well good evening everyone and welcome to the March 20th 2024 meeting of the community preservation committee going a packed agenda tonight and uh AG greated audience so uh we'll go ahead and get started so uh the first item on tonight's agenda is news and mail does anybody have any news or mail they' like to share all right any member input all right any public input would anybody in the audience like to we'll wait anybody virtually uh all right hearing none we'll jump into the next item on the genda for tonight and that would be the clean Lakes committee applications for funding for Long Lake mil Pond and doel pond good evening Andrew thank you and Happy Spring Happy Spring we got rain just to show little snow this morning just flurry perfect time that's it that's it uh thank you for seeing me this evening and for last month as well uh hopefully I've got enough data for us tonight to uh to S through things I've uh the request quests out into four uh I had them organized by Lake last time or Pond uh and I broke out the two that we have for for Long Lake uh so if we can go through we'll start from the most expensive uh down to the least expensive uh and that puts us right in uh along the shoreline of Long Lake uh we have floating islands uh these floating islands seem to have come up from the muck and uh uh deteriorating matter that's kind of forming the bottom of the lake right now they've come up within lily pads so as they're floating uh they're not moving they're they're anchored right there and uh and they've been an eyesore for a year now maybe a year and a half uh we were hoping they might just go away uh they were suppressed uh for two months under the ice and well now they're they're back so U we're requesting uh $50,000 to address this with a uh an amphib amphibious uh excavator uh we thought that would be easier the original idea was to actually haul these uh or drag these over to the Shoreline uh and then take a uh machine and dig them out from the bank it's probably more disruptive that way uh with the uh with the amphibious equipment uh it will be uh something that we can we can create a barrier around to protect the rest of the lake and uh we're we're hoping that that would be uh uh that would be amenable we've looked into uh this facility through some of the uh the the other contractors that have done Eco harvesting for us and there are a few competitors out there so we hope for a good bid on this and we think the $50,000 would be adequate got some pictures in the brochure and um or in the uh in the the brief here um the the one that's a closeup there's there's dead fish there's it's not it's not habitable we're laughing with some of the neighbors around the lake that uh you know people are going to find this a real asset and the birds are going to take to it and we haven't seen that come to pass so that's H that's that's number one that's uh that's our that's our $50,000 uh the second uh also in Long Lake is the uh invasive aquatic plant management we find ourselves doing but starting last year uh we have switched over from herbicide treatments uh to uh what they call Eco harvesting it's a machine there's picture of machine in the uh in the brief uh that literally goes along and there's a conveyor or there's a large cylinder on the front that uh that engages uh invasive plants wherever it's aimed uh it draws them up out of the water and into the back of the uh of the boat uh so it actually removes them from the water column we're thinking this is much more uh a much it's a it's a positive uh approach whereas in the past all the herbicides have been effective uh they have left an awful lot of debris uh in the water and it forms just one more layer of of accumulated nutrient Rich uh silt and so on in the bottom of the pond so not not a good situation if we can get some of that biomass out of the of the uh of the pond we're working with Long Lake especially uh it will help preserve the lake for for many more years so this is our approach uh we had a bid last year for $21,000 so we're carrying that over this year expecting it to be uh about the same uh but it is being a big process we're not sure exactly how that's going to come down but but 21 would be adequate uh we didn't have a lot of problems uh in Long Lake last year but we had uh excessive problems in spectal pond and Forge Pond we're not quite sure what triggered it but we think it had something to do with the the temperature conditions we had a very uh Light Winter as you recall uh almost no snow melt and uh and we went from that into a very dry spring the flip side in July it did nothing but poor rain which seems to have spurred growth of of uh indigen or uh of aquatic invasive plants in two other Lakes not so much in Long Lake but we're waiting now because we're wondering we just it's a it's a we're ahead we're scratching our heads we're we're wondering exactly if this is going to be a commonplace sort of occurrence or this was just an anomaly or op anomaly so that's the that's the $21,000 27 on here I'm sorry 27 27 apologize I've got numbers flowing through my head like nobody business been kind of an intense time for us the uh mil Pond uh boat launch uh uh access path is something that we have uh for uh for recreation rather than open space uh we are uh looking for $20,000 on that uh it's a project that we did back in 2014 uh but under the circumstances that we were in at that point in time we ended up putting bring in a pathway down this 8ft Bank from the parking area to the wat of edge uh that is really too steep it's really it's I I think it's dangerous and and I felt bad about it ever since it was done uh but it was one of those kind of complete the job and don't make any waves I I think it's quite treacherous and uh we have we have a development approach uh and I've consulted with uh with two other engineering firms right now who gave us quotes that are included they're a little fat on the $20,000 but I think under the circumstances since everything's there and in place we don't need as much advanced work through them and we can negotiate a few different things down so we're still feeling the $20,000 ask is is reasonable uh but we would really love to see that project done uh and and make things a little bit more accessible on the shoreline for for many more people I think the kids probably enjoy this sting but on that uh it's it's a little treacherous so the final is uh the uh the invasive uh water chestnut uh at doel Pond and uh the little map shows doel Pond is sort of a blip uh near rout two and Forge Pond uh and yet that's the focus of a for pond I'm sorry yeah Fort numbers this has been a challenge car [Music] but uh uh the the water chestnut is a recurring problem there uh they have seeds that are uh viable for 12 years so once they get down in the mucket it's it's almost impossible to retrieve them so we monitor this and we didn't get a chance to see it to catch it last year due to budget problems that we had then uh so it's compartive that we get in there this year uh it's a $1600 ask and uh and it's a it's a manual process it's all done by hand in fact sometimes there are groups that that volunteer to do this but we haven't got any here somebody somebody in the in the CLC was laughing the other night that' be a fun afternoon we're waiting to see we may move in that direction but right now uh that's that's our ask for for doal pond and uh to keep that uh in its place hopefully and uh and prevent it from spreading spreading the fort for uh for for a long time and that be that would be the conclusion what was the number for the N Pon Bo launch restoration oh that's 20 $20,000 um although the application that I'm looking at says CPA funds requested 50,000 total project cost 20,000 is that another typ I thinking maybe I'm sorry it's okay let me double check that you notic somebody's read oh is that on the initial paperwork um it was one I got on the application on the application theor I haven't looked at the application I will correct that okay uh and and happy to happy to report that back I I think I was just updating the the long light form yeah copy paste could we thank you for catching that since we have all the numbers and and 20,000 for that that's from the recreation could we itemize where the other funds are coming from absolutely so I'm thinking what we can do is we can go um about this in separate projects um so we can go perhaps start with the water chestnut determine which category we're going to take it from I imagine undesignated is probably going to fund a lot of these but we'll see how the uh I was instructed to put it under open space yeah absolutely and it can't be an Open Space Project but we can pay for it through undesignated but um yeah depending on how the committee uh so um that leads to another question may I of course just um I wasn't here at the last meeting but um have we determined eligibility yes so all of the projects were determined to be eligible at the last meeting thank you let's go ahead perfect so um I was thinking uh we could take these separately and and vote on them and determine where we're going to take the money if the money is so awarded uh so why don't we start with the water chestnut the ask for $1,600 did the board have any questions uh why wouldn't we do it under open space I mean it is part DOL Pond is part of New Town Hill that is true that is true open open space okay it makes sense I really appreciate at the last meeting learning what the name of that Conquest that my dog almost drowned in 20 years ago struggling in the water chest yes yes I I don't know if you got all the way to the end