TOWN OF STOW
Community Preservation Committee
Minutes, October 12, 2005, Community Preservation Committee Meeting
Present: Community Preservation Committee members: Bob Wilber (Chairman), Karen Gray, Kathy Sferra, Dave Walrath (Vice-Chairman), and George Dargaty
Associate Member: Jim Sauta & Administrative Assistant: Deb Seith
The meeting was called to order with quorum at 7:40 PM.
Eric Bachtell, Chair of the Stow Housing Partnership, joined the meeting at 9:30PM
BILL AND MINUTES
September 26, 2005 minutes: George moved, Kathy seconded and approval was unanimous to accept the minutes as amended.
NEWS AND VIEWS - None
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION – None
SPECIAL TOWN MEETING ARTICLES
· Dave mentioned that the Finance Committee is planning on meeting next Tuesday or Thursday to vote on recommendations for the Warrant Articles. It would be helpful if someone from CPC could be present. Bob indicated that Thursday would be better since we should have some appraisal figures then.
CUSHING PROPERTY – CHAPTER 61B
· The Town and the Owner are negotiating a new P&S agreement (this was at the Town’s request because the Selectmen made it a requirement of their vote).
· Kathy mentioned that the terms the Town is looking to change are 1) the Town would not need to pay the deposit again and 2) insert a contingency ~ if the Town does not vote in favor of the right of first refusal then there will be no repercussions from the Owner.
· Jim also mentioned that the owner of the Corzine property approached him and asked who he should contact about selling his property to the Town. Jim directed him to Steve Dungan.
· The School Building Committee (SBC) is looking into the Corzine as a possible school site. The Corzine property abuts the Cushing property where the proposed recreation fields are. Bob mentioned that Chris Way asked IF the Corzine property becomes the new school building site then could the CPC’s proposal accommodate housing the new school on part of the Cushing land. The Committee agreed that although this may be possible, it would affect the funding source and would have to be known up front.
Concept Plan
· The planning consultant, Beals and Thomas (B&T), presented 2 concept plans to the Working Group. The Working Group gave constructive feedback and B&T generated a revised plan.
· The revised plan is a concept plan & should be presented as such since no percs have been done yet. However the plan was done in such a way that it has flexibility should issues arise.
· B&T has agreed to attend the Joint Boards Meeting next week (Thursday, October 20th).
· The plan: owever
- Identifies the 36 acres that the Owner would retain.
- Includes 1 soccer field, 1 baseball field, and parking for 62 cars.
- Identifies room for expansion of the recreation fields (if adequate access is available).
- Identifies 5 lots to be used for affordable housing & market rate housing.
- Identifies areas for Open Space & connects the areas (possible loop trail).
Appraisal
· We hope to hire an appraiser tomorrow & have a report by Thursday, October 20th.
· The report will separate each component of the Concept Plan (housing lots, open space, recreation, etc).
Funding
· Anything that we anticipate using as Market Rate Housing can not use CPC money as a funding source.
· The Stow Conservation Trust will contribute towards the Open Space portion.
· We can apply for a self-help grant (up to $500,000)
· Jim mentioned that there is significant interest for additional soccer fields in Stow. He believes the Soccer Association may have some funding for fields (possibly $10,000).
· What we buy with CPA money must remain in Open Space/Recreation, Affordable Housing, and Historical.
· The majority of funds will come from the CPA
· Kathy asked if it is possible to buy the lot on Walcott Street sooner than the rest of the property. This lot could be sold sooner (as it already has access) and the sale could be used to offset some costs (engineering, road construction, etc). The Committee agreed that this was worth looking into. Action Item: Kathy will ask Jon Witten about this.
· It was the general consensus that the Town should build the road because it has the resources and the lots will go for top dollar if the road is already there.
· The idea is that Town will be reimbursed for initial costs when the Market Rate lots are sold.
· Including the State Matching Funds the CPC has:
$932,198 Unreserved Funds ($909,996)
$115,400 Unreserved Open Space ($112,228)
$101,300 Unreserved Affordable Housing ($98,128)
· If we add our anticipated revenues for next year, we would have approximately:
$1.4 million Unreserved Funds
$183,000 Unreserved Open Space
$169,000 Unreserved Affordable Housing
· It appears that the current funds and expected revenue for future years would be adequate funds for this project.
Stow Housing Partnership (SHP)
· Eric Bachtell (Chair SHP) stated that the SHP has reservations about forming an opinion. They would like to see some hard facts and numbers.
· Eric was asked what the SHP’s goals are. He said to act as a guide for other committees and try to advocate for affordable housing and diversified housing in Stow.
· Eric was encouraged that the CPC’s plan includes 4-6 affordable housing units because this is more than what they would get from a development.
Selectmen
· Kathy and Bob are meeting with the Selectmen tomorrow night (October 13th) to discuss the concept plan and very rough numbers.
· It was the general consensus to present the following to the Selectmen tomorrow (Oct 13th) night:
- Revised Concept Plan from B&T.
- Good Open Space component with possible trail ways.
- 2 Affordable Housing lots & 3 Market Rate lots (with the understanding that if we are successful getting a self-help grant then we may change our plans – reducing the number of Market Rate lots and increasing Affordable Housing/Open Space).
- 1 soccer, 1 baseball field, and parking for 62 cars.
- Other benefit: we reduce the amount of development on the property vs. what a developer would do.
- Avoid a ballot question if possible. The Committee would hate to see the project lose at a Town vote because the voters don’t understand the entire plan (i.e. they will see “tax increase” and vote no – without realizing that the money will be recouped after the sale of the market rate lots).
- Dave mentioned that if this is for short term borrowing and we borrow within the 2 ½ levy then we won’t need a vote at the Town election (we would need one at Town Meeting.)
- It was agreed that the Town’s (funding) part should be low-impact and refunded
- The CPA will be the major contributor in terms of funding, but even so, keep the cost as low as it can be (apply for self-help grants, contribution from Stow Conservation Trust, etc). A rough number of 1 million dollars was discussed.
DEED RESTRICTION
· Action Item: (Deb) Post documents online by November 1st (Deb)
· Action Item: (Deb) Ask Ed Newman (Moderator) to announce our Public Meeting at the Town Meeting.
· Action Item: (Deb) Contact the Council on Aging and find out when their next newsletter is coming out. If soon, submit a blurb about the program & public meeting. Also post something on their bulletin board.
· After the public meeting we will submit an article to the paper announcing the launch of the program.
NEXT MEETING Wednesday, October 19, 2005 at 7:30PM
Action Item: (Deb) add October 20th (Joint Boards Meeting) as a CPC meeting
The meeting was adjourned at 10:17 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Deb Seith
CPC Administrative Assistant
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