Sudbury Select Board approves $10,000 ARPA grant for youth-smartphone talk

SUDBURY -- September 10, 2024, Sudbury Select Board approves $10,000 in ARPA funds for Jean Twenge youth-smartphone talk on a 3-1 vote. Chair Jennifer Roberts and members Charles Russo and Lisa Kouchakdjian backed the allocation for the Nov. 12 presentation at Curtis Middle School; Vice Chair Daniel Carty dissented, citing rushed process and unexhausted private fundraising channels. Member Janie Dretler was absent. The presentation, organized by Sudbury for Digital Balance and parent-psychologist Jacqueline Alfonso Barry, will cover Twenge's $14,000 fee partially, with the Goodnow Library Foundation acting as 501(c)(3) fiscal agent. Town Manager Andrew Sheehan separately told the board the Permanent Building Committee will likely request reallocating roughly $400,000 in unspent Fire Station 2 ARPA funds to the Fairbank Community Center. "Process matters," Carty said of the Twenge request, noting the group formed less than two weeks before the vote. Federal rules require all ARPA obligations by Dec. 31.