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On Wednesday, April 2, Sudbury’s Community Preservation Committee (CPC) voted to oppose a Citizen Petition on the warrant for Annual Town Meeting. The petition proposes to cut the Community Preservation Act (CPA) surcharge in half. (Page 100)
All the CPC members voted not to support the Citizen Petition except member Dan Carty, who abstained on the vote. Carty, who represents the Select Board on the CPC, abstained on the same vote in the Select Board meeting a day prior.
On Tuesday the Select Board voted to oppose the Citizen Petition as well, with two members sharply criticizing the petition. Member Lisa Kouchakdjian called it “a bad idea” and “shortsighted,” while member Janie Dretler called it “reckless” and “irresponsible.”
On Wednesday the CPC reviewed educational and promotional materials about the Community Preservation Act for an upcoming public hearing. That included an interactive map of CPC-funded projects in Sudbury. The committee also opted to have its chair, Sherrill Cline, present to Town Meeting in opposition to the petition in May. She recalled that this has been tried before in 2010, and it failed. (Cline was correct: Page 89)
While discussing the petition, CPC member Sam Markuse pointed out that over half of the residents who signed the petition to cut the surcharge live within walking distance of a CPA-funded project in Sudbury, or own property abutting land that was preserved using CPA funds. (42:45)
While the Select Board position on the petition came in this week, the Finance Committee has not yet taken a position. The CPC is hosting a public hearing on the Community Preservation Act Plan on April 16.