COD Voiced Support for Articles at Town Meeting
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With its roots in the inception of the country, Sudbury held Annual Town meeting in about nine hour spanning three evenings. Of the 58 articles on the warrant, the COD chose to endorse eight. Chair, Kay Bell, spoke on behalf of the commission.
What Passed?
Modest funding for continuing Go Sudbury! Taxi and Uber Transportation Programs and for purchasing Audio-Visual Equipment for the soon-to-be-built Fairbank Community Center was approved.
Funding for an Open Space and Recreation Plan and Athletic Fields Needs Assessment was also approved. Ms. Bell suggested that the section of the Transition Plan of July 2021 that covers these assets could be useful to that analysis.
Related to the Transition Plan – the project to replace aged and con-compliant classroom sinks at Noyes Elementary School and funds to launch an ADA Transition Plan effort by forming a working group both passed
The citizen petition to employ a sustainability director was met with vigorous debate. Questions of jurisdiction and projected cost savings were posed. Explanations of the value and urgency of having such a director were offered. With all the debate Ms. Bell was not recognized to speak on this article. In the end, it passed with a large majority.
What Failed?
Funds to employ an on-call architectural engineer to hasten building projects to address ADA non-compliant spaces and to work on other Town building modifications failed.
There were two articles for hiring a land use consultant to study the whole Liberty Ledge/Sewataro property and recommend the range of ways the Town can maximize benefit to the greatest number of community members. The first article for this was defeated narrowly and the second one was withdrawn.
What Else?
For the first time in many years the COD spoke at Town Meeting. Ms. Bell attempted to represent the discussions of the commission on the issues. Attached is the text of the statements read. Feedback received indicates that the vocal support the COD expressed was informative for many present in the hall, and perhaps for those viewing at home as well.
