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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020-08-05-CPC-min.exe Minutes of the Community Preservation Committee Executive Session Wednesday, August 5, 2020 Remote Zoom Meeting Meeting ID: 928 8430 9988 2:00 PM Committee Members Present: Marilyn Fenollosa (Chair); Charles Hornig (Vice-Chair), David Horton,Jeanne Krieger, David Langseth, Joe Pato (left 3:01), Bob Pressman, Melinda Walker. Administrative Assistant: Gina Federico Absent: Lisah Rhodes Other Attendees: Wendy Manz, Capital Expenditures Committee liaison to the CPC; Phil Hamilton, Chair, Conservation Commission; Karen Mullins, Conservation Administrator; Lester Savage, LexHAB; Charles Wyman, Conservation Commission Land Acquisition Committee. Ms. Fenollosa called the public meeting to order at 2:05 PM, and at 2:10 PM, upon a motion duly made and seconded, it was voted by roll call (8-0) to go into Executive Session under Exemption 6 to consider the purchase, exchange, lease or value of real property and to reconvene in Open Session; the Chair declaring that an Open Meeting might have a detrimental effect on the negotiating position of the Town. Executive Session under Exemption 6- Mr. Hamilton updated the Committee on the progress made with the sellers of the Ashley property since his last update to the Committee in November 2019. Mr. Wyman discussed the connectivity map and the conceptual layout map. Mr. Wyman explained that parcel 1 is approximately 4.5 acres and the Conservation Commission is interested in this parcel. Parcel 2 is approximately 6/loth of an acre and contains a house and a barn circa 1877. The property is currently unoccupied and the current owners are two sisters who live in San Diego. The sisters are interested in selling the property in early spring 2021 which is why the request would need to be ready for Special Fall Town Meeting. The sister would like to sell the property to the Town to turn 4.5 acres into conservation land. In addition to a tax credit for selling to the Town, the remaining land would not be developed by a developer. Mr. Wyman explained the 2020 appraisal results. The Foster Company appraisal went up significantly and the Avery Associates appraisal went up slightly. The Foster Company explained that the reason why the appraisal jumped so significantly is because they had better 1 comparisons this year compared to 2018. Both the 2018 and 2020 appraisals were shared with the sellers. The land acquisition subcommittee met on August 4, 2020 and agreed to offer$4 million, which is below both appraisals. The offer has the added benefits of a tax write off for buying at a low fair market purchase price. Mr. Wyman explained that if they were going to go into the deal with LexHAB for parcel 2 conservation would be responsible for$3.5 million and LexHAB would be responsible for $500,000. Mr. Savage explained that the offer is a generous split and that he has semi endorsement from the board. This idea would be to turn the home into 2 units and keep the barn for storage or a workspace. Architect Colin Smith and builder Bob Phelan estimate that the renovation costs could be approximately$700,000 or$800,000. Mr. Savage suggested that an inspector come out and estimate the renovation costs and have the CPA administrative fund pay for the estimates. Ms. Fenollosa stated that is what the administrative account is for. Ms. Fenollosa asked if it would be good for the Town to buy the entire 5.09 acres and then transfer the housing parcel to LexHAB to avoid missing a Community Housing opportunity and to avoid developers buying the housing parcel. Mr. Hamilton explained that they have been considering many options and are well aware that LexHAB's commitment is not a sure thing. Ms. Fenollosa asked when Conservation will know if they have a deal with the sellers. Mr. Wyman responded that they told the sisters that they need a response this month. Ms. Fenollosa stated that it seems premature to put a detailed article on the Warrant and that a placeholder would make sense. Ms. Fenollosa explained to the Committee that Ms. Kosnoff prepared financial figures but she is not here to discuss the spreadsheet. Mr. Hornig stated that he disagrees with her analysis but it will be important that we are confident in the rehabilitation costs before we bring the project to Town Meeting. Mr. Horton agreed with Mr. Hornig that there needs to be a good handle on the renovation costs and whether the $4 million is a negotiable price or would Conservation go higher. Mr. Wyman said that it is tricky, and that Conservation has conveyed that $4 million is a firm figure but they would hate to lose the property over a nominal additional cost. Ms. Kreiger asked if LexHAB doesn't go through with the deal does Conservation risk losing the entire deal. Mr. Hamilton stated that Conservation would go ahead with the larger parcel and not the housing parcel. This would be a financial bonus to the sellers because they would be 2 able to sell the housing lot to a developer. Ms. Kreiger stated that she is nervous about renovation costs and proposes that the extra funds come out of the Historic Resources bucket since the home is on the Cultural Resources Inventory. Ms. Fenollosa stated that she is in support of that but most of the Historic funds are allocated towards debt and that mostly likely it would have to come out of the Unbudgeted Reserve. Mr. Hornig stated that we have the money it just cannot come out of the Historic bucket. Mr. Langseth stated that he shares the concerns about the rehabilitation costs but he is in strong support of this project and that it is a wonderful piece of land that he would hate to see sold to a developer. Mr. Pato stated that he is in agreement that this is a good project but he wants to make sure that LexHAB isn't saddled with something that is impossible. He would like to see a commitment that the Committee does not need to preserve the house and if we do it should come out of the Housing bucket. Mr. Pato stated that he would like for there to be Community Housing on the property. Mr. Pressman stated that he would like to leave the money that is currently in the Community Housing bucket alone for use for the Leary project. He would support the project if there was no money from the Community Housing bucket allocated to this project. Ms. Walker stated that she is worried about how much it is going to cost to renovate the home to create two units of housing. Money might be better spent creating housing instead of renovating it. This property value is that it is a historic and cultural resource and it doesn't have much value as affordable housing. Farmview was too expensive per unit to get funding from Mass Housing. The Committee needs to keep in mind how much money is going to be spent per unit. Ms. Walker stated that she would like to use the money from the historic bucket for the renovations and not Community Housing. Ms. Fenollosa stated that the house is on the Cultural Resources inventory and designed by an important architect and that the project is important regardless of which bucket the funding comes from. Ms. Fenollosa stated that the Committee does have goals and objectives for each bucket and that it is important to preserve a Historic Resource in Town even if it costs more to do so. Mr. Hornig stated that some of the discussion is getting hypothetical and it's clear that the Committee needs renovation estimates before any decisions can be made. If the Town does not buy the housing parcel there is no reason to think that a private buyer will preserve the home. Most likely the home and barn will be torn down. Ms. Walker stated that she would like to share the costs burden with Historic Resources. Mr. Hornig stated that the cost burden could not be shared with Historic Resources because there is no money left in the Historic Resources bucket for FY21. 3 The general consensus of the Committee is that the Town should buy all 5 acres so that the housing parcel is not sold privately and potentially developed. At 3:11 PM, after a motion duly made and seconded, the CPC voted in a roll call vote (7-0) to exit Executive Session and return to Open Session to attend to the remaining agenda items. The following documents were used at the meeting: 1) The Foster Company appraisal dated 7-9-2020 2) The Foster Company appraisal amending letter dated 7-9-2020 3) Avery Associates Narrative Appraisal Report &Valuation Analysis dated 7-3-2020 4) Avery Associates Addenda dated 7-8-2020 5) Community Preservation Fund Balance spreadsheet dated 7-31-2020 6) CPA Fund- Projected Revenues and Debt dated 7-31-2020 7) Ashley Property Summary word document dated 8-5-2020 8) Conceptual Layout with protected resources map, Highland 9) Connectivity Map, Ashley Property Respectfully submitted, Gina Federico Administrative Assistant Community Preservation Committee 4