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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2009-12-16-CPC-min Community Preservation Committee Wednesday, December 16, 2009 Legion Room 7:00 pm Present: Betsey Weiss, Chair, Joel Adler, Norman Cohen, Marilyn Fenollosa, Vice Chair, Jeanne Krieger, Wendy Manz, Nathalie Rice, Admin. Asst., and Dick Wolk. Absent for the CPC : Leo McSweeney and Sandy Shaw Present from the Selectmen were George Burnell and Peter Kelley. Capital Expenditures Committee (CEC) were Charles Lamb, Chair, Ted Edson, David Kanter, and Shirley Stoltz. Members of the Appropriation Committee (AC) in attendance were Al Levine, Chair, John Bartenstein, Richard Eurich, Mollie Garberg, Susan McLeish, Glen Parker and Joe Pato. Also in attendance were Town Manager, Carl Valente, Assistant Town Manager of Finance, Rob Addelson, Stewart Kennedy, and Deb Mauger Ms. Weiss called the meeting to order at 7:09 pm. The purpose of the meeting was to decide on the appropriate funding for the Busa property. The property was authorized for purchase through bonding at the Special Town Meeting in spring of 2009. 1. Busa Property – Decision on Payment - The meeting commenced with a presentation by Mr. Addelson. He noted that his presentation was based on two assumptions; (1) that all current CPC projects would be funded, and (2) that the CPC would keep a minimum of $2 million dollars in the Undesignated Fund Balance. He stated that the total of all projects before the CPC was $5,699,329, leaving a shortfall of $1,547,689. He explained that an appropriation from the Undesignated Fund Balance (UFB) would therefore be needed both to cover this shortfall and to pay the debt service for the Busa acquisition. Mr. Addelson then turned to four scenarios for covering the Busa debt service while maintaining a minimum $2 million dollar balance in the UFB. All scenarios were based upon a 3.5% interest rate. The first scenario, which showed appropriation of the current CPA projects and no debt service for Busa, left a $4,742,754 balance in the Undesignated Fund Balance. The second scenario, a three-year bond, with level debt service of $1.54 million annually (decreasing slightly in years two and three) showed that the CPA balance would be $3.2 million. The third scenario, which showed level debt service over a five year period, left approximately $3.8 million in reserve. Mr. Addelson’s fourth option was a front-end loaded payment of $2.7 million in debt service with approximately $850,000 and $830,000 respectively for each of the two years thereafter. This scenario brought the Undesignated Fund Balance to $2 million. There was a general discussion of various aspects of Mr. Addelson’s presentation. Mr. Kanter asked if an additional appropriation beyond the $98,000 voted at the Special 1 Town Meeting in spring of 2009, would be necessary to secure the bonds. Mr. Addelson responded that no additional monies would be needed. There was some discussion of the issue of simply paying $2 million in cash, rather than front-end loading the bond. The assembled group agreed, however, that bonding would be simpler since it would not necessitate a vote of Town Meeting. The issue of paying for large CPA projects in the future was raised. There had been a suggestion made at the last financial meeting that any project over $1 million be automatically bonded. Members of the CPC discussed this, and noted that there would be several such projects coming up, including the Fire Station, Police Station and Stone Building. (The issue of the Cataldo and Goldinger parcels was also briefly mentioned.) The CPC and others felt there should be flexibility on how these projects might be funded, and that automatic bonding might not be necessary or justifiable. Selectmen Peter Kelley expressed his opinion that the CPC should not be “an open checkbook” or commit funds they did not have. Molly Garberg of the AC added her opinion that a $1 million dollar project should not be an automatic trigger for bonding, and that the CPC should develop guidelines for prioritizing projects. Ms. Weiss then asked for a consensus on the four scenarios presented by Mr. Addelson, and it was agreed that the fourth scenario, a 3-year front-end loaded bonding of the entire $4.197 million purchase price would be the best alternative. The CPC unanimously voted to recommend this scenario to the Selectmen. The vote was 7-0 in favor (Mr. McSweeney and Ms. Shaw were not in attendance). The CEC and the AC subsequently voted unanimously to support the decision of the CPC. 2. Cataldo Appraisal Cost s - Ms. Weiss informed the Committee that the CPC received a request for approval to issue a Purchase Order for the payment of the appraisal for the Cataldo (Cotton Farm) property. The RFP for an appraiser has been sent out, and the Town is ready to accept an appropriate bid. The payment of the appraiser’s bill, estimated at $4,700 will be taken out of the administrative line item. ($50,000 had been appropriated to this line item for land planning expenses at the March 2009 Annual Town Meeting.) The meeting was adjourned at 8:35 pm. Respectfully submitted, Nathalie Rice Administrative Assistant Community Preservation Committee 2