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Off to the races
Welcome back!
It has been a busy week filled with all sorts of news items, so we’ll just get right after it. Here’s what we have for you this week:
11 People File for Town Election in First Week
SudburyWeekly.com News Roundup
SPS Committee Grapples with Hybrid Meetings
Eversource Electric Rate Undercuts Community Aggregation Program
Atkinson Pool Shut Down
Let’s get into it!
11 People File for Town Election in First Week
By the League of Women Voters of Sudbury
In the first week that nomination papers were available, 11 people “pulled papers,” filing their intention to run for the 13 open town and school committee seats in the March 31 Annual Town Election. The deadline to pull papers is Thursday, Feb. 6.
As of noon on Friday, Jan. 10, there is the potential for one contested race, with three candidates indicating they will run for the two open seats on the Select Board. No one has yet filed for the one seat on the Sudbury School Committee. One person has filed for the Lincoln-Sudbury Regional District School Committee, which has two open seats.
People who have filed will not become official candidates until they return their papers with the required signatures and those signatures are certified by the Town Clerk’s office. The deadline to return papers is Monday, Feb. 10.
Here are the articles about each day’s filings for the town election:
SPS Committee Grapples with Hybrid Meetings
By Kevin LaHaise
On Monday, January 6, the Sudbury Public Schools School Committee spent approximately an hour discussing whether or not to conduct hybrid meetings rather than their current practice of alternating between in-person meetings with a Zoom livestream, and fully remote meetings on Zoom. (2:16:30)
They also discussed whether or not to allow members of the committee to join meetings or executive sessions remotely, and whether or not subcommittees could conduct their meetings in a hybrid format, and other procedural matters related to meetings.
The only difference between their current in-person meetings and a true hybrid meeting is that they would have to allow public comment via Zoom, and allow members of the committee to join the meeting via Zoom if they so choose. Zoom is already in use to stream the in-person meetings online and to conduct their fully-remote meetings.
No decisions were made and no votes were taken.
Eversource Electric Rate Undercuts Community Aggregation Program
By Kevin LaHaise
During the Tuesday, January 7 meeting of the Energy and Sustainability Committee, Chair Rami Alwan informed the committee that Eversource’s price for electricity has undercut the Community Electricity Aggregation (CEA) program for the first time. (59:00)
The Eversource fixed supply rate changes on February 1 and August 1 each year, and fluctuates based on market factors. The CEA rate is locked in based on an agreement signed by the Town for a longer period of time. The committee pointed out that the CEA shields residents from the volatility in the Eversource rate, and has produced outsized savings for residents since the program was enacted.
Chair Alwan indicated that all-time savings for the typical household is north of $2,000. He also estimated that residents who opt out of the CEA would save approximately $90 to $100 in the next six months. The process to opt out takes some time according to Alwan, so the savings may be smaller.
“In truth, over these 8 years, residents have saved approximately, on average, 2,200 dollars and so this may cut into one short period of savings that they’re not going to get. But yes, I agree the volatility is another piece of it.”
The committee also discussed how the CEA program offers greener plans than the Eversource basic service rate, so residents who wish to support sustainable energy are still better off with the CEA program in their view.
While the committee remained enthusiastic in their support of the CEA over the long run, they felt it was their obligation to alert residents to the situation with full transparency. Chair Alwan indicated that he would be working with Town staff to communicate everything out to the town.
Atkinson Pool Shut Down
By Kevin LaHaise
The Atkinson Pool was shut down this week due to what appeared to be a combination of air quality issues and out-of-range chlorine levels in the pool. The Sudbury Park and Recreation Department issued a statement on their Facebook page:
“We want to provide clarity regarding the temporary pool closure and share the proactive steps being taken to ensure the safety and comfort of our swimmers.
In our ongoing efforts to monitor and improve air quality at the pool, routine testing revealed a slight increase in chloramines. Chloramines are chemical compounds that form in pool water when chlorine reacts with nitrogen-containing contaminants such as sweat, urine, and body oils.
To address this, we conducted a standard “shocking” procedure on Wednesday evening. This involves temporarily increasing chlorine levels to a high concentration to effectively break down the chloramines. While this is a common practice in pool maintenance, it requires time for chlorine levels to return to the optimal range for safe swimming.
There are multiple factors that can contribute to air and water quality challenges, including water filtration, air exchange systems, bather load, swimmer hygiene, water temperature, and the quality of incoming tap water. We are actively evaluating and addressing all potential factors to ensure a safe, healthy, and enjoyable environment for all.
Thank you for your patience as we work diligently to resolve this matter. We remain committed to providing a clean and safe facility for our community.
We will have an update later this Friday afternoon regarding the weekend.”
A later email update, sent at 2:58 p.m., from the department indicated that the pool would be closed through the weekend.
You can follow the Park and Recreation department Facebook page here for further updates. This issue was also discussed in the Park and Recreation Commission meeting on Thursday, January 9. The recording of that meeting should post to SudburyTV’s on-demand service soon. No word yet on who peed the pool.
Parting Thoughts
With Town Election season in full swing, and a lot happening across the community, we still have more stories to write. Here are the teasers:
The Community Preservation Committee met on Wednesday and started taking votes on projects. Their work is turning into quite the slog as the committee has been dealing with some hostile conduct that regularly derails deliberation.
We need the recording to adequately cover it - and they have another meeting next week - so we’ll probably just combine that story into one. If you’re curious about the noteworthy votes - they supported the Fairbank Community Center/Haskell field project and punted on the Hosmer House Collection project until their next meeting, when they are voting on two other Hosmer House applications. There’s a lot of uncertainty about the fate of all three Hosmer House applications.
The Sudbury Housing Trust met this week as well, and they discussed the Town-owned land next to the Fire Station Headquarters as a potential site to create affordable housing units. Their application for Community Preservation Act funds got a vote of support from the Community Preservation Committee (CPC) this week. The CPC is expected to take a vote on another housing-related application from a separate entity, the Sudbury Housing Authority, next week.
We are also working on a feature about solar roofs on Town buildings - some of the work being done on that front is quite interesting and impactful. Stay tuned!
Onward!