Sherborn Selectmen Discuss Litigation, High School Wastewater Treatment Plant

With the Sherborn Town Meeting nearing, the Sherborn Board of Selectmen deliberated over a long agenda and prolonged executive session, Thursday night.

The selectmen return from a lengthy executive session to a full room of concerned residents and various town committee members, after discussing contract negotiations with the police chief, potential litigation and litigation strategy within the fire department and contract negotiations over vacation payment for former Town Administrator Dan Keyes.

Bob Delaney, a member of the ad-hoc Save Our Sherborn Committee, questioned the selectmen as to why the town did not opt to enter into litigation with Dover, which may have added $1,000,000 to Sherborn’s bottom line.

“If one million [dollars] was at stake…the town should have gone through with it,” Delaney said.

Selectmen chair Paul DeRensis stated that the selectmen agreed it would cost too much in litigation fees and create hostility between the two towns.

“We want to be good neighbors,” said DeRensis.

Regional School Superintendent Valerie Spriggs came to the meeting to get a definitive answer on how the district was funding the replacement of the high school’s wastewater treatment plant.

The regional school committee had been waiting for an answer from Sherborn for several weeks as to how they plan to fund the project, according to Spriggs.

Spriggs said she had made “numerous phone calls” to Sherborn that were not returned.

She had hoped that the selectmen would sign an inter-municipal agreement that would allow Dover to fund the project through free cash and Sherborn through a bond.

Sherborn’s town council Barbara St. Andre of Petrini Associates said the inter-municipal agreement that was advised by the town’s bond council is illegal.

“The town can’t borrow for a plant they don’t own,” St. Andre said.

She said legally the school district will have to bond the project and then the towns could pay for it.

After a long anticipated wait for an answer, Spriggs said, “At least this clarifies where we are.”

Selectmen George Pucci said he was upset about the incident after learning that their previous plans had been illegal.

DeRensis said that after Sherborn’s finances are made clear they could look into using free cash to fund the project, which the Sherborn Advisory Committee advises against.

Spriggs said that the regional school district would have to go back to their council and confer.

Sue Tyler, a Traffic Safety Committee member read a statement to the selectmen stating that in a December meeting the selectmen discussed putting out a Request For Proposal for work to be done on Western Avenue. 

She was disappointed that it never happened. She felt that the RFP process needed to be more open and said that it may be a “tainted process.”