In a roundabout endorsement that seems to raise as many issues as it resolves, the Harvard Board of Selectmen (BOS) said two weeks ago that it “has no objection”—contingent on two key conditions being met—to a request by Devens homeowners to join a state mosquito control program, which uses spraying and other chemical treatments to suppress the insects, even though Harvard opted out of the same program more than 20 years ago.
The BOS vote was unanimous and came on Wednesday, May 5, the morning after town elections at an impromptu meeting that lacked an agenda and was understood to have been called solely for the purpose of electing a new chairman. Although outgoing chairman Ron Ricci introduced the item as “other business,” neither Town Administrator Tim Bragan nor any of the selectmen, including new member Bill Johnson, were aware beforehand that the matter would be discussed. Tom Kinch, current chairman of the Devens Committee, was present, however, to make his case and answer questions. The meeting was the first to be held without the presence of outgoing selectwoman Lucy Wallace, who had previously opposed spraying of land within Harvard’s historical boundaries at Devens.
The Devens request was in the form of a memo from the Joint Boards of Selectmen of the towns of Ayer, Harvard, Shirley and the community of Devens (JBOS) to the Harvard selectmen on behalf of the Devens Committee, an elected group of homeowners that represents residents living within the Devens Enterprise Zone (DREZ). The DREZ is managed by MassDevelopment (MassDev), which is advised by the JBOS. Neither the JBOS nor the Devens Committee has any authority to act on its own, and major decisions by MassDev, such as whether to enter the Central Massachusetts Mosquito Control Project (CMMC), usually require town meeting approval by the surrounding towns.
The memo from the JBOS was dated May 3 and asked the Harvard BOS to “please check” one of two answers: either “no objection” or “disapproves.” While, after vigorous debate, the BOS chose “no objection,” it did vote to add two conditions: the first requires MassDev to show, via a letter from the state’s attorney general, that it has the authority to join the program without the approval of the surrounding towns; the second asks CMMC and MassDev to bring a plan to the BOS that assures spraying and other chemical treatments will have no effect on the Harvard residents whose properties abut the DREZ.
In the debate that preceded the BOS decision, Tim Clark questioned the authority of the BOS to proceed without Town Meeting approval. Clark and Selectwoman Marie Sobalvarro also wanted the discussion to be delayed until Harvard residents had a chance to comment in a public meeting. But Ricci and new Selectman Bill Johnson successfully argued that by giving its approval with conditions, the BOS would help Devens residents and mosquito control experts begin to plan for a mosquito season that has already begun, without acting beyond its authority.
The issue of spraying for mosquitoes is certainly not a new one. Devens residents have been trying to join the state’s mosquito program for more than three years. MassDev petitioned the state’s Reclamation and Mosquito Control Board (SRMCB), which oversees the CMMC program, to become a member in 2007. At its March 2007 meeting, the SRMCB voted conditionally to accept MassDev as a member, subject to several conditions, including both a favorable ruling from the office of the state’s attorney general and letters of support from the boards of selectmen of surrounding towns. In its minutes, the SRMCB said those actions were necessary “to avoid these towns [i.e., Ayer, Devens and Harvard] fighting the SRMCB and MassDevelopment.” Either the towns would have “to give something to MassDevelopment supporting or having no objection,” the SRMCB minutes say, “or the board needs some other legal basis to back up what MassDevelopment is trying to do.”
For whatever reason, MassDev has not fulfilled at least one of the SRMCB’s conditions. In a brief phone interview this week, MassDev Chief of Staff Meg Delorier said she was “unaware of any legal determination by the attorney general,” although she confirmed that the Board of Directors of MassDev had formally voted to join the mosquito control program in April 2007, as the SRMCB had asked as one of its conditions.
As for the surrounding towns, the Shirley Board of Selectmen voted April 12 to support the Devens petition without reservation, according to Executive Assistant Kathleen Rocco, since the members saw “no risk to wetlands or any other health issues.” Ayer is the only town of the three JBOS members that belongs to the mosquito control program. Ayer is unopposed to Devens’ request, but the Press was unable to confirm in time for this edition that the Ayer selectmen had actually sent a letter to that effect to either the JBOS or to MassDev. The state’s Fish and Wildlife Commission, yet another body with jurisdiction over the DREZ, is on record as being opposed to spraying on lands it manages.
Until two weeks ago, the town of Harvard had taken no action, although Bragan recalls bringing the matter to the attention of the BOS both last year and the year before. Town Counsel Mark Lanza, according to Bragan, has said more than once that any decision by Harvard to participate in the mosquito program requires a vote of Town Meeting. But Harvard opted out in 1989, by a narrow vote of 171-132, according to the April 14, 1989, issue of the Harvard Post. Former selectwoman Wallace took the same position at an August 2009 JBOS meeting, when members of the Devens committee raised the issue once again, according to a report in the Harvard Press, but she also promised to put a motion to spray on the next town meeting warrant, an action the BOS never discussed publicly in the lead-up to the May 2010 Town Meeting.
The question that remains to be settled after all these years is this: who has authority to act on behalf of Devens residents? More particularly, who can act on behalf of those who live on land within Harvard’s historical boundaries?
“I believe the ball is now in their [Mass Development’s] court to determine who has legal standing in saying yay or nay,” Ricci said at last week’s JBOS meeting.
“It’s very clear that for the town of Harvard to participate in mosquito control, we need Town Meeting approval,” said Ricci. “It’s not so clear whether the DREZ’s participating requires any Town Meeting approval from Harvard.”
Meantime, the Harvard selectmen have asked representatives of MassDev and the CMMC to come to their next meeting on May 25 to discuss their rationale for joining the program, as well as details of the techniques currently used by the state to suppress mosquitoes. In a preview of what may be in store, several Old Mill and Blanchard Road residents who live near the DREZ took the floor during the public communication segment of the May 11 BOS meeting to state their opposition. “Please don’t sign on,” urged Janice Perry.