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Home My WebLink About2014-03-13-CPC-min Minutes of the Community Preservation Committee Thursday, March 13, 2014 3:00 pm, Parker Room Town Office Building, 1625 Massachusetts Avenue Present: Committee Members: Marilyn Fenollosa, Chair; Richard Wolk, Vice-Chair; Richard Canale, Norman Cohen, David Horton, Jeanne Krieger and Leo McSweeney. Administrative Assistant : Nathalie Rice Also in attendance were David Kanter, Vice-Chair of the Capital Expenditures Committee (CEC), Dawn McKenna, Chair of the Tourism Committee, Michelle Ciccolo, BOS member and chair of the Ad Hoc Community Center Advisory Committee, Patrick Goddard, Director of Public Facilities, and Rob Addelson, Assistant Town Manager for Finance. The meeting was called to order at 3:04 pm. by Ms. Fenollosa. 1.Review of Report for Special and Annual Town Meetings – The final draft of the CPC Report to Special and Annual Town Meetings was approved as submitted to members; final editing will be done by Ms. Fenollosa. 2.Date Certain for CPA Article at Town Meeting – Ms. Fenollosa notified members that th Article 8 (the CPA article) will come before Annual Town Meeting on April 7. 3.Update on LexHAB Set-Aside Funds for the Creation/Acquisition of Community Housing at the Busa property – Ms. Fenollosa updated the Committee on the recent vote of the Board of Selectmen on the LexHAB project. The Board voted (3-1-1) for the creation of the 6 units of community housing. Ms. Fenollosa noted that there was no discussion by the Board of the Visitor Center project. 4.Approval of Minutes – The minutes of the meeting of November 21, 2013 were approved as amended by Mr. Horton (a small change was made to record of the discussion of the Hennessey Field Conservation Extension); the minutes of the meeting of January 16, 2014 were approved as submitted. 5.Discussion of Busa property Acquisition Costs – The CPC discussed the valuation of the two Busa house lots on Lowell Street, relative to the CPA table in its Report to Annual Town Meeting which lists the total appropriations from each “bucket”. The Committee noted that it would need the Selectmen to have the lots valued/appraised before the CPC can designate the acquisition cost as Open Space or Community Housing. The acquisition is currently shown as “undesignated”. Michelle Ciccolo, a Planning Board member who was in attendance for the discussion of the Community Center project, stated that the Planning Board had not yet received an ANR plan (Approval Not Required) for the lots, which would be the basis for an appraisal. Mr. Cohen will follow up on the matter. 1 6.Community Center Renovations Project, Article 3 of Special Town Meeting, Update and Financing –Patrick Goddard, Director of Facilities and Ms. Ciccolo, Chair of the Community Center Advisory Committee made a presentation of the final renovation plans and costs for the Community Center. Ms. Ciccolo updated the CPC on the project, stating that renovations were currently planned to be conducted in one phase, resulting in a $500,000 savings to the Town with only a minor delay of 4-6 weeks. Mr. Goddard briefly reviewed the rehabilitations to each room, stressing that the HVAC system would be made adequate for both offices and exercise rooms. The final cost for the Community Center Renovation project, he said, was slated at $6,220,000 of which $5,797,184 was proposed to be CPA funded. (This CPA total included the appropriation made in November of 2013 of $2,846,184; the difference of $2,951,000 to be appropriated at the March Special Town Meeting.) Mr. Goddard also explained that construction of a new sidewalk is planned to give the Community Center access from Marrett Road. The sidewalk project, currently planned under Article 8(a) of Annual Town Meeting is estimated at $100,000. Mr. Goddard explained that the alignment for the sidewalk had been designed by Town Engineer, John Livsey, who would be contacting the Scottish Rite regarding design approval and the necessary easements. Mr. Goddard added that the Scottish Rite would also be asked to impose a preservation restriction on the portion of the sidewalk that crossed their property if CPA funds were used for the work. There was a general discussion of the elements of the sidewalk project. Ms. Fenollosa questioned Mr. Goddard about the holder of the restriction, noting that many organizations which hold preservation restrictions require an endowment. Mr. Addelson, Assistant Town Manager for Finance, responded that there had been some discussion of this matter with the Town Manager and Town Counsel. Mr. Addelson then presented the financing plan for the payment of the estimated total $5,707,184 in Community Center Renovation costs. He presented the CPA budget model, which he said had been modified slightly to reflect the financing. He noted that $2,846,184 had been appropriated at the November 2013 Special Town Meeting, leaving a $2,951,000 to be appropriated in the upcoming March Special Town Meeting. Mr. Addelson stated that he recommended paying $2,500,000 in cash, and bonding the remaining $451,000. The $100,000 for the sidewalk would be appropriated from cash in the Unbudgeted Reserve. He reiterated that the budget model was based upon the assumption that 10% be appropriated to each of the three reserves, and that the State Match in FY15 would be 25%. After discussion, the CPC voted (7-0) to approve the Cary Memorial Upgrades Project under Article 3 of Special Town Meeting and to follow Mr. Addelson’s recommendations to: (1) pay $2,500,000 in cash, (2) incur $451,000 in debt for the renovations under Article 3, and (3) pay $100,000 for the sidewalk construction under Article 8(a) from available cash. 7.Update on Visitor Center Project – With Mr. Addelson in attendance, the CPC took the opportunity to discuss the Selectmen’s position on the Visitor Center project. (The CPC had approved the project, but understood that the Board of Selectmen had not yet endorsed the programmatic aspects of the project.) Mr. Addelson reported that Wendy Manz, former Planning Board member and CPC Chair, had been asked to meet with the project stakeholders to help reach an agreement on certain programmatic issues. Mr. Kanter stated that he thought any agreement before Town Meeting was unlikely, which prompted Ms. Fenollosa to question whether there were aspects of the project, such as bathroom 2 renovations, that might be approved and funded without consensus on programmatic needs. Mr. Kanter noted that the CEC chose to approve the project subject to the wording in the Brown Book, which states, “At this time, the Board of Selectmen is still in discussion on whether this scope is warranted. If funding is approved, it will not authorize design to begin before it receives and reviews program recommendations for the facility.” Ms. McKenna, Chair of the Tourism Committee, added that Tourism Committee feels all aspects of the project are important and that the project reflects the best plan based upon the input received. 8.Final Votes on Projects – The CPC had already voted on the Community Center Renovation project in its previous discussion. This left the vote for the debt service under Article 9(m) of Annual Town Meeting. After a duly seconded motion, the CPC voted (7-0) to approve debt service payments for: Wright Farm ($434,633), the Community Center Acquisition ($1,089,774), Community Center Acquisition ($9,300), and Cary Memorial Building Upgrades ($67,100) for a total of $1,600,807. th The CPC will hold open a meeting date on March 18. The meeting was adjourned at 4:50 pm. Respectfully submitted, Nathalie Rice Administrative Assistant Community Preservation Committee 3