HomeMy WebLinkAbout2010-04-26-CPC-min
Minutes of the Community Preservation Committee
April 26, 2010
5:00 pm
Room G-15
Town Office Building
Present:
Betsey Weiss, Chair; Marilyn Fenollosa, Vice Chair; Joel Adler, Norman
Cohen, Jeanne Krieger, Wendy Manz, Nathalie Rice, Admin. Asst; Sandy Shaw and Dick
Wolk.
Absent:
Leo McSweeney
Also in attendance were Peter Kelley of the Board of Selectmen; Charles Lamb, Chair of
the Capital Expenditures Committee and members, David Kanter and Shirley Stolz;
Charles Hornig, Chair of the Planning Board, Robert Addelson, Assistant Town Manager
of Finance, and Karen Simmons, Director of Community Development.
Ms. Weiss called the meeting to order at 5:05 pm.
The purpose of the meeting was to receive an update on the progress of the Cotton Farm
Land acquisition from Mr. Cohen and to get an understanding of the financing
alternatives from Mr. Addelson.
1.Cotton Farm Land Acquisition –
Mr. Cohen opened the discussion and
stated that the $3.8 million dollar purchase price was a firm part of the
negotiations. He said the Cataldos, (the land owners), would be paid in three
installments; $1.5 million upon closing, and approximately $1.3 million in
FY12 and $1.0 million in FY13. He said these would be cash payments with
no interest, and estimated that this would save the Town approximately
$100,000 dollars over three years. He said this would effectively lower the
acquisition price to $3.7 million, the value quoted in the second appraisal.
Mr. Cohen said the entire price would be approximately $3,857,000 which
included additional costs for legal work and site assessment. He said a
hazardous waste assessment would have to be done, though no further survey
work was anticipated. The cost of any site remediation work would be born by
the sellers. Mr. Cohen said it was the intent of the Board of Selectmen to close
in FY11, hopefully by September.
Mr. Adler asked if the roadway would be used for construction purposes, to
which Mr. Cohen replied that it would not. He said no construction could take
place until a tar road was installed across the easement to the privately-owned
lots in back.
Mr. Addelson explained the financing alternatives for the acquisition. The
CPC considered the impact of the acquisition on the CPA budget and
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estimated how it might affect the $2.0 million reserve that the Committee
wished to keep. Members were very concerned about the impact of such a
large appropriation on the availability of funds for FY12. Mr. Lamb stated his
view that the CPC should appropriate as much from their cash reserves as
possible, and that if other large projects were to come up in FY12 or beyond,
the CPC should then consider bonding. He cited the Wright Farm as one
example of a project where future bonding would be appropriate.
There was a lengthy discussion of the impact of the acquisition. Ms. Fenollosa
said she objected to using CPA funds for projects which could be funded with
Town dollars. She questioned the wisdom of spending down the CPA budget
and losing the flexibility to support truly “worthy” projects in years ahead
when there would be fewer funds available and a substantial debt burden. Ms.
Manz agreed that CPA dollars should be used for projects that the Town
cannot fund (like Cotton Farm), but felt these projects should not preclude the
Committee from supporting truly worthy projects. She said she had greater
comfort with the purchase price of $3.8 million with the receipt of the Avery
appraisal (which came in at $3.7 million). She said she supported the project,
but warned that in the near future CPA funds might not be available for
municipal projects that did not align with the goals of the Committee. Mr.
Adler questioned whether the acquisition of Cotton Farm was worth
“sacrificing” Wright Farm and stated that he felt the Town would be paying
twice what the Cotton Farm land was worth. He said it made little difference
that the CPC could find a way to fund the project, and stated that it was his
opinion that it set a dangerous precedent. Ms. Weiss added that Cotton Farm
would cost the Town approximately $880,000 an acre, while a year ago, the
Town was able to preserve the Busa property for $517,000 per acre.
There was general agreement that it was unfortunate that the first appraisal of
Cotton Farm was released prematurely. Ms.Weiss noted that if the negotiating
team had waited for the second appraisal, the lower appraisal could have been
instrumental in the negotiations. Ms. Shaw added that she was disappointed
the landowner had not been more reasonable in agreeing to a price that was
more favorable to the Town. It was also noted that the preservation of
conservation land around the Cataldo property would enhance the value of
any houses built on the back land. Ms. Fenollosa expressed her concern that
greater effort had not been taken to regulate these house lots, which she
predicted would become “McMansions” overlooking Town conservation land.
The meeting was adjourned at 6:25 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Nathalie Rice
Administrative Assistant
Community Preservation Committee
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