of that uh that paper there but uh water chest not originated uh in uh in Cambridge uh in fresh Bond oh wow uh here around 19 00 there was a gardener that thought it'd be a great idea to plant some there yeah and it has since spread to Virginia in that period of time so uh and it's tough to chase it's really it's almost impossible I think they spent two or three million dollars on Lake Champlain alone uh doing doing clean up there so it's peple has an annual water chestnut pole on on the Nashville River yeah a party Andrew you mentioned undesignated did you uh how do you make the case for that so for this particular one I know that it's not open space property per se it's a water body but it I I could see I could be easily convinced that it's under the open space category in this instance well that's a good question but isn't it isn't it part of the new town hall conservation okay it is yeah so um if there are no further questions from the committee uh does anybody in the audience have any questions I have question so um is this going to be an annual ask do you envision I would I would like that although I'll be perfectly Frank we are going to be approaching the select board uh in the next couple of months and uh and seeking uh some resolution to our U funding situation because we lost our cell tower funds uh a couple of years ago and we have been going through a transition since then uh and we really don't have anything that addresses problems that can't be somehow attached to the water department and Long Lake is one of those uh we're not on an aquifer we're not affecting uh the water supply really so um goel Pond mil Pond pretty much the same so we will either be coming back again and hopefully being able to partner in again in the future or uh or we'll have some uh line item ourselves or something I don't know what the plan is at this point can comment on that absolutely I think it is a precedent setting thing um because the cell phone towers were a really Rel reliable source for CLC the clean Lakes committee uh funding um it's allowed for really you know proactive and also uh continuing um projects so that every year they're really taking care of a lot of things over a number of different bodies of water the Precedence is that um if it were an annual thing and the cell phone tower revenues were streaming somewhere else to cash and being used for whatever um it would mean that we'd have a a burden on our budget that we haven't had for 20 years during that whole period of time CLC has been doing that work for decades of this kind with the with money that's been available so I would say if this were an annual ask the next year we had this conversation I'd be saying what did we learn the board of Select John and then you could report to us right and we could also Advocate ourselves or through John if the if the C CPC felt that it was really um uh an unacceptable burden that we would try to say let's make sure that some of those cellone cell cell phone tower funds end up being Blended funds as Revenue to us yeah our problem to explain a little bit of the background was that there was a ruling a couple of years ago by the Massachusetts Board of finance and uh determined the Enterprise funds that were being generated from the cell toown uh or actually the property of the water department uh and as such could only be applied to supplying or or or maintaining uh services for uh fresh drinking water uh and so we can look at spec Pond and say okay well that definitely impacts the aquifer it's sitting above uh we can do that we almost do that at at Forge Pond not quite they're bucking that a little bit but but they're they're saying that that money is really for uh for the use of the water department and the water department would rather have it go to CLC but again as an Enterprise uh separate from the town uh those monies are as part of that uh that pool it's gone back to them so we lost 300 some odd, we were saving for mil Pond uh to do the restoration there uh fortunately we didn't get to go ahead on that so we're not you know Finding ourselves without funding for uh for that renovation F it's been an unpleasant couple of years we have a selectman here um I hope you're listening because of the last meeting it was it was alarming that all of a sudden the CPC would would be asked for a continue you know and I think you had said you had 150 a year from the water department before or or what was the annual they they're anticipating they've actually been very generous the water Commissioners have have come through and it's about $150,000 that they contributing this year okay uh to carry uh like uh our annual testing programs uh just to maintain uh our our data on all the different lakes uh they have contributed there for a long way but uh you know some of those things just just cover all of the the regions so mid's suggestion of you know putting it from the water department into Blended funds is a really good suggestion because we can we leverage that then for additional State money sure um and then the other question I had was what is the sanction if you just ignore that um oh Department of Revenue thing I mean that seems to me to be totally against the way the the system that we put in place that was when it was it was working wonderfully uh and and we had uh we had no worries and uh well you know how good things only have a short lifestand uh I I I am upset with the situation and yet when we appear with the before the select when uh the the water department will be with us and we'll seek to find some way and and they'll know they'll know if there's any uh opportunity I mean because if we had known that at the time we set up the cell phone thing we wouldn't have done it that way you know because it was intended to go toward conservation no nobody understood that anybody was doing anything wrong I I understand uh through this whole process that quite a number of towns had been taking that money and applying it to whatever they wanted I see maybe some was going to you know the the transfer station and who knows what else and it just got too crazy for the for the state and they just said no we're we're just going to curtail this uh can't take that money out of the water department and say it's for something else when it's water department land uh it just they're straightening things out so we had we had tried initially just to shift uh the the committee over under the offices of the water department because we worked with them continuously from the beginning uh and and we were under the select board for a while but uh that wasn't even sufficient so okay did you have a question so I just wanted to mention that the as I understand you know so I'm on the B bar I'm on the cleanings committee and we've had over the last few years a number of discussions about the funding and the state ruling and all of that and um at the time that the state ruled it we were uh the money came back to out of the select's control back into the water Department's control uh the understanding is that it needs because it's an Enterprise fund it needs to be spent on things that are consistent with the water Department's goals and objectives um that has been interpreted to mean that it doesn't include the clean Lakes committee although the clean Lakes have been uh part of uh the Water Department's uh objectives the last several decades where where did the interpretation come from well it's not clear at the time that uh the money came back into the Enterprise into the water department at the Enterprise uh the clean L committee was told that this is still money that's earmarked for the clean L committee the money that had yet to be spent that half million dollars was also earmarked for the clean Lakes committee uh as recently as last spring we were told again that it was still that that way and then over the course of the late spring and into the summer that changed and we didn't really uh get a clear explanation as to what was driving that change well that's an issue you sort of had money evaporate I mean I know it didn't evaporate but um so who who was you know who was making I we we don't need to get into that here I guess but you have a task ahead of you to you know sort this out and I don't know it's like after the last meeting where you laid all this out it it was sort of not alarming but it was the kind of thing where you know there's these Circles of you know Circles of responsibility and expertise and and they're not meshing now after so many years of working you know and I think most people in town we don't realize all the efforts that have been made over the you know all these years to keep the Waterway um you know the waters that you work on um so that we can enjoy we just it's it's sort of like an invisible thing and you've made it visible by this ask and um I think you know mitt started this by saying well is this going to be an annual thing well I hope not because it's a big burden on the CPC to um you know to do this and I guess we would have to take the attitude that in this um sort of interstitial period of time between one way of looking at it and the other we you know we I mean I think it's worthy but once again I think next year I'd be going I think we need to dig deeper and you know find another solution understand that is our attempt right to look more broadly and it's not even clear that it seems like the allocation from the uh water board this year was uh larger than they had planned and could well be larger than they would be expecting to support next year what does that mean I mean uh for for the so uh the uh they originally uh planned $100,000 