August 1980
The postponement of repairs to a leaky roof at the elementary school prompted an editorial writer to opine, “The delay in roof repairs will cost scores of thousands of dollars. We—and some town officials—have long suggested that a town manager might be able to deal with such nitty-gritty problems, leaving elected officials free to make more important policy decisions.”
The unemployment rate in Harvard was 8.9 percent.
Bathers at the town beach were surprised to see a 5,000-gallon water truck filling its tank at the beach. Responding to inquiries about the matter, a selectman said that, since the pond is classified as a “great pond,” anyone may remove water from it at any time. Although the truck used the town beach to access the pond, he went on, the state owns an accessway to the pond off Tahanto Trail.
The Harvard Grange announced September plans for its third annual agricultural fair and sheep show on the town Common.
August 1986
State Representative John MacGovern told selectmen that one of the most pressing environmental issues that needed to be addressed was the capping of landfills. He said that towns where landfills may lie on aquifers, such as Harvard, should consider capping their landfills. Harvard’s landfill was closed in 1984, but was not capped as of 1986.
August 1990
The Zoning Board of Appeals unanimously upheld the selectmen’s prohibition of alcohol sales at the proposed Shaker Hills Golf Club. Alcohol, they agreed, is not accessory to the game of golf.
A task force comprising representatives from several town committees and organizations met to brainstorm about the future of the town center.Among the issues they considered was the need for affordable and elderly housing as well as the need for expanded municipal space.
August 1996
The news was dominated by disputes among residents over animals. The Conservation Commission voted to ban horses and dogs from Thurston’s beach, prompting accolades from people who thought the animals were a nuisance and outcries from people who liked to take their animals for a swim from the last public accessway on the pond. The conflict prompted a letter-writer to comment, “It makes me wonder if tolerance, responsibility, and communication are as dead as TV would have us believe.”
In another dispute, a conflict erupted when a Harvard couple brought a complaint against newcomers to town who had purchased a home with an existing kennel to house their 11 dogs. The couple complained about the dogs’ barking, especially at night. Selectmen ordered that the dogs be kept quiet or leave town, and after an August hearing, continued their decision to September. Meanwhile, in an August letter to the editor, the dog owner wrote that she had been “defenseless in a town where selectmen are clearly interested in the privileges of one person” and went on to say that she just wanted “to be allowed to leave this town with my family intact.”
Based on reports in the old Harvard Post
