July 19, 2011
New COA Director on the job
Harvard’s Council on Aging has a new director. She is Debbie Thompson, a trained social worker who served nine years as outreach coordinator for the Groton Council on Aging before her appointment by Selectmen on July 19.
After a screening process had narrowed the field to two candidates, Thompson was the unanimous choice of Selectmen as well as the board of directors of the Harvard Council on Aging. She began work this week at her second floor office in Hildreth House, where the Press found her Tuesday.
Asked to name her most important tasks as she takes up her duties, Thomson said two at the top of her list are “listening” and completing the annual application for the small grant of state funds her department uses to supplement its budget.
Aug. 2, 2011
Municipal Building Committee gets a charter
After weeks of debate, Selectmen have agreed on a charter for the 2011 Municipal Building Committee. The vote was unanimous.
The new charter sets the size of the committee at seven members, though only six are currently serving. Selectmen Marie Sobalvarro and Tim Clark argued that the committee will likely need someone who is adept at financial modeling and can work with the town’s finance and capital committees, and that an open slot should be retained for such an appointment.
“Let’s leave it open for now,” said Selectman Bill Johnson, “but watch to see whether the committee gets the support it needs from the non-voting liaison representatives assigned by the finance and capital committees.”
The specific task given the committee by Town Meeting this year is to develop “schematic plans” for the renovation of Town Hall and Hildreth House. Schematic plans are the basis for the detailed architectural and builder plans needed to do the work. The committee can spend up to $185,000 this fiscal year, most of which will be used to pay for the services of a project manager and architect to work with the committee. The charter takes most of its language from the 2011 Town Meeting article that established the committee, but on selectman Ron Ricci’s recommendation it includes two specific deadlines:
- A “strategic” schedule by Oct. 18 for construction of the two buildings. The schedule will be worked out in conjunction with the finance and capital committees as well as Selectmen, but its primary purpose is to prioritize the work. At present, the two buildings are being treated as equally important, said Ricci. “I’m hard pressed to think of a situation,” Johnson said, “when we’d do Hildreth before Town Hall.”
- A report to the three committees by January 2012 so planning can begin for 2012 Town Meeting.
In contrast to the just-ended 2011 fiscal year, the new Municipal Building Committee charter specifically assigns Selectmen the task of coordinating the work of the MBC with other town committees. That job will fall largely to Ron Ricci and Marie Sobalvarro, the two Selectmen liaisons to the group.
