The tone was congenial at the selectmen’s strategic planning session at Fruitlands late Tuesday afternoon, where the board had no trouble settling on five major goals for the coming year. But portents of future dissent were hard to miss.
Board members agreed on the need to better inform the public about the financial challenges ahead, but were not entirely in sync about the nature of those challenges. They agreed to devise a comprehensive strategy for dealing with Harvard’s unfunded liability for future retiree benefits, but did not agree on the proportions of the crisis. They did, however, join in resolving to find a way of assessing whether town departments under their purview are functioning as they should. And they agreed to tackle the lingering unresolved issues regarding Devens.
Financial matters rule discussion
The bulk of the discussion concerned financial matters, and how best to inform the public about how budgeting decisions are made. Overall, town finances are in pretty good shape, said board Chairwoman Marie Sobalvarro: “It’s not all gloom and doom.” But with a daunting list of upcoming capital projects to consider, townspeople need a better understanding of the whole financial picture, she said, including the long-term repercussions of Town Meeting votes already taken.
In particular, Selectman Leo Blair urged the board to think about what it would do if the Town Hall building project goes “massively over budget.” Given the age of the building, “nobody knows what we’ll find behind those walls,” Blair said. “What do we do if there are unpleasant surprises? Whatever it is, we should be in front of it.”
Aside from Town Hall, the board agreed with Blair that the best way to prioritize the maintenance needs of other town buildings would be to hire a professional firm to assess the need—and the cost—of repairs to the DPW garage, Hildreth House, the fire stations, and so on. And once a long-term maintenance and repair schedule is established, they suggested that the town should have a facilities manager to see that the work is done, similar to the job Mark Force does at the schools.
Agreeing to disagree
Turning to policy, Selectwoman Lucy Wallace urged her colleagues to work at setting a “good tone” at their meetings. “We can disagree,” she said, ” but be upfront about it.” The board agreed that it’s time to review and revise some of its policies, and Blair expressed reservations about the board’s prevailing model of creating new committees that often result in expensive new projects. “Somebody proposes something, then a committee is formed of people who agree, and there’s no due diligence,” Blair asserted, which leads to a perception that “the fix is in,” he said.
And finally, in regard to Devens, the board agreed on the importance of renewing its efforts with the Joint Boards of Selectmen to settle ongoing issues and work toward a resolution. “This has been the big elephant in the living room for 20 years,” said Wallace, but it appears that MassDevelopment has done what it set out to do in redeveloping Devens and will be pushing the towns for a decision.
