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April 25,2019 CITY OF SOMERVILLE, MASSACHUSETTS OMMUNITY RESERVATION OMMITTEE C P C JOSEPH A. CURTATONE MAYOR MINUTES MEMBERS APRIL 25, 2019 Michael Fager, Chair Uma Murugan, Vice Chair Dick Bauer The Community Preservation Committee (CPC) held a regular meeting at 6:30pm in the Laura Beretsky Jane Carbone third floor conference room at the Visiting Nurse Association, 259 Lowell Street, Rebecca Lyn Cooper Somerville, MA 02144. An audio recording of the meeting is available upon request. Luisa Oliveira Eleanor Rances Tatiana Shannon Members Present Chair Michael Fager, Vice Chair Uma Murugan, Dick Bauer, Laura STAFF Beretsky, Jane Carbone, Luisa Oliveira, and Eleanor Rances Kristen Stelljes Members Absent Rebecca Lyn Cooper and Tatiana Shannon Staff Present Kristen Stelljes Others Present Tim Dineen The chair opened the meeting at 6:35p.m. Agenda item 1: Public comment period Mr. Dineen noted the VNA planted five new trees on the property. Agenda item 2: Approve minutes Upon a motion by Ms. Murugan, seconded by Ms. Beretsky, the minutes from the February 27 meeting was approved by a vote of 5-0. [Ms. Carbone arrives] On the March 20 minutes, Ms. Oliveira noted that the ‘Others Present’ section needs to be updated and Mr. Fager asked that the minutes note that the meeting served as the Committee’s SomerSupper. Upon a motion by Ms. Murugan, seconded by Ms. Oliveira, the Committee approved the minutes from the March 20 meeting with corrections by a vote of 6-0. For the March 27 hearing, Ms. Murugan noted her name was misspelled on the first page. Upon a motion by Ms. Oliveira, seconded by Ms. Rances, the Committee approved the minutes from the March 27 hearing with corrections by a vote of 6-0. Agenda item 3: Project updates West Branch Library: Ms. Murugan attended the project groundbreaking, which was well attended. Ms. Stelljes noted that the project has changed plans and will not be spending any of the CPA funds in FY19, so the bond will not be issued until FY20. As a result, no debt service will be paid on the $2.5 million bond until FY21. Prospect Hill Park: Ms. Oliveira shared that the project has begun and trees will be removed the following week. The Tower is still accessible. She anticipates the park will be complete next year. Healey Schoolyard: Ms. Oliveira shared the design bid has gone out and the City will be picking the designer soon. The first phase will be to improve the tot lot while necessary geotechnical work is being done to determine if a field can be added to the schoolyard. The City will also explore how to create an ADA walkway. City funds will be used for the field work. Butterfly Garden at Morse Kelly: Ms. Oliveira shared that the plants are coming up in the butterfly garden and Green and Open Somerville has put up signs so people will know what is happening. She noted they created a designated area for dogs to use after they noted that people were curbing their dogs on the new plants. [Mr. Bauer arrives] 5 Palmer: Ms. Stelljes noted that the state has given her approval to circulate the conservation restriction for the 5 Palmer parcel for signatures. Once approved, it will be the first conservation restriction in Somerville. Mr. Fager asked when the house will be coming down. Ms. Stelljes responded that it will be demolished after the school year ends. 100 Homes: Ms. Stelljes shared that the Housing Trust will be going to bond for the full $6 million approved for the project in FY19. A final number for the debt service will be available in May. The current estimate for the debt service is $317,000 annually, which is approximately 16% of anticipated revenue in FY20. Temple B’nai Brith: Mr. Bauer disclosed that he is a member of Temple B’nai Brith. Ms. Stelljes provided background for new members that the Temple was awarded funds in FY15 to install an elevator and a fire safety system. Because the work funded was internal to the building, the Committee’s funding conditions were a requirement for public access with the requirement for a perpetual preservation restriction. The Temple received the draft restriction, which included the public access requirement, in July and responded in December that they reject the inclusion of public access in the preservation restriction and asked for other substantial changes to the City’s document. Ms. Stelljes noted that all perpetual preservation restrictions must be approved by the Massachusetts Historical Commission, which asks that the restrictions follow a model template and does not commonly approve deviations from the model. Ms. Stelljes met with the rabbi on January 31 and discussed the issue of public access. 2 The congregation has reservations about providing public access because of the rise in anti-Semitic violence. Ms. Stelljes and the rabbi discussed options for public access that would be appropriate for the safety of the congregation while meeting the requirement of the funding condition. The rabbi proposed creating an art gallery in the temple. They also agreed that it would be useful for the temple’s executive committee to meet with the preservation planning staff to discuss the requirements to reach a common understanding. The rabbi said she would discuss these ideas with the executive committee. Following their meeting, Ms. Stelljes received an email from a member of the executive committee saying they had not heard from her. Ms. Stelljes asked for an update on the discussions regarding the art gallery. The next correspondence she received was from a lawyer who is also a congregant, so the conversation is now between this lawyer and the legal counsel from the City who advises the CPC. The Temple’s lawyer prepared a proposed preservation restriction that did not have the changes marked in track changes, so the City’s legal counsel has not had the opportunity to review the document. The lawyer included the public access component in a memorandum of understanding, which is not an enforceable instrument and proposed a period of access of five years that could be extended to ten. She noted that they are also seeking to not have the full building included and to alter the repayment language covering what the temple would need to repay if they violate the agreement, among other requested changes. Mr. Fager noted that he has had conversations with the City’s legal counsel and he and Ms. Murugan, as the vice chair, will continue to be in touch with counsel through this process. He said that the terms of the agreement cannot be changed at this point and if the Temple did not want to accept the conditions, they could have refused the funding. Ms. Murugan and Ms. Oliveira noted that other grantees may also feel uncomfortable providing public access given the rise in violence in public spaces. Members asked what other public access agreements are in place. Ms. Stelljes said that no other grantee with a public access requirement has shared safety concerns with her. The Somerville Museum will be open free to the public one day per month and the Mystic Water Works building will be available for historic tours, because there is no meeting space within the building. The Growing Center will also provide public hours per their license agreement as agreed upon with the CPC. The other historic grantees currently provide social services directly from their buildings such as food pantries, day cares, and a homeless shelter. Mr. Bauer noted that for all of the other CPA funded historic projects, CPA funds supported work on the exterior of the building. The funds for the Temple went to the interior for the elevator construction and the fire safety system which could also protect the exterior. The fact that the funds in the Temple’s case went for interior work makes it a qualitatively different project and makes public access particularly important. Mr. Bauer said his recollection was that the Temple would offer publicly accessible meeting space and he thought that it was understood that the public access requirement would be perpetual. Mr. Fager 3 agreed. Ms. Stelljes shared that she did not find documentation that the Temple had committed to providing public meeting space. Ms. Stelljes said she would share the documents after they have been reviewed by the CPC’s legal counsel. West Somerville Community School: Ms. Beretsky asked for an update on the West Somerville Community School project. Ms. Stelljes said that it would be some time before the RFP was released because the Healey School RFP was just released and the Parks and Open Space division doesn’t have the staff capacity to start an additional project that this time. Agenda item 4: CPA legislation update Ms. Stelljes updated the Committee that the House included the increase to the CPA fee in their budget for the first time and the Coalition has begun a Save CPA campaign to support the increase to the registry fee that supports the CPA state trust fund. Agenda item 5: Review Somerville Affordable Housing Trust report Ms. Carbone asked Ms. Stelljes to confirm if the Glen St. project is for homeownership and she said that it is a homeownership project. Mr. Bauer appreciated how comprehensive the report is. Ms. Murugan asked about the status of the Clarendon Hill project. Ms. Carbone said the project is in promising conversations with a Dutch company that created high quality modular units. Agenda item 6: Finalize Community Preservation Plan Ms. Murugan noted that the need for family housing arose as a concern during the public hearing and that has not been stated as a priority in the plan.
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