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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2012-11-29-CPC-minMinutes of the Community Preservation Committee Thursday, November 29, 2012, 2:00 pm Parker Room Town Offices Building Present: Board Members: Wendy Manz, Chair; Joel Adler, Norman Cohen, Marilyn Fenollosa, Vice Chair; Jeanne Krieger, Leo McSweeney, Sandra Shaw and Dick Wolk. Administrative Assistant: Nathalie Rice Also in attendance were David Kanter of the Capital Expenditures Committee (CEC) and Town resident, Robert Pressman. The meeting was called to order at 2:06 pm. by Ms. Manz. 1. Approval of the Minutes — A vote was taken (6-0) to approve the minutes from the meetings of November 1, 2012 and November 8, 2012. (Mr. McSweeney was not yet in attendance.) 2. Announcements a.) Resignation of Ms. Weiss - Ms. Manz announced to the Committee that she had received a resignation notice from Betsey Weiss. Ms. Manz said she was saddened by this news, and had asked Ms. Weiss to reconsider. Ms.Weiss preferred not to reconsider, and therefore a new representative to the CPC will be appointed by the Housing Partnership. Members of the Committee noted Ms. Weiss' resignation with regret, and stressed her instrumental role in the passage of the CPA and in championing affordable housing for the Town and the Housing Partnership. All agreed Ms. Weiss' contributions will be greatly missed, and expressed their appreciation and gratitude for all she has done. b.) Upcoming Workshop — Ms. Manz noted the upcoming Community Preservation Coalition Workshop on Saturday, December 1 st at the Chelmsford Center for the Arts. Ms. Manz will attend, as well as Sandra Shaw and David. Kanter of the CEC. c.) 33 Marrett Road — Ms. Manz reported that she had been updated by Town Manager, Carl Valente, regarding the progress on the evaluation of the Scottish Rite/Mason's property for Town purposes. She said the Cecil Group is in the process of evaluating the property, and an appraisal is underway. She said a decision must be made whether to move forward with an acquisition by February, 2013. Mr. Adler noted that the CPC would need to consider the acquisition carefully, since it might limit CPA funds for other projects. Members agreed that acquisition of the 33 Marrett Road property would require bonding. d.) Letter to Selectmen regarding Land Acquisitions - Ms. Manz reported that the CPC's letter regarding land acquisitions had been delivered to the Selectmen. e.) CPC Website — Ms. Rice reported that the FYI CPA applications are now on the CPS website. This group of 21 project applications will be forwarded Town Counsel for review. 3. Needs Assessment Report — Ms. Manz noted that the Needs Assessment Report would need to be updated for the upcoming hearing on December 19'. Ms. Rice reported that she had distributed the Conservation and Recreation sections to Ms. Mullins and Ms. Simmons respectively. Ms. Manz will edit the Housing section, while Ms. Fenollosa will review the Historic Preservation section. Ms. Rice requested that drafts be back to the CPC office by Tuesday, December 4th, if possible. 4. Future Meetings — Ms. Manz noted that the CPC will meet on December 6th , and will have at least one appointment regarding the amendments to the Cary Memorial Upgrades project. A second meeting is planned for the 13th of December, and the Public Hearing for the Needs Assessment Report is scheduled for December 19th at 7:00 pm. 5. Moon Hill National Register Nomination Funds — The CPC met with Six Moon Hill Neighborhood Association board member David Goldfinger, regarding the Association's request for $6,000 in CPA funding. Mr. Goldfinger explained that Six Moon Hill neighborhood had been found eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places by the Massachusetts Historical Commission, and the Association had been in contact with the Historical Commission to determine how best to accomplish this listing. The listing would be an addition to the recently listed Mid Century Modern Houses of Lexington Multi -Property Submission (MPS), which was funded by a CPC grant and resulted in the listing of the Peacock Farm Neighborhood National Register District. The MPS establishes requirements to enable future nominations to the National Register for any individual properties or historic districts that fit the context and guidelines. Mr. Goldfinger explained that the MHC found that the Six Moon Hill Historic District met the National Register criteria for listing at the local, state and possibly national levels. He said the Board of The Six Moon Hill Neighborhood Association voted at its September 17th meeting to approve $2,000 to support completion of the nomination. He said they sought $6,000 in CPA funds to augment this amount to cover the costs of documenting and submitting the associated paperwork for the 29 homes involved, and to hire a qualified professional to help them in this process. He reported "enormous community support" for the project. Ms. Fenollosa, the Historical Commission representative, explained that the Town would benefitt significantly from the National Register nomination of the homes in the Moon Hill neighborhood. She noted that Moon Hill is featured in architecture books, and that local architecture graduate schools regularly tour the neighborhood to view the influence of the Modernist Movement, and the works of 2 architects such as Walter Gropius. She said the Historical Commission "wholeheartedly" supported the project and noted its benefit to the entire Town by bringing national recognition to this important part of Lexington's history. In response to a question from Mr. Wolk, Ms. Fenollosa explained that the registration would not impose any restrictions or regulatory limitations on the properties involved, unless federal or state funds were used to undertake a project in the neighborhood, such as road construction. She said the registration had no effect on individual properties, and that it was an "honorary" designation. In response to a question from Mr. Cohen, she replied that the homes in the Moon Hill neighborhood were already on the Cultural Resources Inventory. Mr. McSweeney asked if there would be any effect on the market value of the homes involved. Ms. Fenollosa replied that their values might increase, due to the more widely recognized and valued historic nature of the neighborhood. 