From pot to school construction, BOS gets first look at 2018 Town Warrant

The selectmen had their first look this week at the growing list of 2018 Annual Town Meeting articles that voters will be asked to consider when they convene Saturday, May 5, in the Bromfield School gym.

As of their Tuesday night meeting, that list comprised 50 articles, including appropriations for the town’s annual budget and special projects, several changes to town bylaws, a historically large construction project, and one citizen petition. Voters must also decide three ballot questions at Town Election, which falls on May 8.

The two largest money articles on the warrant are the annual omnibus budget, currently estimated at $25.6 million, which pays for town services and debt, and a $52.8 million expenditure to build a new elementary school, one-third of which would be reimbursed by the state (see story).

Bylaw additions and revisions

Although it’s difficult to predict which articles will draw the lengthiest discussion, three that deal with the sale and growing of so-called recreational marijuana in Harvard are likely candidates. The Planning Board will present two new bylaws, one to regulate the sale of marijuana in town and a second to deal with growth of marijuana in an agricultural and residential district. (For details, see “Planning Board votes to permit single marijuana retail store, prohibit greenhouses” in the Jan. 24 Press.) In addition, the selectmen will ask voters to adopt the 3 percent local option tax on sales of marijuana in town that the Legislature has proposed.

The Planning Board is also at work on an agritourism bylaw that would allow the owners of two properties in town to build farm-to-table restaurants and offer entertainment, generating more revenue for the proprietors and sales tax dollars for the town, while preserving important viewsheds. (See “Overlay district would encourage preservation of farms through agritourism” on page 1)

A bylaw to protect town wells from runoff and other sources of pollution is likely to make the list as well. (See “Planning Board drafts water overlay district” in the Nov. 30 edition of the Press.) The board will hold a March 6 public hearing on the proposed marijuana and agritourism bylaws.

Reconfiguring town government

Although voters will be asked to ratify a charter at Town Election that would alter the structure of town government, several articles propose tweaks that would take effect whether or not the charter is approved. Town Administrator Tim Bragan and the selectmen have inserted articles that would allow the work of the assessors department to be outsourced to a third-party company, potentially eliminating the position of assistant assessor. At Tuesday’s meeting, Selectman Stu Sklar also asked to insert an article that would make permanent the budget process being followed by the selectmen, the Finance Committee, and the capital committee this year. That process is one proposed in the final charter report and is seen by the three committees as an improvement. Sklar said he wants to ensure that should the charter fail, the new procedures would endure.

The single citizen petition on the warrant is the work of Paul Green of Old Littleton Road. His proposal would amend the Hildreth housing overlay district bylaw to require a developer to include at least 25 percent as affordable units in any project built on the Hildreth land. “Selling the Hildreth land and getting a pile of cash is a temporary benefit to the town,” Green told the Press. Ensuring that a project adds to the town’s affordable housing would be “a permanent benefit,” he said. Like other bylaw articles, this one will be aired at the Planning Board’s March 6 public hearing and has not yet been vetted by Town Counsel Mark Lanza.

Two articles will be of particular interest to the town’s senior population. The first is Sklar’s proposal for means-tested senior property tax relief, which has been examined previously in this paper. (See “Selectmen vote to include senior tax relief on 2018 Town Meeting warrant” in the Feb. 1 Press.) A second would align the maximum incomes allowed to qualify for a senior tax deferral with those of the state’s senior circuit breaker.

Ballot questions

Following Town Meeting, voters will be asked to approve three ballot questions at Town Election. The first two would allow the town to borrow the money it needs to build a new elementary school and to make the old library accessible. The school question will be pertinent only if Annual Town Meeting has approved the school project the prior Saturday. Town Meeting has already approved the old library project; the ballot question asks to pay for it with a loan rather than a cash withdrawal from the town’s capital fund.

The third and final ballot question asks voters to approve the town charter drafted by the nine-member Charter Commission over 18 months. The charter has already been approved by the attorney general. In May, its fate will be in the hands of Harvard’s citizens.