Town of Sharon

Community Preservation Committee

Minutes of 7/22/09

Amended and Approved on 8/19/09

 

Committee Attendees

Corey Snow - Chair  

Jane Desberg 

Meredith de Carbonnel

Susan Rich  

Allen Garf

 

 

Guests

Bob Levin

Barbara Nadler

 

Chair’s Report

Chair Snow began the Chair’s Report at 7:10 PM. He stated that as per his conversation with the assessor, approximately $372,025 will be provided to CPC and that the CPC will be below the 10% minimum for 2009 for housing. Some monies will need to be set aside for housing in the future. He stated that the library project which will be presented by Barbara Nadler has already gone through capital outlay and Town Meeting. It was determined that it might be better suited  to go through the CPC process as it qualifies as an historic building within an historic district therefore falling under historic preservation.

 

Library Project - #19

Ms. Nadler provided the Committee with a project submission package for improvements to the library. The project entails replacing the outside doors for better visibility, add additional lighting outside of the building, repair the carved overhang on the front of the building, repair the foyer stairs, and paint as needed. If additional funding were available she would like to see the foyer expanded as well. The quote for the work was for $20,000 with an additional $12,650 for the vestibule work.

 

Ms. Desberg reminded Ms. Nadler that three written quotes are needed.

 

Mr. Garf suggested that a letter be obtained from the Historical Commission stating their concerns and comments for the outside of the building.

 

Bob Levin stated that under the presumption the project is passed at Town Meeting, under CP, it would be cancelled as a capital project.

 

Ms. DeCarbonnel questioned if it is necessary to wait to approve funding until the Historical Commission confirmed what their requests for improvement are. Mr. Snow stated that the CPC is independent of the Historic Commission but we can put a contingency on approval because it is in a historic district. Mr. Levin replied that the Historic Commission told them the elements that could be used.

 

Mr. Snow made a motion to accept the project for the library, as #19, and as a project for deliberation and consideration by the CPC. Ms. Rich seconded the motion. The Committee voted 5-0-0 in favor.

 

Mr. Snow reminded the Committee that procedurally, the Committee needs to vote two times on each project, at two different meetings.

 

Mr. Garf moved to approve project #19 for the full amount of $32,650 for renovations at the library. Ms. DeCarbonnel seconded the motion. The Committee voted 5-0-0.

 

Ms. Nadler discussed an additional project to digitize the volumes of the Sharon Advocate from 1873 that are on microfilm in order to make them more searchable. Mr. Snow said that in the CPC inventory, there is a project originally proposed by the Town Clerk for historical capturing as well. A committee or person to champion this task is needed. The question he said is whether digitized documents would fall under CPA funds. Digitizing helps to make materials searchable by creating an index. Ms Rich suggested that maybe we want to make Sharon a “go to Town”, a place where people want to visit. Mr. Snow said that with reference to the Town Clerk’s project, it would have needed to be a mix of CPA funds and grants as well as town funds. Part had to do with the age of the document and some documents did not meet the historical requirements and some had to do more with accessibility rather than preservation.

 

Historic Inventory Project #20

Ms. Rich presented the Historic Inventory Project overview to the Committee. She began by stating that the CPC gave $25,000 to do a historical resources survey. It was preformed two years ago and 130 sites in town were surveyed. The historic commission wants to continue the survey. The Massachusetts Historic Commission funding was cut back. $25,000 is estimated to be the cost to continue the survey of buildings around the Wilber and Maple Street. She stated that the northwest side of Main Street, Pleasant Street, South Pleasant Street, and Ames Court etc. were surveyed as well as the train station. If we continue the survey we can develop historic districts which will help give the town a say in what people do outside of their homes.  Mr. Snow stated that for the last survey, there was a $15,000 grant from the state and CPA funds supplemented the grant with $10,000 from the last half of 2007. Ms. Rich said that there are four categories of importance; geographically segregated studies, historic criteria which is anything built before 1950, architectural significance and expanding the districts.

 

Mr. Snow moved to accept the project for historical inventory for consideration with an initial amendment to ensure the request is for fiscal 2010. Ms. DeCarbonnel seconded the motion. The Committee voted 5-0-0 in favor.

 

Housing Partnership Project

Ms. Desberg reported that the Housing Partnership will be putting forth two projects. The first would be for possible development of land off of Johnson Drive near Wal-Mart. The Housing Partnership wants to do a study to see if it is suitable for housing. They need the funds to hire a consultant to see if the property is physically and financially suitable for development. The second project would be a home easement program to allow older residents to obtain monies for capital improvements which would allow them to remain in their homes. In lieu of paying the funds back, the house would be deed restricted.

 

Mr. Snow asked about the status of the affordable home on Glenview and Ms. Desberg reported that it is being worked on and should be available for lottery in the fall. The monies from the homes sale will go to the the Housing Trust to turn into other home ownership opportunities.

 

 

 

Meeting Minutes

Ms. Desberg moved to accept the minutes of 3/26/09 as written. Mr. Snow seconded the motion and the Committee members voted 3-0-2 in favor. (Mr. Garf and Ms. DeCarbonnel abstained as they were not present).

 

Community Preservation Coalition Membership

The Committee participated in a brief conversation regarding whether they wanted to continue participation in the CP coalition. Each expressed their opinion as to whether they supported membership. Ms. Desberg moved to renew the membership in the Community Preservation Coalition and pay the dues in the amount of $1,500. Ms. Rich seconded the motion. The Committee voted 3-2-0 in favor of membership participation. (Mr. Garf and Mr. Snow voted against membership).

 

Officer Elections

Mr. Snow moved that Ms. Rich be appointed Clerk of the CPC for fiscal 2010. Mr. Garf seconded the motion. The Committee voted 4-0-1 in favor. (Ms. Rich abstained)

 

Ms. Desberg moved that Mr. Snow continue as Chair of the CPC for fiscal 2010. Ms. Rich seconded the motion. The Committee voted 4-0-1 in favor. (Mr. Snow abstained)

 

Mr. Snow moved that Ms. Desberg be appointed Treasurer of the CPC for fiscal 2010. Ms. Rich seconded the motion. The Committee voted 4-0-1 in favor. (Ms. Desberg abstained)

 

Next Meeting Dates

8/19, 8/25 and 9/24

 

Meeting Adjournment

Mr. Garf moved to adjourn the meeting at 9:15 pm and Mr. Snow seconded the motion. The Committee voted 5-0-0 in favor.