Ayer Select Board Votes Seasonal Water Restrictions, Challenges Devens Governance Bill

AYER — April 21, 2026 — Ayer Select Board approves seasonal water restrictions and questions proposed Devens governance overhaul. The board, acting as water commissioners, voted unanimously to implement mandatory odd-even outdoor watering and a ban on outdoor use between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., effective May 1 through September 30, as required under the town's Water Management Act permit — not in response to drought conditions, which have improved from Level 3 critical to Level 1 mild, Water and Sewer Superintendent Kimberly Abraham told the board. Board member J. Livingston presented sharp concerns about proposed state legislation that would move Super Town Meeting for the Devens enterprise zone to a single on-site location, cut the quorum from 150 voters across Ayer, Harvard, and Shirley to 50 total, strip the three select boards of their authority to convene the meeting, and hand sole control to MassDevelopment. "I am just not liking, let's just say, the optics on this," Livingston said, suggesting the bill — whose Devens section appears on page 53 — could be a precursor to weakening the towns' position ahead of a jurisdiction decision due in roughly seven years. The board also received a NextGen microgrid update: a $5 million grant application with 11 letters of support has been submitted, five towns are now engaged, and each town's study cost has been cut to $37,500 after NextGen agreed to a 50 percent match. Separately, dispatcher Matt Colley was presented a life-saving award by the police chief for guiding a caregiver through CPR on a drowning toddler on April 6, an intervention Life Flight crews credited with saving the child's life.