local option meals tax, and a five percent surcharge on motor vehicle excise surcharge. Other provisions include changes to borrowing rules for school projects, changes to procurement rules, among others. That may be welcome news for municipal officials dealing with stretched budgets, but some taxpayers may see it differently at a time when housing costs are skyrocketing, a modest cut of steak costs an arm, and a double cheeseburger costs a leg.

Food prices aside, the Town administration has been consistent in identifying these budget pressures over the past year. Implementation of the DLS recommendations appears to be a major part of getting the budget into more sustainable shape. But that doesn’t happen overnight, and cost escalation continues to make matters more difficult while those policies and stabilization measures are implemented.

A Look at Super Tuesday Primary

By the League of Women Voters of Sudbury

Massachusetts’ Presidential primary election will be held Tuesday, March 5, commonly known as “Super Tuesday” because of the number of primary elections taking place around the country.

Primaries are, by definition, party elections, and there are three available party ballots—Democratic, Republican or Libertarian.  Voters registered with a party must take that party’s ballot. Unenrolled voters can choose any ballot; choosing a ballot does not change a voter’s unenrolled status. Specimen ballots for each party are on the Town Clerk’s website.

Each party’s Presidential candidates are listed on its ballot, including some candidates who have suspended their campaigns after ballots were printed. Each ballot also has the option “no preference” and space for a write-in candidate.

Since this is a party election, voters will also see candidates for the party’s state committee on the ballot. According to the Secretary of State’s website, “Each party’s state committee is allowed to elect one man and one woman from each of the Commonwealth’s 40 state senate districts. Members of the state committee work to: 

• Promote the aims of the party

• Work in cooperation with the national party committee and with ward and town committees

• Organize and work for the nomination and election of party candidates.”

In addition, Sudbury primary voters will elect members of the Sudbury town committees for each party, up to 35 people. The ballots present the individuals running for the town party committees, with an option to vote for the entire slate and to write in additional candidates. The Secretary of State’s website describes the duties of town party committee members as: “Representing their party at the local and neighborhood level; and promoting the objectives of the party; and working for the nomination and election of party candidates.”

The deadline to register to vote in the Presidential primary is Saturday, Feb. 24.  You can register online at www.VoteInMA.com.  

The last day to request a mail ballot for this election is Tuesday, Feb. 27, but it is best to file an application immediately to assure the ballot arrives on time. Unenrolled voters must specify which party’s ballot they want when they apply for a mail ballot. Additional information on mail ballots is available on the Town Clerk’s website here.

In-person early voting for the Presidential primary will be offered at Town Hall, 322 Concord Rd., for all voters, regardless of precinct. Early voting hours are:

Voting in person on Election Day, Tuesday, March 5, will be available from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Voters in precincts 1, 2, 3 and 5 will vote at Fairbank Community Center. Voters in precincts 4 and 6 will vote at Town Hall. Click on Where Do I Vote to determine which precinct you are in and where you vote.

See the FAQs section of the League’s website or previous Sudbury Weekly articles on voting by mail and registering to vote for additional election information.

LED Lighting Retrofit Clears Funding Hurdle

By Kevin LaHaise

On Tuesday the Energy and Sustainability Committee met and reviewed a proposal for an LED lighting retrofit project across several town buildings. They tackled two issues. First, the incentives available from Eversource aren’t as lucrative as they have been historically. Second, the cost of the project came in above what they had previously approved.

Sudbury’s Combined Facilities Director, Sandra Duran, explained that incentives have been declining in recent years, and noted that there have been warnings that the incentives will eventually go away altogether. Here’s the analysis that was presented:

There was some discussion about attempting to negotiate with Eversource, or getting the contractor to negotiate further. But it was unclear if there was any opportunity to negotiate the incentives based on comments from Duran. As things stood in the proposal, the payback on the investment would be between two and four years for most of the buildings included. That’s derived primarily from the forecasted monthly savings on ye olde electricity bill for each building.

As for the money, the committee had previously approved $98,000 for the project. To do all the buildings, they would need to approve another $51,000. That would complete the project at the Goodnow Library, Fire Department Headquarters, Police Department Headquarters, Town Hall, the Flynn Building and Fire Stations 2 and 3.

