At next Monday’s Special Town Meeting, voters will be asked to decide on 22 articles put forward by the Select Board and various other town committees. Some ask for money, others propose changes to the town’s bylaws. On the following pages we explain each in everyday English, including the amount of money involved, its source, who oversees its use, whether the article impacts your taxes, and, when less than obvious, the consequences of voting yes or no.
If you’re looking for legalese, you’ll find it in the Town Meeting warrant, a copy of which is posted on the town website, as well as at Town Hall, the police station, and the post office on Ayer Road. Copies will also be distributed to Town Meeting attendees when they sign in to Cronin Auditorium. The warrant contains the exact wording of all 22 articles, their cost, whether they’ve been recommended by the Finance Committee and Select Board, and, when capital expenditures are involved, by the Capital Planning and Investment Committee. Readers should be aware, however, that the final wording and exact dollar amounts of some articles won’t be known until motions for their adoption are read on the floor of Town Meeting. Motions can be amended, so you’ll need to stay on your toes. Town Administrator Tim Bragan told the Press that this year the complete text of each motion will be projected on the Cronin Auditorium movie screen so attendees can follow along.
For help with specialized terms such as “General Fund” or “levy,” see our “Glossary of Town Meeting Lingo.” Finally, for details on how to speak and legislate at Town Meeting, see “Town Meeting Conduct and Procedures,” prepared by the League of Women Voters of Harvard and available at its website (https://lwvharvard.org/town-meeting-conduct-and-procedures)
ARTICLE 1: PAY BILL OF PRIOR FISCAL YEAR
- Inserted by Select Board
- Amount to be spent: $8,675
- Money source: Fiscal 2020 budget surplus
- Board or official authorized to pay the invoice: Select Board
- Requires a nine-tenths majority vote
- Finance Committee and Select Board recommend this article.
A $70 invoice from MetroWest Regional Collaborative and a $8,605 invoice for wastewater plant supplies arrived after the close of fiscal 2019. Passage of this article authorizes the town to pay them.
ARTICLE 2: AMEND FISCAL YEAR 2020 OMNIBUS BUDGET
- Inserted by Select Board
- Money to be spent: $13,252
- Money source: Fiscal 2020 budget surplus
- Board or official authorized to expend funds: Land Use Boards
- Financial impact: Reduces the existing budget surplus for the current fiscal year
- Requires a majority vote
- Finance Committee and Select Board recommend this article.
This change corrects a math error in the budget approved at last spring’s Annual Town Meeting. The wetland fees that partly offset the personnel costs for the Land Use Boards were accidentally added into the budget twice, leaving the amount to be contributed by the town too low. This amount fulfills the town’s obligation to this budget line.
ARTICLE 3: RESCIND BORROWING AUTHORITY
- Inserted by Select Board
- Money to be spent: None
- Impact on taxes: None
- Requires a majority vote
- Finance Committee and Select Board recommend this article.
2013 Annual Town Meeting authorized the town to borrow $119,000 to pave the Pond Road parking lot at Bromfield School. The Pond Road parking was paid for by other means, and the borrowing authorization was never used; but recently the Finance Department found it was still on the books, six years later. This article takes back the authorization, and is, in part, the inspiration for Article 7.
ARTICLE 4: SEWER ENTERPRISE RETAINED EARNINGS
- Inserted by Water and Sewer Commissions
- Amount to be transferred: $56,823
- Money source: Transfer from Certified Sewer Enterprise Retained Earnings Fund
- Board or official authorized to expend funds: Water and Sewer Commissions
- Requires a majority vote
- Tax impact: None
- Finance Committee and Select Board recommend this article.
Sewer usage and connection fees paid by customers are added to a fund that is used to pay for maintenance and repairs to the system. Unspent money from the prior year, basically free cash, must be moved into the expense fund for the current fiscal year.
