When a bevy of black SUVs appeared on a local road earlier this month, several Harvard residents called police, expressing fears that ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) had come to town. In fact, the vehicles were part of a Make-A-Wish Foundation project to take several children to a Celtics game.

Harvard homeowners could see their residential tax rate drop by nearly $4 per $1,000 of assessed value if the town resumed jurisdiction over its historical lands in Devens, according to financial projections unveiled Tuesday night by the Harvard-Devens Jurisdiction Committee.

With the snow piled high outside, Harvard’s May 5 Town Election seems remote. However, nomination papers for the town’s four elective boards are already available from the town clerk.

Harvard’s Community Preservation Committee voted last week to recommend the expenditure of $676,750 to support five town projects, ranging from a conservation restriction to new flooring for the town library, with decisions on two additional projects deferred to a Jan. 28 meeting.

In the years since the town qualified for the state’s Green Community program in 2010, it has received three grants to make its municipal buildings—primarily the Bromfield School—more energy efficient. Now, the state has upgraded Harvard to “climate leader” status, making it eligible for an even wider array of grants of up to $1.1 million.

The Harvard-Devens Jurisdiction Committee will hold a public forum on Tuesday, Jan. 27, from 7:30 p.m. until 9 p.m. at the Harvard Senior Center to present its findings on the future governance of Devens.

Changes at the town’s only park, Harvard Park on Lancaster County Road, are set to begin this spring with construction of a new bicycle track, while renovations to the park’s running track and playing field are scheduled to begin this summer.

The new Harvard Department of Public Works (DPW) director, Eric Ryder, had been on the job all of nine days at the time of this interview. He is the third director in the past two years, or the fourth, when counting the interim director who served for about six months.

The School Committee, the Finance Committee, and the Select Board all gathered in the Bromfield School library Monday night, Jan. 12, to discuss the school budget, particularly in relation to the expected budget shortfall for fiscal 2027.

Nearly 40 area residents gathered on the Common Saturday, Jan. 10, in a demonstration organized with only 24 hours’ notice to protest the fatal shooting of a Minneapolis woman by a federal immigration agent.

Facing a looming $790,000 budget shortfall, the Harvard Finance Committee voted at its regular Tuesday afternoon meeting to request specific, prioritized lists of service reductions from town departments and the school district.

There was a changing of the guard at Devens this past week as new members of the community’s two elected advisory committees took their seats and determined who would lead them in 2026.

The newly formed Charter Review Committee met for the first time this week to elect officers and set its schedule.

With the fiscal 2027 budget season underway, Harvard officials are staring at a significant gap between anticipated revenues and requested spending—and no consensus yet on how far to go in asking taxpayers to make up the difference.

The Harvard Conservation Trust announced its purchase of a long-desired property along Ayer Road that more than doubles the size of the Pin Hill conservation area.

MassDevelopment, the agency responsible for the redevelopment of Devens, has invited developers to submit proposals for new housing on nearly 70 acres of land zoned residential in Devens, all of which lie within Harvard’s historical town boundaries.