At Saturday’s Annual Town Meeting, voters will be asked to decide on 50 articles put forward by the selectmen and various town boards. Some ask for money, others propose changes to the town bylaws, or, in one case, create a new position. What follows is a synopsis of each, including its fiscal impact, in plain English.
If you’re looking for legalese, you’ll find it in the Town Meeting booklet, which all residents should have received in the mail last weekend. The booklet contains the exact wording of all 50 articles, their cost, and the recommendations of the Finance and Capital Planning and Investment committees. Readers should be aware, however, that the final wording and exact dollar amounts of some won’t be known until the motions for their adoption are read on the floor of Town Meeting. These motions can themselves be amended, so you need to stay on your toes. For help with specialized terms such as “General Fund” or “levy,” see our “Glossary of Town Meeting Lingo” on Page 16.
ARTICLE 1: HEAR ANNUAL REPORTS OF TOWN BOARDS AND COMMITTEES
Inserted by Board of Selectmen
No financial impact
Requires majority vote
An annual housekeeping formality, this article asks voters to hear reports from the Board of Selectmen, School Committee, and any other boards with prepared reports to present. Written reports for virtually every town committee and department appear in either the 2017 Town Meeting booklet, which includes reports from the Finance and Capital committees, or the 2016 Annual Town Report, which includes everyone else. The School Committee typically provides a report of its own. Hard copies of all three reports will be available at Town Meeting.
Passage of this article opens the door for any board or committee to step forward and tell the town of its activities and accomplishments over the past year.
ARTICLE 2: PAY BILL OF PRIOR FISCAL YEAR
Inserted by Board of Selectmen
Amount: $5,34
Money source: Stabilization Fund
Requires four-fifths vote
Recommended by selectmen and Finance Committee
The town owes the Nashoba Associated Boards of Health $5,345 for a bill left unpaid at the close of fiscal 2016. A yes vote will pay for it by withdrawing money from the town’s Stabilization Fund, whose current balance is $1.2 million, according to Finance Director David Nalchajian.
ARTICLE 3: EXTEND SUNSET DATES
Inserted by the Board of Selectme
Amount: Whatever remains of the $42,800 originally appropriate
Money source: General Fund
Requires a majority vote
Recommended by selectmen and Finance Committee
This article addresses three Department of Public Works requests approved by voters at last year’s town meeting. One was for $15,000 to hire a part-time worker to do seasonal mowing; one was for $20,000 to contract with a professional company for tree removal and trimming; and one was for $7,800 to pay for a geographic information system mapping of the water and sewer lines. None of these tasks was undertaken (mainly due to the departure of the DPW director), and no funds were expended. A yes vote for this article will extend the availability of the funds one more year, until June 30, 2018.
ARTICLE 4: CONTRACT – POLICE DEPARTMENT EMPLOYEE WAGES
Inserted by the Board of Selectmen
Amount: $55,865
Money source: Stabilization Fund ($22,745) and General Fund ($33,120)
Requires a majority vote
Recommended by selectmenand Finance Committee
The police have been without a contract for the past two fiscal years. Now that a new one has been ratified, the town must make up the pay that Harvard police officers would have received during those two years had the new contract been in place. A vote in favor of this article will authorize the town to withdraw $22,245 from its Stabilization Fund to pay for 2016 wages owed and $33,120 from the General Fund for fiscal 2017 wages owed.
ARTICLE 5: APPROVE THE TOWN’S OMNIBUS BUDGET
Inserted by the Finance Committee
Amount: $24,081,612
Money source: General Fund
Requires a majority vote
Recommended by selectmen and Finance Committee
Although it takes months to prepare, the town’s omnibus budget is typically approved in a matter of minutes, often without a single question asked or comment made. In its seven pages (see pages 31–37 in this year’s Town Meeting booklet), the budget lays out the amount the Finance Committee recommends be spent by each department in the coming year. The document also shows how much each department spent in fiscal years 2014 through 2016, as well as the amount authorized for fiscal 2017 (actual spending won’t be known until the fiscal year ends).
The budget for fiscal 2018 totals $24,081,612 (see the line titled “Grand Total Omnibus Budget” on page 37), a 2.43 percent increase over this year’s amount.
