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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2004-10-06 CI II n Community Preservation Committee 14 Easy Street Nantucket, MA 02554 COMMUNITY PRESERVATION COMMITTEE MINUTES - Wednesday- October 6, 2004 A meeting of the Community Preservation Committee, epc, was held on Wednesday, October 6, 2004, at 3:00 PM at the Land Bank Office at 22 Broad Street. Present were: Barry Rector, Chair, Ken Beaugrand, Vice Chair, Linda Williams, Mark Voigt, Doug Bennett, Rich Brannigan, Polly Miller, Neville Richen, and Stephanie Henke, Administrative Secretary. Virginia Andrews was absent. Barry Rector established a quorum and called the meeting to order at 3:08 PM. Upon a motion made by Ken and 2nd by Polly it was unanimously VOTED to approve the agenda. APPLICANT PRESENTATIONS Small Friends ($134,730) Bethany Oliver, joan Ottinger and Zona Butler attended the meeting to present this project. joan began by stating that the annual public meeting of the epc was very helpful. She said she had a chance to talk to jim Manchester of the Park and Recreation Commission and got the name of their consultant on their Winter Park playground. Joan indicated that Small Friends has owned two plots on Nobadeer Farm Road, plots 8 and 9, since 1998. Small Friends, the New School and Strong Wings use the area. (n 2002 the old Patio J restaurant was donated to Small Friends and it was moved to a different property. It has an apartment on the top floor, in which the director lives, and the 1st floor is used for the preschool. She stated that the school has passed all the licensing tests and that the issuing of its license was imminent. There is no more liability needed than they currently have to build the playground. The grant request fOr the playground would include money fOr landscaping, equipment, and fencing On two sides to keep the children from going into the road. Neville asked for clarification on which lot the playground would be on. Joan indicated that it would be on lot 8. Ken was troubled by the landscape proposal, noting that it was very amorphous, so much so that the epc would not be able to commit funds until they knew just what would be included in the $75,000. He asked Small Friends to submit 11 copies of a detailed bid from the landscaper. Barry asked that in addition to the bid, a detailed map be included that showed just where the fencing, landscape materials and playground equipment would be on the lot. He asked that they submit these additional materials by October 31. Neville asked whether the playground would be open to the neighborhood children as well and, if so, when it would be available to them. Joan answered that it would be available to neighborhood children, even on weekends, and that they had the liability they needed for a "private playground with public access." She clarified that it would be for younger kids, as determined by the age-appropriate equipment that it would include. Neville suggested that signage be included that stated the hours. Mark asked whether the requested epe funds represented 100% of the cost of the project or were there additional funds coming from elsewhere. Joan answered that they had already spent $50,000 to date to move the school to its new location. Mark then asked for a breakdown of what had been spent by the school already. Rich asked of the requested grant, how much is essential and what would be the priority. Joan answered that the fencing is 1st priority ($27,000), playground equipment is 2nd priority ($32,000) and plantings would be 3rd priority. They will send a new budget with these items prioritized. - epe Minutes, October 6, 2004-Page 1 Rich asked whether the fencing was required for licensing and how the fencing would be relevant to the epA. Joan indicated that it was required for licensing and that in order to have the playground, they need the fencing to keep the children safe. They would be happy to have the epe visit the site. Maria Mitchell Association ($57,375) Kitty Pochman and jascin Leonardo Finger attended the meeting to present this project. Jascin briefed the epe on what the FY '04 and '05 monies had been used for. Shelly Sass has completed the 1825 conservation of the grain painting. In August the in-painter came to start his work. jascin mentioned that they have had people visit the house specifically to see the grain painting, because people have similar grain paintings in their homes. FOr FY '06 they are asking the epe fOr a grant to accomplish 5 things: 1) eontinue with mason work on the chimneys 2) Shelly Sass work on the Peep at the Moon stencil 3) In-depth documentation of the floor painting and decorative wall paper in the house, which is now in emergency mode 4) Clean up of the 1'v1itchell burial site and stones 5) Paying a consultant to look at the moisture issues in the house Kitty mentioned that in a future year they may need to look at the insect damage of the house's sill. Linda asked whether work on the Peep stencil had