Finance Committee rejects $500,000 housing repair petition, endorses three solar canopy projects

SUDBURY -- April 6, 2026, Sudbury Finance Committee rejects $500,000 housing repair petition, backs solar canopies. The committee voted 6-1 on April 6 against recommending Article 39, a citizens petition seeking $500,000 from free cash to repair four Sudbury Housing Authority single-family homes, with only member Ryan Lynch in favor. SHA Executive Director Sheila Cusolito told the committee the figure was insufficient, "I don't think that $500,000 would sufficiently rehab four units of housing", noting the Authority's preferred duplex conversion produces voucher revenue, with the 2012 duplex program holding $911,000 at the end of 2025. Co-Chair Michael Ferrari called the request "basically a fifth of our remaining free cash" and outside the town's capital planning process. The committee voted 7-0 to recommend three solar canopy authorizations at Curtis School, Haskell Field and the Police Station, projected to save roughly $120,000 a year against the town's approximately $400,000 annual electricity bill, and 0-7 against a $200,000 vocational education stabilization fund tied to a possible Minuteman Technical buy-in.