As always, the operating budget for Harvard’s schools (line 32, page 34) accounts for the biggest chunk of town spending, totaling $13,005,805, a 3.17 percent increase over fiscal 2017. Additional detail can be found on pages 6–9 in the Town Meeting booklet, with a spotlight on plans to renovate Hildreth Elementary School, likely to be Harvard’s most expensive building project in the next few years. Look for the School Committee’s own budget book, available at Town Meeting. It’s the canary yellow one.
Benefits for town and school employees (line 59, page 36) showed the most dramatic percentage increase, jumping 17.8 percent to $4.2 million for fiscal 2018, driven largely by a spike in health insurance costs.
Other big budget categories include the following:
General government, which includes salaries for the town administrator and assistant town administrator, finance director, and town clerk and pays for the operation of town buildings: $1.4 million (see Total General Govt. on page 32).
Public safety, including spending for police, fire, ambulance, and inspectional services: $1.6 million (see Total Public Safety on page 33).
Physical environment, most of which is for the Department of Public Works (see lines 34, 35, and 36), but includes the Transfer Station, water department, and cemeteries as well: $1.4 million (see Total Physical Environment on page 35).
Before a penny of this money can be spent next fiscal year, Town Meeting must give its assent. The Finance Committee and Board of Selectmen recommend that Town Meeting pass the article in its entirety.
ARTICLE 6: RESERVE FUND FISCAL YEAR 2018
Inserted by Finance Committee
Amount: $350,000
Money source: General Fund
Requires a majority vote
Recommended by selectmen and Finance Committee
Not all of the money spent by the town is included in the omnibus budget. There are always unforeseen expenses. The Finance Committee typically recommends that $350,000 be appropriated for the town’s Reserve Fund, half for traditional emergencies, such as extra plowing and treatment of roads in an especially snowy winter, and half to cover potential unforeseen special education and other costs.
The Reserve Fund is under the control of the Finance Committee and saves the town from having to hold numerous special town meetings to authorize the expenditures of small, unforeseen sums. Whatever is left at the end of this year will be swept and added to the calculation of free cash.
ARTICLE 7: TRAFFIC ENGINEERING SERVICES
Inserted by the Board of Selectmen
Amount: $15,000
Money Source: General Fund
Requires a majority vote
Recommended by selectmen and Finance Committee
A vote for this article will provide funding for a traffic engineering firm to study traffic issues at the Poor Farm Road, Gebo Lane, and Lancaster County Road intersections with Ayer Road. Town officials have been concerned about traffic speeds and accidents along this stretch of road for more than a decade.
ARTICLE 8: PERSONNEL STUDY
Inserted by the Board of Selectmen on behalf of the Personnel Board
Amount: $25,000
Money source: General Fund
Requires majority vote
Recommended by selectmen and Finance Committee
This $25,000 would pay to hire a professional individual or company to review the town’s existing job descriptions and pay-grade process and make recommendations for updating them and making them consistent with comparable jobs in other communities. It has been 20 years since some of the documents have been reviewed, and many of the descriptions and criteria no longer describe the work actually being done. See “Time to modernize Harvard’s personnel system?”
ARTICLE 9: DEPARTMENTAL MANAGEMENT AUDIT
Inserted by Board of Selectmen
Amount: $15,000
Money source: General Fund
Requires majority vote
Recommended by selectmen and Finance Committee
Two years ago, the Board of Selectmen voted to conduct management audits of the Department of Public Works, the Fire and Ambulance departments, and the Police Department. The Collins Center for Public Management conducted the first three audits; this request would cover the cost of the final audit, the Police Department, which the selectmen hope can get underway in October.
ARTICLE 10: SOLAR-POWERED TRAFFIC SIGNS
Inserted by the Board of Selectmen
Amount: $17,843
Money source: General Fund
Requires majority vote
Recommended by selectmen and Finance Committee
This article would provide funding for the purchase of four solar-powered electronic speed signs that will assist in reducing vehicle speeds on public roads. The police chief will determine where the signs will be placed.
ARTICLE 11: FIRE HOSE
Inserted by Board of Selectmen
Amount: $11,000
Money source: General Fund
Requires majority vote
Recommended by selectmen and Finance Committee
Approximately one-third of existing Fire Department hose no longer meets certification standards or has been removed from service due to leaks. All hoses are more than 30 years old, while the National Fire Protection Association’s standard calls for hoses to be replaced every 10 years. This article would provide money to replace the sections of hose that have become unusable over the past four years. Fire Chief Rick Sicard has also applied for a grant that would match these funds, allowing the department to replace all of its hoses.
