[Editor’s note: This spring, Southborough voters will be able to choose among three candidates for two seats on the Select Board. To help you make that decision, each candidate is invited to submit one letter to readers promoting their campaign.
As in past years, you may use comments to endorse the candidate. No mudslinging allowed here.]
To the Editor:
My name is Tim Fling, and I’m running for Southborough Select Board.
Since moving to town in 2018, I’ve become increasingly involved in how Southborough works, from attending every Town Meeting over the last five years to serving as Vice Chair of the Noise Bylaw Committee and the Community Center Exploratory Committee. As someone who didn’t grow up in New England, I’ve found the structure of local government to be complex at times—but that experience has made me more engaged, not less. As a full-time working parent with two young children, I represent the next generation of residents. I want Southborough to remain a place where families can stay and grow, while also keeping it affordable for longtime residents and those on fixed incomes.
I’m running because I believe Southborough has an opportunity to strengthen its long-term financial planning and make smarter, more sustainable investments in our community. With homeowners already shouldering 80 percent of the tax burden and taxes projected to rise nearly 50 percent over the next five years, we need a more strategic approach to the timing, scope, and funding of major projects. With careful planning, we can build a stronger future while protecting taxpayers.
Expanding our commercial tax base, particularly along Route 9, should be a top priority. This means working closely with the Planning Board and other stakeholders to pursue zoning changes, infrastructure improvements, and development strategies that attract responsible business growth. Public sewer expansion must be part of that effort. Southborough needs to stop reacting to pressure and start shaping its future. A more balanced tax base will benefit everyone and give us greater flexibility in how we invest in schools, infrastructure, and town services.
Southborough must be thoughtful about the Neary School project and explore all viable options. This decision is personal for me. My two children would be among the first classes to attend the new Neary and would directly benefit, but I remain focused on what is best for the town and its residents.
From the beginning, the process was designed to align with the Massachusetts School Building Authority’s (MSBA) program, which limited our self-funded flexibility. Twelve options were originally presented, and most were quickly eliminated during the wishlist phase because they didn’t align with the School Administration’s preferred educational vision. Cost was not a factor in early-stage evaluation.
One of those alternatives, Scenario C, now known as Option B, proposed decommissioning Neary and repurposing space in other schools with modest investment. While it may not fulfill every programmatic goal, it’s a fiscally responsible alternative that preserves future options.
I toured Neary with the Assistant Superintendent, and it reminded me of the schools I attended growing up. The building is aging, but it is clean, functional, and not in visible disrepair. Targeted, time-sensitive upgrades — such as the roof, windows, and kitchen — total approximately $6 million and could extend the building’s use. That includes around $1.3 million in ADA improvements. Importantly, this work is structured to stay well below the 30% threshold defined in Massachusetts building code (780 CMR Chapter 34) that would otherwise trigger a sweeping, full-code renovation — the kind of overhaul that can easily become a $60 million+ undertaking.1 And because repairs like roof and window replacements are exempt from that threshold, this approach maximizes impact without crossing the line into a far more expensive, mandatory retrofit. A “no” vote doesn’t mean doing nothing. It means maintaining functionality while avoiding scope creep, giving us time to grow our tax base and reassess our long-term needs.
A new four-grade Neary is intended to eliminate the need for future capital investment in Finn by taking it offline as a school. However, if Finn is repurposed for Recreation and administrative use, as proposed, its maintenance, renovation, and operating costs will still fall on taxpayers. The expense doesn’t disappear. It simply shifts to another line item.
My perspective on this project centers on timing, process, and financial responsibility. We must explore all viable options and have answers to the following: Were all viable options genuinely explored with a full understanding of their costs and tradeoffs? Are the educational tradeoffs of more fiscally conscious alternatives truly unacceptable, especially when other districts implement them successfully? And is now the right time to take on decades of debt for a project of this scale—on a site directly adjacent to a landfill? A decision made decades ago to build there doesn’t mean we must accept it today. Just as the town wisely rejected the Westborough Superfund site for the RECC, we should be willing to reconsider what’s best for Southborough now.
If elected, I will continue to be accessible and engaged. I know not everyone can attend every meeting, but you will also find me at a number of Kindergroup and other town functions. I will remain available by email, through town forums, and I’m always willing to schedule time to talk. I will also advocate for better communication from the town through email updates, social media, signage, and direct outreach so residents can stay informed before decisions are made.
I respectfully ask for your vote on May 13. I will bring a fresh perspective, steady engagement, and a commitment to transparency and accountability in every decision we make.
Fresh perspective. Grounded in reality. A better path forward.
Sincerely,
Tim Fling
18 Main Street
- Under 780 CMR Chapter 34, if the cost of alterations exceeds 30% of a building’s assessed value over a 36-month period, broader building code upgrades — including fire suppression, structural retrofits, and energy systems — may be triggered. However, common repairs such as roof and window replacements are explicitly exempt from that 30% calculation under state code.
Thank you for being a breath of fresh air and for all the information you provided regarding the proposed new building. You seem to understand what many of us have been trying to say.
Please look up the following article that appeared in the Metrowest Daily News back in 2008, regarding a project that was done in the 1990s. Although the situation is obviously different, what is stop this from potentially happening in Southborough?
State cuts school building aid to Ashland by $485,793 David Riley/Daily News staff Updated Sept. 18, 2008, 6:04 p.m. ET
“After catching up on backlogged audits, the Massachusetts School Building Authority has declined to reimburse Ashland $485,793 for school renovations and additions completed in the 1990s, some over a decade ago….”
If I had young children right now, and naive about everything else related to the elementary schools here, I, too, would probably vote for the new and improved school. However, I am no longer naive. I have two sons who attended the Southborough elementary schools from kindergarten through 8th grade. (One is about to graduate from ARHS, and the other attends Assabet as a 10th grader.) Building a new school RIGHT NOW is not the answer to the concerns of the parents of children either in, or soon to be in, the elementary schools. And, as very many individuals have pointed out, it is not the answer to the concerns of all of the citizens of Southborough.
And, for the record, what is happening with the proposed new school will probably not affect us personally because we don’t plan to remain here for our “retirement years.” We care about the families who don’t have a choice, who do want to remain here, who don’t seem to be heard. And we care about the future students who deserve not be housed in a building where teachers who just this year got accused of holding slave auctions, etc.