budget for the clean committee and uh at the last meeting that we you know attended with them they added another $50,000 to support activities on uh Li Forge Pond uh as a recognition that uh this time around uh the coordination wasn't all quite there early enough in the budget process and that kind of left the clean Lakes Committee in a bad situation and so they were willing to sort of make an accommodation to help that out it's not clear but they're attitude is the 100 or 150 or whatever would go toward spec Bond specific uh it's not that explicit I mean they were planning to fund that level that would basically cover spectacle Pond they have said that spectacle Pond is clearly in their you know wheelhouse because uh they have a a well right on the lake um and uh they're not so explicit about um what the long-term situation is with the other Lakes well we you know the these requests will go before town meeting and I think if I were you I would use the opportunity to go before town meeting and say we had this money we don't have it anymore we like it [Music] back when they come to town meeting do they each come up individually or do all the CPC things come up the Bund so typic it's a bundle and then under that if somebody has a hold on a particular project they can know run through it typically over the last 10 years or so though I think that the moderator has presented the CPC articles as a bundle um for one war article and U they'll go through ART um project by project and if there's a hold then um oh I'm thinking that we do we have to present to the finance committee uh because I remember last year there were some comments about last time I need comments about the window restoration I think the fincom might review them prior to 10 meeting okay does it sound right now it's different every year some some days there's a uh we've done a different number of different models for committees to present their rationale for funding some years it doesn't happen at all anyway I you know I guess all I'm saying is it seems like it's a issue that's affecting all of us that needs to be resolved and um the money was there it's not there anymore where's it going where where's the cell tower money going um anyway yeah yes I Rob around some 25 J Road my wife and I moved here um in June of 21 uh I lived very close to Long Lake got involved with Long Lake neighborhoods Association then learned about clean Lakes committee got involved there um I've since gone on to attend water commissioner meetings I've been very much a person welcomed everywhere that I've been and I appreciate the same welcoming I receive here um this is this dialogue is very very good I as a brand new Resident with no long-term history I have attended Town meetings where I've heard people talk about family you know extensions that go on for many many decades I don't have that experience what I do have experience is watching very dedicated people in any variety of Committees of the town do very very good work on behalf of the town but like some of the dialogue that I'm hearing here I'm finding myself understanding there was once a cell tower fund that was established in the early 2000 that was working along and then two years ago it got changed and $400,000 that was under the perview of the queen Lakes committee all of a sudden went poof and got transferred through proper channels to the Litton Electric Light and Water Department which is fine and then dedicated people go into appropriate meetings involving Town Administration personnel with members of these committees and outcomes the next you know version or interpretation well intended I'm not suggesting anything nefarious that establishes that yes that in fact is the understanding from the guidance from the mass D that provide the guidance and that's just the way it is and now little electric and light and water will fulfill their Enterprise responsibilities associated with drinking sustainable drinking water makes sense but it leads to some of the questions in the dialogue that's here with are there with money it's now gone and we've got this funding need because the Lakes need my experience here the likes have undergone some difficult times in the last two years there's a probably need for greater fund so what I find myself wanting to say beyond what I just said is hope you'll support this because it seems to be a real transition challenge over the last two years that I'm personally witnessing in various iterations as it moves through committees the other part that I think seems appropriate to ask so that all of us can get Beyond this is have some statement of finding or some statement whatever you want to call it so that different dedicated people and these various committees no longer have these questions with regard to where the money was how it's going to be used in the future and resolve what is might be an appropriate mechanism with regard to funding of the valuable resource that like off so I just ask for some consideration I know that's out probably outside of your boundaries but I find myself going to meeting after meeting in which there seems to be the the substance appears to be the same but it's always a little bit different and there's always appropriate questions being asked as what's taking place and what the future will bring it needs to be resolved look forward to it being resolved hope that anything that you can do in order to or Mark select Board number anything you do to get this in a past where it currently is so that everybody on all these Committees of importance can do the right thing for the citizens of live thank thank you all right any other uh questions or [Music] comments so with the uh application for funding in front of us for $1600 for water chestnuts uh mitigation at doal Pond um let's see how we should proceed with this so perhaps we can vote to approve the funding application first and then vote on where the funding will come from after and let just put it in the motion that works from open space um somebody could move that $1600 from open space for manual removal of water chestnut at do fond I so move second all right we moved and seconded we'll do a roll call vote Jared M Hi Sam yeah hi Jeff hi myself I hi and Saul hi all right it's unanimous okay thank you everyone uh Dave did he say annual no he said he said manual that's right for manual removal that's just my my ear filtering all right so next we have the uh what don't we do the boat launch access path to mil pond that's a request for $20,000 uh do we have any further discussion on that from the committee or anybody can we discuss now what that comes out of yeah absolutely would that be Recreation or okay then that's how you apply that's how I and Alicia and Saul um has the park and rec commission wait in on uh on how they would perhaps view this fund like do they see that as undesignated or I don't believe that uh this project has been in front of the parking recommission it has not um yeah so this was not something that uh we were aware of until recently sorry everyone I just noticed there's a couple of people waiting to come in okay perfect okay so um Saul uh how do you feel about uh using not designated or Recreation for this particular project I mean you know I would say I don't I don't have the the balances in front of me um we we do have some some big Recreation projects in the pipeline uh but I don't I don't recall what the undesignated fund balance looks like um I mean I think in terms of you know the criteria it's certainly a a recreation type activity but I you know I think it can go either way okay all right is there any further uh questions sir as a neighbor I want to confirm that that is a very Steep and uncomfortable ramp and it would be a Improvement to make it more useful and I think would be appreciated there are people who use that Lake to Pond to fish on and launch boats and stuff canoes no I can only imagine it's quite a challenge moving equipment up and down it's a challenge getting me up and down all right MIT yes um is uh in my recollection the original project was done with uh inine services for construction from the uh from town departments I'm not sure which but there was definitely construction costs that were skin in the game so to speak that that saved CPC money and I wondered if there was a possibility to call that in on this project that's a good [Music] question has um I'd like to cut the cost of this as much as possible I realize the path actually constructing a path would not likely be more than $5,000 uh but that is uh we have liability issues and we have uh old drain of things that sort of weigh in uh we have a couple of quotes there that are at 25 or more uh we got one for 40 but this is It's a path people you I think I think we could handle that but but uh but talking to Matt Silverman uh he's fairly confident that we can negotiate a lot of this down and keep it at 20 uh I I I I think that's the you know the in kind Services would be uh that sort of back and forth if we can do a Hands-On thing there and actually designate stake out where we want to have this path and have that approved and so on and kind of cut back on the engineering expenses uh we'd be happy to see that happen again we're still flirting with $220,000 yes Mark uh who controls that land does it have to go in front of the Conservation Commission or LCT to get permission and would they be capable of providing the inine services so that would have to go before concom to construct the and to do any work essentially within 100 ft of the Lake Shore um so that would require permit in terms of conom having funding for that I'm not