ARTICLE 12: SEASONAL MOWING
Inserted by Board of Selectmen
Amount: $15,000
Money source: General Fund
Requires majority vote
Recommended by selectmen and Finance Committee
Although no funds were spent from last year’s seasonal mowing article, the town is requesting an additional $15,000 for seasonal mowing in fiscal 2018 to catch up with this task. Funds from last year can be spent on mowing up to June 30, 2018, if Article 3 passes.
ARTICLE 13: CONTRACT – PUBLIC WORKS EMPLOYEES WAGES
Inserted by Board of Selectmen
Amount: $17,178
Money source: General Fund
Requires majority vote
Recommended by selectmen and Finance Committee
Department of Public Works employees have been working under an expired contract for most of this year. With a new one in place, they are owed back pay equal to the additional amount, $17,118, that they would have earned during that period.
ARTICLE 14: FULL-TIME FIREFIGHTER/EMT
Inserted by Board of Selectmen
Amount: $58,573
Money source: General Fund
Requires majority vote
Recommended by selectmen and Finance Committee
This item would fund a full-time firefighter/EMT to report to the fire chief but whose time and duties would be shared 50-50 between the Fire Department and the Ambulance Service.
This would be the first permanent hire to the Fire Department since Chief Rick Sicard, and the first permanent hire to the Ambulance Service. This individual’s Fire Department responsibilities will be largely preventive, such as completing inspections for schools, homes, and commercial properties, and conducting fire alarm tests. Currently the fire chief spends 40 percent of his time on fire prevention, and he is not able to get to all the required inspections, specifically those for commercial properties. On the ambulance side, the EMT will respond to emergency calls during weekday daytime hours, filling a difficult-to-staff gap in crew coverage because so many of Harvard’s EMTs work full-time jobs during the day. To prepare the two departments to share staff for the first time, Sicard has been discussing best practices with other towns that have been through a similar staffing change, and he is confident the two departments will work cooperatively to ensure the transition goes smoothly. While this position will be full-time, Sicard said there will be no difference in rank, esteem, or status between the permanent employee and the on-call firefighters, who are volunteers but are paid a per-call stipend. “They will be on the same team and will do the same jobs,” he said in a phone interview this week.
ARTICLE 15: COUNCIL ON AGING MOVEABLE CARTS
Inserted by Board of Selectmen on behalf of the Council on Aging
Amount: $2,000
Money source: General Fund
Requires majority vote
Recommended by selectmen and Finance Committee
During the recent accessibility and safety renovation of Hildreth House, counter space in the pantry was lost. Rather than rebuild permanent counters in the kitchen, which is slated for expansion in a future renovation, the Council on Aging is requesting kitchen carts on wheels. The carts would provide counter space as well as storage space.
ARTICLE 16: PARKS AND RECREATION BOATS
Inserted by Parks and Recreation Commission
Amount: $14,900
Money source: General Fund
Requires majority vote
Recommended by selectmen and Finance Committee
At the recommendation of Harbormaster Bob O’Shea, the Parks and Recreation Commission is requesting $8,900 to purchase a new 17-foot aluminum rescue motorboat with trailer and safety equipment for beach staff use. This new boat would replace a 15-year-old boat that was retrofitted for safety and is not sufficient for rescue use, according to the harbormaster. The remaining $6,000 would be used to repair three Sunfish sailboats with cracked daggerboards and to buy a new Sunfish sailboat, resulting in eight working boats for summer sailing lessons.
ARTICLE 17: TOWN PLANNER
Inserted by the Planning Board
Amount: $40,000
Money source: General Fund
Requires majority vote
Recommended by selectmen and Finance Committee
This article appropriates $40,000 to continue the position of town planner for another year. The amount is $20,000 less than what was requested by the Planning Board.
Last year’s Town Meeting appropriated $60,000 for a town planner. For two viewpoints on the recommendations of the selectmen and Finance Committee, see the “Consider This” article in this week’s paper and the one in the March 24 issue.