started and jascin mentioned that only the testing had been done, as allowed by the previous funds. The requested monies for FY '06 would actually do the work on the stencil. Ken and Mark asked of the 5 items listed, what the priorities would be. Jascin answered: 1) Land Mark Facilities Group ($18,375) 2) Restoration Masons for chimneys ($10,000) 3) Peep at the Moon Stencil 4) Gravestones 5) Floor painting 6) Wallpaper She also mentioned that the requested amount is the smallest amount they have asked for to date. Rich asked if there were other funds and jascin said no. He then asked if the project costs $75,000, why were they only asking for $57,000. Jascin indicated that the budget included the in-kind donation of housing the workers when they could. Ken remarked that the quality of their written presentation was excellent. Linda seconded that sentiment and added that the project was critical to Nantucket. Kitty thanked the committee for their previous year's funds and mentioned that they were able to do so much that they otherwise would not have been able to do. Barry asked whether they had been iooking for other sources of funding and Kitty answered that for the kind of work they do, funds are hard to find or hard to access. Local supporters are committed to other projects. They have done research into other funding, but have as yet not been able to access those grants. Rich asked whether the epe could expect to see Maria Mitchell again next year for funds. Kitty answered that that was very possible, and that they were considering applying for an affordable housing grant next year. Jascin indicated that the committee should email her if they were interested in a site visit. Nantucket Housing Office ($238,750 Housing Office Year 3, $260,000 House Recycling) Bob Nussbaum and leedara Zola attended the meeting to present these projects. Linda asked whether any of the projects they would be discussing had anything to do with NHA, disclosing that she in on the NHA and will file an ethics document to that effect. She has no direct financial interest, so she will hear the epe Minutes, October 6, 2004-Page 2 discussion, but will not vote on anything concerning this presentation. Ken mentioned that what he generally does is speaks on the project, but abstains from the vote, that he is not precluded from sitting in, as he has no financial interest. Bob discussed the three basic legs of the NHO: 1) Housing eovenant Program, which is currently working on its 10th transaction for the year 2) Recycling Program, which currently has 16 families in recycled homes and 7 more in the works 3) Housing Office/Planning and Advocacy, which has helped the NET with their housing for school staff, and is consulting with the town on their work with the 2 Fairgrounds Property Leedara discussed the Rehab Grant Program, for which they received a $745,000 Block Grant to rehabilitate homes on Nantucket. Leedara stated that though the money is technically a loan, it is a forgivable loan with 0% deferred payment, so basically constitutes free money in the end. She passed out flyers advertising the up to $30,000 for 25 families for rehab on their homes. She also pointed out that all 25 of these homes would then count toward affordable housing. Linda Williams went on record to say that she will be applying for one of these loans. Bob mentioned that they are currently rehabbing a donation in Tom Nevers that was in rnove-in condition and merely had to be moved from one end of Tom Nevers to the other. They are working on their first new construction on Dartmouth and broke ground in May. They are looking at optimizing the number of bedrooms on one piece of land, since land is so precious. They are considering different septic rules, etc. Linda asked whether they had used all their funds from last year and whether they had other sources of funding for the Office. Bob said they had used all their funds and that they had some donations in the amount of $10,000- $40,000 per year as well as rental income from the recycled properties. Leedara added that while they are getting more money coming in, they are also ramping up what they do. Bob also mentioned that on the Block Grant, there is money in that for staff, so that no additional staff needs to be hired and no current NHO money needs to go into that. Mark asked whether the $260,000 for the recycled homes was an estimate and whether the NHO buys these houses. Bob said that they do not buy houses, that the $260,000 is an estimate for 2 houses and the money goes toward rehabbing and moving the house. They can't anticipate what will become available. He added that if the house rehab goes over that cost, they figure out a way to fund it, sometimes asking the donator of the house to kick in a little extra, which is still less than the owner would pay for tipping fees, etc. Barry asked that in terms of the land, is the NHO the direct recipient of the land or does it go through the town. Bob answered that except for one case, the land goes