BOS ponders special town meeting
Harvard’s Energy Advisory Committee (HEAC) wants the town to apply for “Green Community” status this fall before the deadline for 2011 expires, a step that would require a special town meeting in mid-November, to amend a number of the town’s bylaws.
Selectman Tim Clark, BOS liaison to HEAC, reported the group’s wishes at the last September meeting of the selectmen and said HEAC had asked for a spot on the Oct. 5 agenda. To date, the BOS has not agreed to support Green Community membership.
The Massachusetts Green Communities program is part of the Green Communities Act passed by the state legislature in 2008 to promote the development of new sources of renewable energy, greater efficiency, and a general reduction in greenhouse gases throughout New England. Towns and cities that are admitted to the program are eligible for grants and low-interest loans from a $10 million fund to figure out how to become more efficient consumers of energy or invest in solar, wind, and other renewable energy sources. But to gain admission, Harvard would first have to adopt a state “stretch” code for new building construction, one that exceeds current international standards, and also amend town bylaws to allow as-of-right siting for alternative energy projects, to set aside locations for “green” manufacturing plants or research and development labs, and to provide an expedited permitting process for such facilities.
The deadline for a “Green Communities” application is Nov. 16, Clark said. Any proposed change to zoning bylaws requires at least a two-week notice and a public hearing. In May, at the request of the HEAC, the Green Community stretch code was added to the Annual Town Meeting (ATM) warrant. But at the last minute, HEAC withdrew the article.
HEAC has a lot to do to get everyone on board, from the Planning Board to the building inspector, Clark said last week. “It’s a big task, but the committee feels the momentum is there to get this done.”
2010 census could lead to changes in precinct boundaries
At their most recent meeting, BOS members heard Town Administrator Tim Bragan report that the 2010 census could lead to a redrawing of Massachusetts congressional and state legislature districts, and of Harvard’s voting precincts as well.
When redistricting for the Massachsuetts state legislature occurs, said Bragan, any town with a population greater than 6,011 has to redraw its precinct lines, and since Devens residents and Federal Prison inmates are counted in the Harvard total, it’s “quite likely” the town will exceed that number and have to make adjustments. Each precinct must contain roughly the same number of residents, and occasionally, a town can end up with two state representatives as a result. Harvard currently has two voting precincts and is served in the state legislature by one representative and one senator, Democrats Jen Bensen and James Eldridge.
The BOS took no formal vote, but acquiesced to Bragan’s recommendation that should it be necessary, he and Town Clerk Janet Vellante do the work of redrawing precinct boundaries. Both have done it before. They’ll have the support of the office of the Secretary of State, but the BOS gets to decide in the end whether to accept the result.
