Opinion: Sudbury's Sewataro Vote Is An Easy Yes

The following was submitted as a letter to the editor. If you would like to submit a letter to the editor, email samantha.mercado@patch.com.

On June 4th, we will be voting YES on the town’s preservation of Sewataro and we urge you to vote YES as well.

Those that are currently opposed to this purchase have put out a great deal of inaccurate or misleading information. The claim that there is no plan or not any financial information is plainly false. The town manager has recommended a short-term plan, approved unanimously by the Board of Selectmen, to put forth a Request for Proposal (“RFP”) for a short-term lease of the camp by a private camp operator. The town is able to put whatever requirements it deems appropriate in the RFP including requiring the lessee to pay all operating/maintenance costs and allowing residents property access. In fact, there is already an outline for the RFP and four private camp operators have already shown interest according to town manager.

Second, there are claims that purchasing the property is going to cost “significantly more” than the purchase price and operating and maintenance will be astronomical. In fact, we already have the Sewataro financials (it makes over $1M annually after all expenses) and know the costs. Maintenance, grounds and utility costs are around 240K annually and we expect to shift that responsibility to the lessee in the short term. In the long term, these costs could even be lower if the Town of Sudbury can leverage existing infrastructure for some needs like plowing, landscaping and insurance.

If you have not seen the property, we’d encourage you to do so in order to make an informed vote. The many existing amenities like ponds, pools, basketball and tennis courts, play structures, ziplines, rockwalls and structures, including houses, are all kept in excellent condition. Even more than every other land acquisition put before the town, this acquisition offers residents significant value and an opportunity to create a swimmable town park – a differentiator for Sudbury that has been proven to make a town more desirable, thereby increasing all of our property values. An example of this is Wayland’s town beach next door.

As if these aforementioned reasons were not enough, the negative consquences of another large development, the alternative, are concerning. The cost to educate the projected students from such a development is likely to exceed the property tax the town would receive, and there is the additional consequence of straining our schools’ capacity and potentially triggering redistricting for all elementary schools.
Sudbury residents have been handed an amazing opportunity. Our hope is that residents recognize the significant value and take advantage of it by voting YES on June 4th.

Sincerely,

Geoff and Alison Riquier