Community Preservation Committee
Minutes of Meeting September 24, 2008
Wellfleet Town Hall Hearing Room
Present: Peter Hall, Chairman; Barbara Gray, John Ketchum, Elaine McIlroy, Jan Plaue, Judy Taylor Dorothy Dolan, Marcia Seeler
Chairman Peter Hall called the meeting to order at 9:00 a.m.
Agenda Addition
John Portnoy, Hillary Greenberg, Mark Adams, and Gary Joseph were present to discuss funding for the Herring River Restoration.
Minutes of August 27, 2008
Marcia moved to approve the minutes of August 27, 2008. Dolan seconded, and the motion carried 8-0.
Herring River Restoration Funding
John Portnoy gave background on the Herring River Restoration Project. The Town contribution approved at Town Meeting does not cover the entire project. . It was the last Land Bank grant so it has been assumed by CPC. The group had come to CPC for suggestions on how to retain the money since there is a sunset clause for December 2010. Purchase of part of the Chequessett Country Club was the original purpose of the funding. Hall wanted to be assured that the CPA covered waterways as part of the Open Space category. Plaue thought the money should be transferred within the 2010 deadline. Portnoy asked about an extension of the matching program before the time runs out.
Jake Ketchum said he was a member of Chequessett Country Club and a Board member. He, the Committee and Portnoy discussed the appraisal amount for the Country Club land of 2.4 million dollars. The HRRC has not found a way to raise that amount of money. That is why they were here. Ketchum discussed the possibility of a new proposal presented to the Club and CPC. HRRC hoped the 1.2 million could be used on other environmental aspects of the project since they cannot guarantee the CYC purchase. Hall said there is the possibility of uses of the money. Greenberg asked if money could be spent on studies and reports as well as the Open Space restoration. The Committee discussed how a purchase of land with CPA funds qualifies the project. There was a question if a “friendly taking”
was considered a purchase. In that case CPA funds would have been used in the taking. Seeler said she would like to research the situation in more depth. Greenberg also asked if it could be a price match with the Army Corps of Engineers. Mark Adams said there would be an EIS created for the project which would result in matching funding with Army Corps.
CPC invited HRRC to come back. The Town should end up with the land and there could be a taking, according to CPC. If the Restoration Project has more concrete plans by Town Meeting of 2010, that would be a good time to come before Town Meeting. Gary Joseph said the HRRC needed assurances that money would be available. Hall reminded the HRRC representatives of what the CPC is capable of doing. Seeler said there is a need to check “acquired” lands provisions for CPA. She will check on the legal aspects with the CPA Coalition Chairman. Dolan asked about the discrepancy in the assessment of CYCC.
Policies & Procedures
The Board sought to have contracts in place and historic preservation restrictions included in the Policies & Procedures. Gray suggested maintaining flexibility in the Policies & Procedures. She suggested calling them “General Procedures.” The Committee was looking for some “boiler plate” material. Taylor said the Town Administrator should be involved with CPC in the contracts being drawn up by Town Counsel. The Committee discussed the vote needed for approval of an application, contracts and bonding.
Needs List
The needs list has gone out to the various committees. The timing of the public hearing was discussed. Possibly this could be done at a BOS meeting, but Hall maintained that it should be a separate meeting. Hall will check with the BOS Chair about doing the hearing within in BOS meeting.
Project Status Reports
The coordinator will post the status of all the CPC projects on the Town website.
Next Meeting
The next meeting will be held Oct. 22, 2008.
Adjournment
Gray moved to adjourn, and the meeting ended by consensus at 10:45 a.m.
Respectfully submitted,
______________________ ________________________
Mary Rogers, Committee Secretary Peter Hall, Chairman
________________ Date
CPC approved these minutes at the meeting held 10/22/08.
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