JOSEPH A. CURTATONE

MAYOR

CITY OF SOMERVILLE, MASSACHUSETTS COMMUNITY PRESERVATION COMMITTEE

MINUTES OCTOBER 28, 2015

The Community Preservation Committee (CPC) held a regular meeting at 7:00pm in the third floor conference room at City Hall, 93 Highland Ave, Somerville, MA 02143. An audio recording of the meeting is available upon request. Members Present Chair Michael Capuano, Vice Chair Dick Bauer, Michael Fager, Arn

Franzen, Ezra Glenn, and Uma Murugan

Members Absent Elizabeth Duclos-Orsello and Courtney Koslow

Staff Present Emily Monea

Others Present

Lauren (a Tufts student)

The chair called the meeting to order at 7:05. 1. Public comment period Lauren shared she was attending the meeting to listen as part of a Tufts University class requirement. The Community Preservation Act was the first legislative action that happened when she first moved to Somerville, so she was interested in seeing the Committee at work.

2. Budget review Upon a motion from Mr. Fager, seconded by Mr. Glenn, the Committee voted 5-0 to recommend that the Board of Aldermen appropriate excess FY2016 Community Preservation Act Fund revenue to the Community Preservation Act Fund Budgeted Reserve. Ms. Monea shared that the full amount is not known at this time, but the vote is needed before the tax recap, so the Committee is required to make the vote at this time.

3. FY16 project updates Ms. Monea said that the Committee will need to reallocate funding across the reserves in a future meeting to ensure that the amounts equal the percentages for each category laid out in the Community Preservation Plan.

MEMBERS Michael A. Capuano, Chair

Dick Bauer, Vice Chair Elizabeth Duclos-Orsello

Michael Fager Arn Franzen

Ezra Glenn Courtney Koslow

Uma Murugan

STAFF Emily Monea

Concord Avenue Community Space withdrew their application because they were unable to acquire property owner consent for the project.

Parklet Grant Pilot Program was deemed ineligible for CPA funding by the Community Preservation Coalition because the parklets would be temporary and would not count as a capital improvement because the furniture would be movable.

HPC significance determinations The Historic Preservation Commission deemed the following project related items historically significant:

• Somerville Central Library historic documents, project now fully eligible • Somerville Community Path railroad artifacts, project still potentially eligible because

updated written consent from the City is still required

4. FY16 funding timeline Ms. Monea shared that full applications are due December 3, which is also the date for the next Community Preservation Committee meeting. The next regular meeting is on January 27, which is likely to be a community meeting. To cover all of the applications, a second community meeting in January is needed. An additional CPC meeting is also needed in February to provide sufficient time to review all of the applications. The CPC is scheduled to vote on the applications on March 23 to submit their recommendations to the Board of Aldermen. Ms. Monea will send a Doodle poll to determine the dates for the meeting.

Mr. Capuano moved that the CPC hold a brief recess to wait for Mr. Bauer to arrive at the meeting. The motion was seconded by Ms. Murugan and the Committee voted 5-0 to start their recess at 7:15pm. The Committee reconvened at 7:25 when Mr. Bauer arrived.

Mr. Bauer was asked if he had any comments on the previous agenda items. He said that now that the HPC has determined the railroad artifacts to be historically significant, the Committee may want to change its initial thinking that the project should only be funded through the open space/recreational land reserve. Ms. Monea suggested it be considered a blended project.

5. 2016 Committee logistics Expiring terms Mr. Capuano noted his term and Ms. Duclos-Orsello’s expires at the end of 2015. Mr. Capuano’s appointment on the Planning Board would need to be reconfirmed for him to continue on the Committee. Ms. Monea shared the Board of Aldermen confirmed the appointment for the Somerville Housing Authority seat. Now that they have a full board the SHA will nominate their representative to the CPC.

Chair & vice chair elections Mr. Capuano noted how much he enjoyed serving as chair for the CPC and working closely with all of his colleagues in the CPC and the City. He noted how valuable Mr. Bauer has been as the vice-chair and

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nominated him as the incoming chair for the CPC. Mr. Capuano then withdrew his nomination with plans to re-nominate Mr. Bauer during the December meeting, when more CPC members were expected to be in attendance. Mr. Bauer thanked Mr. Capuano for his nomination.

6. Next meeting: Thursday, December 3 at 7:00pm Visiting Nurses Association Meeting Adjournment Upon motion from Mr. Capuano, seconded by Mr. Fager, the Committee voted 6-0 to adjourn at approximately 7:45. Handouts

• Agenda • FY16 Budget presentation slides • Summary of FY16 preliminary project proposals

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