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HomeMy Public PortalAboutCommunity Preservation Committee -- 2014-06-25 Minutes Approved: 4-0-1 Date: 07-23-2014 0..\awumin°uhunuiu s om w sT 2198 Main Street y/yyy�i o`` Ot 511 1. G Brewster,Massachusetts 02631-1898 � • A�g (508)896-3701 3 , , ; FA X(5 08)896-8089 r �.._°E t- ////Pee.RIT'llos /ni 1N111Ip I11Q COMMUNITY PRESERVATION COMMITTEE Meeting Minutes Wednesday, June 25, 2014 at 4:30 p.m. at The Brewster Town Office Building, 2198 Main Street, Brewster, MA Video&Audio Recording or Taping Notification: "As required by the Open Meeting Law we are informing you that the Town will be audio taping this meeting. In addition if anyone else intends to either video or audio tape this meeting they are required to inform the chair." Present: Paul Ruchinskas, Elliott Carr, Roland Bassett, Jeanne Boehm, George Boyd, William Klein and Elizabeth Taylor. Also present: Jillian Douglass, Sally Gunning and Steve Jones representing the Historical Society, Chris Miller, and Peter Johnson Absent: Dion Dugan The Chair called the meeting to order at 4:30 pm Mr. Boyd, the new CPC member representing the Historical Committee was welcomed and introduced to the Committee members. AGENDA 1. Approval of minutes 5/28/14 2. Commitment Letters a. Brewster Baptist Church b. Historical Society c. Breakwater Beach 3. Reorganization 4. CPC Finances/Treasurer's Report 5. Topics the Chair did not reasonably anticipate 6. Schedule of the next meeting 7. Adjournment 1. Approval of minutes 5/28/14 Motion made by Paul Ruchinskas to approve the minutes of May 28, 2014 as presented. Roland Bassett seconded. VOTE: 6-0-0 2. Commitment Letters a. Brewster Baptist Church: There was discussion on the Brewster Baptist Church commitment letter. The money approved is for the historic restoration of the steeple. The application dated December 30, 2013 was reviewed. The CPC award is for $200,000 and the money is to be used for historic parts of the project. Elliott Carr will be the liaison to the project and Paul Ruchinskas will make minor changes to first draft of the commitment letter. It is recommended that a Historic Preservation Restriction be placed on the project. Motion made by Paul Ruchinskas to approve the Brewster Baptist Church commitment letter to include the minor changes discussed. Roland Bassett seconded. VOTE: 6-0-0 (one committee member arrived following this vote) b. Historical Society: There was discussion on the Historical Society letter and Steve Jones raised the question about why $50,000 of the award was being withheld. The purchase and sale agreement reads that all funds for the purchase and the required permits to be in place before the closing date in September. Due to problems with past projects, the CPC has a policy of having some to their funds the last funds into a project. The total project cost is estimated at $720,000. The application to the CPC is for funds to be used for the purchase of the Cobb House. Two state grants were applied for and one of them has not been approved. The ceiling on the second grant is for $100,000. A Historic Preservation restriction should be placed in the commitment letter. Quarterly reports should be required and added to the commitment letter. Problems with the project were discussed and the major issues that needed to be resolved before the purchase goes forward. The money will not be spent unless the building can be used as a museum and the site plan is approved. This money will be used to preserve a historic building in the town. Best case the building will be opened as a museum next summer. There was a request to have an estimate on the money necessary to get the building ready to use it as a museum. The applicant will need to provide the Historic Preservation restriction. The expected use of the CPC funds will be for the purchase of the building only. The Historical Society has $100,000 set aside for renovation. It is felt that the Historical Society position is stronger if the CPC money can be used for acquisition. A number of issues raised will need to be resolved before the purchase can go forward. Unless all of the permits are received to allow for the use of the Cobb House as a museum, the purchase will not take place. Some worse case scenarios were briefly discussed. Motion made by Roland Bassett to allow all $350,000 to be put toward the acquisition of the purchase of the Cobb House provided all of the money for the purchase has been raised and permits are in hand. William Klein seconded. VOTE: 6-0-1 The unspent CPC money for the Blacksmith Shop move ($2, 515.88) will be returned to the Historic Preservation budget. c. Breakwater Beach: Chris Miller reviewed the two grants he received from the state. The first grant was for review and/or investigation into the status of Brewster's coastline. The second grant is entirely for the Breakwater Beach restoration. This grant was reduced by $45,000 due to some project duplication with the first grant. CPC monies of$59,675 were requested as local match for the Breakwater project. The Breakwater Beach parking lot will be moved and rebuilt approximately 140 feet further back from the ocean. The area in front of the parking lot will be re-established as a dune. Chris reviewed the scope of the work to be completed at the beach. Breakwater will continue to erode, but this work will help to absorb damage done by harsh weather. An engineer will be needed to design this project. Emergency access will not be compromised by this project. There was extensive discussion of vehicle access to the beach. A permit needs to be approved by the Selectmen in order for vehicles to access the beach. It was decided to remove stipulation #3 with regard to the gate and in item #5 to extend the completion of the project to two years in the commitment letter. Motion made by Roland Bassett to remove item #3 requiring a gate from the commitment letter. William Klein seconded. VOTE: 6-1-0 Motion made by Roland Bassett to extend the project completion deadline (Item #5) from one year to two years. William Klein seconded. VOTE 7-0-0 There was a brief discussion on other stipulations in the letter. There is an amendment procedure in place should any changes need to be made to the project. It was decided that no other changes needed to be made to the letter. Motion made by Roland Bassett to move the commitment letter with voted changes. Jean Boehm seconded. VOTE: 6-1-0 3. Reorganization Elliott Can is stepping down as chair. Motion made by Elizabeth Taylor to nominate Paul Ruchinskas as chair. Roland Bassett seconded. VOTE: 7-0-0 Motion made by Elizabeth Taylor to nominate Jean Boehm as vice- chair. Roland Bassett seconded. VOTE: 7-0-0 Motion made by Roland Bassett to nominate Elizabeth Taylor as clerk/treasurer. Jean Boehm seconded. VOTE: 7-0-0 4. CPC Finances/Treasurer's Report Elizabeth Taylor passed out and reviewed the Treasurer's reports for FY '14 and FY '15. Lisa Souve will be asked to come to the next CPC meeting and explain the "4th bucket 30%" fund. Elizabeth distributed a list of all projects approved for review. Money that is not spent is retained in each account. The four areas are Open Space, Historic Preservation, Community Housing, and Recreation (which is comes from the 30% fund). 5. Topics the Chair did not reasonably anticipate Paul Ruchinskas updated the committee on the status of the Habitat for Humanity purchase. The purchase and sale agreement has been signed with the sellers. The prospective closing date is August 13, 2014. There are a number of stipulations in the purchase and sale agreement that will need to be either agreed to or denied by the CPC. The application needs to be updated with new members and the new deadlines. 6. Schedule of the next meeting The next meeting will be scheduled for Wednesday, July 23, 2014 at 4:30 pm. 7. Adjournment Motion made by Roland Bassett to adjourn the meeting at 6:00 pm. George Boyd seconded. VOTE: 7-0-0 Respectfully submitted, iar).z Donna J. Moberg Recording Secretary