ARTICLE 18: CONSERVATION FUND
Inserted by the Board of Selectmen on behalf of the Conservation Commission
Amount: $20,000
Money source: General Fund
Requires majority vote
Recommended in its current form by selectmen and Finance Committee
In recent years, the Conservation Commission has had dwindling resources for maintaining its conservation land, much of which was acquired before Harvard adopted the Community Preservation Act in 2001. (CPA money can’t be used for upkeep except on land bought with CPA funds.) Part of the $20,000 in this article would repay many years’ worth of licensing fees for the agricultural use of conservation land, fees that went into town coffers rather than into the Conservation Fund. This article replaces the Conservation Commission’s original request for $200,000. The Finance Committee recommended against that request, and the selectmen voted not to put it on the warrant.
ARTICLE 19: CAPITAL PLANNING AND INVESTMENT FUND FUNDING
Inserted by the Finance Committee
Amount: $40,000
Money source: General Fund
Requires two-thirds vote to appropriate money to the Capital Stabilization and Investment Fund
Recommended in its current form by selectmen and Finance Committee
This $40,000 is earmarked for small capital requests submitted by the DPW. Previously, the amount was part of the line item budget of the DPW and available to the DPW director for discretionary capital purchases during the year.
ARTICLE 20: CAPITAL PLANNING AND INVESTMENT COMMITTEE DEBT PAYMENT
Inserted by the Finance Committee and the Capital Planning and Investment Committee
Amount: $76,045
Money source: Capital Stabilization and Investment Fund
Requires two-thirds vote
Recommended by selectmen and Finance Committee
This article withdraws $76,045 from the Capital Stabilization and Investment Fund to pay for principal and interest on two capital committee loans, one for past purchases of fire and DPW vehicles and a second for a town water project. See page 19 of the Town Warrant booklet, “Town of Harvard Capital Plan,” for details.
ARTICLE 21: UPGRADE TOWN’S FIRE ALARM SYSTEM
Inserted by the Board of Selectmen and Capital Planning and Investment Committee
Amount: $40,598
Money source: Capital Stabilization and Investment Fund
Requires two-thirds vote
Recommended by selectmen and Finance Committee in conjunction with Capital Planning and Investment Committee
The current fire alarm system is more than 60 years old and is hard wired to the school buildings, new and old libraries, Town Hall, and the churches in the center of town. The wires are costly to maintain, and outages may be difficult to detect because the Public Safety Building is not staffed 24 hours a day. If approved, a radio-controlled system will replace the hard-wired one, which would increase the reliability of the system and the types of alarms available to include medical, burglar, and panic alarms, and will eliminate expensive labor needed to maintain the wires in the current system. This is the first part of a three-year upgrade project, which eventually will allow home and business owners to tie into the system for a fee, providing the town with a new revenue source and residents with increased protection.
ARTICLE 22: FIRE PONDS RESTORATION
Inserted by Board of Selectmen and Capital Planning and Investment Committee
Amount: $100,000
Money source: Excluded debt borrowing (5-year loan, aka bond anticipation note or BAN); will raise property taxes
Contingent upon passage of Question 1 at April 4 Town Election
Requires two-thirds vote at Town Meeting and majority vote at Town Election
Recommended by selectmen and Finance Committee in conjunction with Capital Planning and Investment Committee
Fire Chief Rick Sicard has requested $100,000 to begin the process of assessing the condition of the town’s fire ponds and planning for their repair and upkeep. See our Page 1 Press coverage in the March 24 issue for more details.
ARTICLE 23: PURCHASE NEW HEAVY DUTY DUMP TRUCK
Inserted by Board of Selectmen and Capital Planning and Investment Committee
Amount: $182,000
Money source: Excluded debt borrowing (5-year BAN); will raise property taxes
Contingent upon passage of Question 2 in April 4 Town Election
Requires two-thirds vote at Town Meeting and majority vote at Town Election
Recommended by selectmen and Finance Committee in conjunction with the Capital Planning and Investment Committee
A yes vote will allow the DPW to replace a 1996 Mack truck with a new 2018 six-wheel, heavy-duty dump-sander truck. It would be the second truck of its kind in the DPW’s fleet, and the first has been used successfully to safely sand Harvard’s hills during ice storms. It can also be easily converted from sander to dump truck for all-season use.
