2009-03-25-CPC-min - Laserfiche WebLink

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Community Preservation Committee Wednesday, March 25, 2009 Legion Room 4:00 pm Present: Betsey Weiss, Chair; Marilyn Fenollosa, Vice Chair; Joel Adler, Norman Cohen, Jeanne Krieger, Wendy Manz, Leo McSweeney, Nathalie Rice, Admin. Asst.; Sandy Shaw and Dick Wolk. Also in attendance were Charles Lamb, Chairman, and David Kanter of the CEC, Joyce Miller, Chairwoman and Stew Kennedy of the Conservation Commission, Carl Valente, Town Manager, Maryanne McCall-Taylor, Town Planner, and David Williams of the Board of Appeals. The meeting was called to order at 4:05 pm. The purpose of the meeting was to receive an update from the Conservation Commission on the progress of the negotiations for the purchase of the Leary land, to discuss payment options for the acquisition, to receive an update from the Recreation Department on the Pine Meadows project, and to have discussions on several finalized projects. 1.Update on the Leary Acquisition – Mr. Wolk updated the CPC, stating that the amount of the request to the CPC had been decided upon at $2,753,100. He said this was $7,000 less than the appraised value, and that a lot of $30,022 sq. ft. for affordable housing had been established that encompassed the Leary home. He said it represented a legal lot, and that based up the appraisal of the lots, he would suggest its value at $720,000. This, he continued, would mean that $720,000 of the purchase would be delegated to the community housing “bucket”. Ms. Fenollosa brought up the point that if the lot is a legal lot, it might not come back to the CPC for funding. Ms. Weiss asked Mr. Valente about splitting the land up in this manner and if there were requirements to tie the value of such a lot to the appraisal. Ms. Fenollosa brought up the question of the threshold for affordable lots, asking if the lot were valued at a million dollars, for instance, whether it would qualify as an “affordable” lot. There was a great deal of discussion on the topic of the valuation of the affordable lot. Mr. Valente suggested that it might be better to look at the value in terms of the whole property. With 5 lots at the price of 2.7 million, this would bring each lot to roughly 550,000 in value. Ms. Shaw voiced her concern at the figure of $720,00 commenting that it did not seem reasonable, but added that she felt the appraisal of the entire property seemed fair. After considerable discussion, Mr. McSweeney made a motion to “support the purchase of the Leary land as explained by Mr. Wolk, of which $720,000 will be for affordable housing”. Ms. Kreiger seconded the motion, and it passed unanimously. 1