ARTICLE 5: AMEND ARTICLE 11 LINE 19 POLICE DEPARTMENT PERSONNEL
- Inserted by Select Board
- Money to be spent: $38,117
- Money source: Fiscal 2020 budget surplus
- Board or official authorized to expend funds: Harvard Police Department
- Impact on taxes: Reduces the existing budget surplus for the current fiscal year
- Requires a majority vote
- Finance Committee and Select Board recommend this article.
This sum will be used for pay increases for officers and sergeants that were included in the collective bargaining agreement with the police union that the Select Board signed Oct. 22. The three-year agreement is retroactive to July 1, but was not covered in the budget for fiscal 2020 at Annual Town Meeting last spring because negotiations were not complete then.
ARTICLE 6: AMEND ARTICLE 11 DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS PERSONNEL TO INCREASE TRANSFER STATION HOURS
- Inserted by Select Board
- Money to be spent: $4,368
- Money source: Fiscal 2020 budget surplus
- Impact on taxes: Reduces the existing budget surplus for the current fiscal year.
- Requires a majority vote
- Finance Committee and Select Board recommend this article.
The town has received many requests from residents to extend the hours of the Transfer Station, and this article would add money to the Department of Public Works personnel budget each year to cover three additional hours for two employees (a total of six additional hours a week). If this article passes, the Transfer Station will open one hour earlier, at 7 a.m., on Wednesdays and Saturdays, and stay open one hour later, until 3 p.m., on Saturdays. DPW Director Tim Kilhart told the Press it takes an hour to close down the Transfer Station, and there are few lights there, so he does not want to extend the hours beyond 3 p.m. If this article passes, the extended hours would begin Dec. 1, 2019, and the $4,368 would cover the extra hours for seven months. In fiscal 2021, the amount for a full year would be included in the DPW budget.
ARTICLE 7: ARTICLE SUNSET BYLAW
- Inserted by Select Board
- Impact on taxes: None
- Requires a majority vote
- Finance Committee and Select Board recommend this article.
Town officials were surprised to find that a 2013 authorization to borrow $119,000 to redo the Pond Road school parking lot remained on the books, although the work was completed long ago and paid for by other means (see Article 3). Article 7 amends the town’s budget bylaw to make sure this doesn’t happen again. Future unused appropriations will automatically expire after three years, unless exempted or renewed by a vote of Town Meeting.
ARTICLE 8: BOND PREMIUMS
- Inserted by Select Board
- Money to be spent: $144,287
- Impact on taxes: By using the premiums to reduce excluded debt payments for upcoming capital projects, taxes will rise less than would otherwise be the case.
- Requires a majority vote
- Finance Committee and Select Board recommend this article.
The town was paid a total of $144,287 in premiums by bond agencies for Town of Harvard municipal bonds issued to pay for upcoming capital projects in 2017, 2108, and 2019. State law requires that Town Meeting approve the use of this money to reduce debt payments over the life of the loans and thereby lower the town’s net interest cost.
ARTICLE 9: PURCHASE MIXING UNIT FOR WATER TANK
- Inserted by Water and Sewer Commissions
- Money to be spent: $17,500
- Money source: Fiscal 2019 free cash
- Board or official authorized to expend funds: Department of Public Works with approval of the Water and Sewer Commissions
- Impact on taxes: None
- Requires a majority vote
- Finance Committee and Select Board recommend this article.
This article would allow the town to purchase and install a mixing unit in the water storage tank on Bolton Road. The tank stores the water from the two town wells on Pond Road, and the mixing unit would keep water temperature consistent in the tank and prevent stagnation of the older water at the top of the tank. It will not solve the current coliform problem that has taken well #5 offline. If the town moves to a chlorinated water system in the future, DPW Director Tim Kilhart told the Press a mixer would be required as part of that system to keep the chlorine evenly dispersed. (See story)
ARTICLE 10: WATER CHLORINATION SYSTEM DESIGN, PERMITTING, BIDDING, and CONSTRUCTION ADMINISTRATION SERVICES
- Inserted by Select Board
- Money to be spent: $42,000
- Money source: Transfer from Capital Stabilization and Investment Fund
- Board or official authorized to expend funds: Department of Public Works with approval of the Water and Sewer Commissions
- Impact on taxes: None
- Requires a two-thirds vote
- Finance Committee and Select Board recommend this article.
