HomeMy Public PortalAboutCommunity Preservation Committee -- 2007-01-24 Minutes ii
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Community Preservation Committee
Minutes January 24, 2007
PRESENT: Elliot Carr, Roy Robinson, Elizabeth Taylor,Bill Reyburn, Paul Hush,Rollie
Bassett
Absent: Steve McKenna, Michael Lach,
Guests: Charles Sumner, Jillian Douglass,Theresa Lamperti, Sue Carr, Peter Johnson,
Peter Norton,Elbert Ulshoeffer
The Meeting was called to Order at 4:30 PM by Chairman Carr.
MINUTES
1. There were no minutes ready for approval. Question about administrative help—
apparently there has been no response to call or e-mails— so we are back where we were.
We need to find a new person.
NEW APPLICATIONS
2. New Historic Preservation Application—Handed out. This will be referred to the
Historic Commission.
Carr-These came in clearly after the deadline—but by the same token we may accept them if
we wish. If the Historic Commission brings this back by the next meeting, there is nothing
stopping us from putting it on for spring Town Meeting.
There are other potential historic applications which did not come in because they
thought they were past the deadline. I would say that we are within in a year of an excess
number of Historic Preservation applications. There are a number of large projects, churches,
Old Town Hall. I think we will be looking at using some of the the 30% funds at that time.
OTHER APPLICATIONS
3. Historic Commission: Higgins Farm Windmill and Oral History Project.
Community Preservation Committee Minutes-January 24,2007 Page 1 of 7
Hush: I have a question about the Higgins Farm Windmill application. How does the
$24,000 relate to the $13,000 that we already approved?
Robinson: This is a separate supplemental application for that project. The repair work that
was done, uncovered other areas of work that need to be taken care of
ROY ROBINSON MEMO/ HISTORIC PRESERVATION RESTRICTIONS
4. Robinson: Letter about approval of Historic projects and tie- up of funds. There is also a
memo from Sue Carr.
Carr—I would suggest that Sue and Roy and Charlie take Sue's Memo, finalize it and come
back in two weeks. Sue Carr's letter indicates that maybe if a project is under $50,000 we
don't need to send it up to MA Historic. So we need to know which ones we want to send
and which ones we don't want to send. I would hope that the Historic Commission will
resolve this. Do we withdraw the one we already sent up to MH?
Taylor—Do you mean that if it is under$50,000 we don't need a HPR? This is Town money
we are talking about.
Robinson—This memo is news to me.
Sue Carr—That is a memo that Sarah Korjeff gave me after a meeting— and it talks about
other means of protecting funding. It sounds like it is up to us to establish a threshold or it is
up to you people.
Robinson—I hope you are right. The law itself is that it is black and white, If it is Historic it
needs an HPR.
Carr—The state test refers to federal standards.
Robinson - Well, we will get together and see what we can come up with.
Carr—The proposal is that these three (the Historic Commission) deal with all of these
questions and come back.
Hush—I remember at a meeting with the CPA Coalition—they are experts in this field and
they said that there was not an ironclad need to get an HPR before the fact—if you felt
reasonably sure that this was right for the Town and it was going through the process—you
did not have to have the HPR in advance of the work and payment. So there is a lack of
definitive conditions on this. So I feel that we are absolutely in the right to carry on as we
are.
Carr—I feel that most towns are proceeding on without HPR done. Newton uses MOUs. I
think that some town will inevitably get challenged—but no one has yet. I think we are
operating very carefully and if we are questioned by DOR for $13,000, I will be very
surprised.
Community Preservation Committee Minutes—January 24,2007 Page 2 of 7
Hush—Well, certainly now that the new Historic Commission is formed to vet these things
on the way through, we just have to use the judgment of this committee and the Commission
to see that this seems to be the right thing and go ahead.
Carr—Part of it is that we will have an MOU with them that will cement the agreement and
get these things started
Sumner—I did call Town Counsel on Monday and asked where we were with the
Commonwealth of MA. We are waiting to see if Zisson & Veara will be able to work
faster with MA Historic.
Carr—We will refer that back to the group of three and they will come up with a procedure
so we will know what is going to get held up and whether we can get the Historic
Commission money freed up.
Sumner—I am waiting to see if Zisson& Veara has any response from the state.
APPLICATION QUESTIONS
Lamperti—I would like to know what the procedure is with the glass plate negatives.
It was approved at November Town Meeting. What is happening about a Historic
Preservation Restriction?
