Harvard has a new town administrator. Dan Nason has accepted Harvard’s offer and will begin work Monday, Aug. 5.

State senators finished work on Gov. Maura Healey’s economic development bill  late Thursday, July 11, and sent it to the House of Representatives, with a small but significant change to a section that deals with housing at Devens.

About half the town’s remaining American Rescue Plan Act funds will be used to pay for police details for the Devens water connection project and a peer review of the Conservation Commission’s plans for the Ayer Road reconstruction project. 

The cell tower to be built by Wireless Edge on town-owned land behind Hildreth House just got taller. Initially discussed as a 135-foot tower, the terms of the lease approved by the Select Board at its July 2 meeting are for a 150-foot tower and an additional 6 feet of antennas. 

At its July 2 meeting, the Select Board unanimously approved two separate conservation restrictions on lands near Littleton County Road. Both properties are owned by the Harvard Conservation Trust. 

Governor Maura Healey’s massive economic development bond bill, which finally cleared the Massachusetts House of Representatives last week, includes measures that could lead to a dramatic increase in housing at Devens and provide money for small capital expenditures in Harvard, Ayer, and Boxborough.

In the year since outside consultants prepared an accessibility study of town facilities in May 2023, Harvard has updated the town beach to be more accessible. By the first week of July the beach will have two new accessible parking spots, an accessible bathroom, ADA-compliant mats going down to the beach, and an ADA-compliant swing.

Wrapping up an intense two-month search, the Select Board voted Monday night, June 24, to offer the position of town administrator to Dan Nason of Holden. The vote was unanimous.

People in Massachusetts have a long history of filling in wetlands—think of the Back Bay, the Fenway, much of South Boston, and Logan Airport. Only recently have people begun trying to preserve and even recreate wetlands.

In 1984, when Harvard closed its old landfill on Depot Road and built a new Transfer Station, there were no state regulations to cap or otherwise officially close landfills in Massachusetts. 

An unsecured door on a truck led to a major collision with an SUV on Poor Farm Road earlier this week.

When, in early 2023, the state published the total amounts that each of the 351 towns in Massachusetts would receive from seven opioid settlements, the numbers for Harvard, as compared with its neighbors, practically jumped off the page.

Just as the school year was ending for Harvard students, the school district’s leadership went through several major changes. 

For anyone hoping that MassDevelopment was ready to rejoin discussions on a town-supported proposal for housing at Vicksburg Square or the future options for the governance of Devens, last week’s meeting of the Devens Jurisdiction Framework Committee would have been a disappointment.

The Harvard Select Board appointed five new committee members on Tuesday to fill vacancies on the Planning Board, Board of Health, Bare Hill Pond Watershed Management Committee, and the Zoning Board of Appeals.

Bare Hill Pond underwent spring cleaning last week when Pristine Waters, a waterfront restoration company, performed suction harvesting in the swimming area at the town beach to remove non-native, invasive weeds. 

Family members, friends, and fellow students began arriving at the field in front of the Bromfield School well before this year’s graduation ceremonies were scheduled to begin. Despite some doubtful forecasts, the weather was bright and sunny with a soft breeze—a perfect temperature for the graduates in their robes.

In recent arguments for and against additional housing at Devens, the voices of those who live there have been largely silent. But last Wednesday, June 5, the five elected members of the Devens Committee took a stand.

The Harvard Select Board has elected new officers for the coming year and moved the spring session of Annual Town Meeting into May.

Who gives a business away? Restaurateur Reza Rahmani of Bar 25 in Ayer is running a contest with the prize being the business lease to his Main Street bar and restaurant.