by Matthew Flokos ·
Thursday, February 18, 2021
At its Feb. 16 meeting, the Select Board voted to approve a letter requesting a meeting with MassDevelopment’s new CEO, Dan Rivera, to discuss plans for the future of Devens. Rivera, formerly the mayor of Lawrence, became the MassDevelopment CEO at the start of 2021. Although the letter has been approved, Select Board members and Harvard-Devens Jurisdiction Committee Chair Victor Normand may make minor adjustments by email in the next few days.
MassDevelopment and the towns of Ayer, Harvard, and Shirley have until 2032 to decide on a plan for Devens’ future, to be submitted to the state Legislature. The letter suggests that MassDevelopment should provide funding for a consultant to oversee this planning process, a suggestion that Normand and other members of the Harvard-Devens Jurisdiction Committee have long supported.
The towns of Ayer, Harvard, Shirley, and MassDevelopment had previously been coordinating their planning efforts using the Devens Jurisdiction Framework Committee, but that committee suspended operations due to COVID-19. The Harvard-Devens Jurisdiction Committee has continued meeting and has been trying to make progress independently.