One of the town’s two public wells has been testing positive for coliform since August, and attempts to find the source and eliminate the bacteria have not been successful. The town is currently operating its water supply with only one well, which is enough to meet demand, but there is no backup. This article would fund the design of a full-time chlorination system for the town water supply, get estimates, and prepare bid documents for the work. DPW Director Tim Kilhart told the Press that if the current coliform situation cannot be resolved, the Department of Environmental Protection may require the town to move to a full-time chlorination system, and this article was put on the warrant for Special Town Meeting so design of that system can begin. (See story)
ARTICLE 11: LIBRARY ROOF REPAIR
- Inserted by Capital Planning and Investment Committee and Library Trustees
- Money to be spent: $53,750
- Money source: Transfer from Capital Stabilization and Investment Fund
- Board or official authorized to expend funds: Library Trustees
- Impact on taxes: None
- Requires a two-thirds vote
- Finance Committee and Select Board recommend this article.
This article is to replace a small portion of the slate roof on the Old Bromfield School portion of the library. With the exception of a few repairs, the roof on that portion of the library has been in place since Old Bromfield was built in 1877. These funds will pay for removal of a section of slate, installation of ice and water shield and flashing, and replacement of the slate, reusing as much of the old slate as possible. (See story)
ARTICLE 12: SPRING FIELD MAINTENANCE
- Inserted by Parks and Recreation Commission
- Money to be spent: $15,000
- Money source: Fiscal 2019 free cash
- Board or official authorized to expend funds: Parks and Recreation Commission
- Impact on taxes: None
- Requires a majority vote
- Finance Committee does not recommend this article.
- Select Board chose not to take a position on this article.
Parks and Recreation Commission Chair Doug Thornton says passage of this article is needed to ensure that money is available this coming spring to maintain one or more yet-to-be determined non-baseball fields. In asking for $15,000, Thornton told the Press he anticipated that the commission would have spent all $26,000 of its fiscal 2020 fields and commons budget this fall, and as of Oct. 22, 2019, following votes to contribute to the maintenance of the town’s baseball fields and to pay for a study of field conditions, only a few hundred dollars remain. If the article passes, Thornton says, the commission will use the additional money to aerate, fertilize, and reseed as many fields as it can after interscholastic spring sports season ends in June, if not sooner. A “no” will leave the commission without money to do maintenance on any field, with the exception of baseball fields.
Thornton told the Press he asked for $15,000 to avoid review by the capital committee, whose threshhold for projects is $20,000. The Finance Committee, however, has voted not to recommend the article. That vote was unanimous, with one abstention (that of Parks and Rec liaison Jennifer Finch.) FinCom recommends that the money remaining in the current Parks and Rec field budget be used to maintain fields and not to study their condition. The Athletic Field Planning Committee has access to the expertise to deal with short-term issues, the committee’s comment states. “We believe a long-term study would be appropriate and necessary before any funding is sought for substantial rehabilitation or enhancement of our recreational facilities.”
The Select Board voted not to take a position on the article after agreeing that the field maintenance funds should be used for field maintenance, and that the commission should prepare a small warrant article for a study for spring Town Meeting. The board asked Town Administrator Tim Bragan to speak with the commission about pulling this article.
ARTICLE 13: TRANSFER FROM CERTIFIED FREE CASH TO THE CAPITAL STABILIZATION AND INVESTMENT FUND
- Inserted by Finance Committee
- Money to be transferred: $1.2 million, minus any amounts appropriated by Articles 1-12
- Money source: Fiscal 2019 free cash
- Requires a majority vote
- Board or official authorized to expend funds: Capital Planning and Investment Committee recommends use of money; Town Meeting approves any expenditure.
- Impact on taxes: Paying for capital projects with free cash reduces the amount the town has to borrow to pay for such projects, which helps restrain the growth of property taxes.