Ultimately the committee voted unanimously to approve an additional $55,000 from their available funds, and proceed with the project as scoped. The $55,000 provided a little wiggle room in the budget in case anything changed on the ground during execution. Most members agreed that the added cost was reasonable and the project was worthwhile, even if the incentives are underwhelming compared to prior years. But it was Member Olga Faktorovich Allen who delivered the argument that seemed to give the committee full confidence in proceeding:

Last Call for Candidates’ Forum Questions

By the League of Women Voters of Sudbury

The deadline to submit questions for the League of Women Voters’ Candidates’ Forum is Monday, Feb. 19, at 5 p.m.  

Send questions for the candidates in the contested races for Select Board and Sudbury School Committee (Pre-K-8) to [email protected], or mail them to Candidates’ Forum, LWV Sudbury, P. O. Box 338, Sudbury, MA 01776.  

The League may combine questions on the same topic. The identity of those asking a question will not be disclosed. Questions will be asked of all candidates, so questions specific to individuals will not be asked.

The Candidates’ Forum will be available on SudburyTV throughout March leading up to the March 25 Annual Town Election.

Construction Zones Offer Pleasant Enjoyment For Sudbury Residents

By Kevin LaHaise

The first phase of the Sudbury portion of the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail is nearing completion, with the Town of Sudbury estimating that it will be completed and open for use as soon as this summer. The entire trail is still a very active construction zone, but the public has been using the trail in increasing numbers despite the dangers associated with exercising on a construction site. The alluring pairing of trespassing, heavy machinery, risk of serious injury, and outdoor entertainment have proven irresistible for many members of the public.

A blunt warning was added to the Town website to discourage residents from entering the clearly-marked construction zone that will soon be a rail trail:

In recent meetings of the Rail Trails Advisory Committee, members have repeatedly discussed the dangers of using the trail in its current state and echoed the Town message that residents should wait until the construction is completed. Town staff have coordinated with the contractor, who has control of the site until construction is complete, to consider enhanced signage. But all of those efforts may be futile. A peek down the trail construction zones from road crossings all over Sudbury quickly reveals significant numbers of people thoroughly enjoying the corridor’s construction site-ness. There may already be a significant number of people who have incorporated the trail into their daily or weekly routines.

Whether the use is routine or not, it wouldn’t be surprising if additional signage had little effect. People don’t tend to let signs tell them how to live their life, as evidenced by the stop signs at the four-way intersection of Old Lancaster Road and Peakham Road.

During the demolition phase of the old Fairbank Community Center, the project team contended with thrill-seekers the public attempting to enter the building through the fenced-off demolition site. That’s perhaps an even more dangerous choice, but as the saying goes: “you have to risk it to get the biscuit.”

For residents who don’t enjoy trespassing and elevated risk of physical injury, there’s some good reading about the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail available on the website. The February update is available here. And the preliminary designs for the next phase, which takes the trail to Framingham, are here. Photos are available here.

SudburyWeekly.com News Roundup

Here’s what’s on the site this week!

Nam Withdraws from SPS Race
Candidates continue to withdraw from the SPS race. The League of Women Voters of Sudbury has the scoop.

Sudbury TV Gets Upgrades, Adds Channel
New developments from this civic treasure!

Athletic Fields Needs Assessment To Move Forward Solo
Forward progress on the fields assessment was welcome news after some delays.

LS Athletics: Warriors Review and Weekly Events
L-S has no shortage of elite athletes. Check out their recent achievements!

Parting Thoughts

Next week is school vacation, and the Town calendar doesn’t have much happening. If you’re looking for ways to preserve your sanity occupy your kids next week, you might want to take a gander at Park and Recreation programs here. The Goodnow Library has a bunch of cool stuff happening next week, as well. Their calendar is here. And you can check the events section on the new Sudbury Weekly website here. Fortunately, the snowless snow day this week gave Sudbury parents a chance to brush up on their “what the heck am I going to do with these kids all day long?” skills.

Speaking of events — if you’re hosting an event and want to get the word out, just read the simple editorial submission instructions here and send it our way. We will get it posted to the site and include it in the email newsletter whenever possible.

Onward!