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01/21/15CPC Minutes Community Preservation Committee Meeting Wednesday, January 21, 2015 Parker Room, Town Office Building 1625 Massachusetts Avenue 3:00 p.m. DRAFT Committee Members Present: Marilyn Fenollosa, Chair; Dick Wolk, Vice Chair; Richard Canale; Norm Cohen; David Horton; Jeanne Krieger; Leo McSweeney; Bob Pressman, Sandy Shaw Committee Members Absent: None Recording Secretary: Sara Arnold Other attendees:Carl Valente, Town Manager;Rob Addelson, Assistant Town Manager for Finance; John Livsey, Town Engineer; Karen Mullins, Conservation Administrator; Phil Hamilton, Chair, Conservation Commission; David Kanter, Capital Expenditures Committee; Bob Burbidge, LexHab The meeting was called to order at 3:05 p.m. 1.New Projects for CPC Action: Wright Farm Land Acquisition: Mr. Valente reported on a recently submitted FY2016 Capital Project Request for purchasing land in northwest Lexington. The Town purchased one portion of Wright Farm (Parcel 1) in 2012, using CPA funding, and at the time arranged for a first- right-of-refusal agreement to purchase Parcel 2 for $500,000 plus Consumer Price Index (CPI) increases, when it became available. The owner of the land passed away two weeks ago. The Town has not received official notification that the land is available for purchase, but when it does, the Town will have 180 days to exercise its option. Using CPA funds to purchase the land is appropriate because it meets three of the four CPA criteria (open space, historic and housing). The land includes a house, garage and barn. LexHAB is interested in rehabilitating the house and garage for affordable housing. The Conservation Commission is interested in using the barn for educational programs. The property is listed on Lexington’s Comprehensive Cultural Resources Survey (the “Inventory”) and is therefore a historic resource. It was noted that LexHAB, the Conservation Commission, and the Historical Commission had representatives at this meeting. There are no other anticipated stakeholders. The house was built in 1843 and has four bedrooms. LexHAB has more requests for three and four bedroom housing units than are available. The house is in reasonable condition although some inside and outside rehabilitation/restoration are necessary. Contractors would be better suited for doing this work than Minuteman Tech students, who do best with new construction. Current ideas include moving the garage and putting parking where the garage is now located. When Parcel 1 was purchased, in 2012, appraisals indicated that Parcel 2 was worth $500,000 to $570,000 without the CPI adjustment. Purchasing it for $520,000 would not be exceeding the value of the house. Current cost estimates include the following: 1