saying funding for it I'm saying and I know like you know when the board walks and whatever is going on at Cloverdale they're getting the highway department to contribute um there's other projects that you know LCT goes and says we're building a boardwalk come on out right and you know conservation or donors provide the materials and they find the laborers right but yeah that's that's a good U it's a good point or it's an Eagle Scout project or you know things like that so yeah that that's definitely something to to consider as we move forward I mean if approved the town meeting and approved by the committee prior to that uh CLC would have to get an order of conditions or at least determination of um applicability for proceeding um yeah what when that does occur I mean it would be good to uh to see if there were any scouts or any volunteers that would uh well my other point was if it's on Conservation Commission land then the Conservation Commission actually should also vote to approve it so that you can say that they're agreeing that you can do this path on their property it's Town own land I don't think I don't think it's it is town it's listed as Town own right I just don't know whose control is under yeah not I'm not sure if it's concom or if it's uh all the work was done through the the CLC CLC s d over saw the whole thing so it could be General Municipal right now but I have no idea I'm just if it's controlled by an organization other than the town you know like if it's Conservation Commission land then they probably have to vote on it oh absolutely absolutely sure there was no vote of the type at the time it's just Town Hall Steve susman the rep from from Mil Pon live right next door that this is going to be sweet that is a good point though because concom would have to weigh in on this project even going forward um it's a shame that um you know we didn't have a definitive uh answer I'm tempted to go on g and take a look but um where is it on uh it's um it's at the corner of it's Le war and uh in Harwood Avenue it's one house in from that from that corner I think it it is listed the owner is listed as the town I think it was a tax CL it was a piece of land that was just stray so to speak it was by the L through tax evat or something they actually seem to have a number of a couple of different access points and lots kind of put into that one piece but yeah there's may be wrong well um I mean I I hate to say it but it it I mean if it's if it's under the town I mean kcom obviously still needs to weigh in um is that the select board that makes a final decision on those properties as to who winds up holding them or well no as to to if you want to do something with a town-owned piece of property oh yes I mean if if it's you know like the you know three or yeah 300 King is is in control of the park and wre department but you know other properties are if they're held by the town are generally held by I think under the control of the select board so I think Conservation Commission probably should waigh in and if it's a town own property the select board should probably vote that we're allowing this you guys can to approve a conditional on those other approvals right but it just to make sure that everything's aligned absolutely yeah because I mean if we I don't see a problem with it mind you but it's just to make sure that there is no problem later absolutely go through the proper channels to yeah because if if this was approved and the select board said hey we don't want this to go on the land it would kind of application said that the property owner is Town Littleton and that the project and you received approval from the owner it said yes on the application on the on the eligibility request excuse me well they receive permission for the actual original construction right yes this is to sort of Rectify CC project and that's how that was checked okay yeah so this is to rectify original shortcomings in the original project which actually uh tend to increase the liability the town might have for people using this particular thing um so I think it'd be in the interest of the town to you know make this better um and of course the like any project the conservation Comm commission would have to issue an order of conditions and you know whatever which might might be the extra $155,000 that you know you're talking about so um well I was I was on the lot last week with Tim Pearson and we were looking things over he thought it could probably be accepted without any problem because it is an improvement a relief of of what really is kindy of the treasurous B oh Alicia um you put your hand out I'm sorry that's okay um I was just going to add that uh part of the open space and Recreation plan was um in the future as we're updating or um maintain things we want to be able to try to keep the ADA aab requirements in mind um so I was just thinking if that um has been considered in part of this project because I know we were kind of saying ah well we can go a little bit on the cheaper side I I wouldn't say do that I would say you know think about actually accomplishing and getting that below 3% grade uh something that's going to be more accessible for uh anyone to be able to use I don't think that would be physically possible removing trees ramp but that's a good point I mean that's called an elevator and that's going to Boose the expense just a little good point so the question once again is what bucket if we support this what bucket would it come out and so it seems like the recreation bucket is spoken for is this what I'm hearing or so um no I I wouldn't I wouldn't say that it's spoken for I just I I don't have a a feel for the balances at the moment um if there's a a substantial balance in undesignated it seems like a a reasonable project to use that for if there's not and um and there is a a balance in in the recreation then it's I think it's also appropriate there thanks for your thoughts on that saw this is Mitt I I think it would be it might be showing respect for the process um we need to be show Fidelity to the recreation parks of recreation and Community Education coming to us periodically annually they come to our meetings and and tell us what their thoughts are in terms of budgets and and we ask them to say what's in the pipeline and forecast for us what your needs might be and then if at the last minute if I hear you correctly um Alisha that uh that you weren't aware of this project I think it might be show Fidelity to you for us to take it from undes sorry I didn't know if you want me to speak to that um yes this was kind of a a last minute I found out on Monday uh that this wasn't going to be covered by Capital um so at the it's up to the wishes of the board how you would like to proceed on that so I don't it's I not my place so you know you guys do what you think is best can I ask why you would spend anything out of undesignated rather than spending it out of recreation and move undesignated into Recreation because if you're spending it of undesignated then you really don't have a track of how you're spending the funds because undesignated goes to whatever you want you can move the undesignated into the recreation and then spend it out of recreation and then you can still see what your percentages are it would make much more sense to never spend undesignated money in my opinion yes I wonder if I could speak to that because um it is it it would create some clarity to it and we'd like to document where things come from and that tonight's minutes might serve for that but I think uh kind of uh there's an an anachronism to the the category itself because it's built up over time um outside of um through our budgeting process I don't think we accurately predicted that we'd have such a a large chunk in undesignated so we're trying to think over time to sort of find creative ways to bring it down so that in our process we'll have more carefully bounded each bucket and not have a big fluffy undesignated thing a big which is sort of a a big candy big a big candy bin for people to grab in it would be nice to have a smaller undesignated fund now we did I know there was discussion that you can't move from once something goes into a fund and make sure I'm remembering this correctly that once something is in a fund it cannot be transferred to a different bucket is that correct once it's designated I don't think it can go to undesignated but undesignated could go into or to well or to another that's I guess what I'm asking is is can in fact undesignated be moved to um a specific bucket or does it just get uh spent in in a project I think it can be spent this is Mitt it can be spent uh I think the buckets are there for our purposes for policy they they're not relevant to the CPA we just have to make sure that we don't spend less than 10 that we don't we need to stick to the 10 1070 rule other than that uh it's bookkeeping that serves our policy purposes I think so to have a big undesignated fund is fine we can spend it on anything we want we could yeah because per category the only requirement is that we put 10% like that said into each of the the categories and uh we as a committee have always allocated a little bit more towards the categories based off of the uh the prior and future need of open space housing Recreation and historical um but I know some communities will have the line Che in undesignated and it's a little more at play but I find that when you put a little too much in undesignated the various categories kind of fight amongst themselves for the money as opposed to park and rck knowing that it has x amount open space knowing that it