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An article titled “Camp Sewataro: A Case Study In Public-Private Partnership” ran in the latest Municipal Update publication from the Sudbury Select Board… and it contains some big news, if it were only true.
After sharing a table that presents Camp Sewataro’s private business operating expenses as if they were revenue received by the Town, the article goes on to make comparisons to other Town-owned land and buildings. That includes the following claim:
“Town owned, taxpayer-funded properties with no public access at all include the 43.1 acre (about the same size as Sewataro!) Carding Mill House and grounds at 102 Dutton Road, which has a locked gate with a sign that reads “No trespassing violators will be prosecuted,” and the “South Sudbury Train Station” and “Section Tool House” buildings, both recently purchased via Town Meeting voter action and padlocked shut.” [Emphasis added.]
There’s just one problem: the Town hasn’t purchased the South Sudbury Train Station or the Section Tool House, which are still owned by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA).
Town Manager Andy Sheehan confirmed on March 18 “The 2024 Annual Town Meeting authorized the acquisition of the MBTA properties. However, the properties have not yet been conveyed to the Town. Counsel is continuing to work with the MBTA’s real estate arm. A lease may end up being an alternative course, but I can’t say for sure.”
The Municipal Update article also cites a 2025 Town Meeting warrant article. There were actually two articles — one in 2024 to authorize the acquisitions, and a second one in 2025 to appropriate $100 for the acquisitions. As the 2025 warrant article report states:
“Article 17 of the May 6, 2024 Annual Town Meeting authorized the acquisition of two buildings owned by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) for historic preservation purposes. These buildings are known as the Section Tool House off of Boston Post Road and the South Sudbury Train Station off of Union Avenue. Negotiations are ongoing with the MBTA over the conveyance of the buildings to the Town. The 2024 vote did not include an appropriation. This article seeks an appropriation to fund the acquisition, if ultimately deemed to be necessary.”
The Municipal Update article also makes a bold claim about the finances associated with Camp Sewataro. It states “Since 2023, the financial benefit to Sudbury exceeds the annual payment on debt.”
Assistant Town Manager and Finance Director Victor Garofalo provided Sudbury Weekly an accounting of all revenue and debt payments since the acquisition, and confirmed “It [revenue] has not exceeded the debt payments.”
The report provided by Garofalo shows that financial benefit to the Town (in the form of real fiat currency) has never come close to matching the debt payments, let alone exceeding them. That report is embedded below.
The arrangement with the camp operator provides a variety of benefits to the Town, to residents, and to campers themselves, most of which are hard to dispute. In fact, there are even more benefits than are listed in the article, including full-time and seasonal jobs for residents, free housing on-site for some employees, and completely free gathering/meeting/storage spaces for local groups and nonprofits, including robust support for the Sudbury Community Food Pantry. The article also does not mention how the camp operator has successfully and steadily increased the percentage of campers that are from Sudbury.
However, assigning cash value to most of those benefits is highly subjective, and never materializes as real revenue for the Town. Comparing them with the real money paid by the Town towards the debt, which is ultimately paid by taxpayers, distorts the picture. Taxpayers are on the hook for over $700,000 this year, and nothing listed in the table offsets that debt.
The Municipal Update publication is embedded here: