A palpable energy enlivened the town Common Thursday evening, May 1,  as dozens of people gathered for a May Day demonstration and filled the sidewalk with protest chants and clever signs, while passing cars blared their horns in solidarity.

As Town Moderator Bill Barton gavelled this year’s Annual Town Meeting to order at noon Saturday, May 3,  the line of registered voters waiting to sign in stretched to the Bromfield School driveway. The meeting drew 522 attendees, or 11% of the town’s 4,777 registered voters.

Fog, drizzle, and even occasional downpours did not keep Harvard voters from turning out for Tuesday’s Town Election. In all, 1,659 voters cast ballots. That was a turnout of 34.7%—the highest for a Town Election since 2018, when the issue of building a new elementary school drew 46% of voters to the polls.

The Park and Recreation Commission voted to sign the purchase and sale agreement for a 6-acre parcel of land at 57 Old Mill Road to construct a multipurpose athletic field. On May 3, Town Meeting will vote on using $440,000 of Capital Planning and Investment Committee funds to purchase the land.

The Devens housing working group is expected to recommend next week that Vicksburg Square and seven other parcels adjacent to Rogers Field be rezoned to allow reuse of existing buildings for housing as well as construction of hundreds of additional units.

On Tuesday, May 6, Harvard voters will elect six residents to serve three-year terms on four town boards and will vote on three override questions that will decide the fate of two permanent property tax increases. 

At Annual Town Meeting Saturday, May 3, voters will be asked to approve 44 articles. 

Article 12 in this year’s warrant booklet asks Town Meeting to approve a $35.1 million omnibus budget to pay for the operation of town departments and the schools next fiscal year, which begins July 1.

Readers looking for a one-page overview of the fiscal 2026 budget—and assurance that it balances—should turn to Harvard’s five-year budgeted revenue and expense projection, often referred to as the “recap.”

What is 27 pages long and brimming with diagrams and design specs for village-like, clustered development? It’s the new commercial zoning bylaw proposed for Harvard’s commercial district, a 1.2 mile stretch of Ayer Road between the Route 2 interchange and the Ayer town line. 

On April 18, Department of Public Works Director David Smith abruptly announced he was terminating his employment with the town effective that day, one month earlier than he was scheduled to leave.

This year’s Town Election follows the Annual Town Meeting by three days on Tuesday, May 6.

Richard Cabelus announced Friday evening, April 11, that he is dropping out of the race for one of two open seats on the Select Board.

The Select Board found Tuesday night, April 15, that an Open Meeting Law complaint filed by a former member against SusanMary Redinger, the current chair, was without merit.

Approximately 25 Depot Road residents turned out at the Water Commission’s April 9 meeting to voice their outrage over a possible $25,000 betterment fee, a fee that is typically charged when a public project increases the value of specific properties.

Like Massachusetts as a whole, Harvard has an aging population. And Council on Aging Director Debbie Thompson is hearing from Harvard elders who are worried about the impact of federal budget cuts and reorganization.

Just making it through the act of voting support for and choosing who would read each of the 44 articles of the Annual Town Meeting warrant made Select Board members groan at their April 15 meeting. 

This past week, members of the Harvard Climate Initiative Committee celebrated a win for the local community, receiving a large grant through Mass Save that will pay for a municipal energy manager to be shared by four towns