Duane Barber named to Town Sewer Building Committee
Duane Barber of Oak Hill Road has been named the newest member of the Town Center Sewer Building Committee (TCSBC). He replaces the late Kenneth Harrod.
“We hope to have some work to do soon, so it seems like a timely appointment,” said TCSBC Chairman Chris Ashley.
Barber is a former Harvard firefighter and water commissioner, and also a town center resident. Ashley and Barber have previously worked together on the Congregational Church Building Committee.
As for construction of the sewer, Ashley reported, “I think we’re really close.” He said although a few minor technical questions remained to be answered, he was feeling confident that the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) was now comfortable with the approach the town is taking and that approval to issue bid documents will come sometime within the next two to three weeks. “We’re anxious to get started,” he said, so the work can be done while the town’s students are on summer vacation.
Harvard to seek exemption from redistricting rule
On Tuesday night the selectmen voted unanimously to authorize Town Administrator Tim Bragan to work with Town Counsel Mark Lanza to draft a petition to the governor, asking that Harvard be exempted from a rule that would require the town to create a second voting precinct.
According to Bragan, when the 1,190 inmates at the Devens federal prison are counted, Harvard’s population exceeds the 6,200 threshold for the maximum number of voters that can be included in a precinct. The catch-22 is that inmates cannot vote, and when their number is excluded from the latest 2010 census count, the official population of Harvard falls once again below 6,200.
A move to two precincts would double the expense of holding elections in town. Town Clerk Janet Vellante would be required to double the number of election personnel, as well as the number of voting booths and ballot boxes, even though the number of eligible voters would remain essentially unchanged.
But getting a waiver requires the intervention of Governor Deval Patrick and the state legislature. First the town must petition Patrick to introduce a bill in the legislature to exempt the town from the 6,200 maximum per precinct rule; then the legislature has to grant the request. Tuesday night’s vote puts Harvard on a path to pursue that legislative approval.
Board accepts bid for a brush truck
The selectmen accepted the recommendation of Finance Director Lorraine Leonard to purchase the new forestry firefighting truck approved by voters earlier this month from Minute Man Trucks, Inc. of Walpole. The estimated cost of the fully outfitted vehicle, which replaces a 1986 truck deemed “beyond repair,” is $140,000.
