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HomeMy Public PortalAboutCommunity Preservation Committee -- 2018-09-12 Minutes \\\\\\�\�\\\\\\ \N1111IIB1111/r//r///////j (dEWS �,nnb//// y ® ° a v', 2198 Main Street APPROVED : 10/10/18 Brewster, Massachusetts 02631 - 1898 flPOFIA N 0��°� ( 508) 896- 3701 VOTE : 8-0-0 n\\\\\\\\\��� FAX (508) 896 - 8089 Held a Regular Meeting on Wednesday, September 12, 2018 at 4 :45 p. m. at The Brewster Town Office Building, 2198 Main Street, Brewster, MA MEETING MINUTES FOR SEPTEMBER 129 2018 Present : Chair Paul Ruchinskas, Faythe Ellis, Elizabeth Taylor (non-voting member), Diane Pansire (non-voting member), William Klein, Roland Bassett, Sharon Marotti, and Peggy Jablonski Absent : Barbara Burgo Also Present : Lisa Vitale, Christine Duren, Bob Smith, Fran Schofield, Maria Raber, Mary Ellen Ackerman, Janine Perry, Jeff Cusack, Eric Dray Chair Paul Ruchinskas called the meeting to order at 4 :45 pm. Recording or Taping Notification: "As required by the Open Meeting Law we are informingyou that the Town will be videotaping and/or 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 . Financial Report Sharon explained that there have been several meetings with Barbara Costa from the Abrahams Group trying to determine what the actual balances currently are . Although they are still not 100% certain, they have been able to make a reasonable determination and have distributed that information to the Finance Committee members . It looks like because of the Long Pond conservation land purchase there is a negative balance of $ 528 ,295 . 89 in Open Space but that is dependent on what portion of that purchase is going to be bonded . Housing has a positive balance of $208 ,640 . 10, Historical has a positive balance of $338 ,674 . 10 and the 30% fund has a positive balance of $909, 574 . 65 . There are currently some receivables that are expected to be reimbursed for unexpended administrative expenses from FYI plus some contributions from outside sources such as Brewster Conservation Trust and Massachusetts DOR. That will be discussed in the future when those are applied . Most if not all will be applied to the Open Space account. The Chair reiterated that they are reasonably confident that these are very close the amounts they have to work with for FY19. He stated that in Open Space they didn' t include the State Grant of just over $226,000 or the Brewster Conservation Trust' s contribution of $50,000 to 1 Community Preservation Committee Minutes: September 12 , 2018 that purchase which just came in this fiscal year. Lisa Souve is going to be meeting with the DOR on 9/ 13/ 18 to discuss how that money can be put back into the Open Space account whether it can be done administratively, whether there needs to be a budget transfer at the Fall Town Meeting, or whether they will have to wait until the end of the fiscal year to recognize the funds will not be available until FY20 . Regardless, there is $276, 000 that will be put into the Open Space fund at some point. The Chair also stated that for the Long Pond land acquisition purchase of $ 1 . 78 million the Brewster Conservation Trust has pledged $230,000 to that acquisition, some of which is in the account already. By including the $276,000 that will be coming in from outside sources, this would leave a deficit of just $22,000 in the Open Space fund . The Town has also applied for a $400,000 grant for that acquisition. In the next few months if that money does come through that would leave roughly $380,000 in the Open Space account which means potentially cash could be paid for the Long Pond land or just short-term borrowing. The Chair stated that he feels the Open Space account will be looking a lot better by the end of the year. 2 . Discussion and vote on borrowing for the Long Pond open space land acquisition Lisa Vitale explained that Bond Counsel is currently in need of the minutes regarding the authorization from CPC to borrow. In the previous minutes it was not reflected that CPC had approved the borrowing . She asked for that information to be reiterated at this meeting . Lisa then went over the three schedules : the first one being full purchase price ($ 1 , 750, 000) which would occur if there was no grant money received, the second ($ 1 , 520,000) which reflects the contribution from BCT of $230,000, and the third and lowest schedule ($ 1 , 120 , 000) which would reflect receiving the additional $400,000 grant. Lisa explained that bonding would probably be based on the third schedule if there was to be long-term bonding . She further explained that a bond issuance would likely include many Town projects-not just one. So, they would do short-term borrowing to get the money to purchase the land and then would look to bond later in the future . Lisa then presented a schedule for short-term borrowing which she stated could be available January 11 . She based the schedule on the $ 1 , 520 , 000 price and 3 % for the coupon rating so the interest rate for the first year would be approximately $45 ,500 . That cost could