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COMMUNITY PRESERVATION COMMITTEE
Held a Regular Meeting
On Wednesday, June 22,2016 at 4:30 p.m.
At The Brewster Town Office Building,2198 Main Street, Brewster,MA
Meeting Minutes of June 22, 2016
Present: Chair Paul Ruchinskas, Vice-Chair Jeanne Boehm, William Klein, Peter Johnson,
Elizabeth Taylor, Barbara Burgo, and Roland Bassett.
Absent: Joan Carstanjen
Also Present: Town Administrator Mike Embury, Town Counsel Sarah Turano-Flores, and
George Boyd of the Brewster Historical Commission.
The Chair called the meeting to order at 4:30 pm
Recording or Taping Notification: "As required by the Open Meeting Law we are informing you that the Town
will be audio taping this public meeting. In addition, if anyone else intends to either video or audio tape this meeting
they are required to inform the chair." We request that all cell phones be turned off or to vibrate.
1) Review and discussion of meeting with Town Counsel and Town Administrator re: Town
Counsel opinion on Harwich Ecumenical Council for the Homeless' rehabilitation program
Outgoing Town Counsel, Sarah Turano-Flores reviewed her opinion on the HECH 2015
program. The HECH 2015 program has been a learning experience for all involved and things
learned should carry over to the HECH 2016 program that will allow for a better program,
though it may not be a viable program in the end. This is because of tree way that HECH
determines value to loan ratios. Concern expressed about value to loan ratios as it applies to this
program and it is the opinion of Town Counsel that the value to loan ratio calculation needs to be
a minimum of ninety percent to allow the Town to recapture the loan should the property be sold.
You can expend CPA monies only if there is a recapture provision and a mandate on how the
money is spent. In particular this last loan in the 2015 HECH program was a problem and Town
Counsel will not be recommending it for funding. Since there is a waiting list, it will be
investigated if someone else meets the CPA requirements for the 2015 HECH program. The
Housing Subcommittee and Sarah Turano-Flores will be meeting with HECH to try and make
this program work for 2016. The state constitution does not allow for direct public aid to
individuals without a public benefit and this makes this sort of program a problem. The CPC
voted at a previous meeting to extend the 2015 HECH program for three months until September
30, 2016.
2) Town Counsel update on Cape Rep award conditions.
Town Counsel, Saran Turano-Flores stated that there is nothing new to report on the Cape Rep
award though the DCR is very aware of the problems and their hands are tied as to entering into
any binding agreement with any appropriation or deed restriction without legislative approval.
They are willing to sign a memorandum of understanding and this may allow the project to go
forward. This would help to preserve the property for its historic value and if in the unlikely
scenario that the property is ever sold by the state without a historic preservation restriction
placed on the property then the town will be reimbursed the monies used to help restore the
property. The memorandum of understanding may be available for the Committee's approval at
one of the July meetings. This is clearly a project that is of public benefit, but the long-term
issues need to be resolved.
3) Town Counsel update on Cobb House historic preservation restriction.
Town Counsel, Sarah Turano-Flores briefly reviewed the historic preservation restriction for the
Cobb House and though the out buildings were not included in the CPA funding,the out
buildings may be included in the historic preservation restriction. Once this is ironed out, it will
be sent to the Brewster Historical Society for their review and once they approve, then sent onto
the State. The Cobb House is hoping to open in August and this will require the CPC signing
off. The CPC may need to waive the funding restriction in having the historic preservation
restriction sent to the State, as this delay is not the fault of the applicant but could prevent them
from opening in August. This will be discussed further at a future meeting.
4) Town Counsel update on 2016 grant agreements.
Cape Cod Village grant agreement may be finalized soon. The Cape Rep grant agreement is
ready for signatures, but it was recommended to ask them if they have any changes to the
agreement before mailing them out.
HECH 2016 program will be reviewed at an upcoming Housing Subcommittee meeting.
5) Vote to approve minutes of June 8, 2016 meeting.
There was a discussion about what changes should be made to the minutes of June 8, 2016. It
was decided changes should made to the second page under the Cape Rep agenda item and the
second paragraph was deleted and replaced by the Chair to clarify what took place. Going
forward names will be omitted from motions, but will be recognized by the number of the award,
such as loan#5.
Motion made by Peter Johnson to accept the meeting minutes as amended. Roland Bassett
seconded.
VOTE: 5-0-2
6) Items that the Chair could not reasonably anticipate.
All bills need to be in by the end of the month and anyone with outstanding bills were asked to
submit them or let Elizabeth Taylor know so that the funds could be encumbered.
Habitat for Humanity application dated July 1, 2016 was dropped off this afternoon and was
distributed to the Committee for their review and will appear on a future agenda.
Millsites project is complete and the bills have been submitted. Any unexpended funds can be
returned.
The Recreation project is complete and the new recreation project has just started.
Cobb House is still open. Eric Dray will be submitting a bill for the historical survey and it
should be sent to the Historical Commission for their approval and then processed by the CPC.
7) Schedule next meeting.
The next meeting will be Wednesday, July 13, 2016 and it is expected to have the Cobb House
on the agenda.
Motion made by Elizabeth Taylor to adjourn the meeting at 5:02 pm. Roland Bassett
seconded.
VOTE: 7-0-0
Respectfully submitted,
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Donna J. Moberg, Recor ing Secretary
Items used at the meeting:
• Dissemination to Committee of Habitat for Humanity CPC Application dated July 1,
2016
• Draft Meeting Minutes of June 8, 2016