A room occupancy tax and revisions meant to improve an ineffective 2003 cluster development bylaw are among the nine articles the Select Board will present to voters at the upcoming second session of Annual Town Meeting Saturday, Oct. 21, which convenes at noon in the Bromfield School’s Cronin Auditorium.
The Select Board approved the final warrant at its Tuesday, Sept. 3, meeting, following a half-hour discussion of its contents. The vote was unanimous and once signed, the warrant was to be posted by Thursday this week at Town Hall by Town Constable Greg Newman and on the town website.
Here is a brief description of each of nine articles on this fall’s warrant. Watch for additional details in upcoming issues of the Press, especially our townwide Oct. 20 edition, which will include our traditional Warrant in Plain English.
Article 1
Approval of the Department of Public Works collective bargaining agreement and money to pay for it in fiscal 2024, the current fiscal year.
Article 2
Amend Article 14 of the warrant for the first session of 2023 Annual Town Meeting to permit the schools to use the money appropriated by the Capital Planning and Investment Committee for the purchase of two vans instead of one.
Article 3
Amend the town’s 20-year-old, seldom used planned residential development bylaw to encourage its use by developers to create a greater diversity of housing in Harvard, while preserving open space and conservation land. The amended bylaw offers modest density bonuses when a developer builds affordable, senior, or “environmentally conscious” homes; provides extra open space; or offers a substantial public benefit, such as a walking path, park, or other recreational area.
Article 4
Adopt a 6% room occupancy excise tax for bed-and-breakfast establishments, hotels, lodging houses, short-term rentals, or motels.
Article 5
Amend the town’s personnel bylaw to align its provisions with those of the Harvard Charter, most notably the authority granted the town administrator to hold hearings and set day-to-day policy governing town employees.
Article 6
Allow the police to staff construction sites with civilian traffic control agents, trained and supervised by the police and paid for by funds collected from contractors for the details.
Article 7
Replace the Fire Department’s defunct emergency generator with money from the town’s Capital Stabilization and Investment Fund. As of Oct. 4, the Capital Planning and Investment Committee had yet to decide whether to approve the purchase.
Article 8
Authorize the Select Board to acquire land and easements by eminent domain or purchase for the Ayer Road renovation project.
Article 9
Authorize the Select Board to acquire an easement to connect the town’s water system to the water system at Devens.
There are no plans to mail the warrant to residents; CivicsPlus subscribers received an electronic copy Wednesday morning. (To subscribe to town news, go to the town’s website, harvard-ma.gov, and click on “Subscribe to News.”)
Two articles removed
Prior to approving the warrant Tuesday night, the Select Board, on the advice of Town Counsel Mark Lanza, removed two articles. Both are amendments to the town code, Lanza said, and can be approved by the Select Board without a Town Meeting vote. One allows the town to restrict access to public land under the town’s jurisdiction during certain hours; the second defines the duties of a civilian traffic control agent.
After a presentation by Police Chief James Babu, the board approved both amendments unanimously. Both will take effect once a public notice of the changes has been published. Watch for further explanation and analysis in an upcoming edition of the paper.
