By Susan Aldrich
Sustainability is the popular word for something we’ve always done: keeping things going, encouraging and protecting the things we value. But what is sustainability for Sterling? It depends on who you ask. Is it recreating the glory days of Sterling agriculture? Or protecting our natural resources? Protecting our community? Or creating an environment where businesses and families flourish?
People of Sterling, all of you who participate in surveys and other planning exercises, say that you value these things about Sterling: our great public services, our people and community, our charming town center, and our open space and our farms. We just had our annual Town Meeting, committing resources for the coming year. What actions did we collectively take to improve, or obstruct, Sterling’s sustainability?
Most of our spending continues the status quo. We’re keeping Sterling going, but may not be preparing for the future. The world changes: our climate most of all, but also regulations, population, world and local economies. Some of this change we can anticipate and plan for, other changes can’t be imagined today.
Great Public Services:
The largest outlays in town are $13 million for schools, and $11 million for the town operating budget, little changed from last year.
We agreed to spend $283,000 on badly needed road maintenance, $425,000 for the DPW’s excavator/tractor and dump truck, and $350,000 on a replacement fire/EMS apparatus. But we had no articles supporting public transportation, which must be addressed by regional effort. Better transportation to commuter rail, shopping and jobs will make Sterling more affordable, and reduce our environmental impact.
Storms are more extreme, and we need to prepare. Detroit recently had an astonishing seven inches of rain in a morning: this could happen to us. We agreed to spend $134,000 on stormwater monitoring, planning and management. We also agreed to spend $384,000 on upgrading water meters and testing for corrosion. Both are good investments in sustaining Sterling and the integrity of our water system. People and Community:
The exciting news in this category is changes to zoning for Accessory Dwelling Units. It is now possible to build one additional single family dwelling unit on farm, rural residence, neighborhood residence, commercial and town center property. The regulations are many, so you should read about Section 2.3.5 to get the details. But, this is huge! It will help keep the people of Sterling in Sterling, if they wish. Your kids or your parents can live affordably right next door. You can offer housing to your helpers. If you need income, you have a rental opportunity. This zoning change is significant for sustaining Sterling’s community.
The town also agreed to spend $130,000 to continue to have a great playground structure at the Houghton School.
Charming Town Center:
We took significant forward steps in our town center.
We agreed to spend $153,000 on Town Common improvements, including lighting fixtures for the Town common, professional services, and construction materials; and other expenses. We also agreed to spend $68,000 for 1835 Old Town Hall rehabilitation and improvements, $8,000 for Chocksett Cemetery improvements, and $10,000 for Sterling School House rehabilitation and improvements, all adding to Sterling’s charm.
But the real news is zoning changes that make downtown development possible. Under the old laws, no new store could meet the setback requirements. With this zoning, stores will be right at the sidewalk, right where shoppers want them.
Open Space and Farms:
Our outlay for our Open Space Implementation Committee, “Agriculture,” Wachusett Greenways and Sterling Land Trust is $5,000. From a budget standpoint, we aren’t keen on supporting the rural character we value about Sterling.
At the end of Town Meeting we agreed to dilute the protection of our aquifer. The accepted logic was that meeting state requirements would be adequate. But even small risk is dire: If we fail to protect our water, we will be forced to build and staff a costly water treatment process, or negotiate to buy water from some other source.
Which brings us to Earth Removal changes. I lack enough information to judge the impact of the changes. But, obviously, earth (soil, loam, minerals, rocks, sand, and gravel) is a finite resource. And that earth is the vessel that holds and filters our aquifer. Earth removal is the definition of “unsustainable.” You have a hill of gravel which you sell by the truckload — until it’s gone. Now you need a new business, and we have a hole, or a cliff, which is not the open space we value. We allow truckloads of our town to be carted off — but what does our town want or need in return? We need to develop our strategy, sooner rather than later.
Zoning changes, Town common improvements, and storm water management support the future of the Sterling we value. The rest of our budget keeps Sterling marching in place. And what else can we do, without a plan? It’s like the Friday night dilemma at a municipal level: we didn’t make any plans for tonight, so we will stay home and watch TV, just like every other night.
Good news, we have nearly completed a plan. Sterling’s Master Plan aims to balance our economic, environmental, and social needs, to guide our way forward. Our plan will guide us toward development that might keep Sterling the town we love, and keep our community intact. State grants will be open to us to bring our state taxes back to Sterling for projects to improve our town. What will those projects be? That is up to us, as a community. It is in our hands to work for what we value. It’s hard, but it’s the only way to sustain our Sterling.