The Community Preservation Committee (CPC) decided in its first meeting of 2010 to recommend allocating $295,655 from the Community Preservation Fund toward incoming requests from the town, holding $100,000 in reserve for next year. The committee agreed on Jan. 26 that the town’s greatest need at the moment is funding for repair of the Town Hall’s aging slate roof and its leaking eaves, and approved $100,000 for the 2010 portion of the project. This funding will cover a preliminary examination of some of the deteriorating structure and a determination of its requirements for repair due to past and present water damage. The entire project is expected to last two to three years, depending upon available funding going forward.
Two other projects of interest to the committee involve the preservation of archival documents dating back to the 1700s, both at the Town Hall and at Fruitlands Museum. Town Clerk Janet Vellante originally requested $57,000 for preservation of Town Hall records; $32,000 was approved. Fruitlands had requested a $15,000 grant from the town for preserving Shaker records; $8,000 was recommended. The museum hopes to raise the balance of its request from other sources of revenue.
A plan for continued preservation of the Shaker cemetery has been recommended to receive $5,655, and $150,000 is recommended to be divided evenly between the Conservation Fund and the Municipal Affordable Housing Trust Fund, consistent with patterns of allocating funds in years past.
All funding recommendations will now go to the Board of Selectmen for inclusion in the warrant for Annual Town Meeting, and will ultimately be approved, or not, by voters.
Over the past eight years, between 2002 and 2009, the Community Preservation Committee has acquired and approved $2,582,213.34 in funding for various causes throughout Harvard. These are restricted to three areas specified under the state’s Community Preservation Act, Chapter 267, which was passed into law in 2000. Those areas include historic preservation, affordable housing, and the needs of the town for open space, not specifically reserved for recreational use. Some previous projects funded with CPC money have been the restoration of the Hildreth House, planning for the bike path, the Powder House Restoration, Mass. Ave. senior housing, and the stone wall in front of Old Bromfield.
CPC funding has been stable between 2005 and 2009, running between a high of $386,021.43 and a low of $359,972.96, with the single exception of 2007, which peaked at $415,174.94, possibly due to the then-healthier economy and higher property values.
Harvard’s Community Preservation Committee was formed as a result of a vote at a Special Town Meeting on Feb. 26, 2001, and was charged with making recommendations regarding the allocation of money from the Community Preservation Fund, which was created at the same meeting. Allocation recommendations from the CPC receive final authorization by Town Meeting vote.
CPC funds are acquired from two sources: from a local tax surcharge of 1.5 percent, and from the state fees collected by the Registry of Deeds, as allowed by Chapter 267. Initially, the state matched local CPC funds, 1:1; recently, the state match has dropped to about 30 percent, due to a decline in the total yearly amount of fees collected by the Registry of Deeds.
There are nine members of the CPC. Four positions are elected for three-year terms. Five members, chosen annually, represent the interests of the Historical Commission, Planning Board, Conservation Commission, Housing, and the Parks and Recreation Commission. Current CPC members include Chairman Steve Rowse, Donald Boyce, Philip Crosby, and Deborah Thomson. Board representatives to the CPC are Chris Butler, for the Historical Commission; Joe Sudol, for the Planning Board; Charlie Gorse, for the Conservation Commission; Bruce Nickerson, for Housing; and Margaret Grogan, for Parks and Recreation.
The CPC meets the third Wednesday of every month. The next meeting will be held at Hildreth House, Feb. 17, at 7 p.m.
