COMMUNITY PRESERVATION COMMITTEE
MINUTES
March 4, 2014
A regular meeting of the Community Preservation Committee (CPC) was held on Tuesday, March 4, 2014 at 6:00 pm at 120 Washington Street, Salem, MA. Present were Chair Helen Sides, Vice Chair Kevin Cornacchio, Ed Moriarty, Leslie Tuttle, Joanne McCrea, and Bart Hoskins. Also present was Jane Guy of the City of Salem Department of Planning & Community Development.
Approval of Minutes
Mr. Cornacchio made a motion to approve the minutes of February 11, 2014. Ms. McCrea seconded the motion, all were in favor and the motion so carried.
Review of Public Comment and Finalize Community Preservation Plan
- Draft #2 Community Preservation Plan
- Nina Cohen - two comment letters
- Historic Salem, Inc. comment letter
- Leslie Courtemanche comment letter
The Committee reviewed the public comment letters. Ms. Guy reviewed the changes made from the first draft that were in response to some of the comments made.
Ms. Tuttle stated that, with regard to Ms. Courtemanche’s letter requesting that the CPC support affording further protection to Camp Lion and Sprint Pond Woods, this area is in the Open Space Plan and is one of the few big areas of open space that should be on the radar screen. She noted that Park and Recreation is not actively advocating for requesting funds for it at the moment.
Ms. Guy stated, with regard to Ms. Cohen’s comments on challenges to determinations of ineligibility, she was told by the Coalition that it is a local decision and they did not think it was “productive to get into a legal argument with applicants”. Ms. Guy stated that she will look into whether any communities have language in their plans regarding challenges.
Ms. Tuttle made a motion to finalize the plan with the changes discussed. Ms. McCrea seconded the motion, all were in favor and the motion so carried.
Review of Determination of Eligibility Application’s (DOE) Received
Ms. Guy stated that she received a DOE application from the House of the Seven Gables.
Mr. Moriarty made a motion to find the project eligible under historic resources: preservation and rehabilitation/restoration. Ms. McCrea seconded the motion, all were in favor and the motion so carried.
Ms. Guy stated that, as she has been working on the Community Preservation Plan and undertaking each step in the process, she has been reading each of the technical bulletins provided on-line by the Community Preservation Coalition. In particular, she found one regarding what constitutes a majority of CPA votes and she realized that the CPC may not have had a sufficient number of votes to pass the motion regarding the pool liner. The CPC voted, on a motion to determine that the pool liner was not eligible, 4 in favor, 3 opposed and 1 abstention. She contacted Stuart Saginor of the Coalition and was informed that once the CPC has a quorum (in Salem’s case 5 members), it can hold a meeting and that each motion must pass by a majority of the quorum. The night of the vote on the pool liner, 8
were present and therefore the majority of the quorum would have been 5. If the motion had been to approve the pool liner as eligible, and the vote failed to get 5, then it would be deemed non eligible. In this case, the vote was to deny eligibility, but vote failed to get 5. Ms. Guy stated that she contracted the City Solicitor, who recommended that the CPC take the vote again in order to have a clear decision.
Mr. Moriarty stated that he disagreed with the City Solicitor and that he did not feel a need to re-vote. He stated that the application already failed to have sufficient votes to deem it eligible. He agreed that the motion should probably have been to approve rather than not approve, but noted that the CPC does the best it can at every meeting.
Mr. Hoskins stated that he felt the CPC will run into this kind of subject again and again, and felt the need to be cautious.
Ms. Tuttle suggested that in the future the CPC defer any votes to the next meeting if there are questions. She stated that she did not feel the CPC is clear on maintenance. She agreed with the need to be careful.
Ms. McCrea stated that she thought the restoration of the George Washington portrait in City Hall would be a good project.
Ms. Guy stated that she had forwarded CPC members drafts of the seven Letters of Eligibility and the two letters notifying applicants that their DOE applications were deemed non-eligible.
Mr. Moriarty made a motion to approve the notification letters to be sent out March 5, 2014. Ms. McCrea seconded the motion, all were in favor and the motion so carried.
Other Business
Ms. Guy provided copies of the year-to-date budget report.
Next Meeting Date
Ms. Guy stated that with the deadline for funding applications being April 3rd, she recommended that the next two meetings be held on April 8, 2014 and April 14, 2014.
Ms. Tuttle made a motion for the next meetings to be April 8, 2014 and April 14, 2014. Ms. McCrea seconded the motion, all were in favor and the motion so carried.
There being no further business, Mr. Cornacchio made a motion to adjourn. Ms. McCrea seconded the motion. All were in favor, and the motion so carried.
Respectfully submitted,
Jane A. Guy
Administrator
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