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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2023-10-26-CPC-min1 Minutes of the Community Preservation Committee Thursday, October 26, 2023 Remote Zoom Meeting Meeting ID: 948 2903 5881 4:00 PM Committee Members Present: Marilyn Fenollosa (Chair); Jeanne Krieger (Vice-Chair), Kevin Beuttell, Robert Creech, Lisa O’Brien, Robert Pressman, Mark Sandeen, Melinda Walker. Administrative Assistant: Thomas Case Other Attendees: Melissa Battite, Director of Recreation and Community Programs (arrived at 4:38 PM); Sandhya Beebee, Liaison, Capital Expenditures Committee (arrived at 4:51 PM); Laura Bernheim, Deputy Director, Cary Memorial Library; Mike Cronin (arrived 4:02 PM), Director of Public Facilities; Margaret Heitz, Housing Partnership Board; Carolyn Kosnoff, Assistant Town Manager for Finance; Kathryn Roy (arrived at 4:04 PM), Town Meeting Member; Koren Stembridge, Library Director, Cary Memorial Library; Elaine Tung, Chair, Affordable Housing Trust; Betsey Weiss, Vice-Chair, Housing Partnership Board. Ms. Fenollosa called the meeting to order at 4:00 PM. FY25 CPA Funding Request – Cary Memorial Library Renovation - Ms. Stembridge presented the background and scope of the Library project. The renovation seek s to improve the condition of the highly-used Children’s Room with a focus on increased safety and improved accessibility. The total cost of the project is $5.5 million, but the requested CPA amount is pending while the Town finalizes its total Capital Improvement Plan. Ms. Stembridge highlighted the building’s historic significance and the necessity of the project to continue the Library’s programming. Ms. Stembridge added that in addition to the project’s CIP, there is a more information on the project on the Library’s website. Ms. Fenollosa commented that the CPA cannot fund maintenance and can only fund capital improvements. Mr. Cronin explained the project’s HVAC improvements. The current HVAC is a fossil fuel system and would be replaced with a fossil fuel-free system. The current system is temperamental, inconsistent, and nearing its end-of-life and would be replaced by a system utilizing 100% outside air and better filtration – in-line with similar HVAC improvements throughout Town buildings. This project would occur on the ground level of the Library and the other level’s system would be improved at a later date. Mr. Pressman commented that keeping in mind the CPC’s total allocable resources, the Select Board had supported the AHT in requesting about $3 million in CPA funding. Mr. Sandeen confirmed that the Select Board endorsed the AHT’s CPA application for $3.2 million in pre - 2 funding. Mr. Sandeen asked Mr. Cronin to explain the VRF scope of the project. Mr. Cronin explained that the Variable Refrigerant Flow system is an extremely efficient use of outside air for air and heat exchange. Mr. Sandeen also asked Mr. Cronin about his experience using this type of HVAC system. Mr. Cronin responded that this system is the same as all of the Town’s new HVAC systems, so there is a lot of experience with them and they are easy to maintain. Mr. Creech asked if the CPA FY2025 Budget Summary dated 10-25-2023 shows that the CPC has $7,027,000 to allocate at the 2024 ATM and asked how much money this project would be asking for. Ms. Kosnoff replied that the $7 million figure is not the CPC’s balance for projects and added that the final request would be multiple millions of dollars but not the total cost. Mr. Creech also asked if the renovated space would be a sufficient size. Ms. Stembridge replied that in an ideal situation, the space would be bigger, but the renovation plan would maximize the space of the ground-level. Mr. Creech noted that, in his own personal experience, it seemed that the HVAC was being replaced relatively soon after installation and expressed concern over the project’s cost combined with the total cost of all applications. Mr. Cronin said the 20 years was near end of life for the library system and better to replace it than to deal with prob lems and repairs. Ms. O’Brien asked if the large meeting room in the Lower Level would be expanded or reconfigured. Ms. Stembridge confirmed that the room would be reconfigured to add flexibility but would remain the same size. Ms. O’Brien inquired about the primary users of the meeting room. Ms. Stembridge answered that the room is mainly used for Library programs and Library- partnered programs. She also mentioned that the room would accommodate