2010-11-08-CPC-min - Laserfiche WebLink

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6.Cotton Farm $500,000 state Self- Help grant process -Ms. Manz raised the topic of state Self-Help grant so Ms. Weiss would have an opportunity to note the Cotton Farm grant process in the CPC record. Ms Weiss said that she spoke to Stuart Saginor of the Community Preservation Coalition last April and he told her about the $500,000 state Self- Help grant and gave her Ceila Reichel’s contact information from the Dept. of EOEEA at the State House. Ms. Weiss brought the Self- Help grant to the Town’s attention in mid-May and encouraged the Town to apply. The Dept. of Conservation filled out a th successful application by the July 15 deadline and after hearing that the Town was awarded $500,000 at the end of October for the Cotton Farm acquisition, Ms. Weiss said that she thanked Mr. Saginor and Ms. Reichel by phone and email. Mr. Adler commented that Ms. Weiss deserved considerable credit, and members agreed, giving Ms. Weiss a round of applause. Ms Manz also expressed her thanks. Ms Fenollosa suggested writing formal thank you notes to Mr. Saginor and Ms. Reichel. 7.Needs Assessment – The Committee briefly discussed the Needs Assessment Report. Mr. Wolk reported that he had requested the Conservation Department to provide him with some updated numbers, and Mr. McSweeney said he would get updated figures from the Housing Authority. Ms. Manz encouraged the timely receipt of these updates and said she would like to have the report ready for the Public Hearing in December. 8.CPA Signs – Ms. Shaw stated that she had no further information on the proposed signs, and that the Committee should not expect a full scale mock- up, since it would cost as much as one of the signs. 9.Town Counsel’s Opinion on Use of Administrative Funds and Agricultural Restrictions – The CPC noted the receipt of a memo from Town Manager, Carl Valente in response to two questions that arose at the October 13th CPC meeting. In his memo, Mr. Valente forwarded Town Counsel’s opinion that Administrative funds cannot be used for the payment of additional legal and other expenses incurred on the Busa and Cotton Farm properties. The second opinion addressed by Town Counsel stated that an agricultural or open space restriction placed upon land at the Busa Farm, prevented the land from subsequently being used for other CPA purposes such as community housing. A strict Agricultural Preservation Restriction (APR) would limit the use of the land to agricultural purposes, while a conservation restriction would limit the uses to open space purposes, including farming or active and passive recreation. 4