"A problem well stated is a problem half-solved."

Welcome back!

The backdrop for the local news this week is one of the most frantic national political news cycles in recent memory. Dare we say that local government has suddenly become a precious reprieve from the upstream rancor?

Here’s what we have for you this week:

1. Finance Committee Gets Proactive

2. The BFRT Is Coming Right Along

3. SudburyWeekly.com News Roundup

4. Sewataro Ponds Closed Due to Water Quality Concerns

Let’s get into it!

Finance Committee Gets Proactive

By Kevin LaHaise

The Sudbury Finance Committee met on Monday. Their summer meetings are generally housekeeping and onboarding meetings, but the committee had an appetite to plan a more ambitious fall schedule. Given a Fall Town Meeting is looking unlikely, the committee began discussing financial issues they might work on before they are consumed with annual budget work. The annual budget season heats up towards the end of each calendar year.

Co-chairs Mike Joachim and Mike Ferrari took the action item of developing a schedule for the fall that might allow the committee to drill into various topics. Committee members offered suggestions of issues they might take a look at.

Member Hank Sorett called for discussions about “pruning the bureaucracy,” or trimming Town staff positions. That led into commentary about unions and collective bargaining. He wanted to discuss eliminating the Supervisory Association, which is the union of Town staffers with supervisory roles. Finally, he reiterated his desire to discuss outsourcing the ambulance services offered by the Town, saying that he felt the in-house approach was a net-loss when capital costs (like replacing ambulances) are factored in. (1:02:05)

New member, Karl Fries, suggested taking a broader, comparative look at the budget, possibly conducting an evaluation of revenue areas in Sudbury with other similar towns.

Co-chair Joachim voiced a desire to take a closer look at the five-year and ten-year capital plan so the committee could get a complete view of where the Town is headed in future fiscal years.

Member Eric Poch mentioned taking a look at the capital ranking process, which is outlined in the Select Board’s Financial Policies. He indicated that he felt the Town had struggled to abide by the process last year, and he would like to see either better adherence or policy adjustments. “We either need to change the policy, or we need to conform to the policy.” (1:18:33)

Poch went on to express that a clause could be added to the financial policies that provides a standard means for dealing with exceptions, one-off capital needs, and emergent issues. He also suggested the Town should find a way to reduce dependence on free cash for capital needs as part of a long-term plan.

With an apparent unanimous consensus to get more proactive, the Finance Committee is likely to be very busy after the summer.

The BFRT Is Coming Right Along

By Kevin LaHaise

The July 17 meeting of the Rail Trails Advisory Committee featured a variety of updates on rail trail construction in Sudbury. Much of the discussion tied back to the latest Field Inspection Report for the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail (BFRT). (Report here).

With regard to the BFRT, the report notes: “The surface course has been paved throughout the entire project length.” Indeed, the trail is getting closer and closer to completion. Several rest areas have been completed, with benches and bike racks installed. The trail’s crushed stone shoulders were being graded at the time of the field inspection, and granite piers have been installed as well.

A primary area of focus will now be the road crossings. The committee spent a good deal of their meeting discussing safety concerns, particularly with regard to the crossing at Hudson Road and Peakham Road. Members noted that they had observed multiple risky pedestrian crossings. While that intersection will eventually have traffic lights and other equipment to increase safety, the committee noted that road crossings are most dangerous at this phase of construction, because the lights aren’t activated and drivers aren’t expecting pedestrian crossings.

Of course, the risk of severe injury hasn’t deterred Sudbury’s courageous residents, who apparently bring their infants in strollers to trespass through the construction zone and cross roads that have no activated safety equipment. (20:00)

The committee urged residents to use extreme caution if they continue trespassing through construction zones choose to use the rail trails before they are opened to the public. One good way to identify if an area is under construction is to look for orange barrels with white stripes all around you. You might also look for disturbed earth, construction workers in orange vests and hard hats, heavy duty trucks, or signs that say something about the area being under construction. That last one is a dead giveaway, whereas the others may easily be mistaken for an impromptu roadside performance of the “Y.M.C.A.”

Sewataro Ponds Closed Due to Water Quality Concerns

By Kevin LaHaise

On Friday, July 26, the Town of Sudbury published an announcement from the camp operator at Camp Sewataro indicating that the fishing pond and swimming pond were closed due to unsafe “blue green algae levels” in the fishing/boating pond.

The announcement adds: “Unfortunately, this means we have closed our fishing/boating pond for the immediate future, and out of an abundance of caution, we’ll be closing the swimming pond while we await lab results from swimming pond samples.”

The closure comes soon after the launch of the resident swimming program, and amidst a rash of beach closures across the state of Massachusetts.

The camp operator encouraged any campers experiencing gastrointestinal issues or skin/eye/throat irritation to contact their healthcare provider.

Parting Thoughts

The Select Board meets again next week, and they have a hot topic on their agenda: after school care. Their meeting packet includes a memo from Town Manager Andy Sheehan that pumps the breaks on any Town involvement in the matter, recommending instead that the Town should not get in the way of the work of Sudbury Public Schools and Sudbury Extended Day to address the issue. (Page 45)

The matter of after school care has bounced around various committees and boards since early 2024. Sheehan’s memo appears to put the matter squarely in the lap of Sudbury Public Schools.

With the school year fast approaching, it’s a reminder that many families in Sudbury are facing a variety of challenges. While after school care is one of those challenges that requires coordinated work within local government and private organizations, some challenges can be addressed through the contributions of individual residents.

The HOPEsudbury Backpack Drive is one such opportunity. The local nonprofit has identified over 50 students who could use your help with supplies for the school year ahead. They have set up an Amazon page where you can order supplies for those students and have them shipped directly to HOPEsudbury. Amazon page here.

Onward!