Sudbury Voters Say 'No' To Fairbank Center In Razor-Thin Vote

SUDBURY, MA—Advocates of a new Fairbank Community Center were already stung by the Town Meeting's defeat last month of a plan to design the revamped $ $32.7 million facility.

Now, they're wondering what the next step is, if any, after the question was narrowly defeated in Tuesday's election.

Why bother putting the the vote to the ballot if it was already defeated at Town Meeting? The Board of Selectmen was told they must submit the language to the state no later than Aug. 1, so since it had been completed, the town continued with the action of adding it to the election. Also, it was easier than creating a separate, special election for the initiative.

Ballot question 4 asked voters to approve the $1.9 million sought to pay for designs that would substantially renovate and expand the Fairbank Center. Consultants had already delivered a concept, but the actual design was necessary to nail down specific details as to how the building would look and operate. Approval would make the town exempt from provisions of Proposition 2 ½.

The ballot item was defeated 4,673 to 4,267.

"It was close, but the outcome is consistent with the result of the October Special Town Meeting, Brown told Patch.

So, why did the town give it a thumbs down?

"The objections I heard were that it's too expensive, that it would require subsidies from the town operating budget, that it didn't house the Sudbury Public School Administration and that it would just compete with existing health clubs and facilities in town," said Brown.

Resident Jean Nam created the "opposition" argument for the ballot question, arguing that a feasibility study that had been conducted didn't substantiate the need for such an expensive project.

For example, the feasibility study claims that there are only two swimming facilities in a 15-mile radius of Sudbury, when, in fact, there are at least five," wrote Nam. "Furthermore, in the model developed, year-over-year expenditures grow faster than revenue, causing the town to lose more money every year. It would be irresponsible to embark on the next stage of design based on this flawed feasibility study. Before spending tax dollars on a large capital project, we need to prove the need. In this feasibility study, there was a decent case made for improvement for our Senior Center. However, the same cannot be said for the Park and Recreation side of this project."

The Fairbank Community Center, a 60-year-old building, includes the Atkinson Pool, Senior Center, administrative offices for the Sudbury Public Schools and Recreation Department offices. According to consultants and the design committee, it is too small and the existing space is badly configured for its intended uses. The building is in dire need of repair, with 60s-era construction that is far from energy-efficient and lacks generation capacity for emergency power. can't handle a power outage. The showers, for instance, would go out during an outage, explained Brown.

“The flat roof also leaks, it lacks features such as a full-sized gym, walking track and pool viewing space ... the list goes on," said Brown.

To Brown, the defeat indicates that the town is looking for a more scaled-back community center, but that may not be feasible, or make much sense, she said.

Over a six year period, two separate committees working with different consultants have come up with very similar proposals for the center, explained Brown, that would satisfy the town.

"I question that there is any possible benefit in repeating this exercise,” said Brown. “Town staff is working toward putting forth proposals for spring Town Meeting, which may include both maintenance or improvement of the existing facility."

The double defeat leaves proponents with the option of creating a new article for the May 2019 Annual Town Meeting, hoping that passes, and then followed by another vote.

"However, this would require some justification other than just a hope for a different outcome," said Brown.

A few thousand dollars have been spent on the project so far, though it pales in comparison to the funds needed to pull it off. Sudbury paid $50,000 for the PROS consulting report in 2018. Also, $70,000 was spend on a report in 2015, but only $10,000 of that came from town funds.