Robinson—I told Jillian Douglass that I thought we needed an HPR contract on this, so that
in a sense, if the Society decided to sell or give away the negatives—they could not do it
without consulting with us. It is our job to get some reassurance that the money that we spend
is well spent.
Carr—Per Sue Carr's memo—I would appear that we can have an MOU — since it is under
$50,000. This needs to be cleared up so applicants can get on with their work.
Roy. —There are a couple of questions I have, but they will be resolved in subcommittee.
Lamperti—If I draw up a statement that says that this collection will not be sold ever and
submit that to the Commission, will that be satisfactory in moving this along and expediting
this.
Carr- I think we will know that better when the Commission gets back to us.
Hush—Every contract will be a little different and obviously we need a policy to cover all of
this—so there can be a quick response when something is approved.
CPA ANNUAL REPORT
5. Annual Report
Carr- Annual CPA Report to be sent out to all members for review. Would everyone
Please review and comment on this, so we can get it in.
Community Preservation Committee Minutes—January 24,2007 Page 3 of 7
Taylor—Would everyone please send me their comments? Thank you.
MARK ROBINSON CONTRACT
6. Carr— There are a lot of groups working in the open space environment in Town here.
There appears to be some confusion as to who does what. Peter Johnson is here, he is the
President of the Brewster Conservation Trust. Elizabeth is the Chairman of the Open Space
Committee and myself, as Chairman of this group, and Mark Robinson who has done
leg work for all three groups.
Mark Robinson: I have a contract to do an RFP for appraisals for land acquisition, research
and negotiation. $1,200.
Hush—Does this mean that these parcels he is going to work with are the top priority for
purchase?
Carr—No. I don't think that these are the top ones.
Taylor—But, this has been a priority for open space for a long time, a realistic priority.
Hush - Is this a back door way of pre-deciding a purchase before you have all the
information?
Taylor—This is just to get appraisals and to have him look into the property. This is the way
we have always done it.
Johnson—From my perspective Paul, I would say no. It is on the trust list. It would be one
of our top six. But does this make it number one of any parcels? I would say no. It is trying to
line up.
Carr—Paul, then I think if we came up with a list of 8-10 parcels, and when we do that—
there will be a big cast of characters looking at it, I have said, and I am not sure, I don't think
there will be any trouble picking a list. Both groups of these parcels, east and west have
major water implications.
Hush—I think the CPC should have the option of also considering lands that include an
affordable housing component. Rather than have all of the money eaten up by advance
commitments, it would be nice that these things could be considered comparatively, and
maybe that is what you are saying.
Lach—I just wanted to comment on what Paul was mentioning. I don't think that this is back
door, by any means. It might be considered as similar to the affordable housing consultant
funding approaches. The $5,000 set aside and the reports that came back about the Bell
property and the Underpass Road property. So, it is a matter of balancing. Land acquisition is
a priority of opportunity whether it is for housing, historic preservation, open space or
recreation. It is just trying to keep the priorities in play as much as possible. Certainly it
would come back to this committee, once the information is received. You try to keep things
in play as much as possible with due diligence and then move forward if there is agreement.
And, that certainly would come back to this committee.
Community Preservation Committee Minutes—January 24,2007 Page 4 of 7
Carr—Paul, I don't think there will be disagreement on prioritization. There is no black and
white answer to your question on housing. One of these two might be great for housing too.
When the map comes back we should all look at it and see which of the large ones might be
good for housing. I think all of this fits together.
Bassett—Is the $25,000 to be used for this?
Carr—No, this comes from the $60,000 Admin expenses.
Bassett—We get that $60,000 every year?
Hush—I have no problem with this, but I am happy to have the clarification, because I am
concerned about the need to support housing things and not to use up all of our funds for
open space without moderation on that.
MOTION: To Approve contract amount of$1,200
Moved by Hush, Second by Robinson.All "AYE', with Lach abstaining(as a Compact
employee).
OPEN SPACE AND RECREATION PLAN
7. Open Space: Carr and Peter Johnson (Chairman, BCT) met with Open Space Committee
to discuss working relationship with BCT and CPA. We will also discuss priorities for land
acquisition.
Open Space Plan—Status—Almost finished. Will start review with Open Space Committee
in February.
Johnson —We need to know the status of the plan and how far it is along. We fear that BCT
may not be able to get grants without having an open space plan done. It needs to be updated
every 5 years and we need to have this done as soon as possible.
PRIORITY PARCEL MAP FROM BCT
8. Map: Priority Parcel Map to be produced by the Compact for BCT—being updated.
Will be reviewed by Open Space.
Carr—I think everyone has seen this before—it needs to be updated. Mark is also going
to update this plan.
