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Agenda and Minutes 2012-04-18 City of Northampton Community Preservation Committee 210 Main Street, City Hall Northampton, MA 01060 Community Preservation Committee DATE: Wednesday, April 18, 2012 TIME: 7:00pm PLACE: City Council Chambers, 212 Main Street (BEHIND City Hall) Contact: Katharine Baker, Chair, Community Preservation Committee bakerkg@comcast.net Sarah LaValley, Community Preservation Planner slavalley@northamptonma.gov (413) 587-1263 Agenda  7:00 - General Public Comment  7:05 - Minutes - April 4, 2012  7:05 – Chair’s Report  7:10 – 2012-2014 CPC Plan Update Schedule CPC Leadership  7:15 - Complete Funding Recommendations for Round 1, 2012  Other Business Not Foreseen When Agenda Was Published  Adjourn For additional information please refer to the Community Preservation Committee website: http://www.northamptonma.gov/cpc/ Next Meeting: May 6, 2012 Community Preservation Committee Minutes April 18, 2012 Time: 7:00 pm Place: City Council Chambers, 212 Main Street Members Present: Katharine Baker, Bill Breitbart, Joe DeFazio, Brian Adams, Marlene Morin, Jim Durfer Staff Present: Sarah LaValley Katharine called the meeting to order at 7:06 PM. The Committee discussed the possibility of postponing funding decisions to a later meeting so that more CPC members could participate, and decided to proceed with the recommendations scheduled. If the Committee reaches an impasse, discussion can be continued to the next meeting. Public Comment There was no public comment. Minutes – April 4, 2012 Brian moved to approve the minutes with minor amendments, seconded by Jim. The motion carried unanimously. Chair’s Report Katharine introduced Debin Bruce, the potential new Planning Board CPC representative, and provided an update on the CPC legislation which is moving closer to a vote. 2012-2014 CPC Plan Update Schedule Katharine suggested that CPC members read the Plan and begin thinking about possible changes. Sarah will provide a Word version of the Plan. Sarah stated that a hearing on the Plan is required. The Committee agreed this should take the form of a general comment meeting on the CPA and priorities for funding, which can then be incorporated into the Plan as appropriate. Complete Funding Recommendations for Round 1, 2012 The Committee agreed to discuss the projects in order of priorities resulting from discussion at the previous meeting, and to place projects in the ‘shopping cart’ with votes until funds available for the round are expended. Jim moved to place the Beaver Brook Bridge project in the shopping cart at the full $104,000 requested. Seconded by Marlene, the motion carried unanimously with no discussion. Jim moved to put the Broad Brook Gap project in the shopping cart at the full $290,000 requested. Seconded by Brian. The Committee discussed whether partial funding would be possible, and agreed that it would not be due to the nature of the project. Bill asked if access from Coles Meadow Road could be guaranteed. Sarah recalled that Wayne Feiden indicated that legal access from Coles Meadow Road could be guaranteed if the CPA request were fully funded, even if a limited development project is required to fill funding gaps. Marlene suggested that no motorized vehicles be allowed, and that the woods road remain available for other uses. Sarah stated that the Conservation Commission does not currently allow motor vehicles on conservation areas, with limited specific exceptions, but that could be added as a condition if the CPC felt strongly. The road unfortunately crosses onto another parcel so access there cannot be guaranteed through this grant. Northampton Community Preservation Committee Minutes 1 April 4, 2012 Brian suggested that very specific conditions would be micromanaging, and would limit future options for BBC and the Conservation Commission. Joe suggested that ‘less is more’ with regard to conditions, and in most cases it would be appropriate to leave decisions to grantees. With this grant he would not want to place conditions on use or access of the property. Joe added that land acquisitions are projects to protect land in perpetuity, so bonding seems appropriate. Marlene stated her opinion that access to the parcel is important. The motion carried unanimously. Jim moved to place the Conservation Fund in the shopping cart at $50,000, seconded by Joe. The Committee reviewed the constraints placed on the previous award – soft costs allowable, acquisition under $20,000, and over $20,000 with CPC approval. Bill moved o place the Downtown Parks project in the shopping cart at $50,000, seconded by Brian. The Committee reviewed the proposed budget, $50,000 for design, and $70,000 for construction. Brian asked about the logic for funding just a small piece of a larger project, and suggested that $50,000 seems like a high cost for a charette. The Committee discussed the charrette, possible work products and scenarios. Joe stated that applicants are usually required to demonstrate public support, which wasn’t really present in this application. However, he supports the idea and thinks it makes a lot of sense. Katharine stated that the Planning Board would really like to see a project like this implemented. Jim suggested that since the park concept came out of a charette, a second may be duplicating some efforts, and is also not sure that redesigning city streets is an appropriate use of CPA funds. Bill suggested that it might be helpful to advise the applicant to provide a specific next step with associated cost, perhaps discrete design. Katharine noted that funding was not awarded last time since there was not enough public input, but now that public input is a larger part of the application, suggesting skipping to design might not be best. The motion carried unanimously. Joe moved to place the Hampshire County Courthouse in the shopping cart at the full $214,912.13 requested, seconded by Marlene. Sarah noted that there will not be enough CPA funds available to fund the courthouse at this amount. Bill suggested that the Council of Governments (COG) appears to be the closest remaining entity to the ‘Citizens of Hampshire County,’ but he has concerns about the organizations ability to carry through such a large project. He would support partial funding if a level where it would make sense were identified. Joe suggested that the courthouse is one of Northampton’s premier historic buildings and the project needs to be funded, regardless of who the managing entity will be. Bill suggested that another entity could potentially have more development options. Brian stated that it is a very large project, and funding from sources other than CPA does not seem immediately likely. Marlene added that local funds will later leverage grants and funds from other sources. Joe stated that other communities will not be likely to fund the project if Northampton turns it down. The Committee discussed partial funding and possible amounts that would allow meaningful work to be done. The motion carried, 4-2. Brian moved not to place the CT River Greenway in the shopping cart, seconded by Joe. The motion carried unanimously. The Committee considered available funding, noting that the shopping cart exceeds the amount available this round. Northampton Community Preservation Committee Minutes 2 April 4, 2012 Marlene moved to recommend bonding of the Broad Brook Gap project, seconded by Joe. Brian stated that he does not see a compelling reason not just to cut or postpone other projects instead of bonding. Sarah provided an estimate for bonding the $290,000 Broad Brook Gap project for 15 years. There was general consensus that a scenario that would not require bonding would be preferable. Brian moved to recommend that the CPC recommend that $104,000 in funding be awarded to the Beaver Brook bridge project, seconded by Joe. The motion carried unanimously. Brian moved to recommend that the CPC recommend that $290,000 in funding be awarded to the Broad Brook Gap, seconded by Joe. The motion carried unanimously. Brian moved to recommend that the CPC recommend that $50,000 in funding be awarded to the Conservation Fund, seconded by Joe. The motion carried unanimously. Brian moved to recommend that the CPC recommend that $100,000 in funding be awarded to the Hampshire County Courthouse, seconded by Joe. The motion carried unanimously. Joe moved to recommend that $50,000 in funding be awarded to the City Hall Park, seconded by Katharine. The motion failed, 2-4. The Committee agreed that approval of Council resolutions should be postponed until the May 2 meeting. The Committee would also like to discuss a general philosophy and criteria for considering bonding of CPA projects. Other Business Not Foreseen When Agenda Was Published None Adjourn On a motion and second, with unanimous vote, the meeting was adjourned at 9:05 PM Northampton Community Preservation Committee Minutes 3 April 4, 2012