Opinion: Vote "Yes" For Sewataro Land

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.

My children grew up in Sudbury. My daughter just finished her college freshman year, my son will be a senior in high school. When they were young, they never had the opportunity to attend Sewataro or the camp at Park & Rec. We put our names on the very long wait list for Sudbury Swim & Tennis and decided we needed to find other local options. We ended up spending so many summers heading over to the Wayland Town Beach. As a Sudbury resident, we were able to buy summer passes, the beach allowed only Wayland/Sudbury residents. We could go any time of day, there was always parking available and food to purchase. My son and daughter learned how to kayak on that beach.

When the purchase of Sewataro came up, I took the opportunity to visit the land. Feeling forced to have chosen between developing at Town Center or Quarry North still raw, the last thing I wanted was any more developments. A new subdivision would be another burden to our schools. Although some don’t view Sewataro as true open space, I saw it as a better fit providing town wide resident access as a park and community for all ages.

After my visit, I realized Sewataro could be so much more. I struggle to understand why Park & Rec voted this purchase down. I could envision multiple camps on this property. The buildings would provide more use for other summer camp activities needed to be indoors, not to mention the additional fields and grounds to be utilized.
All 5 selectman support the current RFP to lease Camp Sewataro to an outside camp operator. This short-term lease provides enough revenue to cover expenses, maintenance and town access. Currently, there are multiple camp operators interested in leasing the camp. Unlike Broadacres, Sewataro has other revenues opportunities to sustain it:

• Membership, there are no safe public bodies of water to swim in on any other land.
• Year-round Park & Rec programs.
• Designated senior space for programs (arts & crafts, clinics & health sessions, fitness, social & recreational activities).
• Town Wide Events (Sudbury Day could come back).
• Corporate retreats, weddings, boy/girl scouts camping, vocational projects & school field trips.
• AND reduce the cost of Fairbanks project which continues to get voted down.

I’ll be voting YES on June 4th.
-Karen Salvucci, Maynard Road