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On Tuesday, December 16, Sudbury Town Manager Andy Sheehan presented his recommendation to the Sudbury Select Board for planning the future uses of the Liberty Ledge/Camp Sewataro property. His recommendation was a Town Meeting article to form a 9-member committee, to be appointed by the Town Moderator, to study options and make a recommendation prior to the expiration of the current contract extension with the camp operator.
The recommendation appeared to surprise members of the Select Board. When the town voted to acquire the property, it put Sewataro under the jurisdiction of the Select Board. Formation of a separate committee appointed by the Town Moderator might help to de-politicize the issue according to Sheehan. But it could also diminish the influence of the Select Board over the property.
While the Select Board voted 3-2 earlier this year to instruct Sheehan to develop a recommendation, no votes or decisions were made during this discussion.
Similar committees have been formed in Sudbury in the past, including for the Fairbank Community Center. Iterations of those committees failed to produce community consensus for many years before the Town eventually voted to approve construction of the new Fairbank Community Center. The community center passed at the ballot box by a slightly larger margin than the Sewataro acquisition, but both votes were closely contested.
The difference with Sheehan’s proposal was the Town Meeting vote to form the committee, which would make the committee a broader act of the community rather than a decision made by a small number of elected officials.
The board did not discuss what would happen if Town Meeting rejected such an article at Annual Town Meeting in May of 2026, but further discussion is expected in their January 2026 meetings.
One of the difficulties Sheehan acknowledged was the limited timeframe for such a committee to study options and make a recommendation. If Town Meeting were to vote in favor of such a committee in May, the committee would likely need to submit a placeholder article for the Annual Town Meeting in 2027 while it concluded its work in under a year. Even with the support of an article by Town Meeting in 2027, the Town would have to work quickly to make a decision about a contract extension with the current camp operator.
Ultimately, Sheehan’s recommendation did not render any opinions about the current arrangement. Instead, he sought to engage the community in a broader conversation that, if all goes according to plan, could bring a lasting consensus on the use of the property.