The Annual Town Meeting voted “yes” on several articles that will improve the look of the town. It authorized $20,000 to scrape and paint the eight doors, 51 windows, and extensive trim at Hildreth House, the town’s senior citizen center. Also sanctioned was a $5,000 plan to fix crumbling sections of the stone wall on Mass. Ave., especially the part near the entrance to Old Bromfield. The Shaker herb drying shed on South Shaker Road will get two new doors, to be handmade by artisans at the North Bennett Street School in Boston, for $3,000, the cost of materials. Harvard Historical Commission Chairman Jonathan Feist said the town was getting a bargain from the elite school, which recently installed a slate roof on the shed.
The funds come not a moment too soon, because the doors are disintegrating, said Feist. “Anything or anyone can go in: animals, elements, Shaker buffs,” he added.
Money for the stone wall, painting, and herb drying shed will come from the Community Preservation Fund, which is fed by Harvard’s 1.1 percent real estate transfer tax and matching funds from the state. The fund is allowed under provisions of the state’s Community Preservation Act, which Harvard has adopted. According to the Act, money in the preservation fund can be use only for certain purposes—conservation and recreation, affordable housing, or historic preservation. Harvard’s Community Preservation Committee sifts through requests for funding during the year and selects some for the warrant.
This year, two preservation fund requests did not apply to specific projects, but simply requested transfer of Community Preservation funds to the reserves: $150,000 went to the conservation reserve fund, and $24,250 to the historic reserve fund.
A bylaw change approved on Saturday may also keep the town looking good. The state’s Scenic Road law (Chapter 40, 15C) allows towns to preserve the rural character of their roads by designating some of them as “scenic.” As such, the town can enforce rules that prevent people from disturbing rustic stone walls and trees along those roads. According to Liz Allard, Harvard’s land use administrator and conservation agent, the bylaw had not been updated since it was first adopted in 1974. Allard added much-needed detail to the bylaw, she said. For instance, the bylaw now tells you which trees are subject to the scenic rules: On a designated scenic road, any tree in the right of way with a 1.5-inch diameter cannot be touched without Planning Board permission. People contemplating driveway repairs now have a helpful bylaw to look at, Allard said.
