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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2012-04-20-CPC-minMinutes of the Community Preservation Committee Friday, April 20, 2012 2:00 pm Selectmen's Meeting Room Town Office Building Present: Board Members: Wendy Manz, Chair; Joel Adler, Norman Cohen, Marilyn Fenollosa, Vice -Chair, Jeanne Krieger, Leo McSweeney, Sandy Shaw, Betsey Weiss and Dick Wolk. Administrative Assistant: Nathalie Rice Also in attendance were Hank Manz, Chairman of the Board of Selectmen and members Deb Mauger and George Burnell; Shirley Stolz, on behalf of the Capital Expenditures Committee; John Bartenstein representing the Appropriation Committee and Chairwoman Joyce Miller and members Stewart Kennedy and Phil Hamilton of the Conservation Commission. Carl Valente, Town Manager, and Rob Addelson, Assistant Town Manager for Finance were present as was staff member Dianna Chabot and Town resident Bob Pressman. Alan Wrigley, counsel for the Wright family was in attendance, and Patrick Ball from the Lexington Minuteman covered the meeting. LexMedia had also been asked to televise the meeting. The meeting was called to order at 2:00 pm. by Ms. Manz. 1. Wright Farm - Presentation of the Application for the Purchase of the Wright Farm - Ms. Manz opened the meeting and briefly discussed the timing of the application submittal, summarizing when the application, appraisals and pertinent information had been received by the CPC. She said she understood the unpredictability of negotiation for the purchase of land, but strongly urged the applicants not to submit future applications at the last minute, and particularly to avoid doing so during Town Meeting itself. She then introduced Conservation Commission member, Phil Hamilton, who made the presentation for the acquisition of the Wright Farm on behalf of the Board of Selectmen and the Conservation Commission. Mr. Hamilton apologized for the delay in bringing the application before the CPC in final form, saying the parties working on behalf of the Town had tried their best to finalize negotiations in a timely manner. He then described the proposed acquisition, starting with a locus plan of the property and color photos of the land. He stated that the proposal was for the purchase of approximately 13.47 acres (or ten lots) on Grove Street and showed the By - Right Plan for the property, entitled "Proof Plan of Land — Option 1 C", completed by Meridian Associates, dated April 11, 2012. The Proof Plan showed the lot layout, wetlands, frontage, and a parcel (.96 acres) containing a house and a barn which will be retained by the Wright family. The decision of the Wright family to retain a portion of the land required the recalculation of the appraised value of the portion offered for sale. Mr. Hamilton stated that the agreed price of the land to be purchased by the Town was $2,950,000 and that the parcel to be retained by the family was valued at $500,000. Town Manager Carl Valente passed out copies of the two supplemental appraisals, which were updates of those submitted on February 1, 2012. The Foster Company appraised the portion of the land to be sold at $3,110,000 and Avery Associates at $2,950,000. Mr. Valente also distributed a Draft Letter of Intent which he stated represented the agreement just reached between the Wright family and the Town. However, the Letter of Intent has not yet been executed by the parties. Mr. Hamilton returned to his presentation and highlighted the importance of the land's conservation value. He explained that the parcel offers wildlife habitat, trail connections to the Burlington landlocked forest and the Bedford reservoir area, and a scenic gateway to the Town. Ms. Weiss questioned the initial appraisal which had been for $3.4M for 12 lots, while the subsequent one was for $2,950,000 for 10 lots. Ms. Manz, consulting the earlier appraisals, noted that the Avery appraisal was for $3.5M and the Foster appraisal for $3.68. Mr. Adler noted that the assessed value of the house lot was presently $735,000 per Assessor's records. He questioned whether a Chapter 61 A exemption would still apply to the house lot. Mr. Valente responded that it would not, due to a minimum acreage requirement. Mr. Valente addressed the house lot (or outparcel), noting that an agreement had been reached with the family to give the Town an option to purchase the lot with a "Current Agreed Value" of $500,000. The value of the lot would be adjusted over time based on changes in the CPI -U, the Consumer Price Index (all items). The intent of this agreement was to retain the possibility of using the house and perhaps the barn at some point in the future. Ms. Manz sought clarification of a phrase in the Avery appraisal dated April 18, 2012, which stated, regarding the parcel being offered to the Town, that "the terms ...... do not specifically indicate that the acreage will be kept in conservation only. In fact, the land would be open to any and all municipal uses." The paragraph further referenced community farming as a potential use. Mr. Manz, Chairman of the Board of the Selectmen, responded to this reference, stating that the Board had voted (4-0) to put the 12+ acres in