It wasn’t exactly a pot of leprechaun gold, but it led to a donnybrook. At its St. Patrick’s Day meeting, a contentious Board of Selectmen voted to use about $120,000 from an old account toward design work on Hildreth House renovations.
The money was a portion of a decade-old federal community development block grant that had been shared among several towns. Harvard received the recovered $120,000 in 2012, as the program wound down. (See article in last week’s Harvard Press, “Selectmen seek advice on found money.”)
The selectmen had previously agreed to seek public input on the use of the funds, and Tuesday’s meeting included a public hearing on the question. But no one came to offer an opinion, nor—according to the selectmen and Town Administrator Tim Bragan—did anyone comment by email.
A contrary view
Several selectmen said applying the money to the Hildreth House renovations would lower the amount the town needs to borrow for the project, which in turn would help the renovations win voter approval at Town Meeting and the ballot box.
Selectwoman Lucy Wallace countered that doing so would lower property taxes by only between $3 and $5 year. But, she said, if the money was used for its original purpose of helping low-income residents repair their homes, it could have a major impact for some local families after a very damaging winter.
Selectman Leo Blair argued for using the money on Hildreth House, saying the town had “millions of dollars” sitting in accounts that were “too restricted to use.” Blair said he had identified more than $5 million in such accounts, and he wanted to see how that money could be freed up.
The topic brought on a heated exchange between Blair and Chairman Stu Sklar, who called Blair’s statements “irresponsible talk.” Sklar said the money in those accounts was designated for other town boards and committees and was not the selectmen’s to use.
Blair responded, “Your knee-jerk reaction is to say that there’s not enough taxes.”
When the shillelaghs were put away, the board voted 4–1 to use the $120,000 for the Hildreth House project, with Wallace alone opposing the decision.
