TO: Lincoln CPC
FROM: Susie Collins
RE: Minutes of the Jan. 13, 2004 Lincoln CPC
Attending:
Sarah Cannon Holden, John Robinson, Elizabeth Frumpkin, John Koenig, Mary Troy, Ken Hurd and Susie Collins
Housekeeping & Schedules:
Susie Collins was appointed Secretary for this meeting
John K handed out a flyer for a conference on CPC to be held at the Acton Town Hall on January 24, 2004
Discussion on pending proposals:
Housing Sarah welcomed BJ Scheff and Bryce Wolff from the housing commission. BJ distributed a revised submission sheet that includes the latest project cost figures. BJ pointed out that “Table 1” on page 3 breaks down the costs of construction at the Sunnyside property. “Table 1” also reflects reconstruction costs at 65 Tower Road which turned out to be below estimate because of donated labor and materials from various town entities. In total the table shows that the housing commission is looking for $239,500 from the CPC in FY2005.
Sarah asked about the possibility of a buy-down opportunity at Battle Farm. BJ explained that one unit did become available but it was deemed not ideal for a buy-down situation. BJ believes it’s going to be difficult to fine other opportunities at Battle Farm. The housing commission is seriously looking at accessory apartments as affordable housing opportunities and is open to other suggestions.
Conservation Elizabeth introduced Jim Henderson from the Rural Land Foundation. They, like the housing committee, distributed a revised proposal. They are now requesting 50% of this year’s community preservation act funds to be allocated to a general conservation fund. They explained that this has been done in other communities with CPA funds. They included a letter from Mass. Department of Revenue to the town of Duxbury authorizing such a fund. In Lincoln there are 4 land deals in the offing, all of which are considered, critically necessary to protect Lincoln’s open space. The conservation committee would like a general fund established so they can act immediately when and if these parcels become available.
Library Colin Smith was not at the meeting to talk on this proposal so Sarah filled in. Sarah has spoken with Tim Higgins about the library renovation. Tim indicated that the Capital Planning committee is looking into the library needs and may be able to take care of their needs. Our committee voted to wait on the library proposal until we know if capital planning will be covering their costs.
Paul Marsh Paul was not at our meeting but has submitted a proposal for CPA funds. John K talked to Chris Saccardi at the Community Preservation Coalition and learned that it possible to use CPC funds to hire professionals to help develop a historic preservation restriction for the “Old Wheeler House”.
Historic Survey We had no further discussion on this proposal.
Funding Allocations:
The committee summarized the current funding requests as such;
Survey $15,000
Housing $239,500
Library 0
Hist. Resrict $5,000
Conservation $200,000 (plus unused sum from last year)
Action Items:
Sarah will get back to Paul Marsh about our support and asking for clarification on the amount he’s requesting. Sarah will also call Emily Althausen about the Library. John K will look further into the numbers around creating historic restrictions and into the possibility of creating a “historic fund” similar to the “conservation fund”. Mary is going to look into finding a description or brochure of a “modular House” to show us. Elizabeth is going to do more research on the conservation general fund. Should Lincoln have its own written ruling similar to Duxbury’s. JR will look more closely at CPC finance setup so we can fully understand the distribution of funds into the 3 major categories. He will also investigate the feasibility of raising our tax percentage from 1 1/2% to
3%. We should look for feedback from our questionnaire concerning that question.
Other Business
We should look into developing a feedback form on reporting the success and outcome of our completed CPC funding proposals.
Next Meeting:
Our next meeting will be Feb. 3, 2004. This meeting will be posted 2 weeks in advance and will law require our open meeting as. Sarah will check with Tim to make sure a notice is put into the paper.
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