ARTICLE 24: CONSTRUCTION FOR HAPGOOD LIBRARY ADA ACCESSIBLE BACK ENTRANCE AND PARKING SPACE
Inserted by Board of Selectmen and Capital Planning and Investment Committee
Amount: $55,000
Money source: Capital Stabilization and Investment Fund
Requires two-thirds vote
Recommended by selectmen and Finance Committee in conjunction with Capital Planning and Investment Committee
This spring, the selectmen approved a three-year lease of the old library to the Harvard Cultural Collaborative. The lease specifies that the building must have an Americans with Disabilities Act–compliant accessible entrance or a waiver from the Architectural Access Board to allow the building to be occupied while an accessible entrance is built. This article would provide funding to make the back door and the accessible parking space compliant with current ADA regulations.
ARTICLE 25: DESIGN, ENGINEERING AND COST STUDY FOR HAPGOOD LIBRARY ADA ACCESSIBLE FRONT DOOR AND ADA COMPLIANCE ISSUES
Inserted by Board of Selectmen and Capital Planning and Investment Committee
Amount: $20,000
Money source: Capital Stabilization and Investment Fund
Requires two-thirds vote
Recommended by selectmen and Finance Committee in conjunction with Capital Planning and Investment Committee
The Old Library Accessibility Committee studied various approaches to making the old library accessible, and it selected a center entrance on Fairbank Street with a ramp as its preferred solution. The Board of Selectmen also unanimously approved that design as its preferred solution. Article 25 requests $20,000 to pay for the design, engineering, and cost estimate services for the center entrance. The services requested also include the identification of any code compliance issues inside the building that may be triggered by the cost of this renovation, with cost estimates to fix those issues.
ARTICLE 26: DOOR LOCKS FOR THE BROMFIELD SCHOOL
Inserted by the School Committee and Capital Planning and Investment Committee
Amount: $84,000
Money source: Capital Stabilization and Investment Fund
Requires two-thirds vote
Recommended by selectmen and Finance Committee in conjunction with Capital Planning and Investment Committee
The locks funded by this measure would allow Bromfield teachers and staff to bolt classroom and office doors from inside the room in case of an armed intruder. At present, the doors can be locked only with a key from the outside.
ARTICLE 27: SCIENCE LAB AT BROMFIELD
Inserted by the School Committee and Capital Planning and Investment Committee
Amount: $175,000
Money source: Excluded debt borrowing (5-year BAN); will raise property taxes
Contingent upon passage of Question 3 at April 4 Town Election
Requires two-thirds vote at Town Meeting and majority vote at Town Election
Recommended by selectmen and Finance Committee in conjunction with Capital Planning and Investment Committee
This measure is the next stage of a multiyear project to upgrade the Bromfield science labs. If approved, the funds would pay for renovating one of Bromfield’s two biology lab/classrooms. Money to renovate the second lab would come from the Devens fund, the amount MassDevelopment pays to the Harvard schools for educating students who live in Devens. The chemistry lab and one physics lab were renovated last year. A second physics lab will be upgraded in 2018, if approved. As a debt exclusion, the measure requires passage at Town Election as well.
ARTICLE 28: THE BROMFIELD MIDDLE SCHOOL BATHROOMS RENOVATION
Inserted by the School Committee and Capital Planning and Investment Committee
Amount: $20,000
Money source: Capital Stabilization and Investment Fund
Requires two-thirds vote
Recommended by selectmen and Finance Committee in conjunction with Capital Planning and Investment Committee
The four bathrooms in the middle school wing are “old and worn,” in the words of Principal Scott Hoffman. According to the capital committee’s report, repairs are no longer cost-effective; toilets, sinks, and stalls should be replaced. As in Article 27, the town is being asked to provide half the money needed, with the rest to come from the Devens fund.
ARTICLE 29: MIDDLE SCHOOL RAMP STUDY
Inserted by the School Committee and Capital Planning and Investment Committee
Amount: $30,000
Money source: Capital Stabilization and Investment Fund
Requires two-thirds vote
Recommended by selectmen and Finance Committee in conjunction with Capital Planning and Investment Committee
The middle school’s exterior ramp, which serves as an emergency exit, is deteriorating and must be replaced soon. This article seeks funds for a structural study to find out if the ramp should be rebuilt or if there is a more cost-effective option that would meet safety and accessibility requirements.
