It's summer, right?

Welcome back!

Summer is here. Some people say it’s not officially summer until June 20, which is the “summer solstice,” but they have it all wrong. For me, it’s officially summer when I start eating more than six hot dogs each week.

So here we are. It’s summer. (And if I’m being completely honest, it has been “summer” for quite some time…)

You might be surprised to learn that Massachusetts is developing a bit of a reputation for its hot dogs in recent years. That’s due largely to the way we do the buns, not the dogs or toppings. I myself have never heard of a “Massachusetts-style hot dog,” but hey, let’s give everything a label and a pick regional fights with the rest of the country.

So I guess you can add “Massachusetts-style hot dog” to the Bay State’s culinary claims to fame, right beside New England Clam Chowder and Toll House Cookies. That sounds like a complete meal, and a good explanation for why this state has so many hospitals with top-notch cardiology departments. We can worry about heart health when we get to the fall… which officially starts when two or more of your neighbors decorate their front stoop with fancy-looking gourds.

Anyway, here’s what we have for you this week:

1. Select Board Updates Contract With Town Manager

2. Swimming At Sewataro: Resident Swimming Is a Go

3. Select Board Lightning Round

4. SudburyWeekly.com News Roundup

5. Take the Sudbury Cultural Council Community Survey

Let’s get into it!

Select Board Updates Contract With Town Manager

By Kevin LaHaise

At their their Tuesday, June 11, meeting, the Sudbury Select Board opened with an executive session to discuss Town Manager Andy Sheehan’s contract. When they returned to open session, they ratified the vote they took in executive session and approved a new contract with the Town Manager, effective July 1, 2024.

Chair Jennifer Roberts explained that the updated contract was for a new three-year term, increased compensation and other benefits, and adjusted some terms for eligibility for annual compensation reviews. (41:20) Roberts informed the public that a copy of the contract will be posted to the Town website after it is fully executed.

Sheehan has been serving as Town Manager since February of 2023. Prior to Sudbury he served as Town Administrator for the towns of Middleton and Townsend for over a decade. Prior to those posts he served for nearly two decades in a variety of local government roles spanning multiple Massachusetts cities and towns. (Page 22)

The update to the contract came across as a vote of confidence in Sheehan, who is just shy of halfway through his original contract. That contract would have expired on February 12, 2026. Sheehan has stressed the importance of succession planning to maintain continuity of services. Succession planning was elevated as a top Select Board goal last year.

In extending Sheehan’s contract, the Select Board could be looking to maintain continuity in senior positions. In the last year the Town had to fill Director-level positions in the Planning and Community Development department, as well as the Finance department. Furthermore, Sheehan is the third Town Manager in Sudbury in the last five years.

The vote in open session was 4-1, with Member Dan Carty voting against the motion. Sheehan received a glowing annual review from four of the five Select Board members. The combined average quantitative review of all members was 3.8, putting Sheehan on the cusp of “Exceeds expectations/highly effective” in the Select Board’s 5-point rating scale. (Page 163)

Swimming at Sewataro: Resident Swimming Is A Go

By Kevin LaHaise

Get your sunscreen ready. Camp Sewataro announced, by way of their monthly update to the Town, that resident swimming is officially happening this summer.

The Resident Swim Program will run on Saturdays and Sundays starting on June 29 and continues through September 2. Camp Sewataro reports that’s a total of 20 days of resident swimming, weather permitting. Residents can sign up to reserve a spot in two sessions during each day of resident swimming: 9a.m. to 12p.m. and 1p.m. to 4p.m. They will cap each session at 100 swimmers.

Swimming will take place in the upper pond on the property. Accessibility improvement projects at Liberty Lodge and an accessible parking area near the pond were recently completed. With those projects done, the resident swim program was green-lit.

There are some rules you’ll want to familiarize yourself with before heading to the camp. The rules are generally what you would expect, unless you are accustomed to bringing glass bottles and fireworks to municipal swimming facilities and defecating in the water.

In terms of some of the unique aspects of Camp Sewataro… the pond does have docks that are solely for the use of lifeguards. And there’s no jumping or diving into the water. There are some age restrictions that you’ll want to be mindful of, and be prepared for a deep water test for minors before they can swim in the deeper areas. Map of those areas here:

If the news has you eager to visit the property, there are two events happening this weekend. First is the annual “Sounds of Summer” event put on by Camp Sewataro. That’s a free event with live music that kicks off Friday at 5p.m. sharp. The second is HOPEsudbury’s annual fishing derby on Saturday.

Select Board Lightning Round

By Kevin LaHaise

Flag Policy Updated

The Select Board approved a new flag policy as edited during the meeting. The policy applies strict limitations on which flags can be flown on Town property, and explicitly tells residents that the flag poles are not intended to “serve as a forum for free expression by the public.” The policy update comes as controversies have bubbled up across the state over requests to fly various flags. (1:42:00)

Will this policy update prevent any first amendment drama like we’ve seen in other towns? Or will someone, someday, find a loophole? It’s hard to say. But it was quite clear that the Select Board wanted a tight policy.

