by Valerie Hurley ·
Friday, December 5, 2025
With an estimated $1.51 million to spend and a total of $1.49 million in requests, the committee in charge of disbursing money from the town’s community preservation fund is working on a January deadline to decide which projects to recommend for funding. The 2026 Annual Town Meeting will vote on the projects the committee selects.
The Community Preservation Committee began evaluating applications early last month. Applications were due Oct. 24 and ran the gamut from a $400,000 request to preserve 35 acres of open space to a $250,000 proposal to help replace the General Store’s exterior fire stairs with interior stairs.
Spending from the Community Preservation Trust Fund is limited to preserving open space and historical resources and developing affordable housing or outdoor recreational facilities. Each year, a minimum of 10% of the fund must go toward open space, historical preservation, and affordable housing, but beyond that funds can be held over from year to year.
This year’s pot of money totals $1,510, 216, with $1,299,041 coming from Harvard’s real estate surtax and $211,175 from the state, according to the latest figures from CPC treasurer Jane Biering. Applications total $1,498,322, including $20,000 in administrative costs. Although the committee could fund all the requests, Biering said, the committee still aims to make “the best use of our funds.” That means, she said, not necessarily approving every request or the full amount, “allowing us to carry over funds for projects in future years.”
The money is made available by the Community Preservation Act, which Harvard first adopted in 2001 with a surtax rate of 1.1%. In 2023, the town voted to increase the surtax to 3%. As a result, the town now receives a higher percentage of matching state funds, up from $60,838 in fiscal 2024 to $214,299 in fiscal 2025 and $211,175 in fiscal 2026 — a 28.7% match. Communities with surtaxes of less t8han 3% received a 16.9% match this year, according to the Community Preservation Coalition.
The Conservation Commission asked for $400,000 to finance a $500,000 conservation restriction on a 34.7-acre parcel that would add to existing wildlife corridors and expand recreational opportunities, according to its application. The remaining $100,000 would be paid for by a land trust. The commission’s application does not identify the parcel or the land trust, but Liz Allard, the town’s conservation agent, told the Press this week that the information could be available as early as next week, or when negotiations are farther along.
The Park and Recreation Commission requested $8,000 to install a water fountain at the town beach and $76,000 to reconstruct the tennis courts at Bromfield. The proposed water fountain would be installed on the parking lot side of the beach house and would be ADA-compliant. The cost of reconstructing the tennis courts is estimated at $227,975, though this week Recreation Director Anne McWaters told the Press that estimate needs to be updated. The commission has applied to the Capital Investment and Planning Committee for an additional $80,000. To make up the difference, McWaters said the commission would “amend its request to CPC to cover the balance that remains after what CPIC agrees to.”
The most modest request in this year’s batch of applications is from the membership of the Harvard Community Garden, which requested $2,250 to pay half the cost of a solar-powered water pump and water tank. Currently, members use a manual pump at the Littleton Road garden. The Garden Club of Harvard has agreed to pay the remaining $2,250, club president Bill Loehfelm affirmed.
In addition to its minimum required request of $78,000, the Municipal Affordable Housing Trust asked for $300,000 to start an Emergent Housing Production Fund. The fund would allow the trust to act quickly, with funds on hand, when opportunities arise. According to documentation attached to the CPC application, some of the options the trust is considering include collaborating with Habitat for Humanity or other nonprofit developers; subsidizing a moderate-income home in Devens’ Adams Circle; and investing in additional affordable units in Harvard’s recently created multifamily zone on Ayer Road.
Requests for preservation projects would benefit the library, the General Store, and the Historical Society. The annual request to continue paying down the cost of Town Hall’s renovation, completed in 2016, will also be paid for with money from this year’s fund.
The trustees of the Harvard Public Library have asked the CPC to fully fund a $272,000 replacement of the wood floor in Volunteers Hall on the library’s top floor and one floor below, in the Reading Room. “The existing flooring may be original to the Bromfield School built in 1877,” the application reads, and is marred by exposed nails, splintering, and gaps between planks.
The Historical Society’s application cites the need to digitize its historical archive of documents to make it available and searchable to the community and researchers and asked for $24,500 to begin the task.
The new owners of the General Store have submitted an application asking for $250,000, about half the cost of removing the store’s exterior fire escape and replacing it with “interior stairs for egress, creating a legal enclosed egress stairwell that connects all three floors(not just the third floor).” Moving the fire escape will free up space on the patio, the application said, and will improve the building’s appearance. Owners expect the work to cost between $400,000 and $500,000 and will “self-fund” the rest of the project.
Using community preservation money to preserve privately owned buildings is allowed, but restrictions apply. CPC Chair Stu Sklar said he is researching preservation restrictions that would protect the town’s investment. “We have a vested interest in having that store stay put. Study after study showed we all want a vibrant town center. I want to work with the owners and negotiate a win-win” for the owners and the town, he told the Press. He added that community preservation funds are often used on projects held by private entities, pointing to the Community Preservation Coalition’s website for examples of such projects.
The Community Preservation Committee will continue its assessment of proposed community projects at an in-person-only meeting, Tuesday, Dec. 16, 7:30 p.m., upstairs at Town Hall.