through the NHA to the NHO. The reason for this is that the deed restriction needs to run in favor of someone, so since NHA is already able to do it, it is just considered a best practice to do it this way. NHA can then monitor the deed restriction. Barry asked for clarification on how rents were determined. Leedara stated that there are many variables that go into the state formula that they need to use in order to determine how many people can live in a house, including health department rules, not wanting to underutHize the space, etc. Linda also mentioned that it depends on the cost of carrying the loan. Bob added that they then try to put an 80% median income family in the higher cost home, but that no family will ever pay more than 38% of their income on their rent. Mark asked what the priority would be if the NHO had to pick only one of the projects for the epe to fund, and Bob answered that the Housing office Year Three would be first priority. Leedara added that they truly scrutinize the office budget. They have been very serious about becoming self-sufficient. They are asking only for what they need and use. Ken mentioned that the NHO has raised $1.2 million for this community. Bob added that they also do outreach to other island agencies, acting as consultants to help them with grant requests. Rich commended them for their excellent work and said that the benefits of the NHO are tremendous. He asked that if, perchance, the epe were no longer to exist, would the town pick up the NHO. After much discussion of the history of the NHO and the NHA, it was emphatically stated that the Housing Office is a private organization and it is successful for that reason. To become part of the town would make the organization counterproductive, as it would have to follow rules and regulations that slow things down. epe Minutes, October 6, 2004-Page 3 Rich then asked where funds would come from jf the CPC were to go away and Neville asked if the NHO would ever be self-supporting. Bob answered that 1) they have gotten some large, one-time fees out of the way. 2) As the rental program goes up, they wiil be receiving more money in rents. 3) If the NHO track record is good, the easier it becomes to a) get grants, b) finalize transactions, etc. 4) the NHO is moving in the direction of becoming self- sufficient. Rich then asked what had happened to the Gap Financing program and Bob answered that it is not moving as quickly as they had hoped, so they didn't want to ask for more money for a program that wasn't working as well as they would have liked. Barry noted that there were 7 other funding sources listed. What does the future hold? Barry requested an action plan that shows potential future revenue streams and for a Form 990 for the current year. Mark asked how many houses they could do a year in the recycling program and Bob indicated that 7 seems to be the number they can do per year. They will be spending $850,000 a year in recycling, CPC funds representing a third of that. Barry asked if the NHO could submit a repolt that quantifies the work they are doing. For example, of the number of people needing the services, how many actually receive what they need. Barry asked what the status was on working in collaboration with Interfaith Council as stipulated in their FY '05 grant. Bob answered that they had met with the Interfaith Council and had come to two conclusions: 1) the role of "house search" is not a directly fundable activity and falls under the human services umbrella and 2) rental assistance does not overlap any program that the NHO funds. The gap between the money that folks can pay and what is funded is too big on Nantucket. It is more a Human Services issue. Barry noted that there is a need for administering a rental assistance program on Nantucket, and Bob answered that the NHO is charged with creating those houses that will then be rented out--that that is what is in their charter. Ken added that the Recycling Program creates rental units at about 7 per year that will be there on a permanent basis. Polly added that a rental assistance program is a whole other kettle of fish and that a lot of people needing rental assistance are not year-round residents. Bob mentioned that Georgia Snell, of the Interfaith Council, had stated that usually if someone is in need of rental assistance, they are also in need of other human services, and that if the rental assistance program is within the human services area, then they can get more easily connected to the other services they need. Ken stated that the NHO has done an unbelievable job and thanked them for their presentation. He added that they have done more than they ever thought would be possible and more than they were asked to do. OTHER BUSINESS There being no other business of the committee, and upon a motion made by Ken and 2nd by Rich, it was unanimously VOTED to adjourn the meeting at 5:10 PM. Respectfully submitted by, Stephanie Henke Administrative Secretary epe Minutes, October 6, 2004-Page 4