be budgeted for FY20 as it would come due January 10, 2020 . The Chair asked if 20 years is standard for debt-service to which Lisa replied yes, for land purchase . He also asked if the roughly 4% interest rate is the prevailing rate . Lisa explained that when they do a bond issue, it is usually for less than $ 10 million because that is qualified and is interest free to the buyers to the market. Typically, what they would try to do is include a number of projects in one bond issue . She explained that she would need to be notified if money is needed to buy the land at closing because short-term borrowing would likely be necessary. That way, the money would be available to spend on the land and then 2 Community Preservation Committee Minutes: September 12, 2018 when the grant money is hopefully received later on, if a decision is made to bond it, they would bond the lower amount less the $400,000 . Elizabeth asked if this all depends on what DOR says when they meet with Lisa Souve on 9/ 13 . She stated that apparently CPC may not see or have use of the funds from BCT or the State until next July which makes a big difference . She suggested that they bond in January . Lisa replied that she would not be issuing a bond but rather a short-term note for whatever amount is needed to purchase the land . The Chair asked Lisa if she needed to be notified if CPC decided to contribute some of the Open Space Reserve fund to reduce the cost of the bond. Lisa explained that she is not sure that they will be doing a bond issue in FY19 . It depends on all the other town projects and which projects Town Meeting approves . They may just end up doing multipurpose notes . If the short-term notes are taken out for a year, the interest would need to be budgeted for because that would need to be repaid in a year. Pay-down could also be budgeted for if it is decided that a certain amount is going to be paid towards the temporary note . The Chair clarified with Lisa that a decision did not have to be made right away as to potential Open Space contributions . Lisa confirmed that there is plenty of time. The Accounting Department is working on getting the numbers and CPC will have a good sense of the amount needed prior to when she would need to know she needs to do a temporary note . It only takes her about two weeks to do a temporary note. The Chair asked Lisa if the Committee needed to take a vote on borrowing . Lisa stated that before it went to Town Meeting, CPC had discussions about the purchase of this property and had discussions about borrowing to obtain the property. None of that showed up in the minutes . Faythe replied that she didn' t recall ever having a conversation on the topic. Elizabeth stated that they have never decided/voted before a Town Meeting about whether they are going to borrow or not to purchase. The Chair stated that they only had one other Open Space purchase that was bonded about ten years ago. Elizabeth agreed and said usually cash is used . Lisa stated that she thought the Committee should vote that CPC wants to borrow funds to obtain the property. Elizabeth asked if going forward, whenever there is a discussion about buying property, the Committee needs to make the decision prior to Town Meeting about whether they are going to borrow money or pay cash. Lisa stated that she thought this was a good idea . Elizabeth then pointed out that often times going into Town Meeting they may not know whether or not they are going to receive State funds and often times that makes the difference between whether they borrow or pay cash. She asked if the Committee should decide before Town Meeting that they want to borrow but then can decide later not to borrow as opposed to not borrowing and then having to change their mind . Lisa replied that yes, it would be safer to say that CPC is willing to borrow but may decide after the fact that they don' t need to and are just going to pay cash. Motion made to borrow for the Long Pond Open Space Land acquisition, Moved by Rollie Bassett, Seconded by Elizabeth Taylor. Vote: 6-0-0 3 Community Preservation Committee Minutes: September 12, 2018 3 . Discussion and possible votes of recommendations for funding awards, conditions, and liaisons for the following funding requests : a) Habitat for Humanity ' s $200,000 community housing request for Phase II of Paul Hush Way b) Cape Cod Museum of Natural History ' s $ 12 ,000 recreation funding request for the rehabilitation of the Lee Baldwin Trail Observation Platform and bridges c) Cape Rep Theater ' s $400,000 historic preservation request for the second phase of the rehabilitation of the Crosby Barn. A) Christine Duren, Habitat for Humanity ' s CPC liaison with towns on the Cape gave a brief presentation on the Phase II project. At this point four of the six homes as part of Phase I have been closed on, and the last two homebuyers will close by the end of September. Phase H consists of constructing the remaining eight homes with infrastructure beginning in the Spring and construction start/volunteer "wall-raising" to occur in July 2019 . She stated that part of Phase I was making the homes " Solar-Ready" and they are looking to do the same with the homes built in Phase II. Currently, it is almost a break even in terms of what power homes are producing by solar and what they are consuming. The Chair stated that the CPC Housing Committee met with Vicki Goldsmith of Habitat for Humanity and the recommendation is for the full $200 ,000 request. Since CPC is still not 100% certain of the final numbers in their accounts, he stated that he would like to give awards without specifying which of the accounts the funds will be coming from and that aspect can be voted on later when numbers are fmalized. He also stated the conditions of the $200,000 would be similar to conditions in Phase I as it would be a note in a mortgage that would be 0% interest. The way it would work is it will be forgivable as each home is sold to an income eligible home buyer. This means that 1 /8 ($25 ,000) of the note will be forgiven for each of the homes sold. Once all eight of the homes are occupied and have deed restrictions it will function as a grant as the entire $200,000 will be forgiven. This is a way to protect the town by allowing them to potentially recoup Rinds should anything unexpected/bad happen during the project. MOTION made for CPC ' s recommendation to Town Meeting for $200,000 for Habitat for Humanity' s community housing request for Paul Hush Way with conditions similar to those in Phase I and with Diane Pansire serving as liaison. MOVED by Rollie Bassett, Seconded by Elizabeth Taylor VOTE : 6-0-0 B) Bob Smith a member of the Board of Trustees for the Cape Cod Museum of Natural History and the Chair of the Facilities Sub-Committee for the Board attended the meeting 4 Community Preservation Committee Minutes: September 12, 2018 on behalf of the museum. The CCMNH is requesting $ 12 ,000 to rebuild the observation platform that was built in 2010 as part of the Federal and State Funding that was provided during the recession. They thought the observation platform was going to last for a long time but it has been deteriorating very quickly. They are looking to do some reconstruction of it to make it so that it will last a lot longer with better materials than what was previously used for the project. He wanted to make a correction of an error he noticed within the application. He stated that on page 3 of the application it mentions that the total cost of the project was $33 ,000 which included the observation platform, the bridge ramps, and the restoration of the pathway that goes across the marsh. The correct cost was actually $73 ,400 for the entire project. The $33 ,000 portion mentioned was strictly the cost of the observation platform alone. He explained that they want to use materials that they hope will last a lot longer. They are proposing to use Ipe which is a sustainable wood product. What was originally used was a Cyprus wood but it hasn' t held up well. They had a choice between Ipe and composite materials and chose Ipe because it doesn't need any further treatment and is a dense , hard wood from South American forests . He stated that it is a little more expensive than the composite but they think it will last longer . Rollie reported that the Recreation Committee voted unanimously to support this project. He stated that they did discuss the material choice (Ipe vs . composite) . Peggy stated that she did not agree with the choice of the Ipe and would have preferred the composite given the location and the fact that it will flood again numerous times . Bob responded that one of the reasons they chose the Ipe was because of the design of the sitting bench being a series of wedges . They found out that if you cut the edges of the composite too much and expose the edges too much that it deteriorates over time . Most of the time when using composite only the ends would be cut off. If they were to use composite they would probably have to redesign the sitting bench. Alternately, he stated that they could potentially use the composite for the rest of the deck with the exception of the sitting bench but it would not look as attractive . Elizabeth brought up that there are so few areas in town that are accessible that she was hoping in the future CCMNH might come back with a plan to have an accessible access way from the parking lot to the observation platform. Bob agreed that that is something they would like to look at in the future. The was actually part of the original proposal in 2010 to have a ramp from the parking lot right down to the observation deck. It was cut out because of funding shortages . At the time it was estimated to cost about $ 50, 000 . A lot of the money that was originally proposed for that portion of the project instead was used for a Federal requirement of a Native American archeological survey. Bob stated 5 Community Preservation Committee Minutes: September 12, 2018 that they still have the plans for the project and hope to come back to that sometime in the future. Faythe asked if there are any other project