- Other impacts: Once transferred to the Capital Stabilization and Investment Fund, use of the money for any purpose requires two-thirds vote of Town Meeting.
- Finance Committee and Select Board recommend this article.
Harvard’s bylaw requires the Select Board to place an article before Town Meeting at the end of each fiscal year to transfer the balance of free cash to the town’s Capital Stabilization and Investment Fund. For the past several years, Harvard’s free cash has not been known in time for a fall Special Town Meeting, and its transfer has typically had to wait until Annual Town Meeting in the spring.
If approved, this article will transfer the balance of fiscal 2019 free cash to the capital fund immediately. The finance and capital committees have recommended the transfer be done now so the money is available to pay for fiscal 2021 capital projects and to contribute to debt payments for the new school. The actual amount will depend on how much of the $1.2 million certified by the state remains after other actions taken by Special Town Meeting voters. The current capital fund balance is $3.4 million, according to Finance Director Lori Bolasevich.
The capital committee reviews capital requests for the coming fiscal year, rates them, and recommends to FinCom which ones should be paid for with capital funds. FinCom typically accepts capital’s recommendations, and Town Meeting typically accepts FinCom’s.
ARTICLE 14: ADOPT M.G.L. CHAPTER 40, SECTioN 8J, TO CREATE A COMMISSION ON DISABILITY
- Inserted by Select Board
- Money to be spent: None
- Other impacts: May make it possible to receive additional state grants
- Requires a majority vote
- Finance Committee and Select Board recommend this article.
This five-member commission would be appointed by the Select Board. The commission would be empowered to look into local problems affecting people with disabilities, carry out programs to meet those problems, advise the town on laws and regulations related to people with disabilities, and interact with other local groups and relevant state agencies for similar purposes. The state requires that a majority of the commission members be people with disabilities, one member have an immediate family member with a disability, and one member be an elected or appointed town official.
ARTICLE 15: AUTHORIZE THE GRANT OF A ZONE 1 WELL PROTECTION EASEMENT OVER A PORTION OF THE DUNLAP CONSERVATION LAND
- Inserted by Conservation Commission
- Money to be spent: None
- Requires a two-thirds vote
- Select Board recommends this article.
Carlson Orchards is planning to open a taproom at the orchard, and because of the possible number of patrons, the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is requiring a public water supply for the taproom. Frank Carlson told the Press three existing wells on the property were considered but ruled out because they were either too close to the house or used for irrigation. The location chosen was at the site of a natural spring near the Dunlap conservation land boundary. DEP requires a protection zone around wells that are a public water supply, and in this case that zone extended into the Dunlap conservation land. Carlson notified the Conservation Commission in June 2018 of the site, obtained all necessary DEP permits, the well was drilled, and the Conservation Commission voted to approve the easement. But town counsel told Carlson that Town Meeting and the state must also grant approval for the easement. If this article passes, it would grant Town Meeting approval, and it would also authorize the Select Board to petition the state for its approval. Conservation Agent Liz Allard told the Press there is no impact on conservation land, no land is being lost or gained, and it will not change the current uses allowed on the land. The Board of Health has granted Carlson Orchards permission to use its existing water supply for up to a year while waiting for Town Meeting and state approval for the easement.
ARTICLE 16: GRANT OF EASEMENT TO NATIONAL GRID FOR ELECTRICAL SERVICES TO THE NEW HILDRETH ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
- Inserted by Select Board
- Money to be spent: None
- Requires a two-thirds vote
- Select Board recommends this article.
This easement grants National Grid the authority to use town land along the northwest side of the building site for the new elementary school to install a permanent underground electrical power line to the school. If Town Meeting approves the easement, the matter will then go to School Committee for its signature as well, according to the town administrator.
ARTICLE 17: GRANT OF EASEMENT TO NATIONAL GRID FOR ELECTRICAL SERVICES TO THE HARVARD CENTER FIRE STATION
- Inserted by Select Board
- Money to be spent: None
- Requires a two-thirds vote
- Select Board recommends this article.