an additional 65 late teenage students. Ms. O’Brien then asked if there were considerations to complete this project in two phases. Mr. Cronin explained that because the HVAC system is at its end-of-life, and because of the disruption the project will make to the Lower Level’s usage, it makes the most sense to complete the renovation and upgrade the HVAC at the same time. Ms. Walker asked about the funding source for previous HVAC improvements in Town buildings. Mr. Cronin replied that the sources have been building-dependent within the capital planning process. Ms. Walker asked if the Library has plans for moving the Children’s Room during the renovations. Ms. Stembridge shared that the Library plans to utilize other Library space, the Community Center, and virtual platforms for programming while the room is being renovated. Ms. Walker commented that while she does not object to Library improvements or upgrades to non-fossil fuel HVAC systems, she believes that the CPA was never intended to be a capital needs replacement for municipalities. Ms. Walker expressed support for the CPC to reevaluate its funding of capital improvements from the Town given the economic challenges and political will of addressing the housing crisis. Ms. Walker expressed concern that the Town is over reliant on CPA funds for capital improvements that could be funded with the tax levy or other sources. 3 Mr. Pressman added that Recreation received about $5 million two years ago and $3 million last year and that Recreation’s request for FY2025 is $1.4 million over their projected request from October 2022. Mr. Pressman shared that similar library improvements in Newton and Wellesley were completed without CPA funds. Mr. Pressman proposed that if funding were to go to the Library project, Recreation’s request should return to its previous year’s projection amount. Mr. Pressman also added that the Library would be the 61st request for Historic Resource funds for Town buildings and expressed agreement with Ms. Walker that the Town’s CPA requests for capital projects has been too many. Ms. Kosnoff shared that she has heard from Town Meeting Members who view the CPA monies as part of the tax levy and who want CPA funding to be used on Town buildings and programs that can be used by the public. Ms. Kosnoff also commented that the Town runs a sizable capital improvements program to improve Town building and utilizes a significant amount of the general fund outside of CPA. Mr. Creech shared that he agrees with Ms. Walker and Mr. Pressman that there are some Town CPA requests that should be regular capital projects and expressed uncertainty for the Library project’s general eligibility for CPA funding. CPA Fund Balance- Ms. Kosnoff presented the CPA Summary FY2025 Budget dated 10-25-2023 and explained that of the approximately $7 million in total remaining funds, about $5 million from the Unbudgeted Reserves and Undesignated Fund Balance can be used for any project categories, and the balances for the Open Space, Historic Resources, and Community Housing reserves can only be used to fund those respective categories. Ms. Kosnoff confirmed that it is unadvisable to spend the entire balance since the revenues are based on projected funds raised from next year’s tax levy and state match. Ms. Kosnoff highlighted that about $693k was gained in surplus revenue in FY23 and was comprised mostly of interest income. The available balance at the end of FY23 was about $9.5 million. Ms. Kosnoff reminded the Committee that the current projected state match of 20% for FY2024 is much lower than the original 30% projections, however the loss of funds will likely be offset by higher interest rate income. The projected revenue for FY25 is $8.04 million. Ms. Kosnoff explained the debt service obligations for FY25, which includes the last payment for the Cary Memorial Building upgrades and may include the first payment for the Munroe Center project provided the allocated cash for the project has been spent at that time. Mr. Creech left the meeting at 4:54 PM. Ms. Tung asked about the total CPA balance prior to any CPA approved app ropriations for FY25. Ms. Kosnoff replied that the unspent and returned funds from previous years plus the projected revenue for FY25 yields about $11.5 million for the CPA Fund Balance totals, but stressed that the total balance cannot be spent universally across categories and around $2 million in reserve funds are typically kept unspent. Ms. O’Brien expressed interest in learning how