Council on Aging votes to recommend new member, higher tax work-off cap

SUDBURY — November 13, 2023 — Sudbury Council on Aging sets Jan. 2 target opening for new community center as shared-space deal remains unsettled. Director Debra Galloway said the current senior center closes Dec. 8, with movers in Dec. 14-20 and a soft opening tentatively Jan. 23 ahead of a May grand opening. The council voted unanimously to recommend Brenda Erickson, a longtime Sudbury resident formerly with the Framingham Council on Aging, to the Select Board for an open seat. Members also voted unanimously to recommend raising the senior property-tax work-off cap from $1,500 to $2,000 (about 133 hours at $15/hour) following a recent state law change, with Galloway to first consult the Board of Assessors. Chair Paul Marotta and member Jeff said they would press Town Manager Andy Sheehan to convene a meeting before opening day to lock in the senior center's 9-to-4 weekday priority over the building's shared studios and multipurpose room — a premise of the project's concept design that Park and Recreation has not formally ratified. Galloway also flagged that four pieces of commercial kitchen equipment, including the convection oven, were cut from the construction budget, complicating a planned February launch of two catered lunches per week and the building's role as the town's designated emergency shelter.