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

Local business owners are taking a “wait-and-see” attitude on the tariffs recently announced by the Trump administration. The tariffs are expected to raise prices for goods coming into the United States from almost all other countries.

The Select Board broke its long-standing pattern of skipping town administrator performance reviews this month. At its April 1 meeting, the board showed the results of a full-scale review of Town Administrator Dan Nason’s performance.

The town is one step closer to purchasing land for a new, all-purpose athletic field next to Harvard Park. An agreement to buy a 6-acre parcel on Old Mill Road for $440,000 from a private landowner is nearly ready for signature according to Town Administrator Dan Nason.

Select Board member Rich Maiore resigned abruptly early Tuesday, April 1, effective immediately. Maiore has served on the board since 2018. 

The owner of a historically significant home in Harvard that is outside the town’s two protected historic districts may tear it down at will. To deter this from happening, the Historical Commission has placed a demolition delay bylaw on the warrant for the May 3 Town Meeting. 

The Devens housing working group heard recommendations this week that the zoning bylaw for Vicksburg Square and other areas within the central Innovation and Technology Center district of Devens be amended to allow construction of several hundred new units of housing.

UMass Memorial Health has chosen a site for the satellite emergency facility it hopes can replace many of the emergency services provided by the Nashoba Valley Medical Center before it closed last August.

Last week’s news that Department of Public Works Director David Smith is resigning after only six months on the job took the town by surprise. But the reason Smith cited for his resignation has uncovered a potentially bigger problem—an allegedly dysfunctional department. 

The state has awarded Harvard a $1,145,000 grant to bring municipal water and sewer to the 8-acre multifamily district at the intersection of Ayer Road and the Route 2 interchange. 

The Devens housing working group is scheduled to hold its third and penultimate meeting April 1, at 2 p.m., in the Vicksburg Conference Room in Devens. The eight-member panel is expected to review draft recommendations for more housing in the Innovation and Technology Center district.

When the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced it was cutting the Local Food Access Program, food pantries across the country worried about losing their supply of fresh, local produce, meats, and dairy products. But Loaves & Fishes, the food pantry in Devens is likely emerging unscathed.

A group of firefighters and emergency medical technicians gathered in front of the Harvard Fire Station last Saturday, March 22, for a rare presentation. Five EMTs from Harvard and Ayer were about to receive their stork pins—the award for delivering a baby during an emergency medical call.

Anyone stopping by the General Store for a scone or a cup of coffee recently may have noticed a new sign in the window by the door. The sign reads, “No Firearms Allowed. Violators will be considered trespassing!”

Select Board member Rich Maiore has filed an open meeting law complaint against Chair SusanMary Redinger alleging she failed to follow proper procedure in handling a code of conduct violation he reported in February.