6. Merriam Hill Preservation —Warren Manhard, a resident of Stetson Road, met with the CPC to request $3,000 in CPA funding for the identification of homes in the Merriam Hill Neighborhood for possible inclusion on the Historical Commission's Comprehensive Cultural Resources Survey (the Inventory). Bebe Fallick, the Town Meeting precinct liaison to the Merriam Hill Neighborhood Association was also in attendance. Mr. Manhard explained that there are 469 homes in the Merriam Hill Neighborhood, of which 165 are already on the Inventory. He said the Board of Directors had voted to apply for CPA funds and to devote $500 of Association funds toward the project. The purpose of the CPA funding would be to hire a consultant to assess the remaining 304 houses, and ultimately to complete the paperwork in order to list up to fifteen of the most historically and/or architecturally significant homes on the Inventory. Mr. Manhard outlined the boundaries of the Merriam Hill Neighborhood, and said the impetus for the Neighborhood's application had been the demolition of a 1902 home at 31 Somerset Road and the threat to a home at 95 Meriam Street, designed by nationally renowned architect Charles Platt. He said the Neighborhood was concerned that other historically significant homes might be at risk. Ms. Fenollosa commented that the Merriam Hill Neighborhood is historically significant at the local level, and in fact is noted on tourist maps. She said the Historical Commission believes the homes on Merriam Hill should be documented and that the historically significant houses should be added to the Inventory. Ms. Fallick spoke to the issue of the Demolition Delay By -Law, noting that she had been one of the original authors of the By -Law. The additional homes expected to be added to the Inventory would be subject to the Demolition Delay By -Law. Ms. Kreiger commented that three hundred houses represented a large block of homes, and questioned whether other owners in the Neighborhood were unanimous in having their properties studied. Mr. Manhard said that the owners of all of the 304 houses had not been yet been contacted, since no determination had been made as to the buildings' eligibility for inclusion on the Inventory and notification was therefore premature. Ms. Kreiger asked if the owners would have a choice of being placed on the Inventory, to which Ms. Fenollosa stated that they 3 would have a "voice". Mr. Cohen noted that there had been many complaints registered at the Selectmen's Office from homeowners who, having been listed on the Inventory, were unable to sell their properties to developers who would demolish and rebuild on the site. Ms. Fenollosa noted that all homeowners have received notice that their properties have been placed on the Inventory, and if they submit appropriate evidence as to the properties' loss of architectural or historical integrity, can have them removed from the listing by vote of the Historical Commission. Mr. Wolk asked Ms. Fenollosa about the Historical Commission's criteria to which she replied that the structure has to have architectural or historical significance, and/or historic setting, style or materials. She said the purpose of the Inventory was primarily to have a record of historically and architecturally significant houses in Lexington and only secondarily to trigger the Demolition Delay By -Law. She said the Demolition Delay By -Law was not the reason for listing on the Inventory. Mr. Cohen commented that the proposed list of homes to evaluate seemed very broad, to which Mr. Manhard replied that the evaluation of properties had to start somewhere, and it was deemed best to consider the all the houses in the neighborhood so as to not miss any important buildings such as the one on Somerset Street that was demolished. Ultimately, however, the project would result in the eventual listing of only up to 15 houses. 7. LexHAB — Set -Aside Funds —Bill Kennedy, co -Chair of LexHAB met with the CPC to request $450,000 in FY14 CPA Set -Aside funds for the purchase and renovation of homes for affordable housing. He said that LexHAB had not used its FY13 CPA monies ($450,000), since no worthy properties had yet been identified. He stated that LexHAB is now renovating a property on Fairview Road, but is doing so with its own reserve funds. Mr. Kennedy respectfully requested FYI 4 funds, explaining that LexHAB anticipated being involved in the construction of affordable housing on the Leary property and eventually on the Busa property. Should LexHAB not find a house in the upcoming year, he indicated that they would put the combined years' funds toward one of the two Town initiatives. He also indicated that LexHAB would be funding the demolition of the Leary home, estimated to cost $40,000. (This would remove it as a capital project from the CPC's list of applications.) Mr. Kanter asked Mr. Kennedy about the LexHAB funds held for the purchase of units at Katandin Woods, to which Mr. Kennedy replied that LexHAB was holding $2,000,000 for that eventuality. Mr. Kennedy will send Mr. Kanter the legal opinion on the Katandin Woods issue. 