2014-04-07-CPC-min - Laserfiche WebLink

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Minutes of the Community Preservation Committee Monday, April 7, 2014 4:00 pm, Parker Room Town Office Building, 1625 Massachusetts Avenue Present: Committee Members: Marilyn Fenollosa, Chair; Richard Canale, David Horton, Leo McSweeney, Robert Pressman and Sandra Shaw. Administrative Assistant : Nathalie Rice Also in attendance was David Kanter, Vice-Chair of the Capital Expenditures Committee (CEC). The meeting was called to order at 4:00 pm. by Ms. Fenollosa. 1.Final Votes on Motions and FY15 Projects a.) LexHAB Creation of Affordable Housing at the Busa Property - Rob Addelson, Assistant Manager for Finance was in attendance to discuss revisions to the motion for Article 8(g) of the 2014 Annual Town Meeting (ATM), the LexHAB request for $750,000 in CPA funds for the creation of affordable housing on the Busa property. (These FY15 funds are intended to be used in combination with unspent monies previously appropriated to LexHAB.) Ms. Fenollosa explained that a question had arisen regarding the use of the CPA funds appropriated to LexHAB in FY12 and FY13. In those appropriations, CPA funds were appropriated for “acquisition” of housing rather than “creation”. Town Counsel’s opinion, she noted, was that the word “acquire” legally encompassed creation of new units, but Town Manager, Carl Valente felt it would be prudent to clarify this in the FY15 ATM motion. Members discussed the revised motion and reaffirmed their support of the LexHAB project and the CPC’s intent to have previously unspent funds used in FY15 for the purposes of creating new affordable housing on the Busa property. The “Guidelines for Use of CPA Funds by LexHAB”, published on page 21 of the 2014 CPC Report to Special and Annual Town Meeting, were referenced in the discussion. (#13 allows CPA funds to be carried over from year to year.) After a duly seconded motion, members voted (6-0) to reaffirm the CPC’s support of the LexHAB project on the Busa property for the purposes of creating/acquiring affordable housing as submitted in its application and plans to the Committee, and that the requested FY15 funds of $750,000 be combined with unexpended balances from Article 8(d) of the warrant for the 2011 Annual Town Meeting and Article 9(g) of the warrant of the 2012 Annual Town Meeting for a total of $1,284,653. Mr. Addelson then discussed the revisions to the “Brown Book” (the Town’s Budget and Financing Plan) necessitated by the revised motion under Article 8(g). He said he had amended Table VII on page XI-13 entitled, “FY 2015 Manager’s Recommended Budget: Capital Projects” to show the appropriation of the unspent total of $534,653 from the 2011 and 2012 appropriations. He noted he had also revised the Capital projects paragraph on page XI-22, which described the LexHAB proposal. Members reviewed the revised paragraph, but noted that it referenced 4-6 units of housing. They raised concerns about this since the Board of Selectmen 1