HEARD AT THE MEETING
On what’s gone wrong
“To me, it has felt like the selectmen have hijacked the process that many people in town spent a lot of their time contributing information to.”
—Laura Andrews, Scott Road
“What happened to the input sessions that were held in December, where people spoke about what to do given that the additional funding wasn’t approved? This room was filled, twice. I don’t know where that input went, but I don’t think it ended up in any of the plans.” —Eric Broadbent, former THBC member
“There was no reason to take this thing completely offline and have the responsibility assumed by a fairly small body of people who have many, many other things on their plate.”
—Ron Ostberg, former Municipal Buildings Committee member
“There’s no vision here. It’s almost like it’s become ‘what Town Hall will not be’.” —David Kassel, W. Bare Hill Road
“I feel what’s been lost is a good deal of expertise and the goodwill of community involvement.” —Marc Vilain, Oak Hill Road
“The BOS came in after a year and a half, after a lot of people put a lot of work and thought into it, and said, ‘Why don’t we do it differently and better?’ It’s disruptive.” —Michael Kilian, Candleberry Lane
“We have an excellent building committee, excellent professionals, and we should be using them. We’re lucky to have them volunteering for this.”
—Willie Wickman, Willow Road
On moving employees
out of Town Hall
“I hate to say it, but I think the town as a whole would be apathetic enough to say, ‘You know what, I don’t go to Town Hall that often, do whatever you want with it.’ It feels like the vision of the town is being defaulted to the selectmen.”
—Michael Kilian, Candleberry Lane
“Anybody had a look at Ayer Town Hall? It’s very nice and it’s right in the center of town. Upton is renovating their Town Hall, and it will look as good as Ayer’s. What is wrong with this town?” —Sharon McCarthy, East Bare Hill Road
“Some people are still unhappy that the Post Office moved out of town center. These are not simple decisions. They have consequences that last for 100 years or more.” —Paul Green, Old Littleton Road
“This silliness, and I consider it silliness, about leasing space elsewhere is never going to happen. It is simply an experiment that we thought we would consider because there might be uses of this town building that are more important to the public given this reduced scope.” —Selectman Leo Blair
BOS vs. THBC
“If you hear urgency in my voice and that of the other board members, it’s because we understand that as this process goes on, the chance of realizing the project, of giving the residents of Harvard what they want, is diminishing.”
—Selectman Leo Blair
“If rising costs necessitated expeditious behavior, I don’t understand how the BOS, with many things to do, could move more expeditiously than the THBC. If that was their reason, we never heard it.”
—Eric Broadbent, former THBC member
“We never had the chance to go beyond the phasing option. We started the discussion, but we never finished it.” —Pete Jackson, former THBC chairman
“It’s also important to understand that the people in this room are passionate about town buildings and are involved in the process and did participate in the process. There are thousands more people that are not here. And when you ask them the same question, they don’t have your passion. They don’t agree with
you.” —Selectman Leo Blair
Constructive criticism with a sprinkling of blame, interruptions, accusations, and threats were the order of the night when a group of 45 Harvard residents gathered at the Center on the Common last Wednesday to discuss the selectmen’s handling of the Town Hall renovation project.
Foremost on many minds was what they considered to be the “hijacking” of the project by the Board of Selectmen (BOS), not only from the Town Hall Building Committee, but also from residents who have spoken at multiple town forums, as well as from the language of Article 18, passed at Town Meeting in April 2012. When the meeting ended, the consensus was that the attendees wanted the BOS to bring the Town Hall Building Committee (THBC) back into the design process.
The meeting, organized by Paul Richards of Westcott Road, was attended by four of the five selectmen (Ron Ricci was absent), as well as all the members of the THBC, including Pete Jackson, who had resigned just the day before. Also present were former members of the Municipal Building Committee, as well as members of the Historical Commission.
Getting back on track
Asked why he had organized the meeting, Richards said he resented the selectmen’s actions in removing the THBC from the process and then presenting the design options at their April 28 meeting as a “fait accompli.” He also cited the “public mistreatment and abuse of a neighbor and friend of mine, Pete Jackson, who’s been a great asset to this town” as an initial motivation.
