The official count showed 410 residents attended to make their votes and voices heard on 19 articles Saturday, Oct. 16, at Fall Town Meeting.

The debate over the two articles designed to lower speed limits in town was anything but speedy. Both measures passed easily by majority vote, but not before meeting attendees lined up at the microphone to challenge their effectiveness or extend their reach.

Voters decided that two full liquor licenses were enough for Harvard at Fall Town Meeting Saturday, where the majority rejected an article that proposed the acquisition of one additional off-premise all-alcohol license.

After a public hearing (via Zoom) with comments from residents who were about evenly split pro and con, the Select Board voted unanimously this week to grant Carlson Orchards 14 one-day entertainment licenses for weekends from now through late November.

The Department of Public Works is looking for about 15 residents who would be willing to test their household water for lead and copper twice a year. 

Budget season begins formally each year with the publication of a joint memorandum by the Select Board and Finance Committee. The annual memo provides a framework—and a schedule—on which departments and committees are expected to build their spending plans for the coming year

One of the two wells that supply water for the town center has been offline since late July after testing positive for coliform bacteria, but help is on the way.

The state reported one new COVID-19 case in Harvard for the week ending Oct. 14, bringing the town’s cumulative number of confirmed cases to 189. 

At the upcoming Fall Town Meeting, Saturday, Oct. 16, voters will be asked to approve 19 articles put forward by the Select Board and other town committees. The meeting is the second of two sessions, its agenda devoted primarily to proposed changes in the town’s bylaws, as well as two pressing capital requests.

Article 2 on the Fall Town Meeting warrant asks residents to approve borrowing $965,096 for a new combination aerial/pumper firetruck.

The future of Bromfield House—the century-old white house with wide porches that stands where Route 111 curves toward town center—is once again coming up for a vote at Town Meeting this Saturday.

After multiple attempts over the past decade to create a larger senior center at the Hildreth House, the Council on Aging has come up with another option—purchasing the building at 16 Lancaster County Road and renovating it to create a new senior center. 

The Harvard Energy Advisory Committee and Community Resiliency Working Group have proposed a town climate resolution that would commit Harvard to help achieve the state’s greenhouse gas reduction goals.

When Select Board members hear from constituents, their messages frequently concern speeding on Harvard’s scenic roads, urging the board to lower speed limits and enforce them. Articles 10 and 11 offer solutions, though neither provides immediate relief.

Approximately 15 miles northwest of Harvard’s apple orchards and farms, a small population of the invasive spotted lanternfly was discovered a few weeks ago, prompting the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources to alert the public.

The state reported two new COVID-19 cases in Harvard for the week ending Oct. 7, bringing the town’s cumulative number of confirmed cases to 188.

Attendees at next weekend’s Town Meeting will be presented with an eye-popping smorgasbord of appropriations and town legislation, ranging from purchase of an alternative senior center and new speed limits throughout town to revisions to several multipage bylaws.

This past week, the town’s two financial committees voted unanimously to endorse a town resolution addressing climate change that will appear as a warrant article at the Oct. 16 Fall Town Meeting. Parks and Recreation Commission members however, stuck to their decision to not endorse it.

As Fall Town Meeting draws near, the Council on Aging and the Permanent Building Committee are working furiously to complete a cost estimate for the work it will take to transform the building at 16 Lancaster County Road into the town’s new senior center.