02-15-18 CPC MinutesCITY OF BEVERLY
PUBLIC MEETING MINUTES
COMMITTEE /COMMIS SION
SUBCOMMITTEE:
DATE:
LOCATION:
Community Preservation Committee
February 15, 2018
Beverly City Hall, 191 Cabot Street
MEMBERS PRESENT: Wendy Pearl — Chair, Marilyn McCrory — Vice - Chair, John
Hall, Heather Richter, Christy Edwards, Robert
Buchsbaum,
MEMBERS ABSENT: Thomas Bussone 11, James Matz, Nancy Marino
OTHERS PRESENT: Amy Maxner — Environmental Planner, Aaron Clausen —
City Planning Director; Wes Slate — City Clerk; Suzanne
LaMont — Ward 2 Civic Assoc/Historic District
Commission member
RECORDER:
Travis Lovett
Pearl calls the meeting to order at 7:00pm.
January 18, 2018 Meeting Minutes
McCrory motions to approve the minutes as amended. Richter seconds. The motion carries 4 -0-
1 with Edwards abstaining from voting.
O &A With Applicants
McCrory reminds everyone that Q &A timeframes stated on the published agendas are
approximate.
City Clerk — Historic Municipal Document Preservation
Slate notes that Sue Goganian of Historic Beverly provided an updated support letter, and the
letter from the Council President is current written in April 2017. Slate explains that the estimate
from Kofile of $31,000 was for an identified an initial suite of documents and the rest of the CPA
funds would go toward completing CPA eligible documents as needed. The next batch of
documents would be Board of Aldermen records from the 1900's. Slate said there would be
enough documents provided to Kofile to use all of the money that would come from Round 5.
He notes that related to Kofile's capacity question, Kofile will take all documents, but they try to
manage materials based on the amount of work they expect will be necessary based on document
condition as some documents sometimes require special treatments. (The last batch of
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documents had to be treated for mold, which takes longer.) He states that each batch of restored
documents are placed on CD so they are digitally preserved as well. He will work with the IT
department to provide links to online documents so that anyone can access files from the City of
Beverly Web site.
Buchsbaum arrives at 7:15pm.
Slate reviews the budget, noting that the Clerk's office has a line item of $10,000, and Mass.
Board of Library Commissioners grant of $12,000 (which is more than was anticipated). The
updated CPA grant request would be $59,119, as there was a balance of $9,119 from the previous
CPA grant that was not spent. The CPC asks for a revised budget sheet and a list of all
documents restored to date with CPA funds. Slate agrees to provide these materials.
GAR Hall Phase IIa Restoration
Clausen said the $50,000 grant for GAR Hall restoration that came from the governor's budget
bill has to be spent by June 30, 2018, adding there is a hard deadline here, but there are no
restrictions on those funds. Clausen explains the state Office of Tourism and Travel is managing
the grant agreement. He expects that there will be $5,000 that will go toward the ADA
accessibility component to fix the ramp and railings, and there may also be some electrical work
and it's possible that the design will cost $50,000, but they are working to utilize the state funds
first. The design RFP was advertised yesterday with a response deadline on March 8, 2018, to
which a committee that will select a designer and issue a contract. By the end of March, they
hope that there will be a designer in place.
All of the design work from Phase 1 has combined with the design work for the facades of Phase
2. The design contingency is 15% of the total project cost. Pearl said they may underspend their
Round 4 grant. Pearl said they need to see a new budget for Round 4 work to show state
contributions. Edwards also asked for an updated Round 5 scope of the project. Clausen and
LaMont agree to provide those materials.
Discussion ensues as to current uses of the building and other city department facilities that
require the Municipal Inspections to remain in the GAR hall for a while. Pearl said there are
questions about the operations and management of the building. Clausen notes GAR Hall has
been managed by Beverly Parks and Recreation Dept. Clausen expects that it will take about
five years to make determinations about the final GAR Hall operations and management.
Clausen does not view GAR Hall as a revenue generating opportunity, but more of a cultural
asset and thinks it's a better use for the downtown cultural district to be more open and available
as a community resource. LaMont said there is big potential for GAR Hall to host private
events. Clausen notes the National Register application is well under way. Clausen said it would
be great to access to MHC capital funding in the future. Buchsbaum asked who would hold the
preservation restriction. LaMont said Historic Beverly is one of the candidates. Historic Beverly
would need an endowment, Clausen said.
Harborlight Community Partners — Hardy Street Housing
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Clausen said Harborlight Community Partners submitted an application to the Housing Trust
requesting $200,000. The Trust is meeting next Wednesday (2/22) to review. HCP is using the
Community Scale Housing Initiative as a funding source which is designed for smaller projects
like this, as it's hard for nonprofits to make smaller projects work because they can't use
affordable housing tax credits so they are limited in funding sources and it requires a local match,
Clausen explains. He explains that Beverly Crossing recieved inclusionary housing credit units
toward their Rantoul Street project by providing the Hardy Street land.
Pearl said this is a bigger fund request to the CPC and she asked if there was urgency /major
importance to get CPA funds. Clausen states local housing initiative requires local funds to show
commitment, and the RFP turnaround is usually four to six weeks, Clausen said. He notes that if
the CPC is willing to fund this, it would be great to have that approval noted to share with state
officials.