other municipalities make decisions with limited funds. Ms. Kosnoff shared that she was unaware of 4 how CPA funds were managed in other communities and added that while the Town uses a 5- year plan for all capital projects, year-to-year changes are quite common. Mr. Cronin shared that he had another meeting to attend and offered to answer additional questions for the Committee. Mr. Cronin left the meeting at 5:04 PM. Ms. Walker commented that while most of the CPA funds come from the Town’s tax levy, there is a portion from state funding. Ms. Walker expressed concern for Recreation’s budgeting for making immediate improvement to playgrounds and fields, feeling that there is little to no harm delaying a Recreation project but there is significant harm delaying housing projects. Ms. Weiss expressed her support for the CPC prioritizing affordable housing. Ms. Stembridge expressed her thanks to the CPC for hearing about the Library project and made herself available to the members for further questions. Ms. Stembridge left the meeting at 5:11 PM. Ms. Beebee commented that Recreation will likely play a role with field usage and availability during the foreseen high school project. Mr. Pressman asked if the projected cost of the high school project includes funding for fields. Ms. Kosnoff answered that the high school project includes repairs to fields taken offline for construction but does not include loss of field space accessibility during construction. Ms. O’Brien added that CPC’s prior funding and potential future funding of the Lincoln Park fields will aid in the availability challenges during the high school project. Minutes- After a motion duly made and seconded, the Committee voted by a roll call vote to approve the minutes from the Public Meeting on 10-19-2023 (7-0). CPC Community Housing Funding Policy- The Committee discussed the Draft Community Housing Funding Policy Statement, as requested by Ms. Walker, that summarized the key takeaways from the Community Housing discussion during the 10-19-2023 CPC meeting. Ms. Walker requested that under Position #3, the term “Community Housing funds” be changed to “Community Housing bucket.” Mr. Sandeen expressed his view that the 10-19-2023 CPC Meeting had reaffirmed the Committee’s policy of accepting all applications from qualified applicants and therefore there is no need to have the written policy. Mr. Sandeen contended that Position #2 was an acknowledgement of fact, rather than a policy; that Position #3 is already current policy; and that #4 is an unnecessary restriction on future projects where debt financing may be preferential to cash. Mr. Sandeen concluded that if the CPC wanted to adopt a written policy, it should only state that “the CPC will welcome all applications from all qualified applicants.” Mr. Pressman expressed his agreement with Mr. Sandeen that the CPC does not need the written policy, especially one that only applies to housing. Ms. Krieger expressed her agreement with Mr. Sandeen and shared her view that the Statement was a summation of the 10-19-2023 CPC Meeting and not a policy. Ms. Tung added that her understanding of the 10-19- 5 2023 CPC Meeting also was to reaffirm the CPC current policy regarding Community Housing funding. Following the discussion, Ms. Walker withdrew her request for the CPC to have a written statement of their policy regarding Community Housing funding. Committee Business- The Committee discussed the meeting schedule and planned to meet on the following Thursday, November 2, 2023 at 4:00 PM via Zoom to meet with the AHT and Town Archives to discuss their CPA applications. Ms. Fenollosa informed the Committee that they still have a member vacancy. She requested that CPC members encourage any good potential candidates to apply on the Town’s website. Ms. Fenollosa acknowledged that the deadline for applicants is tomorrow, October 27, 2023, but also that the application is quick and easy. Mr. Sandeen and Ms. Tung left the meeting at 5:28 PM. Mr. Pressman thanked Ms. Kosnoff for her work on the CPA Summary FY2025 Budget spreadsheet. After a motion duly made and seconded, the Committee voted by a roll call vote (6-0) to adjourn at 5:31 PM. The following documents were used at the meeting: 1) CIP – Cary Memorial Library Renovation Project 2) CPA FY2025 Budget Summary dated 10-25-23 3) Draft Minutes 10-19-2023 4) Draft Community Housing Funding Policy Statement Respectfully submitted, Thomas Case Administrative Assistant Community Preservation Committee APPROVED: 11/9/2023