Corrected and updated Oct. 23, 2009
Devens Committee Chairman Tom Kinch complained to the Joint Boards of Selectmen (JBOS) that “whether we are talking about eventual governance of our community or mosquito spraying, we are pretty much hamstrung.”
Kinch had requested a letter of support from JBOS at its Oct. 8 meeting, to enable spraying for mosquitoes in the Harvard portion of Devens, a request first made on behalf of Devens residents at an Aug. 20 JBOS meeting. Although Ayer and Shirley have already approved mosquito spraying, Harvard has not, having previously voted against it when the question has come before Town Meeting. Harvard Selectman Peter Warren said the issue would be discussed by Harvard selectmen, with results reported back to JBOS by late December. Support from selectmen would put the question in front of Harvard voters at the next town meeting.
Chapter 498, the state legislation that created the Devens Regional Enterprise Zone, requires that all three towns reach agreement on zoning changes and anything not specifically provided for in the Devens Reuse Plan, through voting at independent, simultaneous town meetings, referred to as ‘super town meetings.’
Referring to the constraints of Ch. 498, Kinch told the JBOS members that at the recent MassDevelopment board of directors meeting, the directors “brought forward the fact that there is a ‘flaw in our system.’” He gave the example of JBOS’ supporting the recent Vicksburg Square proposal, while it was defeated at the town level by Ayer. Kinch said, “We don’t have a ‘super town meeting’—we have three town meetings, so there is no way for a majority to carry … if people in Ayer don’t vote it, it’s done.”
JBOS Chairman Enrico Cappucci acknowledged that he “would like to see all three towns come together to vote.” Referring to the Vicksburg Square special town meetings held in June, he said, “If everyone was in the same room that night, it would have passed.” He added, “If we continue to go down the road of ‘super town meetings,’ we’re never going to get anything done.”
Cappucci agreed with Ayer Selectman Gary Luca, who suggested that the question of Ch. 498 be put on the ballot. He asked Kinch to look into what would be required in order to change the legislation and present his findings at the next meeting.
Editor’s note: This article has been corrected and updated. The original article referred to the annual meeting of the Devens Committee board of directors. It was actually the MassDevelopment board of directors meeting
