At back-to-back Town Meetings on Monday, Oct. 24, Harvard voters will be asked to approve nine articles: one at a so-called Super Town Meeting, held simultaneously with the towns of Ayer and Shirley, and eight at a Harvard-specific Special Town Meeting. The first meeting will begin at 7 p.m. in Cronin Auditorium at the Bromfield School; the second will convene at approximately 7:30 p.m., or after the first has adjourned.
Here’s what you need to know about each of the nine articles:
WARRANT FOR THE DEVENS SUPER TOWN MEETING
ARTICLE 1:
DEVENS—REVISIONS TO THE DEVENS ZONING BY-LAWS, DEVENS ZONING MAP, AND DEVENS REUSE PLAN—EXPANDING THE INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY BUSINESS ZONE
Inserted by: Board of Selectmen at the request of MassDevelopment
Recommended by: Board of Selectmen and Planning Board
Impact on Harvard taxpayers: No direct impact, although sale of the land to a biopharmaceutical company or other advanced manufacturing business could bring jobs to the area that would contribute corporate and personal tax dollars to the Massachusetts treasury
Vote required: Majority vote of the Special Town Meetings of Ayer, Shirley, and Harvard required for passage
Passage of this article would create an approximately 40-acre parcel at Devens zoned for a biopharmaceutical business such as Bristol-Myers Squibb, a company that has already built advanced manufacturing facilities at the former U.S. Army base. MassDevelopment Vice President for Devens Thatcher Kezer has said the agency hopes and expects that the new parcel will attract “a significant investment” by such a company.
An earlier version of this article was approved by Ayer and Shirley town meetings in June 2105, but rejected by Harvard, largely because of what the Harvard Planning Board considered the ambiguity of its language and inadequacy of the map detailing the proposed changes. The article has been rewritten and the map updated, and Kezer and MassDevelopment Land Director Ed Starzec have presented the revised bylaw to both the Planning Board and the selectmen. Both boards have recommended by unanimous vote that the article be approved. There have been no objections from any Harvard official or resident.
Further details are available at a MassDevelopment-supported website: www.courbanize.com/projects/devens-2016/information.
WARRANT FOR THE HARVARD SPECIAL TOWN MEETING
ARTICLE 1:
ACQUIRE HORSE MEADOWS KNOLL
FOR CONSERVATION PURPOSES
Inserted by: Board of Selectmen and the Conservation Commission
Recommended by: Conservation Commission, the Community Preservation Committee, the Capital Planning and Investment Committee, the Finance Committee, and the Board of Selectmen
Vote required: Two-thirds vote required for passage
Impact on Harvard taxpayers: No direct impact
This article asks the town to approve funds to buy about 47 acres of land on Sherry Road along the Harvard-Boxborough line, most of it for conservation purposes. The Harvard Conservation Trust has signed a purchase-and-sale agreement to pay $800,000 for the land, but the purchase is contingent on obtaining funds from several sources.
First, the town is being asked to provide $200,000 toward the purchase. Half that sum would come from the Community Preservation Fund, the other half from the Capital Planning and Investment Fund. Because the money is being drawn from existing funds, no additional taxpayer support is needed.
Second, the purchase is contingent on getting a grant of $397,000 from the state, for which the Conservation Commission has applied under the Massachusetts LAND (Local Acquisitions for Natural Diversity) program. Because that grant provides reimbursement rather than cash up front, the Conservation Commission has asked the town for a loan of $400,000 from the Capital Planning and Investment Fund, to be repaid when the state money comes through. Should the state turn down the grant request, the purchase-and-sale agreement would be void, so there is no risk to the town.
Third, the Conservation Trust would make up the remainder of the purchase price, plus expenses, by selling one house lot from the property and by making an additional gift to the town from its own funds.