conservation, and that it would be done through the instrument of a Conservation Restriction. Ms. Weiss stated her concerns with the acquisition, noting that she appreciated the opportunity that all identified stakeholders had been part of the initial executive session with the Board of Selectmen in November 2011 to hear their interest in the property. However, she noted that the housing 2 advocates were not invited to an April 4th meeting where the Selectmen voted to submit the land purchase application to the CPC for conservation purposes. The advocates were never given the opportunity to present a detailed concept plan or idea prior to the final BOS vote. She said LexHAB and the Housing authority had also sent a joint letter to the Board in December of 2011, stating that both entities supported affordable housing development on the Wright Farm. She noted that affordable housing options on both the Leary and Busa properties were still unrealized, and that since there were six houses on Grove Street across from the Wright Farm property, she felt it was important to retain a strip of land along the road on the Wright parcel for affordable housing or another municipal use. Mr. McSweeney echoed this sentiment. Ms.Manz questioned Ms. Fenollosa as to the historic significance of the structures on the property. Ms. Fenollosa replied that she did not feel the historical aspect of the house or barn was relevant at this time. Ms. Fenollosa then commented on the issue of satisfying all CPA purposes when a land acquisition comes before the Committee. She noted that the CPA statute was an outgrowth of land bank legislation, and that it was the driving force to preserve open space that ultimately led to the passage of the CPA. With this in mind, she said she felt that the CPC was not obligated to look at other uses if a proposal came before the Committee for just one use, in this case conservation purposes. She noted that other uses were not part of the present application. Ms. Manz added that though the CPC does not have the authority to modify applications, it is reasonable to request the applicant to consider all CPA purposes prior to submitting an application for funding. Mr. Cohen reminded the Committee that the Town will have an option to purchase the Wright house lot at some point in the future. Ms. Shaw noted that the word "recreation" had to be used carefully in describing the uses to which the Wright Farm property might be put. She said it is only "passive recreation" that is proposed for the property. She said the Recreation Committee reviewed the application and voted not to suggest active recreation on the parcel due to its topography and location. She said she felt the appraisal of the parcel to be retained by the family seemed low and questioned whether this was done at the seller's request. Mr. Hamilton addressed this concern, stating that the appraisal reflected the full and fair market value, with no input from the seller. Mr. Pressman, a Town resident, voiced his opinion that he would like to see affordable housing on the Wright Farm property and disputed the claim that the parcel was less attractive for affordable housing because it was not accessible by public transportation. 3 Mr. Addelson, Assistant Town Manager for Finance, was asked to present possible financing options for the potential $2.95M acquisition. He explained that the CPA would have approximately $1.87M in the CPF for FY 14, and described four funding scenarios for paying down the debt service. He said one approach would be to select a scenario which took advantage of the 10% that is required to be aside each year for open space purposes — roughly $440,000 in FY14. He showed bonding scenarios of 3-20 years, noting where the "break even" points were, (where the 10% open space set-aside could be used to satisfy the debt service.) Ms. Stolz of the Capital Expenditures Committee stated that her Committee had discussed 5 years as a preliminary bonding term, though they had not yet taken a vote on the matter. Mr. Cohen noted that the percentage rate at the time of bonding could be more favorable than the 4% that Mr. Addelson had used in his analysis. Mr. Bartenstein asked when final debt payments would be made for Busa and Cotton Farm; Mr. Addelson replied that final payments would be made on both projects in FY13. Mr. Burnell was asked about his minority opinion in the Selectmen's vote to acquire the Wright Farm for conservation purposes. He said his objection was due to his desire to see active agricultural use, "grazing or farming". He said he did not want to see the land lie fallow. Mr. Hamilton responded to this concern, stating that the Conservation Commission leases its land for agricultural use, both for pasture land and for farming. Ms. Manz asked if the Wright Farm was being considered for a community farm, to which Mr. Hamilton responded that it was not. Ms. Manz then directed the discussion to the application process and whether the CPC was prepared to vote on the application as submitted. Some members expressed concern with the process, stating that it felt "rushed" and ill-timed, giving them little opportunity to review the two new updated appraisals and the Draft