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COMMUNITY PRESERVATION COMMITTEE
Held a Regular Meeting
On Wednesday,Februaiy 8, 2017 at 4:30 p.m.
At The Brewster Town Office Building, 2198 Main Street, Brewster,MA
MEETING MINUTES of February 8, 2017
Present: Chair Paul Ruchinskas, Vice-Chair Jeanne Boehm, Elizabeth Taylor, Joan Carstanjen,
William Klein, Roland Bassett, Faythe Ellis, and Peter Johnson
Absent: Barbara Burgo
Also Present: Finance Director Irene Larivee, Police Chief Koch, Susan Riseman, Hal Minis,
Rich Scannevin, Wendy Cohen,Ralph Marotti
The Chair called the meeting to order at 4:32 pm
Recording or Taping Notification "As required by the Open Meeting Law we are informing yoze that the Town will
be videotaping anular 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 cellphones be tzrrned off or to vibrate.
1. Presentation and discussion with Irene Larivee, Finance Director, on CPC finances and other
related CPA financial practices.
Finance Director Irene Larivee made a presentation on the current status of the CPC
Finances. She reviewed the municipal accounting procedures for CPC. The Brewster CPA
funds should be allocated to one of four funds that are Open Space 50%, Housing 10%,
Historical 10%, and Reserved Fund Balance for CPA. The 30% fund should have been titled
"Reserved Fund Balance for CPA funds". Upon investigation it was determined that the 51h
"bucket" fund was set up for an allocation for Affordable Housing. There needs to be a
discussion on what to do with these funds (30% and 5"'bucket) and the determination will
need to be voted on at either the Spring or Fall Town Meeting. The Debt Service expenses
were reviewed and these will need to tie back to the funding authorization source. The
discrepancies have been determined to be because of some transfers not being recorded in the
correct fiscal year. There was a review of transactions and the actions taken to clean up the
account. Finance Director Irene Larivee reviewed the cross checks in place to make sure
funds are correct. These CPC budget documents will be put on the town's website for
review. CPA State match estimates were reviewed. It is felt that these tax revenues will
increase due to the estimated new growth in town. New growth is not figured until it
becomes part of the tax base and the current trend was reviewed.
CPC Meeting Minutes
of February 8, 2017 Page 1 of 6
There was discussion about the amount of the state match and things that may reduce the
allocation from the state. The former 30% budget is now renamed to "Fund Balance
Reserved for CPA"to meet current state law. The reference to 30% budget will be in the
comments section of the town meeting warrant. Interest will be added to the account
automatically. The Buy Down Housing program for $212,000 has been determined is from
an Article from 2008 and should be in the Housing budget and not in the 5th bucket. It was
noted that the $212,000 funds are available but not appropriated. The FY `16 Special Town
Meeting allocations occurred in July that is FY '17 and does not show up in the FY '16 year-
end balances for this reason. Professional Services funds not expended can be transferred via
a Finance Committee and Board of Selectmen approval vote. In FY '18 language will be
voted on following town counsel review that will allow allocations to take place in the
different areas automatically. There was also discussion about having"sunset language"put
in town meeting warrant articles and professional services appropriations to allow allocations
to revert to the appropriate authorized fund without Town Meeting vote. It is hoped to have
this put in place for FY '18. There was discussion about reallocating funds through a Special
Town Meeting budget transfer to adjust the amounts in the different accounts. Gifts need to
be accepted by the Board of Selectmen but do not need town meeting approval to spend them
on the stated purpose and can be spent on whatever the CPC approves. It was noted that the
Babe Ruth field funds should not be allocated to Open Space, but belong in the 30%
Reserved Fund Balance. The proposed changes will be on a future CPC agenda for
discussion and authorization vote to go forward.
2. Discussion of potential CPC community housing funding request for a housing coordinator
and vote to refer the request to the housing sub-committee once it is submitted.
Chair Paul Ruchinskas reviewed the Town Housing Coordinator position that will be a 15
hours a week position. A job description will be developed for this request and will be
referred to the Housing Subcommittee for their approval. This will be a separate article and
the position will be paid for out of the Housing funds.
Motion made by Paul Ruchinskas to approve the CPC Community Housing Funding
request for a housing coordinator when it is submitted and to refer the request to the
Housing Subcommittee. Roland Bassett seconded.
VOTE: 8-0-0
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3. Discussion and vote to establish FY 2018 CPA revenue projections and to authorize the CPC
officers to draft the CPC Annual Town Meeting warrant article.