has x amount so it's kind of like a guaranteed pot of money for that particular category again based on need and prior prior use and future use right I think what um s was referring to was last week when Carolyn you know read something just clarifying that we can't transfer between those assigned buckets to like you know take from oh yes right yeah yeah and I guess I might and maybe maybe the solution to this is that we we fund from the recreation bucket and then transfer uh either a similar or or some other amount into the recreation Bucket from undesignated we can do that later when we have the figures in front of us but that's also I mean that's also is that something that we can do or does that also have to go to town meeting yeah anytime money is going from undesignated to a particular category I believe town meeting has to officially voted in I think we something we want to to it could be in the fall but it'd be nice to do it in the bulk we're going to have a fairly uh volumous article anyway so keep something to keep in mind as we're putting together the article or the articles for the the warrant coming up so for tonight's purposes with the article in front I mean the projects are a little tired it's the um projects in front of us uh how do we want to proceed do we want to um I I think it's a little complicated and I didn't quite follow um the uh the rationale or the need for what you the rationale definitely for Sol but I'm not sure the real need for it legally I think to avoid like going on too long about this it's it's a relatively small project I think $20,000 for construction is a small amount so I think it's great that we can do a little Improvement I think we should take it from Recreation just to move things along tonight okay um and then we can say that it's we stay straight in at least one way um and and uh Alisha I appreciate you saying it's up a decision for our board and and we just would encourage people to always come to our meetings ahead if you're if you're thinking about and ask and we appreciate you doing that and just let um folks listen know that you know to approach us there's a lot of discretion that we have to decide whether a project is taken or not although we usually take projects on and award them but um it as a new partner it's great to have a CLC here and I don't think he did anything wrong with this so let's let's push ahead okay would anybody like to make a motion perhaps if there's any further could move that $220,000 from Recreation for milpond boat launch restoration be awarded second okay and did we want to put a condition on this that it's pending site owner does that make sense I think it's owned by the town but the issue would be that you'd have to go through you know the requisite conservation hearings Etc do that you think SEL really would need to vote on whether to I have no idea yeah I know these these poor guys they're trying to keep our water we' given them $1600 I think it's a formality I think the select board voting on it gives you more access to like Highway Department resources for construction I mean on the application or the say application that eligibility request it said all work done will be done by licensed landscape contractor under contract to the water department was that the plan as as we did the original project but of course we're open to uh anything that would get the job done you know get the results we're looking for and uh and save the Town Money those are probably the highest cost contractors I know but that's what it says in our in our people so that's all can I review what we have absolutely um um Bartlett I asked for a motion I guess or suggest it if if it's okay you being um Bartlett moved seconded by mitt wanser that $20,000 from Recreation for mil Pond boat launch restoration be awarded that's all I have right now period does it need to say something about approval pending or how does it going be feel about that I I I think that it's prior suggestion about referring to the minutes you know referring to this discussion about these issues is sufficient um it's my opinion in which well you said well on the subject no on the subject of land ownership uh the conservation process is implied you you know you would have to be you know you would have to do that regardless of what we say um and um the issue of um well the issue of the selectman weighing in on it yeah can happen you're going to be before the selectman just mentioned talk about it you know it's another matter we're undergoing this it's Town owned we did this work in 2014 it was not quite substantial enough and we're trying to rec that and we had CPC [Music] cons um earlier in the minutes I wrote um mark rambacher thought it be prudent to bring the project before the select board who might endorse administration of the project to an agent this Conservation Commission may need to be consulted or appealed to for a permit that sound okay do you want to make a vote do we need in the motion to a reference to taking it out of recreation that would be helpful it's in there it's in there okay so we have a motion and okay so let's vote all right we'll do a real call vote Jerry yes M yes Sam yes Jeff yes myself yes yes and Saul yes all right it's unanimous Perfect all right and then we'll uh proceed to the The Long Lake uh ask of let's see I've got $50,000 for the um Island control at Long Lake as well as the um the uh Eco harvesting uh side of the project weren't there two separate line items I broke those into two separate oh yes yes so I've got 50,000 for the island and then the invasive aquatic management is 27 27 I'm sorry 27 why do I keep goinging up with 21 Which F thinking can we discuss it as a and make one motion do you absolutely absolutely um well I sometimes I'm a member of the CLC um and uh I think they've been really good about protecting Long Lake through multiple different means and this is another it's another tool in a bag especially the removing the mats I think it really make your neighbors happy and um it's something worth trying so I would support it both 50 + 27 is 77,000 let's do it Ste did you have a question so I just thought I mention that um these the Muk Island part those have uh developed probably partly because of herbicides that were used and the plants get killed go down to the bottom the lake they start to decomposed they generate gases they FW up to the top at the top they become a source for other things to start to grow on them and in some Lakes they've done that sort of temporarily and then like in spectal pond they've had this happen and then they go back down to the bottom and they're sort of become part of the bottom in this case they've been uh floating for a while and they have become really a more of a permanent part of the lake uh and they had been kind of waiting for them to disappear and they hav't uh I think if we get them out of there and if we are going to Echo harvesting rather than herbicides which also takes the the invasive plant material out of the lake we probably are breaking the cycle for this kind of thing happening U we have a little bit different situation at B Pond right now because the Beaver Brook uh comes in uh under a bridge instead of you know to some culs there's a big Wetlands between mil Pond and forage Pond a lot of those uh Marsh uh clubs float in and they're similar but much smaller and they're not the permanent sort of uh structure that that these are so I think this may removing the the Muk Islands may be a more of more or less of onetime thing if we're able to do Eco harvesting to take care of the invasive plans going forward thank you how does the echo harvesting comparing cost to the the herbicide treatment almost twice as much it's far more labor intensive all right do we have any other questions or comments before we we uh I just wanted to get the description right um the minutes show right now $50,000 for the hiring of an amphibious excavator for removal of floating vegetative mats in Long Lake um $27,000 for Echo harvesting of aquatic invasive plants that are contributing negatively to the nutrient Rich detrius of the lake bottoms is that a various sites or uh that's throughout the entire perimeter of the lake is it's always inspected the shallow water both of these are long both both of these are long sh of the lake excellent very good all right if there are no other uh comments or questions uh somebody want to make a motion and this would be open space I need to write that in that's a from space all right would somebody like to make a motion I'll make a motion to approve the $77,000 for these two projects moving the Island and Eco harvesting and basic plants taking the money from open space thank you Barlett would somebody like to second second all right we'll do a roll call vote Jerry yes M yes Sam yes Jeff yes myself yes H bartl yes and Saul yes right it's unanimous per thank you very much no problem thank you thank you for your word it's a thank you thank you thank you all this is just great news and now we've got more work to do so I want to know if I can borrow the amphibious excavator we get chug right [Music] over once you get that ramp food I want to launch that thing you should sell rides on it that would be of course that's that's one of those things of the Eco Harvesters everybody sort of gathers around it's it's far more exciting than watching sobody po chemicals in the water well thank you so much thank you for all the work so much we'll be in touch sure have a good night all right is now 808 uh so we're going to jump into the next application uh on our agenda for tonight and that's the application for