Community Preservation Committee Meeting
Thursday, March 6, 2003
The Community Preservation Committee held a meeting in the Mural Room, Basement of the Town Hall beginning at 8:00 a.m. Members present included Chairman Holly Morris, Diane Bartlett, Tony Kelso, Pat Loring, Arthur Vautrain and George Wadsworth. Jody Hall was absent. Joe Grady, Conservation Administrator was also present.
1. Article 23 – Wright Building (Architectural Review)
Ms. Morris reported that the Fiscal Advisory Committee had voted against the request for $50,000. The Committee discussed whether to revise the funding amount on Article 23. Ms. Morris had asked Mr. Norman Tucker who had been involved in the Kingston Library proposal to explain what that study had entailed. Mr. Wadsworth made a motion that was seconded to stay with the original recommendation of $50,000 for the historical structural study and the universal accessibility study and that this amount include documents ready to go out to bid. The vote was taken and the motion passed unanimously.
The Committee discussed in the event that Town Meeting approves leasing the Wright Building to the Ellison Center should Article 23 be indefinitely postponed. Mr. Wadsworth wanted it noted that in the event of any private company coming in to use the building, then that company should reimburse to the CPA Fund the amount of funding that the CPC has spent on the building. The other members of the Committee agreed. Ms. Loring made a motion that was seconded in the event that Article 22 passes then Article 23 should be indefinitely postponed. The motion passed unanimously.
2. CPA Finances – The Committee reviewed with the Town Accountant the revenues and expenditures of the CPA Fund. Ms. Strothers reported that for accounting purposes the Committee needs to not only reserve but appropriate to a specific category, such as open space, historic preservation, or community housing. It was noted that the Committee should make sure that each town meeting motion should indicate that any funding should first come from the allotment for that specified purpose. Mr. Wadsworth made a motion that was seconded to recommend to the Chairman that the motion approving the 10% allocations be amended for open space and community housing to allocate money within the motion to pay for the Delano purchase. The vote was 5 in favor and one opposed (Bartlett).
3. Article 12 – Transfer of Money to Conservation Fund
The Committee reviewed the town meeting motion for the article. Ms. Morris reported that the Department of Revenue had sent a favorable opinion on transferring CPA funds to the Conservation Fund. The Committee recommended two changes to the motion; that the funding should come from the open space reserve and that any land acquisition should be approved by both the Conservation Commission and the Community Preservation Committee. Ms. Loring made a motion that was seconded to approve the allocation of $100,000 to the Conservation Fund and to amend the town meeting article motion to include the need of approval by the CPC and that the money will come from the open space reserve. The motion passed unanimously.
4. Article 13 – Swanson Land Acquisition
Ms. Morris reported that Paul Swanson had signed the purchase and sale and that the Board of Selectmen had approved the article for $71,800 plus closing costs. Mr. Wadsworth made a motion that was seconded to recommend approval of Article 13 as proposed and to ensure the town meeting motion include that funding be taken from the open space reserve to the extent available. The motion passed unanimously.
5. Article 23 - Wright Building (Teen Center Request)
Ms. Morris reported that the Committee had not taken a vote on the Teen Center Group’s funding request. Ms. Loring made a motion that was seconded to not approve the Teen Center proposal at this time. The vote was 5 in favor and 1 abstention (Bartlett).
6. Ms. Bartlett presented a draft letter for review in response to an article in the Herald regarding CPA funds in Duxbury.
7. CPZBIC Presentation
Mr. Wadsworth reviewed the zoning articles being sponsored by the Planning Board and CPZBIC. After the presentation Mr. Vautrain made a motion to approve the recommendations of the CPZBIC Committee. The vote was 3 in favor and 2 abstentions (Wadsworth and Loring, who are CPZBIC members). Ms. Bartlett had left the meeting prior to the vote.
Meeting adjourned at 10:30 a.m.
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