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Liberty Ledge is a 44+ acre parcel located in north Sudbury. A private day camp, Sewataro, operated there for years, and the town received $200,000 yearly in real estate taxes. The landowner was responsible for maintaining the property.
WHERE WE ARE TODAY
In 2019 after hearing hard-to-believe promises of the financial windfall that would come with owning Liberty Ledge and fantastic claims that it would become a fabulous park and town beach, Town Meeting approved the purchase of Liberty Ledge for 11.3 million dollars.
The moment the town bought the property in 2019 three things happened. First, there was an immediate and permanent loss of $200,000 yearly in property tax revenue, which was shifted to the taxpayers. Second, the town was on the hook for $750,000 per year for the $11.3 million dollar debt. Third, with ownership came the question: What are we going to do with the land now that we own it?
Then, promises met reality.
THE CONSEQUENCES OF NOT HAVING A PLAN
When the town purchased Liberty Ledge, there was no plan for using the land, and there was no time to develop a plan. In addition, there was no funding in the budget to cover the yearly maintenance costs previously covered by the landowner.
The Select Board’s solution to cover maintenance costs and buy time to come up with a long-term plan was to lease the day camp to a private camp operator for a few years. In theory, this would allow the town to control the land while developing a long-term plan.
It did not work. The short-term lease solution has become semi-permanent. The private camp lease is now in its 6th year, with 2 more years to go on the current lease, which can be extended for 5 more years.
FINANCIAL REALITY
The town pays $750,000 yearly in principal and interest and receives $325,000 yearly from the camp. This means the town is losing about $400,000 each year, about two and a half million dollars since the lease began in 2019, funds that could have been used for education, public safety, and other urgent town needs. Now the town is facing projected shortfalls for both school districts.
What was supposed to be a short-term solution to cover maintenance costs is now in its sixth year, with no end in sight. However, the steep financial cost associated with servicing the debt persists.
There will be no increased revenue or financial turn-around from camp operations in the future because the camp is full, revenue is maxed out, and the town is on the short end of the profit-sharing provision: 75% to the camp operator, and 25% to Sudbury. Liberty Ledge has not lived up to the hype.
USE OF LIBERTY LEDGE
Residents are not allowed on most of the property when they would want to use it during the warm months of June, July, and August, because it is reserved for the camp. The limited allotment of swimming days for Sudbury residents was cut short in July 2024 and again in 2025 because of blue-green algae contamination. On swim days access to the swimming area is restricted to 3-hour blocks.
Liberty Ledge has been altered so much it is not considered ‘conservation’ land.
TAKING CHARGE OF THE FUTURE
Until now taxpayers have had no say in the financial plans for Liberty Ledge, nor in how the land is used. Fortunately, that is coming to an end. On January 6 the Select Board established a 2-person subcommittee to begin the process of giving town residents a say in the decision of what to do with Liberty Ledge and its financial consequences. The subcommittee’s charge is to gather documents and references to serve as a foundation to educate and inform a more expansive committee, which would include town residents and experts. That committee would begin the process of determining potential long-term uses of the land and make recommendations for Liberty Ledge. This is the successful template other towns have used to ensure an open and transparent process to consider the critical issue of long-term use of land.
The subcommittee’s first meeting on January 15 was a step in the right direction. It received a comprehensive list of about 95 documents, the springboard for a well-informed committee. Hats off to Vice Chair Janie Dretler for putting it together.
In the interests of transparency and fairness to the entire Sudbury community, I welcome the Select Board’s effort to place the future of Liberty Ledge in the hands of residents, where it belongs.
Len Simon
Meadowbrook Circle