Regionalization hits a snag
The town’s plan to regionalize its emergency dispatching operations hit a small snag when the enabling legislation failed to make it through the state legislature before time ran out at the end of the last session.
Town Administrator Tim Bragan told the Selectmen this week that there are several options for moving the legislation forward now, including re-filing it. Bragan said he hopes the bill will be approved within two or three months, and that the delay hasn’t stopped plans from proceeding in the interim. The Nashoba Valley Regional Emergency Communications Center is slated to begin operations in a new facility on Devens on July 1, 2013, and a director has already been hired, Bragan said. The center will handle police and fire dispatching for Harvard, Lancaster, Lunenburg, and Devens.
COA appointment
The Selectmen this week appointed Bruce Dolimount as the newest member of the Council on Aging Board of Directors. Dolimount told the Selectmen that he has a keen interest in helping the elderly and some new ideas for programs, including a cooking class for men. His appointment will expire in 2014.
Elderly and Disabled Tax Committee seeks local control
The Elderly and Disabled Taxation Aid Committee wants Annual Town Meeting to approve two warrant articles that would give the town greater control over the committee’s composition. The state law that has governed the committee since its inception a decade ago (MGL Chapter 30, Section 3D) mandates its membership: the town treasurer, the chairman of the Board of Assessors, and three residents. There is no provision to specifically include the Council on Aging director, but that position has always been included because up until now, Harvard’s COA director has always been a town resident. That’s no longer the case, so the committee wants to specify membership for the COA director, regardless of residency, in place of the chairman of the Board of Assessors.
To do that, voters at Annual Town Meeting must first agree to establish a new town committee that would do what the existing committee does: accept donations to help defray real estate taxes for low-income elderly and/or disabled residents. And, because the existing committee was established under provisions of state law, the voters must also agree to rescind the 2002 Annual Town Meeting vote adopting those provisions.
At the Selectmen’s meeting this week, several board members wondered if the town could so easily disengage from the state tax relief program, but the board approved the idea and will consult town counsel Mark Lanza about the legalities.
Selectmen postpone decision on land gift
The Selectmen discussed the pros and cons of accepting a gift of land at the end of St. John Lane and ended by putting the decision on hold. The gift of 5.6 acres was offered to the town for conservation purposes, which raised the question of whether or not it is wise to put additional land under Conservation Commission stewardship if the land is not connected to existing conservation property and/or has no recreational or habitat value. If the owner were to agree to offer the land to the town as an unrestricted gift, it could be used or sold at some point. Accepting the land also means the loss of tax payment to the town. The BOS wants to resolve these questions before making a decision.
Other business: Town Hall, temporary offices, entertainment license
Town Administrator Tim Bragan announced that the Town Hall Building Committee plans to submit a zoning variance application by January 15 for a hearing before the Zoning Board of Appeals on February 13.
Bragan also encouraged Selectmen to visit Appleworks and Devens, the two sites that look the most feasible for rental as temporary offices for Town Hall when building begins. (Trailers have been ruled out as too expensive.)
Bragan announced that he received an entertainment license request from the Center on the Common. The process requires this initial announcement of the application, followed by a hearing at a future date.