elsewhere that could give an idea of how long the Ipe would last such as in other parks . Bob responded that other than building decks he didn' t know of any. He stated that it is a very dense wood that is so hard you have to drill every hole to get screws in. It is also a very sustainable product. Faythe then asked another question regarding the parking lot. She stated that when you pull into the parking lot for the South trail, there is a sign there that states that parking is for museum members and attendees only. Her question was where the public parking is to access the trail . Bob stated that it is actually there . He explained that this has been an ongoing issue for the museum as it pertains to Wing Island as the parking lots on both sides are owned by the museum. In the summer particularly, people use the parking lots to go out to Wing Island only. They have asked them to park at Drummer Boy Park and use the sidewalk and come back and use the trail. As far as the South trail and the use of the Baldwin trail, people are free to park there. Faythe stated that her suggestion would be that as they have a sign at the crosswalk which would handle people going to Wing Island, this particular sign deters people from parking there to use the South trail. It doesn't appear to be public parking although it is the museum' s intention. The Chair asked Bob if the museum has gone out for another bid yet as indicated in the application. Bob stated that it has not happened yet. The Chair then asked about the museum' s balance sheet as it shows about $2 million in unrestricted net assets and investment accounts . He questioned the need for public funds rather than the museum paying the cost out of existing revenue sources. Bob responded that the museum has an endowment of about $2 million. The financial documents provided in the application list other accounts one of them which is primarily a holding account to pay bills . Some of that will get transferred over but the trustees have not acted on that yet. When the museum gets requests and monies in, they hold it for a period of time in the open account unrestricted until a point in time when they have realized there have been no emergencies that have come up where those funds were needed . At that point in time the funds get moved into an endowment. The Chair complimented the museum on having a healthy balance sheet but explained that on the 2016 balance sheet there was $2 . 5 million in an investment account. He stated that he knows they get $ 60470 thousand per year in return from that investment and was wondering if that was also a potential funding source for the project. Bob responded that that is part of the permanent endowment. He said that using the money for the project would take a move from the Board of Trustees but generally they prefer to use only 3 '/z-4% of the earnings of that each year. 6 Community Preservation Committee Minutes : September 12, 2018 Finally, the Chair stated that he agreed with Elizabeth in terms of the possibility of creating an accessible route to the platform from the parking lot sometime in the future . Elizabeth volunteered to be the liaison for the project. MOTION to accept Cape Cod Museum of Natural History ' s $ 12,000 recreation funding request for the rehabilitation of the Lee Baldwin Trail Observation Platform and bridges to come out of the 30 % Fund with the standard set of conditions and Elizabeth Taylor serving as liaison. MOVED by Rollie Bassett, Seconded by Bill Klein Vote : 4=0-2 C) Fran Schofield introduced the project by explaining that the Cape Rep Theatre is looking at part two of Phase IV of a lease obligation with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts . The Cape Rep Theatre occupies 7 . 5 acres of land owned by the Commonwealth. Their obligation was to renovate four of the historic structures on the property and they have so far completed the first three which included the Outdoor Children' s Theatre, the Cape House, and Indoor Theatre, and now they are looking to complete part two of the renovation of the historic Crosby Barn. The barn was ready to fall down and with the help of CPC so far, they have been able to raise the barn, secure the roofing, made it weather-tight, and created a full basement. Now they are looking to complete the historic renovation of the exterior of the barn and renovation of interior infrastructure . The exterior areas that they have applied for historic funding from CPC is only a small portion of the total project cost. In addition to the Cape Rep Theatre ' s application, they are putting in handicap accessible restrooms which will cost an estimated $250 ,000 as well as extensive site work. She stated that the grant CPC gave the Cape Rep Theatre was essential to securing additional funding for the first phase of the project. In order to continue beyond where they are, they think a grant from CPC will be similarly essential to kick-starting a capital campaign to secure additional funding. Fran then introduced Maria Raber who is the architect of record for the project. Maria