Finance Committee approves $800,000 bond for Bigelow School roof

MARLBOROUGH — June 30, 2025 — Marlborough Finance Committee advances $800,000 Bigelow School roof bond, repaid by tenant collaborative. The panel voted 3-1 on June 30 to recommend the emergency borrowing requested by Mayor J. Christian Dumas after pieces of the existing roof landed in neighbors' yards. The Assabet Valley Collaborative, which leases the building and runs an educational program serving Marlborough students, will cover debt service through a lease amendment over 10 years because it cannot issue bonds on property it does not own. Dumas rejected a suggestion to simply sell the building, warning the city would lose control of a parcel adjacent to a park and the senior center; the existing lease runs to 2038. Council President Michael Ossing urged approval, saying the deal keeps "a good building" maintained at no cost to the general fund. The committee also suspended the rules so the full council can act before its next meeting July 21.