by John Osborn ·
Friday, April 24, 2026
With state legislators scheduled to begin appearing at its monthly meetings this summer, the Devens Committee is preparing a focused set of questions on jurisdiction, housing, and health care to put before them, and is reaching out to regional business organizations to ensure that their concerns are part of the conversation.
The Devens Committee is an elected five-member board that represents Devens residents and advises MassDevelopment on the delivery of services and governance in the Devens Regional Enterprise Zone.
Committee member Aaron Farber-Chen, who volunteered to develop the questions, has solicited ideas from residents and consolidated their responses around three themes the committee had identified at its previous meeting. His goal, he said, was to produce questions that were focused, constructive, and conducive to productive dialogue, ones that would draw out legislators’ perspectives rather than put them on the defensive.
The nine questions, three in each category, cover significant ground. Farber-Chen presented them at the committee’s April 1 meeting.
On jurisdiction and governance, the committee asks what long-term governance model legislators support for Devens, how they are evaluating potential jurisdictional changes involving the surrounding municipalities, and what steps they have taken or plan to take to engage directly with Devens residents and businesses.
On housing, the questions address how legislators balance the need for increased housing supply against the capacity of the area’s infrastructure—schools, transportation, utilities—and what role sustainability standards should play in future housing policy.
On health care, the questions focus on access to emergency and hospital-based care following the closure of Nashoba Valley Medical Center, the need for expanded local urgent and primary care, and how the state is measuring progress in restoring regional access to care.
State Sen. Jamie Eldridge is confirmed to appear at the committee’s June meeting. Chair Laura Scott said she had also reached out to state Rep. Dan Sena and state Sen. John Cronin and would redouble efforts to get them on the calendar. The committee plans to settle on the questions at its May 6 meeting, after which Scott will transmit them to the legislators in advance of their appearances.
Tracy Clark, a former Devens Committee member attending as a member of the public, suggested the questions also explore Devens’ regional relationships, how the community functions as part of a broader economic and civic ecosystem, and how decisions made at Devens affect and are affected by surrounding communities.
Committee member Lisa Kendrick reported that she had contacted both the Nashoba Valley Chamber of Commerce and the North Central Chamber of Commerce to gauge business interest in the jurisdiction question. Both responded promptly, she said, and expressed openness to attending committee meetings, sharing the legislative questions with their member businesses, and providing feedback. Devens Committee member Tolga Caglar suggested sharing the questions as a draft rather than a final document, to give businesses an opportunity to contribute before the list is settled. Kendrick said she would send the draft questions to both chambers and invite their members to attend the June meeting with Eldridge.