Summer Slowdown

Welcome back!

It appears that everyone in Sudbury has packed up their full-sized SUVs and taken the traffic-fraught journey down to the Cape. Things are getting quiet around here!

Quiet or not, there’s still a bit of news to report on. Here’s what we have for you this week:

1. Historical Commission Discusses Tercentenary Markers

2. Sudbury 250 Logo Chosen

3. Sudbury Receives DCR Grant for Bruce Freeman Rail Trail

4. Community Center: Potty Talk, Or Talkin’ Potty?

Let’s get into it!

Historical Commission Discusses Tercentenary Markers

By Kevin LaHaise

Last week we covered the Select Board’s discussion about the Tercentenary markers that can be found roadside throughout Sudbury. 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. And neighboring Concord removed their markers “for maintenance” recently.

The Select Board resolved to get further guidance from the Historical Commission, which dutifully discussed them this week. (1:29:30) They’re sending member Michael Wallace to take pictures of each of the markers, and they’ll review and discuss their recommendations to the Select Board at an upcoming meeting.

If you would like to review the markers before then, you can find more information and pictures here and here. If you want to read the book the State published when the markers were erected, you can jump on over to the Internet Archive here. Here’s the page with Sudbury’s markers listed with their location and inscriptions, though not all of them are still standing.

Sudbury 250 Logo Chosen

Submitted by the Sudbury 250 Committee

The Sudbury 250 Committee, at its meeting on 6/20/2024, has chosen a Logo Design from the six entries that were submitted to the committee to present and represent Sudbury’s commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution.

The winning entry was submitted by Sydney Merrill and Robin Merrill of Sudbury to the Sudbury 250 Committee (“The Committee”). In their entry, they said, “Our design includes the silhouette of Sudbury’s Revolutionary War Monument, located in Mount Pleasant Cemetery… It was fun to create the logo, and we look forward to hearing the outcome of the logo contest and joining in the coming Sudbury 250 events.”

Each of the members of The Committee voted independently and their votes were tabulated. The committee members expressed their great appreciation for the time, commitment, and design of all the entries.

Committee Chair Radha Gargeya noted that “everyone who submitted the entries honor Sudbury with their love and care.” Committee Vice Chair Jan Hardenbergh commented that “I was very impressed by the quality and the creativity of the entries.”

Some of the criteria that The Committee members used to inform their choices are: “simplicity, color scheme, ease of recreation”, “nice proportions of text, the symbol is specific to Sudbury, bar with 13 stars”, “features a statue honoring the Minute Men of Sudbury, color choices”, “”use of Minuteman statue, colors used, ability to ‘pop’ simplicity”, “identifiable purpose, multi-use, Sudbury/USA colors, storytelling”.

The Committee agreed that its work will serve these purposes:

• To celebrate and commemorate the 250 th anniversary of the American Revolution through various planned events,

• To have the said events take place mostly between April 19, 2025 and July 4, 2026, while encompassing events in the American Revolutionary history,

• To include and engage all Sudbury citizens, starting with our children and students,

• To tell and record stories that are untold or under-told, and

• To inform and entertain.

Chair Radha Gargeya adds, “Let us all celebrate the 250th anniversary so we bring the town and our community together in commemoration, joy, pride, and reflection.”

The Sudbury Select Board established the Sudbury 250 Committee to plan for the commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the commencement of the American Revolution.

Sudbury 250 Committee Members

• Timothy Cobbett – Faculty, History Department, Lincoln Sudbury Regional High School; Sudbury resident.

• Leila Frank – ex-officio member, Select Board Office Supervisor, and Information Officer

• Radha Raman Gargeya – Sudbury resident

• Joshua Gilman - Faculty, History Department, Lincoln Sudbury Regional High School

• Jan Hardenbergh – Sudbury Town Historian

• John Neuhauser – Commander, Sudbury Companies of Militia and Minute

• Rachael Robinson – Director, Sudbury Historical Society

• James Weigel – Trustee Wayside Inn, VP Finance Mass Air Space Museum, Retd. Col. US Army

Please visit The Committee’s website for more information.

Sudbury Receives DCR Grant for Bruce Freeman Rail Trail

By Kevin LaHaise

On Friday June 21, State Senator Jamie Eldridge (D-Marlborough) and Representative Carmine Gentile (D-Sudbury) proudly announced that Sudbury was awarded a Department of Conservation and Recreation “MassTrails” grant of $250,000 for the construction of the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail.