gave a presentation to the Committee and explained the progression of the floor plan. She explained the addition which will include the handicap accessible restrooms was designed using different materials so it is easily If from the rest of the barn. The use of the barn will be multipurpose including theatre productions and dinner theatre . Diane asked what types of events could be held there . Artistic Director Janine Perry responded that according to the terms of the theatre ' s lease they are restricted to any kind of event that has to do with the performing arts . Once renovations are completed on all the buildings it is possible that the Commonwealth may entertain some changes to the lease to allow some different types of events. Currently, they are only interested in doing 7 Community Preservation Committee Minutes: September 12, 2018 what their mission as a theatre company is. Maria then went over the plans for the exterior of the building. She explained that the exterior siding is very deteriorated, particularly on the South side of the building from overgrowth of plants, so they are going to have to do a preservation and possible replacement in kind of some of the vertical boards . All the existing doors and windows they are planning to restore or preserve. Eric Dray is the preservation consultant CPC hired to advise the Committee on the application. Eric explained that historic preservation applications need to conform with the Secretary of Interior Standards for Rehabilitation. Essentially, this particular application is for adaptive reuse. It is generally acceptable to adapt a building to a new use provided it has minimal impact on the historical components of the building . He stated that as a general principle, this application meets that requirement. He and Jeffrey Harris from DCR did raise a few questions regarding the project. One of the questions was regarding the new windows that were proposed . Rather than the initially proposed windows , a change to one over one windows was agreed on. This change was to recreate the historic screens that had been part of the original barn which essentially appeared to be one over one screens . In relation to the new entrance, Eric explained that unfortunately there are no historic photographs of the what the original entrances into the barn were. He felt that it was appropriate to introduce a new element because it is the element that has been the most altered and the one that has the least amount of historical significance at this point. DCR agreed with that. The recommendation Eric made was to simplify the windows in the entrance doors to make them seem more modern. Additions are allowed under the Secretary of Interior Standards provided they do not detract from or replicate historic elements of the building . Next, Eric explained that another one of the guidelines says that the addition must be easily reversible/removed in the future and the proposed new addition in this application meets that criteria. Next, he stated that in regards to the cupola, it has detail that needs to be restored based on the criteria which states . if you are going to restore a missing feature it has to be based on good evidence of what it looked like; they have this evidence in a historic photograph which includes the cupola. Finally, he expressed that he felt that the $400,000 funding request from the Cape Rep Theatre was appropriate as by his estimates, it will cost roughly $440,000 just on the historical portion of the project alone which is not including areas of the project that do not fall under the criteria for CPC funds . Faythe stated that the Historical Commission voted unanimously to support the $400 ,000 funding request subject to the conditions in Eric Dray' s recommendations . Peggy asked for plans for the remainder of the fundraising. Janine explained that their 8 Community Preservation Committee Minutes: September 12, 2018 small theatre company has a lot of small donors. All the small donors combined with a generous grant from the CPC or Massachusetts Cultural Facilities Fund has allowed them to do these projects. Janine stated that they will do everything from bake sales, to special events, to getting the word out in the community to raise the funds needed to get the project completed. Sharon asked if historically the theatre has always funded projects strictly by donations or if they ever have done any long-term borrowing . Janine said they have not done any long term borrowing but have been successful in getting what she refers to as an old type of bridge loan. Since getting money reimbursed from state funds can take a while, Cape Cod Five has often been involved in giving short term loans which they can then pay back. The Chair asked if the Young Company initiative would be moving into the new barn space following completion of the project. Janine stated that the Young Company is a free program for students from eighth grade through high school. Right now they fit those students in wherever they can in their buildings and the program has grown