8. Pocket Park Design in Lexington Center — Melisa Tintocalis, the Economic Development Director for the Town, presented this request for $20,000 in design funds. The funds would be used to design two "pocket parks"; one for the discontinued driveway beside the Bank of America at 1761 Massachusetts Avenue, and one for the narrow walk-through adjacent to Michelson's shoe store at 1710 and 1720 Massachusetts Avenue. The official name of the walk-through beside the Bank of America for the purposes of the application is "Grain Mill Alley", so-called for its access to a grain mill which once stood to the north. Ms. Tintocalis showed a series of slides of the locations and several examples of pocket parks. Though a initial rendering of Grain Mill Alley has been prepared, Ms. Tintocalis said the design of the parks would be a collaborative design process, with public meetings and input. Mr. McSweeney questioned whether the two strips of land involved were privately held or Town -owned. Ms. Tintocalis replied that they were privately held, though she believed there may be an easement on the smaller walk-through by Michelson's. In response to a second question, she said she had not yet approached the land owners to request easements, or for any contribution toward the parks. Ms. Tintocalis explained that the projects had not appeared as part of the recent Streetscape study as they involved land use beyond the street frontage. Mr. Kanter of the CEC noted that the ratio between the D&E estimate and the construction costs seemed askew at $20,000:$30,000. He also asked if the CPC funding could be leveraged; perhaps seeking grants or financial support from the landowners or other store owners. Ms. Fenollosa noted that the "Historic" box had been checked on the application, but questioned how much of the project was truly historic. Ms. Tintocalis said she initially had thought the project might fall under Historic Resources, since it was located in a Historic District, but after talking to Stuart Saginor of the Community Preservation Coalition, she felt the project was better suited as an open space project. Ms. Tintocalis's application originally included a third pocket park east of Panera Bread, but this has since been removed from consideration. Ms. Tintocalis will submit an amended project application, with lowered costs, and an accurate indication of the project as an open space project. 9. Archives and Records Management and Conservation — Town Clerk Donna Hooper, and Archivist, Nasrin Rohani met with the CPC to request $20,000 in CPA funds to continue an ongoing project to preserve historic Town documents. (Previous CPA funds appropriated for this project have been $150,000 annually for each of the past five years.) Ms. Hooper noted that as part of this project, 110 volumes of records have been conserved and preserved; 225 volumes have been digitized; 60 volumes have been microfilmed; many collections have been catalogued for access and retrieval, and the hardware used for the process has been upgraded. Work undertaken in year 5 with FYI funds, will include conservation, preservation and digitization of historic Board of Appeals, Board of Health, Planning Board, Board of Selectmen and voter registration records. In FY14, (year 6), Ms. Hooper explained that the currently requested $20,000 in CPA funding would be used for conservation, preservation and digitization of newer Town documents. She said anticipated a time when she would be caught up with this work, and the task might become part of her operating budget. She did not anticipate this happening for a few years, however. 10. Buckman Tavern Restoration Plan — Susan Bennett of the Historical Society met with the CPC to request $650,000 in CPA funding for the restoration of the 5 interior of the Buckman Tavern. She explained that there were four components to the proposed work; (1) accessibility upgrades, (2) fire suppression work, (3) historic fabric restoration, and (4) repairs to the infrastructure (wiring, plumbing, etc.). She noted that the only external change to the building would be the expansion of the cupola, which would house the ADA lift needed for access to the second floor. She said renovations to the paths around the Tavern would be coordinated with Davie Pinsonneault, Director of Operations for the DPW, since he would be renovating the paths on the green and its environs. She reviewed the budget and plans with the CPC, and noted that the Historic Districts Commission had reviewed and informally expressed support for the project. Mr. Kanter asked Ms. Bennett whether she had resolved the issues the Historical Society had had regarding procurement practices, and she responded that they had been resolved to the satisfaction of the Society and the Town. Ms. Manz asked Ms. Bennett whether the Buckman Tavern project would be the last large house renovation conducted by the Society. Ms. Bennett replied that it would be the last project under the Society's current stewardship, but that she anticipated the Society's involvement in future projects such as the interior renovations to the Stone Building and potentially the preservation of Mid -Century Modern homes. The meeting was adjourned at 4:30 pm. The following documents were available or presented at the meeting: Town of Lexington Community Preservation Plan: A Needs Assessment. February 2012. 2. Additional Information submitted by Steve Keane, undated, for Greeley Village Door Replacement Project. 3. CPA Project Applications List, FY14, dated 11/27/12. 4. Project Summary Applications Form from the Historical Society for Buckman Tavern — Restoration and Renovation, Oct. 31, 2012. 5. Summary Change to the Community Preservation Act, Community Preservation Coalition, July, 2012. 6. Project Summary Application Form from Merriam Hill Association for Merriam Hill Preservation Project, 10/15/12. 7. Map of Moon Hill Area, 2004 Moon Hill Almanac, undated. 8. Merriam Hill Association Handouts, Homes included and not included in the Cultural Resources Inventory (by Decade Built, Address, and Year Built), November 2012. 0 9. Lexington Center Pocket Park Design, Community Preservation Meeting Slide Preservation. Undated. Respectfully submitted, Nathalie Rice Administrative Assistant Community Preservation Committee