Sudbury Sewer Plan May Involve Another Town

A much-needed sewer system for the Town of Sudbury may come down to the cooperation of a neighboring town.

At its July 30 meeting, the Board of Selectmen heard plans from a subcommittee that included involving Marlborough to help with water pumping of Sudbury's businesses.

The Board told town officials they could speak with Marlborough about connecting a sewer system to its treatment plant.

According to Craig Blake, chairman of the Route 20 Sewer Citizens Advisory Committee, Sudbury and Marlborough are coming up with an accord that would pay to send the water westbound, where Marlborough is improving its Easterly Treatment Plant.

"We've had preliminary discussions with the City of Marlborough's Department of Public Works, and they are interested in this," Blake said.

Sudbury Board Chair John Drobinski, Town Manager Maureen Valente and Andrew Sullivan, a member of the town's Sewer Steering Committee, will meet with Marlborough officials about the sewer proposal and cost.

Sudbury hopes to have an official recommendation for the sewer plan by January, and then have residents vote on funds for designs and permits in May at Annual Town Meeting.

If there are no hurdles, the system could be in working order by spring 2018.

Building a sewer system is something Sudbury has tried and failed to complete for some time.

Two years ago, voters rejected a $1 million plan for a sewer design and permits.

"People don’t know how much it’s gonna cost," Selectman Bob Haarde said. "And the other thing is what is this going to look like? This committee has struggled with, is it just the sewer or the commercial district in general? The reason for putting in a sewer is to help businesses thrive and increase commercial tax revenue ... that the goal. To get there we need more than a sewer. We need an environment that brings people to it, making it more of a downtown district."