State Sen. Jamie Eldridge has pledged to advocate funding for an independent consultant to help the Harvard-Devens Jurisdiction Committee determine the future of Devens. He and state Rep. Dan Sena met with the committee April 1 to hear an update on the status of Devens and a request for their assistance.
Select Board and HDJC member Lucy Wallace explained that Harvard, Ayer, Shirley, and MassDevelopment have until July 2033 to come up with a plan for Devens’ future. The jurisdiction committee’s task is to determine Harvard’s perspective on whether Devens should become its own town or whether the surrounding towns should reassume jurisdiction over their historical land, and the details of how either would occur.
Eldridge asked several questions about the situation of Devens’ current residents. The Harvard-Devens Jurisdiction Committee has two members who are Devens residents living within Harvard’s historical boundaries: Heather Knowles and George Glazier. According to Knowles, the majority of current Devens residents live within Harvard’s historical boundaries, including more than 240 people who are registered as Harvard voters.
Eldridge asked Knowles and Glazier what the Devens residents wanted to happen; both advocated for allowing Devens residents to choose which disposition option they would prefer. Knowles said, “The people who are most affected should have the most say.” Knowles and Glazier said they personally would want to become Harvard citizens, and they predicted that others would feel the same way.
Eldridge also asked what types of local government organizations the Devens residents currently have. Knowles said Devens citizens currently elect the members of the Citizens Advisory Committee and the Devens Education Advisory Committee. Glazier said there are also several elected homeowner associations that carry out some tasks of local government, such as paying for the maintenance of shared areas and enforcing appearance standards for home improvements. Both agreed that Devens citizens want more say in their local governance, because MassDevelopment performs many of the tasks that an elected local government would in most towns.
Mass Development Director of Land Planning and Permitting Ed Starzec was noncommittal, but he said that everything he had heard at the meeting seemed reasonable and accurate. Sena arrived near the end of the April 1 meeting, but his legislative aide, Dan Szetela, was present the entire time.
