From Sudbury... with love?

Welcome back!

Sudbury had quite a week, folks. The Atkinson Pool reopened, there’s controversy in the schools, the opinion section is overflowing with submissions, and the Town talked about studying Route 20 for the 734th time. As the old adage goes: the 734th time’s the charm!

Here’s what we have for you this week:

1. SudburyWeekly.com News Roundup

2. L-S Regional Agreement May Get an Update

3. Send Questions by Feb. 24 for LWV Candidates’ Forum

4. Route 20 Study Underway

5. Asian Market Could Be Coming to Sudbury

Let’s get into it!

L-S Regional Agreement May Get an Update

By Kevin LaHaise

The Lincoln-Sudbury (L-S) School Committee’s Regional Agreement Review Subcommittee met on Wednesday, February 12, to chart a path for updating the agreement. The agreement has not been updated since the 1980’s - and it has reportedly fallen out of compliance with modern Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) requirements. For context on how much has changed since the 1980’s at L-S, note that students were allowed to smoke on campus in the 1980’s.

The subcommittee discussed a narrow review of the agreement to bring it back into compliance. That would involve getting the full L-S School Committee to charge them with initiating a process that was outlined during the meeting. That process could include engaging with outside experts, DESE, or the Massachusetts Association of Regional Schools (MARS) to provide guidance on the updates needed to achieve compliance.

The subcommittee also discussed including Select Board representation from both Lincoln and Sudbury in the process, and eventually Town Meeting votes in both towns.

The subcommittee was careful in defining the scope and nature of the updates that may be pursued. There’s some history in Sudbury that may cause concern for Lincoln if the agreement were to be reopened for wholesale renegotiation. (Page 57) The subcommittee, which includes Ravi Simon of Sudbury and Lucy Maulsby of Lincoln, was aligned on the approach and appears to be setting some boundaries for discussions from the outset.

They discussed taking the matter to the full school committee in an upcoming meeting. Watch this space.

Send Questions by Feb. 24 for LWV Candidates’ Forum

By The League of Women Voters of Sudbury

Do you have questions for the candidates running for Select Board, Sudbury School Committee (pre-K-8) and Lincoln-Sudbury Regional District School Committee?

The League of Women Voters of Sudbury asks residents to suggest questions for its 69^th annual Candidates’ Forum for the candidates in contested races. 

The deadline to send questions is Monday, Feb. 24, at 5 p.m. Email questions to [email protected], or mail them to Candidates’ Forum, LWV Sudbury, P. O. Box 338, Sudbury, MA 01776.  

“The questions voters submit help us to know which topics and issues are of the highest priority for the community in the upcoming election,” said Nell Forgacs, voter service chair for the League of Women Voters of Sudbury. “We encourage all voters to suggest questions, even if you think someone else may have already submitted the same question. Your questions help us to ensure that the forum is timely, relevant, and a strong match to the interest to voters.”

Forgacs also encouraged voters to be creative when writing their questions. “We love quirky questions,” she added. “Some of the best questions we receive are not the ones we expected.”

Questions on the same topic may be combined for the forum. 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 31 Annual Town Election.

Voters can speak directly with the candidates at the League’s informal, in-person, drop-in Meet the Candidates event Sunday, March 16, from 2-4 p.m. at the Goodnow Library.

Information on registering to vote and how to vote in the Annual Town Election is in the FAQs section of the League website. 

Route 20 Study Underway

By Kevin LaHaise

The Planning Board met on February 12 and took in a presentation from BSC Group. They’ve been tasked with conducting a Route 20 Corridor Study. The objectives were laid out quite clearly by former Sudbury Director of Planning and Community Development, Adam Duchesneau. Duchesneau now works at BSC Group, and has extensive knowledge of Sudbury, as well as the Route 20 corridor.

BSC’s work will include a comprehensive inventory of business uses and land uses along Route 20 in Sudbury. But they’re also going to hold a series of stakeholder meetings in the coming months. The final report is estimated to be complete by June of this year.

The Planning Board members discussed the importance of clear communication with the public about what exactly is possible for development on Route 20. Without Town sewers, and with other limiting factors along the corridor, they seemed nervous that residents might think a major near-term transformation was possible.

Sudbury’s current Director of Planning and Community Development, Adam Burney, reiterated that he is not a fan of economic development. “I hate economic development because there’s no good way to do it, everybody thinks it means some thing different, and it’s really a decades-long kind of action as opposed to… like everything we do now isn’t going to bear fruit for another ten or more years.” (13:30)

But Burney was optimistic about a focused effort along Route 20. He noted: “And I know that Route 20 has been a challenging place over the years in Sudbury, and it’s one place that I think shifting the paradigm of development is really possible in the short term. This board and Adam and his predecessors have done that through things like Meadow Walk, and I think that there are other opportunities for that along the corridor.”

There will be opportunities for the public to engage in the process, and several status updates will occur in board meetings in the coming months. If you’re interested in the topic, you should keep an eye out for notifications from the Town.

Asian Market Could Be Coming to Sudbury

By Kevin LaHaise

Formosa Asian Market may be opening a location in Sudbury - but it’s still early in the process.

According to comments from Sudbury Health Director Vivian Zeng, the owner of Framingham-based Formosa Asian Market is eyeing a location in the Sudbury Crossing plaza that currently is home to T.J. Maxx, Dollar Tree and the Goddard School. The Framingham location is currently listed as closed. Sudbury Weekly reached out to Formosa Asian Market and the property manager at Sudbury Crossing, but has not heard back as of press time.

Zeng indicated that they were still evaluating if the septic system for the property had the capacity for a market and reiterated that it was still early in the process. (38:30)

Formosa opened its Framingham location in 2013 according to Patch. At the time, Formosa claimed to be the only Asian specialty market in MetroWest. In recent years it shifted to an online-only business model with delivery. The brick-and-mortar location originally offered fresh produce in addition to specialty goods.

Parting Thoughts

It looks like things might settle down next week with school vacation setting in. A welcome reprieve from what can only be described as a frenzied start to 2025.

February 24 is “Capital Night” in Sudbury. That’s when the Select Board, Finance Committee and Capital Improvement Advisory Committee will all meet to talk about capital projects for Fiscal Year 2026.

But hold on - what the heck is capital?

The Government Finance Officers Association says “The term capital assets is used to describe assets that are used in operations and that have initial useful lives extending beyond a single reporting period. Capital assets include major government facilities, infrastructure, equipment and networks that enable the delivery of public sector services. The performance and continued use of these capital assets is essential to the health, safety, economic development and quality of life of those receiving services.”

So basically - the Town’s stuff. Buildings, vehicles, maintenance equipment, 44 acre campgrounds with 4 outdoor swimming pools, and so on.

If you have absolutely nothing to do on vacation week, and a strong desire to lean into the boredom, you can jump on down to page 108 of the proposed FY26 budget to review all the capital request forms for capital projects. Fair warning: there are a lot of roof projects on the horizon.

Things start to get exciting around capital night. Boards and committees start voting their positions on articles, the order of the warrant articles is decided by the Select Board, and then the warrant eventually goes off to print before Annual Town Meeting.

Capital Night is also right around the time when campaign season for the Town Election hits fever pitch. Just remember - if the election has you feeling anxious, you have a link to a nearly 200-page municipal budget with tons of content about roof maintenance to put you right to sleep.

Onward!