funding for um historical markers as you may recall we did vote on the eligibility of this project the last time around I did print a couple of these out in case um anybody would like to take a look at them essentially uh perfect so historical commission is asking for $9,990 to replace I'm sorry M I'd love cop oh sure sure thank perfect uh so anyway so the commission is looking for $9,990 to replace refurbish or clean St and deteriorated historic markers which includes plaques and one concrete or Granite base uh these markers are in really rough shape throughout the town and we're looking to uh really start uh getting these things cleaned up and uh replaced or repaired and the costs is G up astronomically in terms of uh replacing the plaques and uh The Monuments alone uh the bases have uh we've gotten quotes for anywhere from uh 2500 to $4,000 a uh a a base so they've gone up substantially um so we're hoping to uh essentially cover a fair uh Fair chunk of these that are on our to-do list uh they include the meeting house uh sign on the common Lawrence Tavern on GRE Road Harley Lumber uh Warren's gmill uh Harley Lumber uher prank Indian town on New Town Road and noober Road the West Schoolhouse on Sanderson Road the Porter Road Bridge which I think a lot of people uh miss you know going down Porter Road it's right there but uh fun yeah and then we've got the East Schoolhouse so there's quite a few uh quite a few of these that have to get done uh but these are the uh the priy ones that we blinded up is uh the first score round of this particular project what's the partly Lumber One GNA say so we'll have to review the language a lot of the language uh this once was the longest continuing it would yeah it would have to change uh and a couple of them would have to be Revisited just because um language can get updated history changes although history doesn't change but it updates like history grows history grows that's the word I'm looking for so um yeah so that's essentially what we're looking for um so I do have um one other copy if anybody would be interested in looking before so um do we have any questions from the committee EXC thank you anybody else have a question any questions from the audience Perfect all right uh new hands raised um with no further uh comments or questions would anybody like to make a motion motion approve historical markers request for $9,990 perfect we have a second second all right we'll do a roll call vote Jerry yes M yes Sam yes Jeff yes myself yes splett yes and Saul yes all right it's unanimous thank you everyone uh so next on the agenda we have another historical projects uh it's an eligibility request an application for funding uh jointly filed by the mat commission and historical commission for graestone preservation at westl um I did print a couple of copies of this as well if anybody would like to take a look um essentially uh this is the fourth phase of uh gravon preservation at West laon um previously the CPC has been very very helpful in granting uh $9,950 each year for work to get done and roughly um roughly 17 to 20 gravestones have gotten done um for the second and third phase the third base is still in progress and we'll actually wrap up um in the early summer of this year and then once that's wraps wrapped up we're hoping to begin this phase of uh work if the committee so approves this uh application in town meeting of course um so uh we would be hiring a uh preservation uh consultant firm to come in once again and uh we would have that Target goal of getting another 17 to 20 gravestones uh preserves um during the next uh year or so with hopefully this project ending uh in the early summer of 2025 but um so yeah essentially it's a continuation of uh the project that's been gone on that's been ongoing at westl um and previously at Old bearing ground and and that's what we have for you tonight does anybody have any questions on the committee I'm sort of catching up with the notes um and maybe for the sake of expediency if artlet and Jeff you felt still favorable and warm towards this project the Motions use our Nam what would the language say thank you um that how much money 995 is that that's very similar to 99 okay these are two separate projects 995 excellent full from historic resources y um for how many grad some Restorations uh between 17 and 20 and so we would have to vote on the eligibility first and then the actual application for funding I I move we vote uh on the to uh find this application eligible for funding especially since it's the uh a subsequent phase of previous work that has been funded thank you second all right it's moving seconded uh the r call vote Jerry yes M yes Sam yes Jeff yes myself yes bin yes and Saul yes all right it's unanimous thank you everyone so um now we'll just need a motion for the funding um would somebody like to make a uh motion for the funding application would you like to read the motion I will um the one that Bartlet moved you seconded yeah is that okay yes fine great um the motion is that um $9,950 from historic resources from the restoration uh for the restoration of 17 to 20 greatstone markers be awarded all right it's moved well actually barley could you so move and I'll second thank you all right so mooving seconded we'll do a roll call vote Shar yes M yes Sam yes yes uh Jeff yes myself yes Bartlet yeah and Saul yes perfect thank you all right well thank you everyone like I'm running on like two cylinders tonight so excuse me if I'm rambling all right um we'll jump right down to the park and Recreation Commission uh there's an eligibility funding request for court resurfacing at 300 King Street um Alicia and salul did you want to uh jump into that yeah I can um again thank you guys so much for allowing us to present this this tonight because this was definitely the last minute thing which I always you know feel really bad bringing this to you guys so I do really appreciate your time with this um so this funding was originally um we presented this for Capital funding um and the idea behind this is we need to rehabilitate some of the cracks that are at the basketball court surface sures um at 300 uh 300 King Street uh we would also need to resurface those courts as well um and another component um I guess is more of that creativity um category that you have um we did want to be able to put up some temporary pickle ball lines um on some of the basketball courts just to replace the ones that have been recently demolished um and we have some idea for a few other like social games that would be uh for multigenerational use um so that's that's ultimately the the ask um I did put on here we had a quote that was given to us um a while back a couple months ago that was only valid for I think it was 10 days um so I had put um essentially 3% on top of that in case the prices had gone up so that gets us to that um 32,000 uh was it 10 sorry $ 32,1 um and then again if there is no need for that obviously all of that money would come back to the CPC so that's just kind of the the general overview if you have any questions I am very happy to uh answer them thank you does the committee have any questions questions for L and sa I I just um you know reading the proposal and looking at your very great diagram here um are these other things going to be part of this I see a half court I see pickle ball there's shuffle board is that part of the resurfacing yes um because part of that they would have to redo the paint on there um so as we would do that reserving the repainting we would add those components on okay um does anybody have a paper copy of this so so an could take a look I'm sorry I didn't PR one okay worries I I do can I just see it for a few minutes yeah yeah no no no I'm I'm fine it has a proposal it has a diary um I'm just trying to see what how um how is this not considered maintenance and I know it's not done but how do that's a good question because for the recreation category um let me see how that would fall here under our brid of this is not a it's not a regular maintenance activity it's it's really a a restoration sorry need to talk we top of you but uh part of that is the rehabilitation because um part of the images that I sent you guys can see that there are some extremely long cracks uh and those will need to be rehabilitated before we can actually do any resurfacing to those cracks or to those surfaces then looking at the uh the grid that I printed out for tonight Rehabilitation and restoration of um recreational facilities is a permitted use under that particular buet okay so but support is not so it's a very uh very good point um okay does anybody on the committee have any further questions any questions from the audience seems like a wory [Music] project what's the location 300 King Street next to castle with no tree all right um last call for committee comments and questions oh M what's the dollar number sorry ,000 okay wait no oh sorry sorry sorry Alicia I must give you more money I didn't hear the question I'm sorry 32110 or 80,000 yeah 2,110 thank you than I you almost go away with it from Recreation Recreation for the um tennis court resurfacing project basketball court yeah thank you all right there's no uh there aren't any other commity comments or questions uh anything from the audience one last call okay all right uh would somebody like to make a motion what we have before us I will uh I moved that $ 32,1 110 from Recreation for basketball court resurfacing project at 300 King Street we awarded so we have a second second all right so moving seconded we'll do a roll call votes Jerry yes or um M yes Sam yes Jeff yes myself yes B