The meeting began with Richards outlining the importance of getting the Town Hall project back on track. “If we’re going to spend the money that was originally appropriated, we have to do it responsibly,” he said. “We need to put the failures behind us and figure out a way forward together. If we don’t, all of the capital projects that are lined up behind this one won’t be realized, because taxpayers won’t have the confidence that their tax dollars are being well spent.”
Richards then read Article 18, passed at the April 2012 Annual Town Meeting, which asked voters to appropriate $3.97 million for the reconstruction and renovation of Town Hall, “to be expended under the direction of the Board of Selectmen and the Municipal Building Committee.”
Need for a building committee
Resident Jim Lee asked if it was legal for the BOS to remove the THBC from the process, given that language in the article. The MBC, created in 2011 and charged with creating schematic designs for Town Hall and Hildreth House, evolved into the THBC, charged with completing the design and construction of Town Hall. While Town Counsel Mark Lanza has reportedly stated that the BOS has the right to expend the funds, the elimination of the building committee from the schematic design process did not sit well with most of the attendees.
Recently resigned THBC members Eric Broadbent and Pete Jackson questioned why their committee was not given the chance to come up with alternative design options based on the budget. Jackson remarked that it took the THBC only four months to come up with schematic designs for both Hildreth House and Town Hall. Many residents questioned the selectmen’s ability to oversee the schematic design process, given their lack of expertise and many other responsibilities.
Also discussed was Town Administrator Tim Bragan’s idea of moving town employees out of Town Hall to leased space in the commercial district. Ron Ostberg, former chairman of the MBC, cited two studies previously conducted by the town that concluded that government offices should stay in the center of town. Historical Commission Chairman Ken Swanton agreed, saying that while he thought the selectmen did a good job pulling together and trying to fit everything within the budget, the HHC is very concerned with the possibility of town offices moving. Others criticized the proposal, calling it “arbitrary” and “out of the blue.”
Urgency of getting the job done
The selectmen were silent for the first hour and a half of the meeting, until Selectman Leo Blair spoke up. Blair explained how the selectmen got to their chosen schematic design—known as Plan 1B—saying that given the budget and the program needs identified by the town, which included restoring the second floor as community space, the selectmen decided that Plan 1B was the best fit. He said it had always been the board’s intention to bring a building committee back into the project once a design was chosen. He cited a sense of urgency due to escalating costs and a deteriorating building.
As Blair tried to continue, Richards interrupted him, saying the group needed to get back to the forum. Blair protested that he wasn’t finished, and as Richards again tried to stop him from speaking, former Selectman Peter Warren spoke up, saying “I want to hear him.” After Blair got in a few more sentences, Willow Road resident Willie Wickman interrupted him, saying that he was violating the Open Meeting Law, and that he should speak as a resident, not as a selectman. Blair denied that he was violating the Open Meeting Law, saying that the selectmen were not conferring or proposing votes. Blair concluded by saying he thought the town was very close to a process that will result in something that “satisfies most of what we think most people want.” He added, “We could be wrong about that,” and Richards whole-heartedly concurred.
The ‘nuclear option’
Richards and East Bare Hill Road resident Jim Lee went on to assert that the town voted for a design and a process that it wasn’t getting. The only way that design could change without a Town Meeting vote, they said, was by consensus between the BOS and the THBC, as implied in Article 18. “That’s ‘and’, not ‘or’,” said Lee.
Talk then turned to Richards’ own “Plan B,” which he called the “nuclear option.” Richards informed the gathering that, should the selectmen not bring the THBC back into the design process, he will try to get the 200 signatures necessary to call a Special Town Meeting asking residents to vote to rescind the $3.97 million, minus any expenses already incurred. Many residents voiced disapproval of that plan, including Warren, who said, “I think that’s a very dangerous article, because if that gets voted, the money’s gone. And when we come back, we might have nothing.”
Selectwoman Marie Sobalvarro broke her silence, explaining that one reason the THBC was excluded from the process was that she saw their interest in phasing the project. Given all the other capital projects awaiting funding, she didn’t think phasing was a viable option, she said. Jackson responded that the building committee was discussing phasing because the public asked for phasing at the forums held after the failed Special Town Meeting vote for more funds last fall. But, he said, that wasn’t the only option they were planning to look at. According to Jackson, they were never given the chance to look further.