ARTICLE 2 :
RE-VOTE OF ARTICLE 4 AND AMEND TWO BUDGET LINES
FOR THE CABLE ACCESS BUDGET
Inserted by: the Board of Selectmen and the Cable Access Committee
Recommended by: Finance Committee and the Board of Selectmen
Vote required: Majority vote required for passage
Impact on Harvard taxpayers: None
This article transfers the $69,138 to Harvard Cable TV that was approved by voters at the April 2016 Annual Town Meeting but had not yet been received from Charter Communications. The article also eliminates the “personnel, expense, and equipment” category (line 51) shown in the April budget, leaving only a single line (line 52) for the total amount.
Because the amount involved is simply being transferred from one account to another and recategorized, there is no impact to taxpayers. The total fiscal 2017 budget for the town remains $23,509,930 and the total amount to be raised for the year through property taxes remains $23,299,809. Nevertheless, changing that single line in the seven-page budget requires that the entire budget be approved by Town Meeting once again.
ARTICLE 3:
ELECTRICAL AGGREGATION
Inserted by: Board of Selectmen at the request of Harvard Energy Advisory Committee
Recommended by: Board of Selectmen
Vote Required: Majority vote required for passage
Impact on Harvard taxpayers: None
Massachusetts law (Chapter 164, Section 134) allows a town to aggregate the demand for electricity by its businesses and residents and to negotiate a fixed-rate contract on their behalf with a third-party supplier. Article 3’s passage would empower the Board of Selectmen to hire an energy broker to prepare a Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) plan for the town. The plan, which would state the town’s goals and its desired consumer options, would require approval of the state Department of Energy Resources and the state Department of Public Utilities. At least one public hearing is required prior to the plan’s submission to state agencies for approval. Once the plan is approved, the selectmen would solicit bids for the town’s energy contract and select a supplier. Residents and businesses would be offered the opportunity to opt out. Proponents say passage of this article would allow more choice for consumers, including plans with a higher percentage of renewable energy than the 5 percent required of suppliers by the state. A low-price option could provide a lower rate than currently available from National Grid.
For additional details, see “Article 3: Empowering town to purchase electricity for businesses, residences“
ARTICLE 4:
AMEND §125-39, SITE STANDARDS, OF THE PROTECTIVE BYLAW, BY ADDING A NEW SUBSECTION G, SIDEWALKS WITHIN THE COMMERCIAL DISTRICT
Inserted by: Planning Board
Recommended by: Planning Board and the Board of Selectmen
Vote required: Two-thirds vote required for passage
Impact on Harvard taxpayers: None
Passage of this article would mean that any commercial development on a lot in the town’s commercial district (C-district) would require the construction of a sidewalk on any side of the lot that abuts a public road, as well as walkways from that sidewalk to the main entrance of any principal buildings on the lot. The bylaw amendment would apply only to uses that require site plan approval from the Planning Board, and it would not apply to single-family residences in the C-district. The C-district is the area located along Ayer Road north of Route 2 to about one-quarter mile south of the Ayer town line.
Sidewalks and walkways would have to be 6 feet wide, and the sidewalk adjacent to the road would need to be separated from the edge of the road by a buffer at least 4 feet wide.
The purpose of the bylaw amendment is to ensure that any future commercial development in this district will be pedestrian friendly. This is a follow-up to the recent adoption of a set of commercial design guidelines by the Planning Board. Those guidelines are only recommendations, whereas a bylaw amendment would carry more weight.
ARTICLE 5:
AMEND THE PROTECTIVE BYLAW BY ADDING A
NEW SECTION 125-55, HILDRETH HOUSING OVERLAY DISTRICT
Inserted by: Planning Board
Recommended by: Planning Board and the Board of Selectmen
Vote required: Two-thirds vote required for passage
Impact on Harvard taxpayers: None
This change to the zoning bylaw would be the first step necessary to allow moderately priced senior housing to be built on the west side of Hildreth House. Two parcels of land are included in the proposed overlay district, the Hildreth House parcel and the fire station parcel. The land behind the fire station is being considered because the amount of ledge known to exist on the Hildreth parcel would make it more difficult to build on. The housing site would consist of only a piece of each parcel, and the fire station would remain where it is.
