By Elizabeth Hacala
The Community Preservation Committee met on November 28 to begin planning for the 2019 Annual Town Meeting (FY2020). Prior to their meeting, they met jointly with the Capital Expenditure Committee to review projects that were possibly Community Preservation Act (CPA) eligible.
There were four CPA eligible projects that are also on the Capital Expenditure plan being considered next year: Springs Brook Park water quality, Lantern Lane pedestrian bridge, Page School field rehabilitation, and Fawn Lake improvements.
In addition to those projects, Don Corey, Historic Preservation Commission representative on CPC, discussed the project to perform some rehabilitation of the Old Town Hall interior and to establish an accessible entrance for the front of the building so the historic entrance can be used. Corey recommended the funding for that project come from the existing Historic Properties Preservation Fund, and that monies could be added back into that account in future CPA cycles to meet the required distribution for Historic Preservation, given there are no pressing projects on the horizon and the Town Center bond will end soon.
The total CPA appropriations currently being considered for FY2020 are:
- $452,000 for Old Town Hall funded through existing CPA reserves,
- $1.8M potentially bonded for Fawn Lake improvements,
- $450,452 for all other projects under consideration including the pedestrian bridge, Springs Brook Park water quality, and rehabilitation of a Lane School athletic field funded out of FY20 CPA revenue.
In addition to reviewing the projects, Selectman Margot Fleischman shared that Bedford had received a 21.69% match on collected CPA funds, far in excess of the 12% that had been budgeted. She went on to say that because Bedford had the current CPA surcharge set at the 3% level we were given “more bites at the apple” and therefore received a higher than average match. The match among towns with less than a 3% CPA surcharge was 19%. (source: https://www.communitypreservation.org/news/60678)
Also, Governor Charlie Baker has voiced support for adjusting the registry fees to update the funding of CPA matching funds. The existing fees were established when the original bill was passed 18 years ago and have not been updated since. An update to the matching funds would hopefully provide more robust matches in future years.
The Community Preservation Committee will next meet in early January to revisit final submission sheets for these projects and any new project submissions. CPC will hold a public hearing on all projects later in January (dates not yet confirmed.)
Members of the public can submit projects to the CPC. Forms for this cycle are due December 5 and more information can be found on the CPC website at https://www.bedfordma.gov/community-preservation-committee. The CPC six-year plan and program document, which is updated annually, can also be downloaded from the committee’s web page and details all projects anticipated, underway, and completed.
Note: Unlike most other municipal accounts, the Community Preservation Act allows funds to be accumulated across fiscal years. The Community Preservation Act also requires at least 10% of the funds to be appropriated for each of the three original purposes: Historic Preservation, Open Space, and Affordable Housing. As a result, CPC projects can be funded through the current year’s collections, purpose-specific reserve funds or Town Meeting authorized funds like the Land Acquisition Fund and the Historic Properties Preservation Fund which set aside monies for specific purposes and can be spent on pre-authorized purposes between town meetings.
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