May 10, 2010
Meeting Minutes | 2010
Community Preservation Committee
G.A.R. Hall, 353 Country Way, Scituate, MA
PRESENT
Members:
Mr. Bulman, Mr. Leavitt, Mr. Limbacher, Mr. McKain, Mr. Scott and Mr. Wood
Others:
Mr. Bucca
I. CALL TO ORDER - 7:05 p.m.
II. AGENDA
MOTION by Mr. Leavitt, SECOND by Mr. Wood and UNANIMOUSLY VOTED 6-0 to accept the agenda as submitted.
III. Old Business
1.
MOTION by Mr. Leavitt, SECOND by Mr. McKain and UNANIMOUSLY VOTED 6-0 to accept the minutes of September 19, 2009, October 5, 2009,November 9, 2009, November 23, 2009, December 14, 2009 and January 11, 2010 as submitted, with the changes previously submitted to Ms. Crowell.
2.
Permanent Signs for CPC Projects – Mr. Bulman would like to have permanent signs on the projects that the CPC has either partially or wholly funded. For instance on the historical projects something similar to the signs that real estate brokers use; something that would hang below and compliment the Historical Societies signs. Mr. Leavitt will handle the historical sites. He will talk with Matt Brown and come up with some language and bring it to the next meeting. Mr. Scott will handle the remaining signs. He will ask Mr. Hassan (who has done the other free standing signs for CPC) to come up with a design and bring samples to the next meeting for approval from the committee. Mr. Bulman suggested that the signs for the conservation land could be placed at the kiosks along the trails, while other signs may be placed on the side of a building, while others might hang on a permanent post. Mr. Leavitt suggested that before any projects are signed off on as complete, a CPC sign be placed at the site of the project.
3.
Project Closeout – Before Town Meeting Mr. Bulman went over several historic projects with Mr. Smith and closed out many of the old ones. Going forward, before Town Meeting, Mr. Bulman would like to get feedback on projects i.e.; projects that are closed; projects that are finished, total cost etc. His feeling is even if it is a one page form that the applicants signs and a board member goes out to the site to confirm, it’s a process the CPC needs to complete on a yearly basis. Mr. Scott had a form he had previously developed; he’ll revise that and bring it to the next meeting for discussion. Open projects will then be assigned to members to follow up on. This will also prove useful when appearing before the Advisory Board as they often ask about the status of previously funded projects and open appropriations.
4.
LWSF and LAND Grants – Mr. Bulman informed the members that the grant due on March 31st was filed and a second grant application is due July 15th. Even though it’s another application the same appraisals can be used. Nellie Aikenhead has been retained to complete the second grant.
5.
Bates House appraisal – Mr. Bulman will contact appraisal companies and have the appraisal done. Mr. Leavitt said that both Ms. Twomey and Mr. Ball wanted to move as quickly as possible on the sale of the Bates House. Mr. Bulman said he would contact Town Counsel regarding that as well as the Conservation Restrictions that still need to be filed. Litchfield, Hennessey, Stockbridge Mill and others still need to be filed. Mr. Bulman reminded the Board that the list of properties they compiled had been given to Town Counsel over a year ago. He was informed by the Town Counsel that there is a paralegal working on this, but Mr. Bulman will follow up. There was further discussion as to the results of the two appraisals done on the Wheelwright and Bjorklund properties. Mr. Bulman reported that the Bjorklund appraisal came in at $120,000, which is why it was presented to Town Meeting at $120,000 instead of the $128,000 that was on the CPC application. The Wheelwright appraisal came in at $40,000 - $50,000 over the application price of $814,200.
6.
Soccer Field Update – Mr. Wait was not present so this will be postponed until the next meeting. At this point the proposed project appears to be dead due to the vernal pool, the conservation issues surrounding that, and the inability to fit the field into the remaining space.
7.
The CPC website is up and running. Mr. Bulman will write a small article about the Town Meeting results. He reminded all the members that they all need to be vigilant in keeping the site current and accurate.
8.
Membership for 2011 applications need to be received by the Board of Selectmen by May 18th. In addition the State Ethics and Sexual Harassment Policies need to be read submitted to the Town Clerk.
IV. New Business
Mr. Vin Bucca, on behalf of Mr. Jack Livingstone, wanted to ask the CPC if they would be interested in opening up a dialog to discuss the sale of 40 acres in the West End, behind that Town Forest. The parcel abuts the Whitcomb Pines development as well as Clapp Rd. It is believed by Mr. Bucca that approximately 10 acres of the parcel are wetlands. Mr. Bulman stated that the universal answer is that the CPC is always interested in acquiring land. Mr. Bulman did inform Mr. Bucca that the typical acquisition price has been $17,000 an acre or below. Mr. Bucca questioned that cap and was told that the board has set that price by its past acquisitions but that it was not a limit that CPC was restricted to and that the appraisals have been fairly consistent with that value. Mr. Bucca provided the attached maps to the Members and discussion continued about the access to the property, possible plans for the property, etc. Members requested a map actually delineating wetlands and potential development showing access and the approximate 30 residential units Mr. Bucca represented that the site could be potentially developed to achieve. What makes this parcel interesting is that it does abut current conservation land and completes a “piece of the puzzle”. Mr. Livingstone would like the CPC to consider $40,000 an acre. Mr. Bulman said, yes the CPC would be interested, but CPC typically wouldn’t pay that price per acre just to stop development, especially if there was no direct impact to the water supply. Mr. Bucca asked if the Board would write a letter stating their opinion of the project and was told no. It was suggested that Mr. Livingstone submit an application to the new committee members after July 1 and it would be reviewed then. Mr. Bucca was informed that if he went to the CPC website he could view that applications submitted by Mr. Bjorklund and Mr. Wheelwright.
Mr. Bulman informed the Members that he has been approached by the Town Administrator about repairing the sculpture in front of Town Hall. Mr. Bulman’s response was if the Historical Commission said the sculpture had historical significance then the CPC could look at the project. Otherwise it wouldn’t fall within the CPC categories.
ADJOURNMENT
MOTION by Mr. Leavitt, SECOND by Mr. McKain, and UNANIMOUSLY VOTED 5-0 (Mr. Limbacher left at 7:37) to adjourn the meeting.
Respectfully submitted by Karen S. Crowell