yes and Saul yes all right it's unanimous thank you I really appreciate it um before we before we let Alicia go I want to put her on a spot a little bit uh we had a previous project or a potential project um that's currently in the the budget for free cash spending which is a uh additional dock on the beach yep um and I wanted to to kind of get the committee's opinion as to whether that would be an eligible project and we don't have all the details in front of us but um it seems like the sort of project that we had talked about working with uh fincom and the select board to to fund through CPC and reimburse through free cash to increase the Blended fund usage um but I didn't know if there was a reason it wasn't eligible or some reason that we wouldn't go down that path the only information that I got from um Robin Healey was that uh it was approved to go through free cash for the uh capital request um so that was the only reason that I'm aware of so Saul you're saying that if it is eligible that we could attempt to funnel the free cash through the CPC uh to increase our Blended fund goal correct I have a note in my Capital um budget to discuss that Monday night to see if that was something we could add to it or not um if you felt that it was a restoration as opposed to maintenance oh actually isn't is it replacing the existing dock or adding a dock it's a little bit of both so the uh previous dock that we have we have not been able to use for a few years um the plastic is um eroding it's got cracks it fills with water it's impossible to get in and out um so yes we were looking to replace uh the old do with this that seems eligible yeah if you look on the uh chart here for allow J for recreation creating and preserving and Rehabilitation just restoration it's all it sounds like it would fall within those categories acquire create buy a new DOT buy new raft this is a raft not not a dock is that correct no it's a dock is it it's actually it's the the what used to be a sort of a walking pier in the middle of the beach oh gotcha okay great and fr had some purposes that doesn't exist anymore that's correct correct we providing one acquire a new one yeah I think it's eligible would so so I you know the the challenge is it's going to it's going to come late but it seems like we're going to have a number of things like that anyway so um Jerry maybe this is for for you guys to to see if it makes sense to make that sort of swap yeah no I agree so then we would okay so we you'd have to bring an application forward really quickly right I'm not sure what the cut off is to make the warrant it's coming up on us fast um if the committee did hold perhaps a special meeting uh within the next couple of weeks the warrant closes Monday Monday okay yeah so I mean we're meeting Monday so we could decide and do we I mean do we have a warrant article to approve because there's a whole bunch of things that need to go into that I'm not not even sure how that so come with a warrant I don't know why this could be an add-on to your warrant article right because you already have an article you're not adding an article you're just we could have a placeholder it's just since this project wasn't listed on the agenda for tonight we couldn't vote right right I understand that what I'm saying is you're going to have a warrant article that list all of these and you can just be on the little green sheet that prints out that says we added this one yeah we could entally do that um because this yeah I mean Park and W could perhaps request a placeholder for now on the warrant and if the article doesn't get approved it could always be removed um does that that's correct if you guys I can fill out an eligibility and application and get that to you tomorrow that's something that you really would like that' be great and then um we you could like I said request a uh a placeholder and then uh maybe submit it for committee review an upcoming uh meeting hopefully soon you can probably put it as a placeholder on your current article right and then if it whatever the number is and then if you guys vote don't vote to report it later do do we have a a number for this right now actually I mean you have a price for this new dock I I don't have it right in front of me so I apologize for that but I know it's around like 55,000 okay oh the number I had in my sheet was 42436 unless that changed nope then you're probably right okay okay yeah so Alicia if you could look into that um okay I will do be touch with Carolyn and uh perhaps we can get something moving for the next meeting and uh and uh before time meeting okay perfect is there any way that that um this doc could be um construed as a a normal business that normal thing that would be funded by the town and not by Community preservation because there's an issue with CPC money replacing things that are the town is funding it they will be transferring money to CP but it still ends up being CPC yeah even though it's back supported back through the back door I mean very straightforward okay yeah I mean we could say yeah just have the town do it but by adding to the Blended I understand that I'm just saying if you know without the CPC if the town would fund it then then you know we're we're replacing a line item in in the town budget and that's not what we're supposed to do but I think the Blended funds allows the town to be able to do that up to that okay two% they can't do it more than that and they can't do it for the first 1% but I think that's that's how it's worded how I read it okay all right we will uh we will await uh that from Alicia and perk and rck and uh why don't we go ahead and move on to our next uh project uh number seven on our agenda the affordable housing trust eligibility and funding requests for the rental assistance program and future housing project Planning Development expenses Mr chair if I may yes of course and Houston chair of the affordable housing trust and need to open our meeting since we have a quum of our members Mander Harlot Harvey Mark graer and myself at 832 thank you excellent thank you all right so um did you all want to move up a little bit or did I guess you can stay there it doesn't really make a difference Carla would you like to present I'm sure um you have should everybody have um my I've got electronic eligibility no it's is it it's the one that says 90 not the 80 90,000 right so I'm requesting um $90,000 for community housing housing um the project description that I wrote is the Housing Trust forms and implements the housing policies of the community preservation committee the trust has has had for several years a rental assistance program managed jointly with the Elder and Human Services Department EHS presents candidates for assistance to the trust and the trust votes to provide Aid the anount of Aid has been limited to $250 per household per month paid directly to the landlord with an annual reapplication required and a limit of 3 years duration no more than 20 recipients have been in the program at any one time the trust voted on March 18th this year to increase the payment to $500 per month effect July 1st and to limit the number of participants to 15 the budget figure of 90,000 is derived from the calculation of 15 recipients time 500 time 12 months 500 is in line with the neighboring Town programs and will provide needed help some of our residents and I checked the support box under housing in the second page I as a check Reserve but I think support is probably better is that that so that's that's the request for eligibility so how much money 90,000 9 Z so bar I've got 880,000 on the application that I'm looking that that was my previous application which which has been edited on that application I was applying money based on on the old budget oh thank you of um $60,000 which we had spent on on um on the rental assistance program plus some money for incidental expenses related to our property Acquisitions and because we increased the amount that we're paying to the recipients of the rental assistance I increased this total sum and took out the incidental expenses for the property Acquisitions because we have enough in our bank to um cover those incidental expenses and we're looking at you know surveyors and and septic systems and um possibly signing up with Habitat to build one of the units two of the [Music] units so this is a different application which is funding just the Littleton rental assistance program I see okay so you feel that the increase in the amount I that's very good and the decrease of participants from 20 to 15 will not negatively affect yeah I mean at one point during during Co there were 20 20 participants but most of the time it's been 12 to 13 and and quite fair amount of turnover four or five drop out and and or move and four or five join per year usually so 15 will notot hampy when Distributing we think not but I think you're doing it's your best yes yes it's a reasonable guess I think and several towns have done are doing $500 a month um Westford which is we're not competing with um has just adopted $750 a month rental assistance but that's with the two-year [Music] limit okay all right I have anything to add I don't believe so any questions um so first I mean it this seems eligible I mean we've done this in the past we have done it in the past okay any question further questions from the committee comments any questions from the audience all right very good uh would somebody perhaps like to make a motion M do you want to tell us what our motion should be shaking my head is this the eligibility eligibility okay I need to type okay [Music] um that the affordable