Chair Paul Ruchinskas reviewed the establishment of FY '18 CPA revenue projections and
asked for a motion to authorize the CPC officers to draft the CPC Annual Town Meeting
warrant articles.
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Motion made by Peter Johnson to authorize the CPC officers to draft the motions for CPC
Annual Town Meeting warrant articles and funding authorizations. William Klein
seconded.
VOTE: 8-0-0
CPC Meeting Minutes
of February 8, 2017 Page 2 of 6
4. Discussion and possible vote on the Bikeways Committee's $100,000 funding request for
warning lights at Cape Cod Rail Trail street crossings.
Chair of the Bikeways Committee Susan Riscman reviewed the $100,000 funding request for
warning lights at the Cape Cod Rail Trail street crossings at Rt. 124, Rt. 137, Underpass
Road and Millstone Road. Other communities have these warning lights. Most will be solar
powered though one may require electrical work. The DPW will oversee the project,
procurement and will be totally responsible for its maintenance. There is strong support from
the Brewster DPW and Police Departments. The lights will be motion activated and rarely
activated at night when few people are on the rail trail. The Brewster Recreation
Commission voted unanimously to support this project. It will be investigated to see if some
signage on the road coming up to the crossings can be removed as it is felt it is currently
excessive. There was discussion on the different problems presented by the bicyclists and
the education needed for people visiting from outside the town from other states and
countries on the need for bikers to stop and dismount when crossing a roadway. Educational
brochures will be distributed throughout town in bike shops, those places employing people
holding HB-1 visas,Nickerson State Park, and Visitor Centers. Concern was raised about
bikers who stop at the crosswalk stopping the cars but then talk and don't cross. The DPW
has various funds for road improvements in their budget. The total project cost will be
$129,500 and the balance of the costs will come from other town sources. There are a lot of
challenges in biker safety and this is the first step towards resolving some of the issues.
Motion made by Peter.Johnson to approve the Bikeways Committee's $100,000 funding
request for warning lights at the Cape Cod Rail Trail street crossings. Roland Bassett
seconded.
VOTE: 5-0-0
Roland Bassett will be the liaison for this project and he will draft the award letter.
5. Discussion and possible vote on the Preservation of Affordable Housing and Housing
Assistance Corporation's $600,000 funding request for the Brewster Woods 30 unit
affordable family housing rental development.
Chair Paul Ruchinskas recused himself on the discussion on Brewster Woods due to conflict
of interest because he is on the board of the Housing Assistance Corporation and he recused '
himself on the discussion of the next agenda item on Governor Prence due to his serving on
the Community Development Partnership.
Vice-Chair Jeanne Boehm took over the meeting while Paul Ruchinskas left the room. The
Housing Subcommittee has recommended$350,000 for this project and considers it a new
project from the one that was originally submitted. The applicants are requesting $550,000
down from the original $600,000 request. The Housing Subcommittee's proposed reduction
in funding was due to the funding felt available at the time of its meeting and it is felt there it
would be acceptable to increase the funding to the requested amount of$550,000.
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Julie Cramer of the Preservation of Affordable Housing introduced herself and told the
Committee she had recently worked on the Melpet Farm project in Dennis that was built with
CPA funds from that town. She has worked on a number of other projects on Cape. Project j
Manager Noel Caprice of the Housing Assistance Corporation introduced herself and she has
CPC Meeting Minutes
of February S, 2017 Page 3 of 6
worked on many different kinds of housing projects. All 30 units will go towards Brewster's
SHI (subsidized housing inventory) toward the 10 percent goal of affordable housing. Due to
area residents requesting a set back from the project,the Brewster Housing Authority
requested the change in the number of units. This is the reason for the reduction from 50
units to 30 units. Construction and costs have increased since the original request for 50
units that were not all affordable and the market rate homes can help to offset the cost of the
affordable homes. The Housing Subcommittee is made up of Paul Ruchinskas, Jeanne
Boehm, Barbara Burgo, Faythe Ellis, and Ralph Marotti from the Housing Partnership and
they support this project. CPC Housing Consultant Wendy Cohen reviewed theproject and
she recommended a minimum of$350,000 as she felt that there could be other places to
obtain additional funding. Since the Housing Subcommittee meeting, it has been determined
that there are more CPC funds available for housing. There was a review of some of the
potential additional funding sources that may be available and that are all competitive.
Wendy Cohen will support the project at the $550,000 amount if the CPA funds are
available. This will be a 40B project and a local preference can be requested at 70%. There
will be 7 Section 8 units available in this project. The project will be changed to have three 3-
bedroom units and one 2-bedroom unit has been deleted.