The three utility poles that currently serve the fire station are on town land, but Verizon installed them years ago without the easement needed for legal access to town property. The purpose of this article is to correct that oversight so that National Grid, which now owns the poles, can legally maintain them, and other utility companies can service their lines on the poles.
ARTICLE 18: PROHIBIT DEER HUNTING ON TOWN CONSERVATION LAND CITIZEN PETITION
- Inserted by citizen petition
- Money to be spent: None
- Requires a majority vote
- Conservation Commission opposes this article.
- Select Board does not take a position on citizen petitions but has said it will vote to oppose the ban if it is offered as a bylaw at Town Meeting.
According to the town administrator, supporters of this article plan to restate it as a bylaw to prohibit hunting on town conservation land. Otherwise, it would not be enforceable. If the measure passes as a bylaw, it would overturn a vote by the Conservation Commission to allow hunting on several specified conservation areas. The Select Board voted 4-1 this week to support ConCom’s decision. A bylaw banning hunting on conservation land would not affect hunting on private land or in the Delaney Wildlife Management Area and the Oxbow National Wildlife Refuge, because they are not town-owned conservation areas.
ARTICLE 19: AMEND THE PROTECTIVE BYLAW [Section] 125-39, SITE STANDARDS
- Inserted by Planning Board
- Money to be spent: None
- Requires a two-thirds vote
- Select Board recommended this article in a 4-1 vote.
The Planning Board inserted this article at the request of the Fire Department. Harvard’s current site standards require properties to be within 1,000 feet of a source of water, for the purpose of fighting fires. This proposal specifies that the source must be within Harvard rather than a neighboring town. The Fire Department wants all the water supplies it relies on to be within its jurisdiction, so it can inspect and maintain them.
ARTICLE 20: AMEND THE PROTECTIVE BYLAW [Section] 125-02. DEFINITIONS
- Inserted by Planning Board
- Money to be spent: None
- Requires a two-thirds vote
- Select Board recommended this article in a 3-2 vote.
The changes to Harvard’s protective bylaw outlined in Articles 21 and 22 include references to six new keywords: adult day care, adult day health, block, floor area ratio, micro-distillery, and smart growth. Harvard’s protective bylaw maintains a definitions section that provides definitions to all keywords mentioned in the entire bylaw, much like a glossary. This article adds those new keywords to the definitions section. This article was mistakenly placed before Articles 21 and 22, and the Planning Board intends to make a floor action to postpone voting on it until after those two articles. This is because new definitions will not need to be added to the definitions section if the other bylaw amendments do not pass.
ARTICLE 21: AMEND THE PROTECTIVE BYLAW [SECTION] 125-52, AYER ROAD VILLAGE SPECIAL PERMIT
- Inserted by Planning Board
- Money to be spent: None
- Requires a two-thirds vote
- Select Board recommends this article.
This article modifies the Ayer Road Village Special Permit bylaw, an existing bylaw that allows denser commercial development along Ayer Road in exchange for increased involvement by the Planning Board in the design process. In addition to some wordsmithing, this proposal increases the density allowed, provides a further density bonus for developments that include affordable housing, and allows developments using the bylaw to hook up to public wastewater systems in other towns. Proponents argue that the Ayer Road Village Special Permit bylaw is not financially viable in its current form, while opponents worry that denser development will detract from Harvard’s rural character and increase traffic. The Planning Board describes this measure as the first step in a long-term project to improve the Ayer Road commercial district. (See story)
ARTICLE 22: AMEND THE PROTECTIVE BYLAW [SECTION] 125-12,13, and 14, SMALL-SCALE, MEDIUM-SCALE, AND LARGE-SCALE COMMERCIAL USES
- Inserted by Planning Board
- Money to be spent: None
- Requires a two-thirds vote
- Select Board recommends this article.
This article alters the list of allowed uses in the commercial district. Many uses have been redefined to increase either clarity or brevity. Two new uses have been added: adult day care (medium scale) and media/film production (large scale). If this article passes, an elder-care company called Adult Day Health that has expressed interest in opening a Harvard office would be able to do so.
