Finance Committee splits 5-4 on Fairbank $900,000 contingency request

SUDBURY -- October 16, 2023, Sudbury Finance Committee splits 5-4 on $900,000 Fairbank contingency as fall Town Meeting nears. Co-Chair Michael Joachim and members Michael Ferrari, Andrew Bettinelli, Andrew Sousa and Henry Sorett backed the appropriation from free cash, citing the 9 percent industry-standard contingency on roughly $10 million of remaining work and the risk of a winter construction shutdown; members Eric Poch, Ryan Lynch, Andrew Sousa, and one other voted no, with Poch saying the project's drift from a $28.8 million authorization toward $35 million is "literally like dripping water torture financially." The committee voted 9-0 to recommend $100,000 for Atkinson pool design and 9-0 against an $800,000 Mossman Road traffic signal not included on the town's capital improvement plan. Members also unanimously approved transferring $1.1 million from the dormant Malone Stabilization Fund into the Capital Stabilization Fund, which Finance Director Dennis Keohane said would bring that fund to $2.35 million.