ARTICLE 30: PURCHASE NEW AMBULANCE
Inserted by the Board of Selectmen and Capital Planning and Investment Committee
Amount: $288,500
Money source: Ambulance receipts reserved for appropriations account (no cost to taxpayer)
Requires majority vote
Recommended by selectmen and Finance Committee in conjunction with Capital Planning and Investment Committee
The current ambulance is 10 years old, which was its expected lifespan. It also lacks some safety equipment that a new vehicle would include, such as floodlights for nighttime accident scenes. Both the new ambulance in this article and the new stretcher in Article 31 are to be paid for with funds that the volunteer Harvard Ambulance Service takes in from insurance payments for its services. However, as of the end of February, this fund held only about $291,000—just a little more than needed for the ambulance alone.
ARTICLE 31: PURCHASE NEW AMBULANCE STRETCHER
Inserted by the Board of Selectmen and Capital Planning and Investment Committee
Amount: $28,000
Money source: Ambulance receipts reserved for appropriation account (no cost to taxpayer)
Requires majority vote
Recommended by selectmen and Finance Committee in conjunction with Capital Planning and Investment Committee
Like the ambulance, the current stretcher is at the end of its expected lifespan. Its replacement would have a powered lift along with other new features. Financing was expected to come from the ambulance receipts fund, as noted in Article 30. Finance Director David Nalchajian says the Ambulance Service expected an additional $8,000 to $10,000 in income in March, leaving the fund about $16,000 short of covering the cost of both the ambulance and the stretcher. As a result, the articles will likely be modified at Town Meeting.
ARTICLE 32: HILDRETH ELEMENTARY SCHOOL FEASIBILITY STUDY AND DESIGN REPORT
Submitted by the School Committee
Amount: None
Requires majority vote to hear report
Last year’s Town Meeting approved a $500,000 bond anticipation note for a feasibility study both to eliminate the mold problems in the 1950s kindergarten wing and to bring the 1980s section of the school up to current standards for fire suppression, energy efficiency, and wheelchair accessibility. This study has been proceeding in cooperation with the Massachusetts School Building Authority, which will eventually reimburse Harvard for about 44 percent of the cost. In the next few months, the School Building Committee will choose among the design options for renovating the elementary school, so that next year’s Town Meeting can vote on a warrant article for the project.
ARTICLE 33: TOWN CLERK PRESERVATION OF HISTORIC TOWN DOCUMENTS
Inserted by the Town Clerk and the Community Preservation Committee
Amount: $24,752
Money source: Fiscal 2018 Community Preservation unspecified reserves
Requires two-thirds vote
The town clerk requested $24,752 in community preservation funds for the ongoing, professional preservation and restoration of town documents. The documents are disassembled from their bindings, cleaned, repaired if necessary, de-acidified, and rebound. The books are put on film and scanned to a CD. The CPC voted to allocate $24,752 for 20 books to be done this year.
ARTICLE 34: CONSERVATION COMMISSION – CONSERVATION FUND
Inserted by the Conservation Commission and the Community Preservation Committee
Amount: $100,000
Money source: Fiscal 2018 Community Preservation Funds
Requires two-thirds vote
Open space and recreation is one of the areas the Community Preservation Committee can support with its funds. In this case, $66,828 will be transferred from the CPC’s unspecified reserves, and $33,172 from its open space and recreation reserves. The Conservation Commission can put this $100,000 toward the purchase of new conservation land or toward the upkeep of land already acquired with CPC money.
ARTICLE 35: COMMUNITY PRESERVATION COMMITTEE AFFORDABLE HOUSING RESERVES
Inserted by Community Preservation Committee
Amount: $20,268
Money source: Fiscal 2018 Community Preservation Fund unspecified reserves
Requires two-thirds vote
A vote for this article will transfer $20,268 from the Community Preservation Fund unspecified reserves to the Community Preservation Committee affordable housing reserves.
ARTICLE 36: PAYMENT OF DEBT ON TOWN HALL RENOVATION
Inserted by Community Preservation Committee
Amount: $50,838
Money source: Fiscal 2018 Community Preservation Fund unspecified reserves
Requires two-thirds vote
The $50,838 is the amount needed to service the CPC’s portion of the debt on a 20-year Town Hall renovation bond, as approved by the 2012 Annual Town Meeting. The CPC funded $1 million of the renovation, and last year it paid down $300,000 of that debt. This article makes the first payment on the remaining $700,000.
