By Janet Stoica

“Having the funding approved by our townspeople for our schools, public safety, and library has been a weight lifted from our collective minds,” said Jonathan Ruda, Dudley’s Town Administrator. “Our new school (and town) budget is now being put together for the next fiscal year.”

Dudley’s latest project is a feasibility study grant for town-owned land behind the Dudley District Courthouse. “There are 56 acres behind the Courthouse,” said Ruda, “a biotech or industrial park situated there would help our tax base. We received a $30,000 grant from the Commonwealth’s Community Compact Program to help us identify key areas of economic development and would like to bring in focus groups to assist with identifying areas to develop in our town. I think it’s a positive that we have two grants to help pinpoint projects that will help generate revenue to increase our tax base. In November a new tax rate will be set and it is anticipated that it will be a low rate because of upcoming retired debt.”  Areas of retired debt include highway department equipment, town hall building debt, and a few other short-term capital debts.

As with most all nation-wide cities and towns, Dudley is now dealing with water contamination in the form of PFAs (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances). PFAs are classified as “forever chemicals” that do not break down in the environment, many of which are toxic, and accumulate in the food chain. PFAs are no longer used in products made in the USA but are used in other countries that we export products from. It’s what makes our clothing waterproof, our cosmetics waterproof, our non-stick cookware usable, our wall-to-wall carpeting stain resistant, etc.  The town’s Ameresco Solar Array lease agreement proceeds will be used to address the PFAs issues. The solar array is located atop the town’s capped landfill where soil monitors and vapor recovery equipment is also situated. PFAs were found at the landfill property as well as near the Gentex Corporation. Residents living in the Eagle Drive area must now have water protection systems installed for their own wells as a safety precaution per the Dept. of Environmental Protection. Dudley is also included in a class-action law suit against many of the major chemical companies in the U.S. that used PFAs in their manufacturing processes. The end result would be to install filtered town water lines into those neighborhoods that have been affected by the PFA contamination. 

“We are also pursuing a Green Communities Grant to improve energy efficiency in town-owned buildings,” said Ruda, “We currently have solar energy credits in the 90 percent range and are almost off all carbon fuels. We’re working on aggregate electricity purchasing for our citizens who may opt-in to the energy-saving program by using an energy broker to shop for the best deals to purchase electricity. No contracts are necessary. The broker will continuously search for the least expensive form of electricity generated whether it’s solar, gas, nuclear, or wind. It’ll be based on what the community wants and they’ll broker it out. It’s a good deal. Webster currently uses an aggregate energy-saving program. We are in process and are moving as quickly as possible to take advantage of this option that must also be approved by the Dept. of Public Utilities.”

An Animal Control Officer position has also been wrapped into a dual role with one or more of the Dudley police officers to provide full-time animal control coverage in town. This is a hybrid position. 

The Dudley bridge project that has always been a shortcut into Webster from Brandon Road to Webster’s Hill Street will probably remain in limbo for several years to come. 

“We’ve pursued and exhausted every State program to try to get this repair and replacement done,” said Ruda. “The former bridge has now been demolished using Chapter 90 funds. We’ve tried to gain funding from the small bridge program but the bridge is too big to qualify. We wanted to classify the trace as a culvert but it was deemed too large. We have now been placed on a TIP list (Transportation Infrastructure Program) but it may take three to five years before we see any further progress.

Diamond Communications will be installing a new cell tower on town-owned land situated on Schofield Avenue. Terms included a $100,000 down payment and a $22,000 annual payment to the town with a 3 percent payment escalation clause for the next 20 years. Dudley will also receive 50 percent of lease proceeds from each company that opts in for the cell tower usage.

    

Contact Janet:  [email protected]