Ambulance Rates Increased

Ambulance rates are going up in Sudbury. Sudbury Fire Chief, John Whalen, presented to the Select Board and won their support to increase the rates. This is the first rate increase since the Town switched to Advanced Life Support (ALS) in 2013. (53:20)

As Chief Whalen’s memo stated: “Patients that are currently on Medicare/Medicaid would not be affected as their rates are set by the Federal Government, this additional cost would be for patients with private healthcare insurance coverage.” The base rate for an ALS transport will go up from approximately $1,500 to $2,100 for privately insured and uninsured transports.

Fugakyu Lease Officially Terminated, New Restaurant to Open?

The property manager of 621 Boston Post Road, the former location of the popular Fugakyu restaurant, joined the Select Board to ask them to rescind the liquor license associated with the property so that a new tenant for the space could apply for a license. The exchange confirmed that Fugakyu has indeed terminated the lease on the property. Sudbury Weekly contacted the property manager to ask about their new tenant, but we have not heard back as of this publishing. (32:00)

Washington Drive Sinkhole to Be Repaired

Dan Nason, Sudbury’s public works director, joined the Select Board on Tuesday to inform them that he would be using money appropriated at Town Meeting for the annual culvert repair and replacement program to fix a sink hole on Washington Drive. (43:00)

Staff confirmed with Town Counsel that the language of the article at Town Meeting was sufficiently broad to allow for this “change of gears,” and the Select Board applauded Nason for making the change transparently and in full view for the public. They’re basically just repairing a different culvert-like structure than they originally planned, because it’s an emergency situation.

Nason concluded by asking the Select Board to keep in mind that next year’s Town Meeting article will likely include a repeat of one of the culverts they planned to replace this year, and he would appreciate their support when that comes around.

Tercentenary Markers On the Way Out?

It sounded like Sudbury might be heading in the same direction as neighboring Concord with regard to the tercentenary markers around town. The tercentenary markers were erected by the State in 1930 to celebrate the 300-year anniversary of the founding of the Bay Colony. They depict various historical events with short, written passages. Some of the signs have been deemed historically inaccurate and offensive to Native people by Sudbury’s Historical Commission. (1:05:30)

The Select Board received input from that commission, as well as the Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Committee, and there seems to be consensus that something should be done. Concord removed their signs earlier this year, following a vote of their Select Board in late 2023 to remove the signs “for maintenance.” Get the complete, and brilliantly reported, story from the Concord Bridge here.

The Sudbury Select Board had a mixture of opinions. Multiple members were clearly opposed to keeping any signs that were offensive to Native people. But others contemplated how they might be preserved for educational purposes. Member Carty suggested that the signs stay up, but a second sign could be added with more current information or context. (1:19:00) Nobody suggested adding a third sign with an animated GIF of a cat riding a skateboard just for good measure, so here’s one just for you, dear reader:

No final decisions were made regarding the markers on Tuesday. The Select Board is going to rely on the Historical Commission to advise further on the rest of the signs before moving forward with anything. Keep an eye out for the next Historical Commission meeting if you want to follow this one. After that, the Select Board is expected to have further discussions with various stakeholders.

SudburyWeekly.com News Roundup

Take the Sudbury Cultural Council Community Survey

[Submission courtesy of the Sudbury Cultural Council]

The Sudbury Cultural Council (SCC) is seeking community input to help set funding guidelines and priorities for the coming year.

Please complete our brief survey: 
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1sajoRmEsRznCXKAgVjF8Wdw_pnNGDm7ENRZnAMLYezM/viewform?edit_requested=true 

The SCC encourages applications and participation from Sudbury residents and groups who work with Sudbury based organizations to enrich Sudbury life with a variety of cultural activities. You may also learn more about the SCC here: https://massculturalcouncil.org/local-council/sudbury/

Parting Thoughts

School is out. The arrival of summer is thoroughly celebrated, but it’s also bittersweet. Parents with school-aged children are reminded that they’re another year closer to an empty nest that will never feel the same; no matter how many Maseratis and Porsches they put in the garage. (Note to future self: Just get yourself a Toyota Avalon sedan in “sandy beach metallic” paint and cry it out. It’s going to be fine.)

Parents aside, each year there are a few folks in the school communities who are saying “farewell” for the last time. Some retiring teachers, nurses, and staff have been caring for, and educating, Sudbury’s kids not just for years, but decades. That type of service can’t really be measured in time. At a certain point, it becomes an immeasurable form of devotion.

How do you measure the impact of the time a school nurse helped a student feel safe during a global pandemic, so that they would be ready to learn each day? How do you measure the impact of a teacher who found a new way to engage a student in literacy or math, and got them back on track after that pandemic disrupted everything?

Their impact on Sudbury’s kids is both direct and non-linear. It stays with them for a lifetime, amounting to far more than the sum of its parts.

School is officially out. But is it ever?

Onward!