ARTICLE 37: COMMUNITY PRESERVATION FUNDS – ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES
Inserted by Community Preservation Committee
Amount: $2,500
Money source: Fiscal 2018 Community Preservation Fund unspecified reserves
Requires two-thirds vote
The CPC’s administrative expenses include necessary legal fees and Community Preservation Coalition membership. Funding for this article would come from the Community Preservation Fund.
ARTICLE 38: CONTINUATION OF
BROMFIELD STONE WALL RENOVATION
Inserted by Community Preservation Committee
Amount: $80,000
Money source: Community Preservation Funds
Requires two-thirds vote
About 200 feet of stone wall between the Old Bromfield and the Bromfield School driveways remains to be restored, 160 feet having previously been restored under requests from the Parks and Recreation Commission. The Harvard Historical Com
mission is seeking $80,000 to continue work toward the completion of the historical wall along the Bromfield playing field. The funding sources would be $41,089 from the historic preservation reserves in the Community Preservation Fund, and $38,911 from the CPC’s fiscal 2018 unspecified reserves.
ARTICLE 39: REVOLVING FUNDS
Inserted by the Finance Committee
Amount: No impact
Requires majority vote
Recommended by selectmen and Finance Committee
This article re-authorizes revolving funds for the Council on Aging (not to exceed $35,000 in fiscal 2018), Fourth of July Committee ($25,000 maximum), Harvard Ambulance Service ($100,000), the Fire Department’s S.A.F.E. Program ($15,000), and a town account for fees and spending associated with the review of permit applications (not to exceed a balance of $1,000). The article creates a new account for Harvard Community Cable Access to receive and disburse payments made by Charter Communications to the town under its cable agreement with Harvard ($25,000 maximum balance). No money is appropriated by this article, but it does provide necessary authorization for owners of the accounts to collect and disburse funds through these accounts.
ARTICLE 40: REVOLVING FUND BYLAW
Inserted by the Finance Committee
Amount: No impact
Requires majority vote
Recommended by selectmen and Finance Committee
Under existing state law, town revolving funds must be renewed each year. But in 2016 the Legislature passed a massive Municipal Modernization Act whose provisions allow a town to make its revolving funds permanent. Accepting those changes requires that Harvard amend its bylaws. Article 40 does that, creating the same revolving funds listed in Article 39, but making them permanent. Why are both articles necessary at this Town Meeting? Because the state has not decided which revolving fund law will apply in fiscal 2018. By passing both articles, the town will be prepared to make the switch once the state decides.
ARTICLE 41: MUNICIPAL RENTAL REVOLVING ACCOUNT
Inserted by Board of Selectmen
Amount: No financial impact
Requires majority vote
Recommended by selectmen and Finance Committee
This article provides a revolving account to hold monies received from the rental of the old library. The money will be available to spend on upkeep and maintenance of the building or property.
ARTICLE 42: AMEND THE PROTECTIVE BYLAW 125-30C LAND-STRUCTURE RELATIONS – HEIGHT
Inserted by the Planning Board
Amount: None
Requires two-thirds vote
Recommended by selectmen and Planning Board
This article amends the bylaw that limits the height of any building, other than a church, to three stories or less. The current bylaw specifies the height limitations on buildings but does not specify how building height is measured. The proposed change specifies that building height will be measured to the highest roof structure. In the case of a building that has an exit from the basement that is at the level of the surrounding land, the building height will be measured from the average finished level of the land on the street side of the building.
Suggested text additions are underlined in the article, while suggested deletions are struck through.
ARTICLE 43: AMEND THE PROTECTIVE BYLAW CHAPTER 125-56
Inserted by the Planning Board
Amount: None
Requires two-thirds vote
Recommended by selectmen
and Planning Board
Article 43 proposes an amendment to the town’s bylaw that would impose a temporary moratorium on the use of land or structures within the town for the cultivation, manufacture, and retail sale of marijuana and related products. The proposed moratorium would be in effect until April 30, 2018.