Taylor—Are we going to pay for laminated copies, or will BCT cover all expenses.
Carr—We all have our own lists of 6-12 priority parcels, which we should be comparing. I
think we will come down to a short list of top parcels.
Johnson —Yes, I think there will be general agreement on the top parcels. The Trust is
paying for the maps and will widely circulate them.
Community Preservation Committee Minutes—January 24,2007 Page 5 of 7
NEW COMMUNITY HOUSING APPLICATIONS
9. Housing Fund:
Copies of new Housing application handed out. This is for an Affordable Deed Restriction
By-Down Program. The Housing Sub Committee met with Jillian and the Housing
Partnership.
Discussion of housing re-sale formula. What has happened clearly in the last five years is
that with that formula—it has made these homes unaffordable. Prices are fundamentally out
of reach to the folks at 80%who need this housing.
This application is generally for houses like Belmont Park that were restricted in the 90's and
are now coming on the market and are not within range to the affordable buyer. By and large
what the state has done is kick in some funds to make the price more affordable—however
this does not always mean that the price is then low enough. Basically what this fund is set
up to do is if there is a need to have additional funds available, they are there.
This application says $50,000, at a maximum of$10,000 per unit. However, we would like
there to be some flexibility there in case $11, 000 or$12,000 to $13,000 would be needed.
This fund would be under the CPC's control. If a particular buyer needed assistance,they
would come here and we would review it and say yes or no. The key thing is that for the new
buyer, the formula would be changed from what we are currently using.
Hush—It is quite clear that even up to $20,000,that is a small price to pay for getting an
affordable unit. So this is a reasonable policy in my mind to have to give flexibility to deal
with circumstances as they come up. We would not have to go back to Town Meeting each
time we had a request. This would set up a fund that would always be available when
needed.
Carr—This could be for any unit? Will this only be Brewster residents? Who is going to
benefit? How will we define the applicants? We need a better description of the program
before we get to Town Meeting.
Ulshoeffer—I do not agree with this at all. This was a surprise to me. We had an application
in, which was done quickly for your deadline. Now, I understand that this is your application
not ours. If it is us that is presenting, I have a problem with this, because we have not
reviewed it in total. The Housing Fund is mentioned in three or four different places. Does
this come from the Housing Fund or does it come from the CPC. There is little money in the
Housing Fund. If this application goes to Town Meeting, the money should go into the
Housing Fund, not stay with CPC. It needs to be available for many other uses. If the CPC is
going to retain the funds, then I would hope that instead you will put the money into the
Housing Fund. The Housing Partnership needs to have money in the Housing Fund to be
used for many things.
Hush—The money was left in the CPC because this is CPC money. This does need more
discussion.
Community Preservation Committee Minutes—January 24,2007 Page 6 of 7
Ulshoeffer—From what I hear this seems to be a totally different tweaked application.
Carr—I think that our Housing people need to meet with the Housing Partnership and
resolve these issues and come back to us with an application.
RELATIONSHIP W/ TOWN TREASURER/TOWN ACCOUNTANT
10. Relationship with Treasurer: To improve communications with Town Accountant and
Town Treasurer and make sure that all monetary transactions pass through the CPC office
prior to approval. Taylor will produce a write-up.
Hush—we need to have a written procedure—what happens once an article is passed?
What is signed, how are bills produced, etc. Elizabeth maybe could write something up
for our next meeting. Maybe someone could do some research as to what other towns use.
Norton—We have a new Town Treasurer—Lisa Vitale.
MOTION:Approve Taylor as CPC Clerk/Treasurer. Motion by Hush Second by Bassett
All "AYE"
CARR—Our next meeting will be the public hearing to discuss application and vote on
them.
EXECUTIVE SESSION
At 5:30 the Committee went in to Executive Session to"consider the purchase,
exchange, lease, or value of real property is such discussions may have a detrimental
effect on the negotiating position of the governmental body and a person, firm, or
corporation"Move—Bassett, second Hush.
Roll call vote. Elliot Carr-"AYE", Paul Hush-"AYE", Elizabeth Taylor-"AYE", Roy
Robinson-"AYE", Rollie Bassett-"AYE",
William Reyburn-"AYE"
The Committee went into EXECUTIVE SESSION and would not return to regular
session.
Respectfully submitted,
Elizabeth Taylor, Secretary �.
Approved: Februa ry 14, 2007 Signed: d-eu.
Date Clerk t e Committee j
Community Preservation Committee Minutes—January 24,2007 Page 7 of 7