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 Select Board voted unanimously on March 3 to provide cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) of 3.34% to nonunion town employees. Such employees include administrative employees in Town Hall, library staff, cable staff, a firefighter, and an ambulance employee.

Dan Nason has resigned as Harvard’s town administrator. The Select Board learned of his decision in a letter dated Feb. 24 to board members and copied to town department heads Tuesday morning.

For more than 36 hours beginning Sunday evening, Harvard residents hunkered down as a powerful nor’easter swept through town, delivering whipping winds, whiteout conditions, and nearly a foot of snow.

At an unusual in-person, three-hour Feb. 18 meeting at Town Hall, dubbed a “budget retreat,” the Select Board reviewed the cuts recommended for fiscal 2027 earlier this month by the Finance Committee. They agreed with some, pushed back on others, and called for stakeholder “mini-summits” on three items before any final decisions are made. No votes were taken.

In early February, the Select Board released the newly created Harvard Volunteer Handbook, distributed via email to the 211 current members of the various town boards, committees, and commissions.

After 33 years as Harvard’s town counsel, Mark Lanza retired at the end of last year. At the Select Board’s Dec. 16, 2025, meeting, Chair Kara Minar thanked Lanza for his years of dedicated service to the town.

Harvard’s Community Preservation Committee completed its funding recommendations for fiscal 2027 on Jan. 28, resolving two deferred requests and bringing the total package to approximately $1.3 million for voters to consider at the May 2 Annual Town Meeting.

A public hearing held Feb. 10 to collect suggestions for revising the Harvard Charter attracted only four members of the public, including two from the Press. The charter defines the roles and processes of town government and, by its own rules, must be evaluated every 10 years by a nine-member Charter Review Committee.

In its fall 2025 reader survey, the Harvard Press received a vote of confidence with 89% strongly agreeing the newspaper is “integral to the Harvard community” and 96% agreeing they’re satisfied with the quality of reporting.

Harvard’s Climate Initiative Committee confirmed a new date for its Repair Cafe at its meeting on Feb. 12. The event will be on Saturday, March 14, from 1 to 3 p.m., at the Harvard Senior Center, 16 Lancaster County Road.

Harvard’s Finance Committee voted Tuesday to recommend a $396,754 Proposition 2½ override to the Select Board, along with $267,000 in budget cuts split—albeit unevenly—between town departments and the schools.

For nearly three weeks, many Harvard residents have been gripped by the story of little Gizmo, a black, three-legged shih tzu who got out of a fenced enclosure on Jan. 20 and remained missing for 16 days.

It started with noises in the chimney. At first, Patrick Ellis thought the rustling sounds he heard that Saturday evening, Jan. 10, were bats. When he went down to the basement, however, something bigger than a bat swooped by him.

Plans for the new heating, ventilation, and cooling system at the Bromfield School have taken a step forward, as Superintendent Linda Dwight reported to the School Committee this week. 

There was good news for Harvard in the annual state budget that Gov. Maura Healey sent to the Legislature last week. The administration’s decision to appropriate more money to Massachusetts cities and towns in fiscal 2027 will, if the Legislature approves, provide Harvard more in state aid than forecast.