Letter from the President, September 8, 2016
Summer is vacation season, yet each time we return to our hometown after an extended absence, we appreciate once again the very special place that Sudbury is and how fortunate we are to live in a community that has preserved, protected, and maintained the historic character and natural beauty of our surroundings. This, of course, is an important part of the reason why our community has been so passionate about protecting what has been handed down to us and what we also wish to pass on to future generations of Sudbury citizens.
Despite the warm weather this summer, there’s been no rest for Protect Sudbury! We have been hard at work continuing to inform and educate the community about the threat that the proposed Eversource project represents as well as lobbying government agencies and elected officials who are in a position to influence the outcome of this project. Working with our legal counsel, Richard A. Kanoff of Burns & Levinson, we have continued to develop the legal arguments that are proving to be important in both our short term intervention strategy as well as our intervention at the Energy Facilities Siting Board. We have also continued to reach out to our community to raise the money necessary to fund our continuing legal action and strategy.
One of the most important milestones that occurred during the summer was a meeting with Eversource Energy senior executives in August. This meeting was a direct result of the lobbying work that Protect Sudbury has done with the Massachusetts Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, the Massachusetts Attorney General’s office as well as with all of our elected officials at both the local and state levels. Present at this meeting were Protect Sudbury representatives, our legal counsel as well as representatives from the Town of Sudbury and their legal counsel. At this meeting we asked Eversource to reconsider their decision to site this project on the MBTA ROW and consider other viable alternatives that both they and Protect Sudbury have developed- alternatives that do not have the negative impact of the presently proposed route. We are hopeful that this meeting is the beginning of discussions and negotiations between Eversource, Protect Sudbury and the Town of Sudbury as well as all of the other impacted municipalities and community groups opposed to this project. Following this meeting, Eversource must now decide if they will continue to work with us to find an acceptable alternative or if they will proceed with their original plan and submit their petition in its present form to the ESFB. I believe that we will gain a better understanding their intentions over the next month as we continue to reach out to them and appeal to our elected officials for their continued support. Until that time, we will continue our active opposition to the project and will be preparing for litigation if the original plan is ultimately submitted to the ESFB.
Looking ahead, once Eversource has finalized their plan, it is our understanding that they will present it at an upcoming Board of Selectmen meeting. Prior to that public meeting, Protect Sudbury will be conducting a number of community update meetings to review the present status and examine our strategy going forward. The first of such meetings will occur on September 22nd at the Goodnow Library at 7:00pm. All interested Protect Sudbury members are encouraged to attend.
In closing, we want to once again thank all members of the Protect Sudbury community for their unwavering support throughout these summer months. Your support, in the form of donations, letter writing, sign holding, phone calls, and countless other actions, is the reason we have been able to make an impact on the Eversource proposal. This level of commitment and dedication from the entire community will ultimately lead to our success in determining the future of our town and our community.
Thank you for all you have done and keep up the good work!
Ray Phillips