The Harvard Planning Board voted this week not to support Article 29 at Annual Town Meeting this Saturday. The article, presented by the Economic Development Analysis Team (EDAT), asks the voters to support the creation and appointment of a standing Economic Development Committee (EDC) and to pursue the designation of Economic Target Area (ETA) for the town.

Planning Board Chairman Joe Sudol and members Lisa Fox and Kara McGuire Minar declined to support the article; member Wayne McFarland abstained because he had not read the draft of the EDAT’s report; and member Craig Bardenheuer was absent. Members based their decisions on a draft version of the report; the final version was not available at the time of the meeting, and was not available at press time

In an interview with the Press, Sudol said he does not support the article because “there is no need for an EDC at this time.” He added that the functions of the proposed EDC are not clearly defined in the draft report and that “recommendations in the report can be handled by the Planning Board or by the Board of Selectmen.” For example, he said, requests for studies for a sewer system, traffic light, stop signs, or installation of roundabouts on Ayer Road must already go through those boards.

Planning Board member Kara Minar said that EDAT did “a good job at collecting preliminary data and opinion surveys, but their report lacks hard data. We’re being asked to support an EDC without any hard data on what it’s going to cost.” Minar questioned the revenue figures shown in the draft report, asking whether those revenues are being projected with or without an installed sewer. “I hesitate to go forward with an EDC without knowing what it’s obligating the town to do,” she said.

Reached by phone for comment, EDAT Vice Chairman Michelle Catalina told the Press, “The purpose of the report is to demonstrate feasibility and to come up with models for revenues and costs in this district [the Commercial District along Ayer Road]. This is not a plan.” She explained that the EDAT report is a place to begin looking at possibilities for both development and redevelopment of commercial properties, not to commit to a plan or an implementation.