Selectmen grant Unitarian Church license for schools Gala
At their regular biweekly meeting on Tuesday, the selectmen granted a one-day license to the Harvard Unitarian Church to host the annual Harvard Schools Trust Gala at its recently renovated Fellowship Hall. But not before abutters complained of last-minute notification and inadequate oversight of events at the facility.
At the hearing to review the application for a one-day entertainment license, Billy Salter of Elm Street said that while he supported the dinner and silent auction planned for April 9, he wanted the Unitarian Church to “take seriously its obligation to manage its events.” The hall is “in the middle of a residential area,” he said. Residents need to have adequate notice, he said, and a representative of the church needs to be present to enforce its policies.
Scott Hayward of Elm Street and Paul Morris of Lovers Lane joined Salter in calling for better communication between the church and residents, and Morris asked that the license be denied.
Molly Cutler, co-president of the Schools Trust, said that the church had handled her organization’s request to use the building “very professionally” and that the annual Gala, now in its 22nd year, was “not usually a raucous event.”
Salter replied that it was “not the case, remotely” that the church had handled its events professionally, asserting that in the past abutters had not been given sufficient notice and that in his experience church officials seemed unaware of their own policies, including Didi Chadran, church facilities manager, who represented the licensee at the hearing.
In the end, the vote of the selectmen to grant the license was unanimous, subject to the following conditions:
- The event must end at 10 p.m.;
- Overflow parking must be directed first to the Town Hall and Unitarian Church parking areas, then to the Common side of Elm Street only. Attendees will be encouraged to leave their cars at Bromfield after attending the play that precedes the event.
- An event manager from the church must be present at the event from beginning to end.
Town center sewer construction awaits DEP approval
The chairman of the Town Center Sewer Building Committee (TCSBC) reported Tuesday that engineers had found ways to address concerns voiced by the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) in its review of plans to construct a new sewer system in the center of Harvard and upgrade the existing wastewater treatment plant on Massachusetts Avenue.
TCSBC Chairman Chris Ashley—who was named Harvard’s 2011 Citizen of Note at Saturday’s Town Meeting—said that while proposed changes to the design of the sewer and treatment plant could add “a few tens of thousands” of dollars to the system’s total cost, the changes were well within the amount in its budget to deal with such contingencies. Changes to the design include a larger unit to process waste before it enters the treatment plant and a larger holding tank at the elementary school, both of which will make the system “more robust,” Ashley told the selectmen.
Once the TCSBC submits its modified plans to DEP, Ashley said, it will take at least another four weeks before approval is likely to be granted, assuming no further modifications are necessary. Once permission to begin construction is granted, the project would be “put out to bid” two weeks later, and work would likely start by mid-July.
Voters approved the project two years ago, provided its costs do not exceed $2 million. Work will be financed by a low-interest loan from a DEP revolving fund, for which Harvard qualified late last year.
Selectmen accept resignation of COA director
The selectmen reluctantly accepted the resignation of Council on Aging (COA) Director Virginia Quarles. Quarles will leave in two weeks to become director of the Concord COA.
Quarles has been with the town since 2004 as COA director “and doing a fabulous job,” said Town Administrator Tim Bragan. “She will be missed.”
On a motion by Selectman Tim Clark, the board voted unanimously to send Quarles a “letter of commendation” for her “years of distinguished service” to the senior community of the town and for “impressively improving services” in a relatively short amount of time.
“My sense,” said Selectman Bill Johnson,” is that [Quarles] does so much hands-on work that replacing her will be a high priority.” Johnson also asked for a review of the job description for her position, in light of plans to expand COA programs.
Town hires a part time-dispatcher and a DPW driver
Two new employees were appointed this week to fill vacant positions in two town departments. The BOS unanimously approved the hiring of Jim Flanders to fill an open part-time dispatcher position at the town police station. Flanders recently returned from Afghanistan, where he was deployed last fall. He has worked as a dispatcher for the town of Berlin and is an EMT for the town of Shirley.
Duane Hogan, a resident of Sterling and an employee of the Harvard DPW from 2000 to 2005, will return to fill an open position here. He is certified to work with HVAC systems and to handle hazardous materials. In recommending Hogan, Nota called attention to his previous experience plowing and sanding Harvard’s roads. “He knows the town,” said Nota. The vote to accept the appointments was unanimous.
