by John Osborn ·
Friday, March 27, 2026
A planning timeline presented at Tuesday’s meeting of the Harvard-Devens Jurisdiction Committee estimates that reaching consensus on the future of Devens and delivering the study required by state law could take as long as six years—if the towns, Devens residents, and other stakeholders commit to the work immediately and sustain it. The estimate, drafted by committee member Paul Green based on his own research and assumptions about each phase of the process, left a growing number of members convinced that they may have to press ahead without MassDevelopment at the table.
Green’s timeline maps a path from the current stakeholder discussions through a projected resumption of local control. It identifies five distinct phases—building general consensus, commissioning consultants, conducting formal negotiations, winning legislative approval, and managing the transition itself—each with its own dependencies and deadlines. Green originally drafted the document with a September 2023 start date; the committee’s discussion made clear the schedule has since slipped.
The timeline is built around an unforgiving constraint: Chapter 498, as amended by Chapter 266, sets July 1, 2033, as the date on which MassDevelopment’s interim authority over Devens—including the power to collect taxes and provide police, fire, and municipal services—expires. By that date the towns of Ayer, Harvard, and Shirley, the Devens Enterprise Commission, and MassDevelopment must submit a joint proposal for permanent government to the Legislature. The law says that work on that report must begin no later than July 1, 2030, allowing three years to complete the final document. But the law does not presume that the towns will resume jurisdiction; Devens becoming a separate municipality remains one option.
Harvard-Devens Jurisdiction Committee Chair Victor Normand told the committee he had asked state Rep. Dan Sena to check with legislative counsel on whether that 2033 deadline was firm, and the preliminary answer was unambiguous: it cannot be extended administratively and would require a vote of the Legislature.
The requirement that MassDevelopment sign off on the final report, however, complicates the strategy of proceeding without the agency’s participation. While the towns can build consensus and do the work without MassDevelopment, they cannot legally file the final report without it.
“I think not starting this till 2030—good luck having a piece of legislation that is going to satisfy everybody locally and the Legislature and the Governor,” Normand said.
Working backward from the 2033 deadline, Green and committee member John McCormack, who chairs Harvard’s Planning Board, concluded that intensive work must begin no later than 2027, with 2028 as an absolute outer bound.
The harder edge of Monday’s HDJC discussion, however, was a rising frustration with MassDevelopment’s posture toward the entire process. The conversation unfolded with notable absences: Select Board representatives Kara Minar and SusanMary Redinger were not present, nor was Devens resident Heather Knowles, leaving George Glazier as the sole Devens representative in the room. School Department representative Katharine Covino-Poutasse departed before the timeline discussion began. The views expressed, pointed and at times emphatic, came from a committee operating with a bare quorum.
Green, who has shepherded the committee’s planning framework for years, was blunt: Spending further energy trying to bring MassDevelopment to the table was a waste of time, he said.
The alternative taking shape among those present is a strategy of deliberate forward motion—reaching agreement among the three towns and Devens stakeholders before MassDevelopment rejoins, then presenting the agency with a finished plan.
“If we can all come to an agreement on what we want before MassDevelopment rejoins, then it’s a done deal,” Green said.
The mechanism most discussed for building that consensus is a warrant article—placed simultaneously on the Town Meeting agendas of all three towns—asking voters to endorse resuming jurisdiction over Devens. Lucy Wallace argued the committee should not fear proceeding without MassDevelopment if state funding for consultants can be secured through other channels, noting that the agency’s repeated nonparticipation would only weaken its position before the Legislature.
A potential forum for considering Green’s proposal is the multiparty Devens Jurisdictional Framework Committee, which includes representatives of the towns of Ayer, Harvard, and Shirley, as well as Devens residents, Devens businesses and the Devens Enterprise Commission. The DJFC next meets April 8 in Ayer. However, John Katter, who represents the residents of Devens, and Neil Angus, who represents the DEC, both oppose beginning discussion of disposition prior to July 1, 2030, the deadline stipulated in Chapter 498. The business representatives have yet to take a position. And MassDevelopment, a founding member, withdrew from the committee in 2023, promising to return to the table in 2030.
The HDJC members present at Tuesday’s meeting agreed to continue discussion at their next meeting of Green’s timeline and a potential warrant article for a 2027 Super Town Meeting.