The Board of Selectmen, at its Tuesday evening meeting, voted to spell out its position on the disposition of Devens: that the town seeks retention of Harvard’s land at Devens, pending the outcome of a study; and that the board opposes the creation of the state’s 352nd municipality at Devens. The two motions spelling out these position points did not pass unanimously, however: selectmen Randy Dean and Bill Marinelli opposed the motions offered by Selectman Bob Eubank.
A third motion, to accept and release a “Statement of the Harvard Board of Selectmen” for the press, also prepared by Eubank, passed unanimously following discussion and some revision. (See the full text of the selectmen’s statement on this page.) Newly elected Selectman Tim Clark proved to be the swing vote for the 3–2 approval of Eubank’s motions. Clark’s predecessor on the board, Scott Kimball, presumably would have voted against the motions because he was an advocate of Devens becoming a town.
“Boundaries are boundaries until they change . . . take no position one way or the other until the study happens,” said Marinelli in arguing against the motions. “What’s the point?”
“To make clear our position to the towns and the state,” Eubank answered.
Chairwoman Lucy Wallace declared, “It’s what Harvard wants.”
Dean and Marinelli argued that based on the Special Town Meeting and election votes last fall, the board knows “what the town doesn’t want,” but not necessarily what it does want, and said that Eubank’s motions presumed to know what is unknown.
Eubank described the motions as a “default position” and pointed to a need to rectify a lack of clarity among members of the Joint Boards of Selectmen (JBOS), which has been meeting monthly since January to move forward the Devens disposition process. Eubank asserted that the fall 2006 votes on Devens and voters’ and town officials’ concerns about the town’s financial viability voiced at the March 2007 Annual Town Meeting “are related” and have implications for Harvard’s future.
Marinelli and Dean also took exception to portions of Eubank’s “statement for the press,” although after some revision they voted in favor of it. Dean opposed what he called “taking the negative vote as a mandate,” pointing out that some “no” votes likely resulted from fears about hazardous waste on Barnum Road, which would have become part of Harvard if voters had approved “Scenario 2B.”
“All you know is that it was voted down,” Dean said. “You’re guessing why they turned it down,” Marinelli added.
JBOS was scheduled to meet this week on Thursday at 7 p.m. in the Devens Conference Center. Wallace and Eubank represent Harvard on the JBOS.
