Town of Sharon

Community Preservation Committee

Meeting Minutes of 3/24/08

Approved on 4/24/08

 

Committee Attendees

Corey Snow - Chair

Allen Garf

George Bailey - Treasurer

Arnold Kublin -  ABSENT

Arnold Cohen  - Clerk

Susan Rich

Peg Arguimbau

 

 

Guests

Jennifer Goldson

 

 

Chair’s Report

The meeting was called to order at 7:00 PM by Chair, Corey Snow who introduced a presentation by Stuart Saginor from the Community Preservation Coalition.

 

CP Coalition Presentation

Mr. Saginor stated that the Community Preservation Coalition (CPC) helps communities to understand and adopt CPA. They currently work with 127 communities that have adopted CCPA. They are a non-profit organization who provides technical assistance and CPA news, maintain a website of information, email newsletters, provide CPA advocacy and legislation, host regional CPA conferences and training and provide CPA public relations and promotion. They receive calls from various town officials and to applicants to understand the law for presentations for CPC. 2198, CPA projects have been completed by the various towns to date and they all can be seen on the website. They have currently received a communication grant to update the website. The number one priority for CPC is work done on Beacon Hill for CPA. They testify on bills that pertain to CPA and employ a lobbyist.

 

The CPC is a membership organization that began in 2007. For the first six years they had a grant from a private foundation. Now they need fundraising, so they now charge dues which are on a sliding scale. It is the same percentage for all CPC’s in the state. Sharon falls in the $1,500 category. Mr. Saginor stated they run a lean operation and seven non-profit organizations make up the membership organization. In 2007, 80% of eligible communities did join. For those communities that do not join, they cannot access the project database that contains samples from other communities. It is a password protected system. No technical assistance can be provided for non members. In addition, updates or progress on legislation will not be provided either.

 

The purpose of the Coalition is to look at bills filed on Beacon Hill and determine if it benefits CPA. They promote their own bills which are positive to CPA. They are trying to get cities into CPA to get more money into the CP Trust Fund. CPA trends seen include growth in recreation and housing, with mixed use projects being more popular. Bonding is a powerful CPA tool. 43 municipalities have bonded 71 different projects for a total of $112 million dollars. Bonds have been issued in all four categories with a majority in open space and historical.

 

Funding to non-municipal groups is allowable under CPA. It is very popular but can be controversial. It must be demonstrated that there is a clear public benefit which includes deed restriction or public access or other public benefit.  The CPA challenges are that trust fund matching dollars are declining and there is confusion over the recreation category. The financial surplus is gone after this year. Given the decline in the real estate market, the funding could go down to 35 – 37%. In 2003, the CPA Trust Fund was 53.8 million dollars; in FY 2007 it was 31.9 million dollars.

 

Mr. Saginor summarized his presentation by stating the collation membership for Sharon is $1,500. They have done a lot of work in the past and they are in need of funding and looking for support from all towns. Mr. Bailey stated he was uncomfortable with the use of taxpayer money for lobbyists. Mr. Saginor explained that other organizations have full time lobbyists and a higher percentage of the dues support them. He states that with only 127 communities to charge, they cannot provide the level of service without charging the fee. Mr. Saginor stated he will send a link of his steering committee information for financial and budget information.

 

Chair’s/Treasurer’s  Report

Chair Snow discussed the 2009 fiscal year administration budget. He stated that he met with the Finance Committee and provided them with a project update. He stated we spent fifteen to sixteen thousand dollars to date. This year came in higher than what next year will be due to consulting expenses. He asked for a 5% increase. Mr. Bailey moved to accept the budget of $28,000 for fiscal year 2009 for administrative purposes. Mr. Cohen seconded the motion and the committee voted 5-0-0. 

 

Mr. Bailey presented a CP Fund 16 year model for the Sharon Community Preservation Fund. He stated that by minimizing the terms of the debt, we reduced debt. He stated we have done all we can to minimize the debt.

 

Ms. Rich discussed a property at 111 Pond Street that is slated to be torn down and thought if there was 100K from CPA, perhaps it could be turned into affordable housing. Mr. Cohen commented that this sounds like a worthy issue. Ms. Rich stated that at a meeting last night it was discussed whether demolition was applicable to the property but the Historical Commission said the house had historical significance so it should come under a demolition delay. Jane Desberg contacted the Habitat for Humanity regarding this property.

 

Chair Snow summarized the CPA legislation presentation by stating the CPA is looking for a way to raise the registry of deeds to guarantee 75% for all communities. They need to redefine recreation verbs from rehabilitation to restore for recreational purposes in order to open up the definition and they are looking to change funding to allow towns to not match using other than town revenue – like meal, hotel taxes in order to encourage cities to join.

 

Other Business

Mr. Bailey said he is looking for a bylaw change where Capital Outlay tries to minimize borrowing and prioritize the needs of the town. CPC role is to provide funding for capital items. He suggested a formal procedure is needed on how to submit information available for future funds. He wants to coordinate with Capital Outlay to have projects go to CPC for consideration. They can provide an indication of any capital things to look at in the future. Mr. Bailey would like a formal acceptance written into the bylaw so that information could be made available to all commissions. Ms. Arguimbau stated she needs clarification and Mr. Bailey said he will draft something up. Chair Snow said that like preservation, part would be historical from CPC and part might need to be capital. Ms. Arguimbau was concerned with how to tip the scales for smaller organizations. She does not want a bylaw change to indicate priority for capital related projects.

 

Meeting Minutes

The meeting minutes for 2/28//08 were reviewed. Mr. Bailey moved to approve the minutes of 2/28/08. Mr. Garf seconded the motion and the Committee voted 6-0-0 in favor.

 

 

 

Community Preservation Plan

Chair Snow reported that he had received two comments so far to the plan that as sent to all committees and posted on the web.

 

Next Meeting Date

April 24th, 2008.

 

Meeting Adjournment

Mr. Cohen moved to adjourn the meeting at 9:30 PM and Mr. Snow seconded the motion. The Committee voted 6-0-0 in favor.