CPC minutes – July 7th, 2009
Members present: Dennis Swierad, Steve Slozak, Leslie Duthie, Robert Presho, Karen King, Michael Benfield, Bill Skillman
Guests: Deb Mahar
Dennis motioned to accept May minutes, Steve 2nd, AIF
Work has begun at The First Church (scraping).
Leslie has been “mulling” the Bellman app., talked with Catherine Roth about this application extensively. The Monson Bellman has applied for funds through other venues. Catherine mentioned that they should go in front of the Historic Commission to see if they deemed the building a historical site to Monson.
Leslie talked with George Roberts on July 4th about the project. She mentioned him going to the Historic Commission first with their request for a letter of support from them. The Monson Bellman is having an open house on July 12th, they sent the Committee an invitation. They have some very interesting items to see, Leslie suggested anyone that may have some free time to go check it out. The building itself isn’t a historical site but the items within it are…..
This application is an “active” application; the committee will take the month to review the application.
Michael mentioned that they don’t have enough money to register/maintain the vehicles; he’s not sure what they’re doing to do about that.
Leslie mentioned that they only have one estimate for the work and that is outdated (June 2008); Dennis mentioned that they probably want to get a couple more estimates. Leslie will contact Carol and ask her to get two new estimates for the roof & siding for our August meeting. Bill asked Dennis if the Historic Commission agrees with the items falling into our Historical venue, response was yes they do. Maybe Carol from the Monson Bellman can come to the August meeting…..
The Parks & Rec. application. Leslie contacted Catherine Roth regarding the application. Catherine mentioned that Tim Pascale should have town council look at the application. Ken Albano stated that in his opinion this would qualify for CPA funds, his letter is in the mail stating as such. This is for the Flynt Park additional baseball diamond; according to Ken (and Catherine) it is considered a new project because the field was once woods that will become a “new” field. Leslie mentioned all the aspects of the project to Ken and he still thought that this project would qualify. He had looked at a similar project in Southwick.
Steve will let Tim know we need current estimates for their application at the next meeting, and to add dollar amounts for projected volunteer labor.
Dennis is going to be putting in an application for the assessment and windows for Memorial Hall; he’s still working on getting estimates. He has talked with Gretchen and she said all he needs is a quote not multiple bids, then it goes out for bids… per Gretchen. Dennis thinks he’ll have the entire package ready for the August meeting.
Leslie is working on an application for open space, 165 acres “Leo Land” that used to be the quarry. She’s still in negation with Leo, conservation paid for the appraisal (from Bill King), this will not come from CPC funds. The LAND grant can pay up to 70% of the cost of the land, Monson is qualified for 68%. The appraisal was $380,000 for three lots, 165 acres of land (long & narrow, all ledge). Leo thinks the appraisal is low and he should be getting more money….. Leo asked Leslie to have a 2nd appraisal, Leslie denied his request because it’s not required if the land is valued at less than $750,000. Leo volunteered to pay for a second appraisal so, Leslie brought the appraisal to three other appraisers to “review” the original appraisal (Leo is picking up the
bill). The appraiser (John Santenello) thought the appraisal was off that there should be another one done because he thinks it should be around $280,000…. $117,000 funded through the town. Leslie has been working with Opacum foundation that will possibly cover some of the cost. Leo has a week to decide….the project is still in progress. It is a perfect spot for recreation, hiking, etc.
Leslie is hoping to come to the CPC for around $60,000, she hopes to have the paperwork in for next months meeting. Karen stressed that Leslie needs to get everything in writing from Leo before applying for anything.
Leslie wanted to know if we’ve heard from Judy about the revolving fund for the Senior Center. We haven’t seen anything from her; Robert (a member of the board at the Senior Center) will mention this to Judy and Donna about getting this application in for the August meeting. Karen wanted to know if we had some type of “sample” that we could fill out for them. Dennis mentioned searching town sites; Leslie mentioned talking to Katherine about it. Bill wondered if they don’t have time to do the application will they have time to allocate funds? Michael was not aware of this (the proposed application for a revolving fund); Robert, Karen, Dennis, and Leslie brought him up to date on the details of the suggested application for a revolving housing fund being used for senior support; CPC funds
specific to projects that would allow seniors to stay in their homes. Dennis mentioned that we could add handicapped people as well as the elderly. Karen told Robert that the committee suggested to Judy last year to put in an application and it hasn’t been done; Karen doesn’t want another year to go by without getting the application in. It was mentioned that Robert could probably write it up….. Dennis and Robert will mention it to Donna. Committee members mentioned that we may need to do the paperwork and have her sign it. Karen suggested that the Senior Center should ask for at least $20,000.
Karen mentioned the library arch…., has anyone done anything about this project/potential application? Karen mentioned to the librarian to talk to the gentleman that was working on the Soldier’s monument to check it out, but it was never addressed. Robert will talk to Hope to see if she would/could do anything about it…. Karen has talked to her on multiple occasions but the committee has yet to see an application from the library. The committee had told Hope that they didn’t want to grant a small amount of money for a building that needed a significant amount of work; the previous application was for $5,000. Hope had previously come to a meeting and said she was going to call the company that worked on the cemetery arch, the committee has yet to hear anything.
The committee is trying to find projects to use available funds, the library would be a good candidate.
Leslie told Steve to tell Tim (Flynt Park Project) to get a copy of Ken’s note and attach to his application. Leslie will contact Carol (The Monson Bellman) for new bids. Robert will talk to Hope about the library; Dennis mentioned that because they are private that they would have to sign a deed restriction for the old portion of the building (for $20,000 or more). Dennis and Bob will check on the Council on Aging revolving account application. Leslie will forward Dennis & Bob Katherine Roth’s e-mail to help find similar applications.
Karen mentioned that she hasn’t seen the CPC town meeting on M-Pact. Leslie will talk to Alan about it.
Faith will write up a press release that we are still looking for new projects, deadline Aug 31st deadline, apps available on town website, added details.
Karen motioned to adjourn, Dennis 2nd, AIF.
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