significantly. They hope the barn space will be completed before the program grows any larger. The Chair then asked when the Massachusetts Cultural application due . Janine responded that their applications will probably be due December 1 . The Massachusetts Cultural Counsel was funded to allow most of their programs to exist again. If everything comes through they hope to start the project in January. If the CPC grant and the Massachusetts Cultural Facilities grants both come through at the maximum they are allowed, 50-60% of the project will be funded. Faythe volunteered to be the liaison with Peggy as her assistant liaison. The Chair recommended that they add an additional $ 10,000 to the request (for a total of $410,000) . $400,000 would be for Cape Rep Theatre and the remaining $ 10,000 would be for CPC to use to get professional services to monitor the project as it progresses . MOTION made to recommend the $410,000 funding request; $400,000 for Cape Rep Theatre and $ 10,000 for necessary technical assistance for the CPC subject to CPC ' s standard terms and conditions as well as recommendations included in Eric Dray ' s memo. Additionally, fundraising must be reasonably well in hand by Cape Rep Theatre before CPC funds can be expended . Faythe Ellis to serve as liaison with Peggy Jablonski serving as assistant liaison. 9 Community Preservation Committee Minutes ; September 12, 2018 MOVED by Rollie Bassett. Seconded by Sharon Marotti VOTE : 6-0-0 4 . Vote to accept the Brewster Affordable Housing Trust' s $ 100,000 community housing funding request; vote on the completeness, timeliness, and CPA eligibility of the Housing Trust' s funding request; and possible vote to refer the Housing Trust funding request to the CPC Housing Committee for its review and recommendation. MOTION made to accept Brewster Affordable Housing Trust' s $ 100,000 community housing funding request. MOVED by Rollie Bassett, Seconded by Peggy Jablonski VOTE : 6-0=0 MOTION made to accept the Housing Trust' s application as complete, timely, and CPA eligible. MOVED by Rollie Bassett, Seconded by Faythe Ellis VOTE : 6-0-0 MOTION made to refer the Housing Trust' s funding request to the CPC Housing Committee for its review and recommendation. MOVED by Peggy Jablonski, Seconded by Rollie Bassett VOTE : 6-0A 5 . Discussion and vote on Open Space Committee ' s $ 1 ,500 administrative funding request Elizabeth explained that the Open Space Committee has decided that they would like to have a meeting with their committee as well as representative from stakeholders in town just to make sure we are really in touch with Brewster voters relative to what the town wants such as what lands they want to see protected and if they want to change anything about their priorities . They will probably be taking a closer look at coastal parcels and they will be having a map made of coastal parcels, most of which are developed. Elizabeth stated that perhaps the town wants to look at parcels adjacent to landings and pick them up and un-develop them to increase the beach availability. They are looking to have an open discussion with representative from various town departments, Brewster Conservation Trust. ADCC , and all different committees in town that may have an interest in this . The $ 1500 funding request is for Carol Ridley who has agreed to facilitate this meeting. She has done facilitating before. She has done a lot of Open Space and Recreation plans on Cape Cod. Carol would provide a whole write-up of the meeting and will help the meeting run smoother. The Chair explained that to date CPC has committed $ 17 ,900 of administrative funds of which they budgeted $45 ,000 available. If this was approved that would bring the total to $ 19,400 in administrative expenses. MOTION made to approve the Open Space Committee' s $ 1500 administrative funding request. 10 Community Preservation Committee Minutes: September 12, 2018 MOVED by Sharon Marotti, Seconded by 1Faythe Ellis VOTE : 4-0-2 6 . Updates on open projects Discussion not held . 7 . Vote to approve the minutes of the July 25 , 2018 meeting MOTION made to approve the minutes of the July 25, 2018 with the discussed revision made. MOVED by Rollie Bassett, Seconded by Peggy Jablonski VOTE: 64-0 8 . Announcements The town is receiving a Community Partner Award from Habitat for Humanity on 9/ 13 / 18 at their annual meeting . 9 . Items the chair could not reasonably anticipate. None . 10 . Citizens Forum None . 11 . Next Meeting The next CPC meeting is scheduled for September 26, 2018 at 4 :45 PM . MOTION to adjourn. MOVED by Rollie Bassett, Seconded by Bill Klein VOTE : 6-0-0 Respectfully submitted by, 5�19�4 L Sarah L . Piebes , Recording Secretary Items used at the meeting : 11 Community Preservation Committee Minutes : September 12, 2018 • Land Acquisition Schedules ( 3 ) • Crosby Barn Memo-Eric Dray • CPC Project Budget Breakdown • Application for CPC Administrative Expense Funding • Legal Review of Affordable Housing Trust Funding Request 12 Community Preservation Committee Minutes : September 12, 2018