Motion made by Peter Johnson to recommend the Preservation of Affordable Housing and
Housing Assistance Corporation's $550,000 funding request for the Brewster Woods 30 unit
affordable family housing rental development. Roland Bassett seconded.
VOTE: 7-0-0
Motion made by Peter Johnson to revise the above motion to recommend the
Preservation of Affordable Housing and Housing Assistance Corporation's $550,000
funding request for the Brewster Woods 30 unit affordable family housing rental
development and to include that the award be conditioned upon a final review of the
plans once reviewed and approved by the Brewster ZBA and DHCD and prior to
construction closing and that the award will include a Iocal preference. Roland Bassett
seconded.
VOTE: 7-0-0
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Jeanne Boehm will be the Brewster Woods Liaison.
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6. Discussion and possible vote on the Community Development Partnership's $200,000
funding request for the Governor Prence Residences 50 unit affordable family housing rental
development in Eastham..
Vice-Chair Boehm reviewed the project briefly and the request for the Governor Prence
Residences has been reduced to $175,000. Executive Director Jay Coburn of the Community
Development Partnership and Richard Hayden of SGG Development Partners reviewed the
request for Brewster CPA fiends for this project to be located in Eastham. Of the 50 units j
proposed, 44 units will be of affordable housing of 1 and 2 bedroom units and are being
designed with the needs of seniors in mind. This development will be friendly to seniors
with handicap accessories and 4 units will be full ADA complaint. There will be elevators in
the building and it will be on the Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority's bus route. This will
be a regional project including the eight towns located in the lower Cape. There was a
CPC Meeting Minutes
of February 8, 2017 Page 4 of 6
review of the development budget and they are looking for a total of a million dollars of CPA
funds from the towns of the lower Cape. The request has been reduced from $200,00 to
$175,000. It is important to note that next March another round of funds will be requested.
CPC Consultant Wendy Cohen briefly reviewed her credentials and she feels that this
application was well put together and that the costs are reasonable. Originally she felt that a
minimum of$100,000 would be acceptable depending on CPA funds available. The Housing
Subcommittee approved half of the $175,000 request. She pointed out that this is not a
Brewster project being located in Eastham and she recommended a local preference for all of
Barnstable County. Local preference was discussed and whilc it can be requested through
the HDC, the ultimate determination will be made at the state level. It is expected to request a
70% local preference for a Barnstable County resident, student or worker.
Concern was expressed about the towns of Harwich and Chatham not being approached for
their CPA funds. Harwich does not have much in the way of CPA funds and it was felt to
request funds from the immediate towns in the area of Eastham. It was felt that Chatham was
as close as Brewster and should have been approached. 40B laws do not currently allow for
credit be allocated for affordable housing units located in another town. In order for this to
occur, the law would need to be changed. Roland Bassett expressed concern about the lack
of subsidized housing credit and the lack of local preference assurance and he would be
voting no on the project. Peter Johnson is supportive because this is a regional issue and
encourages the group to come back for additional funds.
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Motion made by Peter Johnson to recommend$85,000 to Community Development Partnership
for the Governor Prence Residences 50 unit affordable family housing rental development in
Eastham. William Klein seconded.
VOTE: 4-3-0
Motion made by Peter.Johnson to amend the motion above to recommend $85,000 to
Community Development Partnership for the Governor Prence Residences 50 unit
affordable family housing rental development in Eastham and to include that the award be
conditioned upon a final review of the plans once reviewed and approved by the Eastham
ZBA and DHCD and prior to construction closing and also to include a local county
preference.
VOTE: 4-3-0
There was a brief review of what was available for housing. Faythe Ellis agreed to be tht.liaison
for the Governor Prence project. j
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7. Vote to approve minutes of February 1, 2017 meeting.
Motion made by Roland Bassett to approve the February 1, 2017 meeting minutes as
corrected. William Klein seconded.
VOTE: 6-0-1
8. Items that the chair could not have reasonably anticipated.
There were no other items discussed.
CPC Meeting Minutes
of February 8, 2017 Page 5 of 6
9. Schedule next meeting.
The next meeting will be tentatively scheduled for February 22, 2017 though it is expected not to
meet until March S, 2017 at 4:30 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Donna J. Moberg, Recording Secretary
Items used at the Meeting:
• CPC Budget Documents
• Bikeway Committee Application
• Brewster Woods Application
• Governor Prence Application
• Housing Subconunittee Report from 01/26/17 and 2/1/17
• Draft Meeting Minutes of February 1, 2017
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CPC Meeting Minutes
of February 8, 2017 Page 6 of 6