The purpose of the moratorium is to give the town time to study legal, planning, and public safety issues associated with the Regulation and Taxation of Marijuana Act adopted on Nov. 8, 2016, and to enact land-use controls that are consistent with the town’s planning goals and objectives.
ARTICLE 44: COMMUNITY
CABLE ACCESS
COMMITTEE MEMBERSHIP
Inserted by the Board of Selectmen
Amount: None
Requires majority vote
Recommended by selectmen
The Community Cable Access Committee proposes restructuring its seven-member committee to a committee with five members (three-year terms) and one associate member (one-year term). Fewer committee members are needed since the addition of new staff to run daily operations. Also, five voting members may more easily ensure a quorum, especially if the associate member can be designated by the chair to act as a voting member when needed.
ARTICLE 45: CITIZEN PETITION – RESOLUTION CONFIRMING THE TOWN OF HARVARD AS A COMMUNITY COMMITTED TO EQUITABLE TREATMENT FOR ALL
Submitted by: Citizen petition
Amount: None
Vote determined by motion
Selectmen voted “no position”
Inserted by citizen petition, this article proposes that the Board of Selectmen appoint a town equity officer who would be responsible for reviewing all town bylaws, operations, regulations and procedures, budgets, and capital plans, and recommending measures to remediate observed inequities. It is a follow-up to the selectmen’s Dec. 20 pledge that Harvard opposes all expressions of hatred, intolerance, and discrimination. For more details, see “Citizen petition aims to give anti-hate pledge teeth.”
ARTICLE 46: CREATION OF A PUBLIC UTILITY FOR THE PURPOSE OF CREATING A MUNICIPAL INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDER
Inserted by the Board of Selectmen
Amount: No financial impact
Requires majority vote
Recommended by selectmen
At last October’s Special Town Meeting, attendees voted to authorize the town to create a municipal light utility to explore the feasibility of building a town-owned broadband network. State law requires that Town Meeting vote twice for this measure. A vote for this article affirms that the town wishes the selectmen-appointed Broadband Committee to proceed with its investigations. No expenditures are involved at this time, but should further analysis prove that a municipal broadband network would be economically feasible, the committee will likely propose a capital expenditure sometime in the future to subsidize its construction.
ARTICLE 47: DEVENS DISCUSSION
Inserted by the selectmen
Amount: None
Requires a majority vote
Recommended by selectmen
A vote for Article 47 invites the selectmen to speak about their rationale for placing Question 4 on the ballot this year. Question 4 is a nonbinding resolution that asks whether the town wishes the selectmen to begin work on a plan for resuming jurisdiction of land at Devens that is within the historical boundaries of Harvard. For more details on the resolution itself, see “Selectmen ask voters to OK planning for Devens governance.”
ARTICLE 48: PARK AND RECREATION DIRECTOR
Inserted by the Parks and Recreation Commission
Amount: To be determined
Money source: To be determined
Requires majority vote
Selectmen took no position on the article; Finance Committee deferred making a recommendation until the plan’s dimensions are revealed at Town Meeting
This article would create the new position of parks and recreation director. The director would report to the Parks and Recreation Commission, and the position would be paid for by transferring the Community Education Program from the schools to the town. However, as of March 29, the School Committee did not support the change, and town officials with whom the Press spoke expected the article to be passed over and taken up again at a fall Special Town Meeting.
ARTICLE 49: ACCEPT GIFTS
OF PROPERTY
Inserted by Board of Selectmen
Amount: None
Requires two-thirds vote
Recommended by selectmen and Finance Committee
The town has been offered a piece of land on Stonecutters Path, next to the existing Kaufmann conservation land, and a vote is required to accept any land donated to the town. An article is inserted annually by the Board of Selectmen and has the support of the Finance Committee, which every year encourages residents to consider tax-deductible donations of land to the town.
ARTICLE 50: ACCEPT
STATE HIGHWAY FUNDS
Inserted by Board of Selectmen
Amount: Not yet available
Requires a majority vote
Recommended by the selectmen and the Finance Committee
This vote is required by state law to accept so-called Chapter 90 funds that the state Department of Transportation provides each year for the repair and improvement of the town’s 64 miles of roads. Harvard received $347,705 for use in fiscal 2017. The amount for fiscal 2018 is yet to be determined.