Letter of Intent that had been submitted during the meeting. Mr. Adler expressed his concern with the process and stated that he would not vote on the application if given insufficient time to review the 16 pages of material that had been submitted. Ms. Weiss noted that the information session would not be held until April 24th, and suggested the CPC wait until after the hearing to vote. Ms. Shaw expressed her difficulty with the process, and said there had been too little time to review the important information before the Committee. Ms. Krieger stated that she was prepared to vote. Ms. Manz noted that it had been very difficult to get all members together for the present meeting, and questioned whether another meeting of the full Committee could be held before the CPC report needed to go to print. She polled members individually as to their preferences. With a majority stating that they were prepared to vote, Ms. Manz called for a motion to vote on the acquisition at the present meeting. This vote was (6-3) in favor of voting immediately rather than postponing the vote to another meeting. 0 Therefore, a motion was made to acquire the Wright Farm (the land exclusive of the house lot) for conservation purposes. This vote was (6-2-1) with Ms. Shaw abstaining. Mr. Manz, of the Board of Selectmen, stated at this point in the meeting that he fully understood the need for affordable housing in Lexington. Ms.Weiss left the meeting at this point. The discussion then turned to financing options for the acquisition. Ms. Manz suggested $500,000 (the amount the Town received in State Land Grant funds for Cotton Farm) be used "up -front" to reduce the issuance of debt. Members agreed that this amount seemed reasonable. Ms. Manz also said she favored the use of the 10% open space allocation to help defray the debt service. There was a motion to purchase the property with the expenditure of $500,000 in up -front monies from the CPF. This vote passed (7-0-1), with Ms. Shaw abstaining. The CPC then commenced a discussion of the annual amounts that would be needed for bond payments. Mr. Addelson interjected at this point, stating that the exact bond payments would be calculated as the bond was prepared for issuance. He assured them there would be communication with the CPC as he prepared the bond issuance. Ms. Manz then turned the discussion to the costs submitted by Ms. Mullins for the due diligence phase of the acquisition. These include a $1,400 bill from the Foster Company, a $1,200 bill from Avery Associates, and a $1,500 bill from Meridian Associates, the engineering firm which had prepared the plans and had staked the outparcel (the house lot) at the Wright Farm. (Mr. Manz pointed out here that there were stakes with a white cap delineating the parcel to be retained by the Wright family, but that they were difficult to discern from the road. They will be flagged by the Conservation Department to make them more visible.) After a motion to approve the due diligence costs, the CPC voted (8-0) in favor. Ms. Rice noted that the acquisition would be accompanied by the customary master plan, survey, legal and 2 1 E assessment costs. There was some discussion of the amounts of these variables, and the CPC voted (8-0) to approve inclusion of these ancillary costs in the payment for the Wright Farm parcel. 2. Town Meeting Wrap-up — Ms. Manz briefly discussed the CPC Annual Town Meeting presentation on April 4th, and elicited comments from the Committee. Members generally felt the CPC presentation and applicant presentations had gone very well. Mr. Cohen noted however, that in future years the applicants should be kept to their three-minute limit particularly on multi-year projects. Ms. Manz noted that the Wright Farm acquisition would probably come before Town Meeting on April 30th and that the CPC would prepare a report for distribution at the 9 meeting or if possible, beforehand. Ms. Rice felt the report could be ready by Wednesday, the 25th. The meeting was adjourned at 4:20 pm. The following documents were presented at the meeting: (1) A letter from the Foster Company to Karen Mullins, Director of Community Development, dated April 20, 2012, which stated the value of the Wright Farm Property exclusive of the parcel retained by the Wright Family. (2) A letter from Avery associates, to Karen Mullins, Director of Community Development, dated April 18, 2012, which stated the value of the Wright Farm Property exclusive of the parcel retained by the Wright Family. (3) An 11 page draft entitled, "LETTER OF INTENT TO PURCHASE REAL ESTATE", addressed to Thomas C. Wright and Sara M. Wright, (undated), specifying the agreement between the Town and the Wright family. (4) An Informational Handout prepared by the Conservation Commission, entitled, "Articles 9 & 10: Wright Farm Land Acquisition Information Sheet", dated April 2012, and "Submitted by Joyce Miller on behalf of the Conservation Commission, April 11, 2012." (5) "Financing Options for the Acquisition of the Wright Farm Property", dated 4/20/2012, submitted and prepared by Rob Addelson, Assistant Town Manager for Finance. Respectfully submitted, Nathalie Rice Administrative Assistant Community Preservation Committee 31