by John Osborn ·
Friday, March 6, 2026
The Select Board reviewed the draft warrant for Harvard’s May 2 Annual Town Meeting on Tuesday, working through 30 articles that range from a potential property tax override to sweeping changes in town center zoning and a proposal to lease town land for solar energy development.
The warrant contains 30 articles spanning routine budget approvals, significant zoning changes, a cluster of capital expenditures, and recommendations from the Community Preservation Committee.
Of the 30 articles, 15 involve appropriations or transfers of funds, four are amendments to the town’s Protective Bylaw that will require a two-thirds supermajority vote at Town Meeting, and the remainder address policy changes, revolving fund authorizations, and housekeeping matters. A complete list of articles, with appropriation amounts and voting thresholds, appears in the accompanying table.
The warrant is in effect the agenda for Town Meeting, Harvard’s legislature, in which every registered voter has a seat at the table with the authority to spend public money, change local bylaws, and set policy for the coming year. The decisions made on May 2 will shape the town’s tax rate, its zoning, and the condition of its roads, schools, and public spaces for years to come.
At the center of the warrant is Article 7, the omnibus budget, which the Finance Department estimated at roughly $37 million at their Feb. 10 meeting—a figure that will be revised downward before March 17 to reflect a lower-than-expected increase in employee health insurance costs. The proposed budget, however, exceeds projected revenues. Whether to seek a Proposition 2½ override to close the remaining gap—and how large—will be decided when the board votes to adopt the budget and close the warrant on March 17. Passage of any override portion of the budget is contingent on voter approval at the May 5 election; if it fails at the ballot, the town would need to reduce spending to match available revenues.
Tuesday’s review was conducted by outgoing Town Administrator Dan Nason, who announced his resignation last week to become Director of Public Works in Hudson. Nason walked the board through the warrant article by article, flagging several items still being refined with town counsel before the March 17 closing deadline.
Among the articles drawing the most discussion was Article 15, which would establish a Cruiser Use Maintenance Fund allowing the police chief to charge vendors—such as utility companies requiring a cruiser on site during work details—a separate fee for using the vehicle. The fees, proposed at $100 for an eight-hour detail and $50 for a four-hour detail, would be deposited into a revolving fund capped at $20,000 and used for cruiser upkeep. Board members questioned whether town entities such as schools would also be subject to the fee; Nason said he would seek clarification from Police Chief James Babu before March 17.
Article 29 would create a Town Center Overlay District covering 87 lots, easing restrictions that have constrained property owners since 1967, when the town applied agricultural-residential zoning designed for 1½-acre lots to a neighborhood where most parcels are far smaller. That mismatch left most town center properties legally nonconforming, requiring special permits for simple renovations and variances—rarely granted—for garages, fences, or additions. The overlay would establish new setbacks scaled to existing lot sizes and allow multifamily structures of up to four units as of right.
By special permit, owners could pursue commercial and mixed uses including retail, medical offices, personal services, restaurants, pharmacies, childcare facilities, and fitness studios. Several bodies would continue to oversee development under the new district, including the Zoning Board of Appeals, the water and sewer commissions, and the Historical Commission, which would retain authority over design changes in the overlapping historic district.
Chair Kara Minar said she expected the article to generate debate at Town Meeting and said she would ask Planning Board Chair John McCormack for a redlined version of the bylaw showing changes from the last version of the bylaw, which has appeared on the warrant at two previous Town Meetings but was withdrawn from consideration both times.
Articles 26 and 27 work in tandem to expand the town’s solar program onto two town-owned parcels on Stow Road—a 13-acre former gravel pit and an adjacent 32-acre parcel—that are not currently zoned for solar development. Article 27 would add both parcels to the Large-Scale Ground-Mounted Solar Photovoltaic Facilities Overlay District, established in 2010 and last amended in 2012, which currently allows utility-scale solar facilities on a capped landfill off Harvard Depot Road and two parcels along Ayer Road.
Article 26 would authorize the Select Board to lease the newly designated parcels to a solar energy company. Board member Eve Wittenberg noted that the solar articles are time-sensitive, warning that failure to pass them at the May 2 meeting could jeopardize the town’s goal to power municipal buildings with solar energy. She cited the articles as one reason the board agreed Tuesday to move the Town Meeting start time from noon to 10 a.m.
Under the existing bylaw, any solar operator must have Planning Board site plan approval, must maintain the facility in good condition, and must remove all structures within a year of ceasing operations. Nongovernmental operators are also required to post a bond or other surety to cover removal costs.
The Finance Committee also appeared Tuesday, with Chair Mike Derse presenting a budget timeline showing how a projected fiscal 2027 deficit of $1.6 million had been whittled down through a reduced school budget request, favorable increases in state aid, and $267,000 in recommended cuts to town and school spending. The remaining gap, Derse told the board, stood at $396,754 as of the committee’s Feb. 10 vote—the amount it recommended as a Proposition 2½ override. Since then, however, health insurance premiums for town employees came in far lower than projected, reducing the required override to as little as $85,000 if the Select Board agrees with all of FinCom’s recommended cuts. The Finance Committee has not taken further action on the revised figure, leaving the final decision to the board.
“We’re still trying to keep as much of the services as we can,” said Minar, “but also watching the pocketbooks of the town.” The board will set the final override amount—if any—when it votes to adopt the budget and close the warrant on March 17.
The board also agreed to drop Article 17, the routine acceptance of gifts of property, after Nason reported that town counsel had advised the Select Board already has authority under state law to accept such gifts without a Town Meeting vote. “It is a housekeeping item,” Nason said. Board member Eric Ward was among those happy to see it go. “I’m in favor of less than 30 articles if we don’t actually have to do it,” said Ward. Nason said he would seek formal confirmation from counsel before removing it.
The Select Board will vote to adopt the budget and close the warrant on March 17, at which point the final override amount will be set.
The Board is expected to call for Town Meeting to open at 10 a.m. rather than noon on Saturday, May 2, at the Cronin Auditorium in the Bromfield School. Town Election, including the override and debt exclusion questions, follows on Tuesday, May 5, at the Hildreth Elementary School, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.