The parcels are currently zoned for agricultural or residential use, which includes single-family or two-family houses. This bylaw would add single-family attached units, up to six units per building, to the zoning. Up to 25 percent of the units could have three bedrooms; the remainder would have only one or two bedrooms. Ten percent of the site would be set aside as common open space. Building height would be restricted to 35 feet, the minimum separation between buildings would be 20 feet, and a maximum of 12 units would be allowed per acre. The maximum number of units would also be limited by the remaining capacity of the town sewer system, which is 3,000 gallons per day, according to the Sewer and Water Commission. Each unit would require that at least one resident be 60 years of age or older, a restriction that would be recorded in the unit’s deed.
If Article 5 passes, the next step would be for the Housing@Hildreth House Committee to determine which portions of the two parcels could be sold or leased while still providing for the needs of the Fire Department and a possible Hildreth House expansion. The committee would also draft a set of requirements and standards for the housing and a plan to provide right-of-way access to the housing. The town would then be asked to vote on whether it would approve the sale or lease of the land for the purpose of building senior housing.
ARTICLE 6:
CREATION OF A PUBLIC UTILITY FOR THE PURPOSE OF
CREATING A MUNICIPAL INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDER
Inserted by: Board of Selectmen at the request of the Broadband Committee
Recommended by: Board of Selectmen
Vote required: Majority vote required for passage
Impact on Harvard taxpayers: No impact
Passage of Article 6 would be the first of two votes needed to establish a telecommunications municipal light plant (MLP) for the purpose of building a fiber-optic network for the town of Harvard and selling internet services to residents and businesses. There is no immediate cost to taxpayers, but the Broadband Committee, the article’s sponsor, would use an affirmative vote to begin exploring the feasibility and cost of such a network with other towns and potential vendors. Chapter 164 of Massachusetts General Law says that a second affirmative vote is required at the next Town Meeting before the town can create a telecommunications MLP. Article 6 simply empowers the Broadband Committee to begin a deeper study of the matter.
For additional information, see the Sept. 22, 2016, Press article titled, “Broadband for Harvard?” Additional details are also available at the Broadband Committee website; go to harvardbbc.org and select the “Resources” link.
ARTICLE 7:
CONTRACT—FIRE CHIEF WAGES
Inserted by: Board of Selectmen
Recommended by: Finance Committee and the Board of Selectmen
Vote required: Two-thirds vote required for passage
Impact on Harvard taxpayers: None
This article asks attendees to approve payment of $12,159 to Fire Chief Rick Sicard, back pay owed him under the terms of his current but unsigned contract. The money will be transferred from the town’s Stabilization Fund. Town Administrator Tim Bragan told the Finance Committee earlier this month that the compensation has been delayed due to a disagreement between Sicard and town officials over “working conditions.” The amount owed is not in dispute, but the contract, which has been in negotiation for 2½ years, remains unsigned, according to both Sicard and Bragan.
Because the money will be drawn from the town’s Stabilization Fund, there is no impact to taxpayers. However, use of the Stabilization Fund does require a two-thirds vote of Town Meeting.
ARTICLE 8:
COUNCIL ON AGING BYLAW
Inserted by: Board of Selectmen at the request of the Council on Aging
Recommended by: Board of Selectmen and the Council on Aging
Vote required: Majority vote required for passage
Impact on Harvard taxpayers: None
Because of the difficulty in assembling a quorum to vote on action items, the Council on Aging board of directors wants to provide for the appointment of an alternate member who would have voting power in the event that it lacks a quorum of regular members. But it turns out that the change in board membership requires Town Meeting to first approve a bylaw that establishes a Council on Aging for the town as an official town board, a formal step overlooked by town officials for decades.
The bylaw establishes the council as a nine-member board with one alternate member appointed by the selectmen, and empowered to coordinate and carry out programs that meet the needs of Harvard’s seniors, in coordination with programs of the Massachusetts Executive Office of Elder Affairs. The council is required to submit an annual report to the town clerk and send a copy to the Massachusetts Executive Office of Elder Affairs. And it may “appoint such clerks and other employees as it may require.”