Senator Eldridge noted that Sudbury has become a trail hub: “Sudbury will very soon be the hub of rail trails in Metrowest, connecting the Bruce Freeman and Mass Central rail trails. This not only improves recreational opportunities for area residents, but also increases local visits to small businesses, and strengthens the fabric of communities. I am so grateful for the work of Sudbury town officials and rail trail enthusiasts, for making the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail a reality in Sudbury - on to Framingham!”

Representative Gentile noted: “Having safe and convenient ways for all individuals to get outside, get some exercise and get around town without a car is crucial.”

Town staff was expecting to submit designs for the next phase of the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail this week. The project would complete construction from the intersection with the Mass Central Rail Trail near Station Road and Union Ave, and heading south to make the connection to Framingham.

Community Center: Potty Talk, Or Talkin’ Potty?

By Kevin LaHaise

The new Fairbank Community Center is in the homestretch of the construction process, and that means there’s a lot of effort going into remedying issues that have cropped up over the course of construction. Technically the contractor’s last day is today, June 21. But there may be more work required…

The Permanent Building Committee discussed an “acoustic” issue during their June 18 meeting. According to the Owner’s Project Manager, sound is traveling from one room to the next and causing problems for users. That may sound vague, but it turns out they were just being modest.

Though the participants in the meeting held back most of the details on what exactly the acoustic issue was, eventually they emerged: the sounds of all the business happening in the bathrooms isn’t staying in the bathrooms.

During the discussion, the project’s architect indicated that the Superintendent’s office is the top priority to get fixed. Nothing lightens the mood of a parent meeting with the superintendent like the authoritative flush of a commercial-grade toilet. But the acoustic issues can pose a serious privacy problem for everyone involved, particularly since schools need to preserve privacy for students and families. (29:20)

The project architect also went on to say the recreation-level bathroom toilets echo through the hallways when flushed. The “acoustic issue” likely creates uncomfortable situations for bathroom users and anyone within earshot.

Combined Facilities Director Sandra Duran characterized the acoustic issues, and the work involved to solve them, as significant challenges, and major disruptions to the users. She felt it would be costly to remedy.

Duran and members of the Permanent Building Committee voiced a desire for a “forensic” analysis to determine who is responsible for the acoustic issue. That analysis might determine if there was a flaw in the design or construction of the walls, or other aspects of the new building. For now, the PBC is focused on developing a road map for solving the issues, and getting a price. The first step was to get the current contractor to provide a price for the work.

The Owner’s Project Manager (OPM) indicated that they have about $250,000 in remaining contingency at the top of the meeting, though that’s a conservative estimate based on some assumptions about various line items. When the price comes in for the bathroom fix, the Permanent Building Committee will have to decide if they want to take the plunge.

Toilet water isn’t the only water causing trouble at the community center. Residents have noticed significant pooling of water in front of the building during storms. The Town is moving aggressively to address that problem. Duran noted that they’re hoping to put the drainage work out to bid in July, with a goal of completing that work by the end of September. During a recent heavy storm, pooling water reportedly entered the building through the doorways. The drainage work is expected to take about four weeks to complete.

Parting Thoughts

The Town calendar is mighty light next week. The Town Manager will host office hours on Monday, and the Select Board will do their office hours on Wednesday. If the waves at the beach are boring you, those are good opportunities to relentlessly complain about everything you are owed by local government share whatever is on your mind about the town.

The Select Board meets on Tuesday, and they have a lean agenda. But you may want to watch for the presentation on the greenhouse gas emissions inventory that was recently completed, and an update on the Sudbury 250 committee’s planning efforts. I’ll be joining for the discussion on the “KPI procedure and topics.” KPI is short for key performance indictor, and was super trendy in corporate circles until “OKR” became all the rage. (If you aren’t already dry-heaving at the acronyms, OKR means “objectives and key results.”)

The whole obsession with KPI’s is typically attributed to Peter Drucker and all of his management theory work. He is often quoted as saying “If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.” (Or some variations of that.) The catch? The Drucker Institute is adamant that he never actually said it.

In Sudbury, the “KPI Reports” were objectively hideous templates for reporting on the status of various projects on a regular basis. They had a little bubble gum pink, some sewage green, and an assortment of tiny-font information crammed into every corner; except the corner that somehow made room for the Town Seal. Sort of like an amuse bouche for a real status report. Example here. There’s even a Select Board “project tracking policy” which directs staff on precisely how and when to report on the status of significant projects.

In other words, Tuesday’s Select Board meeting could be a live-action reboot of the movie Office Space, complete with all the TPS reports, red tape, and missing staplers you could ever dream of. That’s what Sudbury Weekly calls must-see TV!

Onward!