At its regular biweekly meeting Tuesday night, March 21, Select Board members voted unanimously, 5-0, to approve the 2023 Annual Town Meeting warrant compiled on their behalf by Town Administrator Tim Bragan and Assistant Town Administrator Marie Sobalvarro, as well as the fiscal 2024 budget recommended by the Finance Committee two weeks ago.
Assembling the warrant for Town Meeting—essentially the meeting’s agenda—is the responsibility of the Select Board, which has the power to decide what to include and what to omit. The Harvard Charter also holds the board responsible for delivering an annual budget, though the work of building it is typically performed these days by Bragan, Sobalvarro, and Finance Director Jared Mullane.
This year’s Spring Town Meeting will convene Saturday, April 29, at noon in Cronin Auditorium at the Bromfield School. The gathering will be followed 10 days later by Town Election Tuesday, May 9, also at the Bromfield School, where the polls will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Traditionally, Spring Town Meeting deals with financial matters, and this year’s warrant consists of nearly two dozen such articles, including a $32.5 million town budget, capital projects totaling $1.5 million, and a proposal to borrow $240,000 for the purchase of a heavy-duty dump truck. Other articles, if passed, move money between town accounts for various purposes and enable the use of money stashed in free cash and other funds to pay for expenses that could not be absorbed by anticipated revenues without throwing the fiscal 2024 budget out of balance. The budget recommended by the board Tuesday night forecasts a surplus of $1,001.
Last-minute changes
Before their vote to approve the warrant, board members agreed to a last-minute change to lessen the budget’s impact on taxpayers. In an effort to stay below the town’s 12% debt limit—the ratio of principal and interest payments to total town expenses—and to preserve its AAA bond rating, the Select Board voted to pay for the design of a new Department of Public Works facility using most of what’s left of its American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) money. The finance and capital committees had recommended that $600,000 be borrowed to pay for the work, but Tuesday night, Bragan and Mullane suggested that money be allocated from the remaining ARPA balance of $663,000.
Some members worried it was risky to exhaust ARPA money to pay for a design that might never be approved by Town Meeting, but the vote to proceed was unanimous. The Select Board has authority to appropriate ARPA money without the approval of Town Meeting. Earlier in the evening the board voted to allocate $160,000 to monitor the old landfill as required by the state. Following last night’s moves, $63,000 of Harvard’s ARPA money remains unspent.
This was in addition to an earlier adjustment offered by DPW Director Tim Kilhhart at the start of the meeting. Kilhart said that a state grant was available to cover the amount he had requested to pay for a state-required inspection for the presence of lead in pipes connecting homes to town center water. Previously, FinCom had recommended the estimated $111,000 expense be paid with money drawn from the town’s Stabilization Fund. With Kilhart’s grant in hand, that article could be dropped.
Hunting, a new state flag, and solarized landfill
In addition to the usual package of financial measures, the warrant includes an amendment to the town’s firearms code. If enacted, the amendment would require the written consent of the Select Board or a private property owner to “hunt, trap, or snare game” on town-owned or private land. The amendment also grants “any police officer of the town” the authority to enforce its provisions.
Also on the warrant is a citizen petition that supports a change to the state’s flag and motto “to better reflect our aspirations for harmonious and respectful relations between all people who call Massachusetts home.” A state commission, created by the Legislature and supported by former Gov. Charlie Baker, is considering such changes and is expected to make a recommendation in coming months.
A final article would grant the Select Board authority to lease the old landfill at the Department of Public Works for installation of a solar array.
Town Election: Ten seats, four questions
The terms of 10 elected office holders expire this year, and voters will be asked to choose who among the incumbents and aspiring candidates will fill those positions. For what’s known so far about who’s running and who’s not, see “Town Election has no contested races so far; most incumbents seek new terms” on page 1.
This year’s Town Election ballot will also include four questions. Two would authorize the town to borrow money to pay for connecting town water to Devens and to purchase the heavy-duty truck for the DPW. Both, if approved, will add to the town’s debt.
A third question asks voters to raise the current Community Preservation Fund surcharge on property taxes from 1.1% to 3% to provide more money to the Community Preservation Committee for worthy projects around town. And the last question asks to amend the Harvard Charter to lengthen the term of office for town moderator from one year to three years.
All but the DPW request for money to buy a truck have been approved at previous town meetings and require only a majority vote at the ballot box to proceed. The truck can be purchased only if approved both at Town Meeting by a two-thirds vote and at Town Election by a simple majority.
After Tuesday night’s meeting, the warrant was due to be signed by Select Board members the next morning and posted at Town Hall and the post office. How it will be distributed to residents is yet to be decided.
In the weeks that remain until Town Meeting, the Press will explore the most consequential of this spring’s articles. And readers can expect to learn more in our special townwide Town Meeting issue and Warrant in Plain English available online and in residents’ mailboxes April 28.