Edwards asked if the 30 year term for affordability meets CPA requirements. Home funds are
available through a 30 year mortgage with 0% interest due at the term, Clausen said. Nonprofits
will refinance properties and then there will be an affordability restriction attached to a new
mortgage. Edwards asked if affordability is protected in perpetuity. A permanent restriction
limits use to what it was required for, McCrory said. Beverly Crossing donated the land in lieu
of building six affordable units, but they would not have been required to build affordable units
on Hardy St., Clausen said. Pearl said that sending a letter of intent would be helpful in April for
consideration for other grants.
YMCA — Cabot Hou
YMCA will be using tax credits, but the project has not been invited by the State to submit for
this round, Clausen said. Edwards has questions about whether or not the Christian /religious
aspect of the YMCA has bearing on this application. The Acton case has not been decided,
Maxner said. Pearl wants to see clarification on the organizational structure between Cabot
Housing LLC and the YMCA with respect to the project. Edwards would decline funding the
application due to a pending Acton court case. There's not really a religious use, McCrory said.
Clausen said he thinks establishment of the LLC would separate conflicting uses. Richter said it
would be helpful to have the applicant come in to explain the organization's respective roles and
describe the nature of on -site counseling services.
City Clerk Records
Pearl thinks the document lists from the Clerk's Office needs more direction. Hall states that
Historic Beverly did a great job of creating a digital, searchable on -line archive. Pearl said she
wishes that there was a more defined plan to approach records restoration as it seems a bit hap
hazard. McCrory said they are relying on the clerk and the consultant to make judgments about
what documents are most at -risk. Buchsbaum suggests that perhaps Kofile should provide
criteria. Pearl thinks the project is worthwhile but would like more structure.
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Questions for remaining applicants
Beverly Golf and Tennis:
Committee members review the request for $400,000 for the owner /project manager (OPM) and
the designer to create a master plan and specifications, with construction costs estimated at $5.1
million.
Edwards said with the pre - application determination the applicants were asked to forecast
funding sources for actual construction costs, but that was not addressed in the full application.
Pearl said the problem is not knowing what the plan is for the building, but recognizes it would
be helpful to have a set of architectural drawings highlighting high, medium, and low priorities.
Pearl said the scope of the work as described in the CPA application was really unclear and to her
it sounds more like a facilities development plan than a historic preservation plan. Making sure
that the building is running and functional is still an aspect of historic preservation, and she
agrees that the assessment is probably needed, but she is not sure the idea to rethink the whole
space is CPA compliant.
Pearl said it would be helpful to see the Gale Plan from 2005 which is referenced and highlights
preserving historic features. General discussion ensues as to what elements of the study speak
directly to historic preservation and how it could be broken down to address CPA eligibility.
McCrory notes that perhaps not every part of the study is CPA eligible, i.e. space programming is
not the same as historic preservation, but the narrative in the application is too vague to
determine that distinction out. Discussion ensues as to the BG &T Commission funding
contribution and whether it is confirmed through city budgeting, and sources of future funding
for construction and whether the $5 million + costs are something the City can afford and
manage.
Hale Farm Landscape Restoration:
Maxner notes the Hale Farm landscape master plan is at 50% review draft, which she forwarded
to the CPC for its reference. Edwards states the need for written estimates /bids and a plant list to
substantiate the proposed costs for CPA funded aspects of the project. Discussion ensues as to
proposed construction of the porches /deck, which are not currently in existence and whether this
constitutes historic rehab. Pearl explains that historic rehab does allow for the re- creation of
missing historic elements, but wonders if there are any plans /drawings or other specs for the
terrace and deck construction for the contractor to work off of
Richter states that somewhere in the narrative it notes that beeches are short lived and she would
be curious to understand this better with relation to the existing beeches out there and proposed
beech plantings. McCrory said the applicant didn't really address the capacity to undertake the
proj ect.
Request for Extension to GA— Hale Farm Landscape Restoration, CPC Project #R3 -6
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Maxner states the current MOU expires on March 1, 2018, and as she mentioned the plan is at
least 50% draft complete and will be (or already has been submitted to the HDC for its review).
McCrory motions to extend the Hale Farm Round 3 grant agreement until November 30, 2018.
Hall seconds the motion. The motion carries 6 -0.
Administrative Updates
McCrory said that there is approximately $1.6 million balance in the accounts, subtracting open
space funds. Maxner said there were some leftover CPA funds that have been recovered from
under budget projects or those not undertaken. Maxner said there is currently a request of $1.289
million for funding in Round 5. Maxner will work with the Finance Director to get an updated
fund balance sheet.
Pearl explains the Historic District Commission has been working on a proposal that would
provide guidance to the CPC for funding private historic properties. She notes that with the help
from Emily Hutchings, Associate Planner, who has undertaken research about several other
community practices, the draft recommendations will be forthcoming.
Adjournment
McCrory motions to adjourn the meeting at 9:15 pm. Edwards seconds the motion. The motion
carries 6 -0. The next CPC meeting will be held at Beverly City Hall on March 15, 2018 at
7:00pm.
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