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Community Preservation Committee Annual Town Meeting 2010 The Community Preservation Committee (CPC) is pleased to recommend 21 projects to Town Meeting for its consideration and approval, as described on the following pages. Each of these projects was evaluated in light of the articulated criteria for acceptable Community Preservation Act (CPA) funding as attached to this report and vetted at a public hearing held on January 14, 2010. (There is another project still pending with the CPC=-the purchase of land off Marrett Road [Cotton Farm].A Public Hearing on that purchase is scheduled for April 8, 2010.) In addition to these twenty-one projects, the CPC recommends approval of an allocation for administrative expenses and the Busa Farm Debt Service. In FY 2009, the CPC worked to define financial policies that would help in project review and prioritization. The Committee has had financial policy discussions with the finance committees and the Board of Selectmen regarding minimum target balances for the CPA fund, and the advantages and disadvantages of cash versus bonding land acquisitions and large projects. With the help of the Assistant Town Manager of Finance, Rob Addelson, the CPC is creating a financial planning model to help the CPC budget for future projects. An important legislative initiative supported by the CPC deserves special mention this year. Throughout the year, the CPC helped to support Senate Bill 90, an Act to Sustain Community Preservation. Passage of this bill would increase the State match from its presently estimated percentage of 31% to 75%, and would expand the definition of recreation to enable existing recreational resources to receive CPA funding. Six CPC members attended the SB #90 Hearing on Beacon Hill in late September 2009, and the CPC has been actively involved in lobbying for the passage of this important legislation. This legislation has moved successfully through the Comrmttee on Community Development and Small Business and is now in the House Ways and Means Committee. Since Lexington adopted the CPA in 2006, the CPC has recommended and Town Meeting has approved about $14.5 million dollars for CPA funded projects. These funds have supported 28 historic preservation projects,preserved 33.7 acres of open space, created or preserved 7 recreational facilities, and created or supported 170 units of affordable housing. The CPC is proud to announce that since October 2007, Lexington has received over$5.5 million dollars in State matching funds. For further information about the CPC, visit the CPC's page of the Town's website, http://ci.lexinaon.ma.us/committees/epc/cfm. 1