housing trust project supporting a few dozen households through monthly rental assistance be deemed eligible I wouldn't go doesn't 20 up to 20 up to 15 15 up to 15 sorry I say 15 to 20 that gives us a little wiggle room in case there's a epidemic of some kind okay um uh yeah at the affordable housing trust the project is to fund the affordable housing trust is to fund this particular program of the Housing Trust okay this particular project yes yeah program project progam yeah and we'll explain a little bit more about why it would be more specific is there a reason you need to say a number we could probably just leave that part yeah right um you guys are waiting for me to say let's see Jeff Yates moved back um the affordable housing trust project to support rental assistance program be deemed eligible as as outlined in their eligibility application can I leave that out that's been implied [Music] in I I did it's in the minutes so exactly no thanks for asking me I think we're good perfect and do we have a second you pick Jerry has second is this is supposed to work okay thank you all right so moved and seconded uh we'll do a roll call vote Jerry yes M yes Sam yes jeck I ber hi and Saul are yes oh perfect all right we're unanimous thank you everyone yes thank you very much so now we'll just have to vote on the actual funding requests for this particular project so did um did you want to add something else well I I have a little explanation um like trying to answer the project description and goals and stuff'll be great okay affordable housing trust application for CPC funding the project is to support Littleton renters in need of financial assistance using the trusts rental assistance program eligible eligible residents are vetted and recommended by Elder and Human Services and payments are made directly to the participating landlords this program has helped many families stay in their homes affordable housing is a goal of the CPC and of the town's master plan the trust program keeps residents in their homes both during temporary setbacks and for some longer term issues the funding is requested for the fiscal year starting July 1st 2024 and is the maximum amount that can be used on the trust policies of $500 payments per month per household and limit of 15 participants at any one time time I said maximum because I expect that it'll actually be less we won't use that full amount um in cases where the rent is less than $500 the payment is limited to the actual rent charged participants are admitted to the program as EHS processes their applications so some will continue in the program past June 30th 2025 and that's just to indicate that it's a continuing rolling program in in the past um if have you spent less than you planned or what happens then do you have some kind of rollover amount or how does that work no we budget we budget an amount and then we've never gone up even close to that okay and it just stays in in our bank account okay it's one of the things that's built our bank account out to such a irresponsible height I'm not strike that from the right that was a bleep yeah there's a lot of coughing during that comment thank you for it sounds great um I will move to um we have to vote on the funding actual funding now yes okay I will move to um that $90,000 from community housing on Jeff yes you go ahead I'll just move my lips silently be awarded to support the affordable housing trust rental system perfect and before that motion is in effect I just want to make sure there weren't any other comments or questions before we move forward anybody all right very good all right so mits uh got that who who's going to so move that Jeff oh Jeff okay a second do we have a second second thank you all right let we moveed and seconded we'll do a real call votes Jerry yes M yes Sam yes Jeff yes myself yes Bartlett yes and Saul yes thank you all right it's unanimous thank you everyone thank you okay so that all set uh number eight on the agenda for tonight we uh had other projects that may come for the committee and we touched on the the dock for Park and Recreation a little earlier so we'll uh we'll await that uh is there anything else that we think may come before the committee prior to uh prior to the uh the warrant closing any other priority projects that yes while would this be an AI time oh certainly certainly all right thank you live libster 33 Bal Roadster and also 25 B Road for purposes of this evening uh so bit of a pallet cleanser i' like to thank everyone for all their unanimity all along including backing up to November 1st so that we may look forward to May 7th so in case hasn't been brought around to everyone the select board is working to bring the Webster land acquisition back up to the annual town meeting on May 7th so we are here to seek the support of community preservation committee once again as a uh refresher and as promised bot cleanser as you may recall on a very long evening I think the fincom all of there W to keep all of our Triple A rating and all they do to watch our resources but there are fortunately other committees that see other resources in town so I gratefully presented the unanimous support for acquiring the w Land by the historic commission the Littleton conservation trust the Conservation Commission and the sustem commit preservation commission we would seek that again so the select board and New Town Administrator are working to get a new appraisal with new factors brought in to get the appraisal up to a level where Community preservation committee funds could actually be used so we learned a lot leading up to last November how things work in town and how occasion they do not so we would like to see this move forward again and we would like to request again the support of this board and since it will be coming back to you after it makes through channels of Town Administrator and the select board Conservation Commission and back Community preservation commission for funding we would like you to know about that since it's now March and may isn't far away thank you l so um the select board I imagine um or perhaps I'm not sure entity will actually be applying for this uh so so there's a place holder on the warrant that I believe that uh the goal is to use CPC funds to purchase the property so it needs to be a CPC article um on the warrant but there is a placeholder for it right now so you're saying there's a new you're getting a new appraisal yes okay when do you expect to have that in time have been working on this since November 6th let everything else rallied together thank you as always Lyall and uh we'll be on the lookout for this um possibly within the next month or so than I would imagine yes so certainly we've got a whole host of things you're watching and doing all the work to get it through so there is a placeholder looking to get language ready before we go to PR sh all these things to cut the amount of inserts and the war excellent thank you very much thank you so I don't know if you guys need to formally put in the warrant article or we're going to put it in and say short we well we you know we have to know the numbers but we because we have to make sure we have money right right so there's two different things one is it has to be in the warrant by Monday and then the number has to be in by town meeting right in your vote we we did vote before last town meeting before we found out that we couldn't I mean we did vote for this um I also just want to mention I saw you at the meeting last night where we're looking at the map with your property on it and it became more you know interesting to have open space in that part of town with when we're seating it with potentially a lot more anyway so thank you Jeff yes didn't need to editorialize but part of the story line for the Websters is there's a great deal of development being planned has to town grow we're close to Bost we're going to continue to grow the Websters are seeking to help with undevelopment and value of this land has suppori those forign boards and commissions this is the original land of wilon that home the original home of the bues before it was Littleton this is the crossover of colonial and pre-colonial history on this ground as great as it is to have 300 plus years of the bukley farm it's the nooba from all the centuries before that and we do have ceremonial Stone landscape property so literally have the ability to come down on the right side of History by voting to preserve this and as much as it has been the honor of our family to be only two families since Colonial settlers have taken care of this property bran and I are the stewards dour as I've been saying but we won't be around forever and we would like this preserve forever so that's why so you've been practicing your town meeting spe each yes sir excellent yeah so you're confident that this is this present this route will work confident enough that we've been funding it for six more months yes so we bought out all the other siblings because we have enough runway in front of us to get there so we have been securing this property for going on two years now so that the town could have the opportunity to preserve it forever after we thank you greatly thank you L all right so we'll we'll be on the look out for that and did you have a question I just um since we're convened uh should we be discussing it in terms of like raw dollar figures [Music] or I mean because it came to what last time I thought about it as this is me the taxpayer now last time I thought about it was sitting in town meeting saying well you know this could happen and and it and it's not the CPC money so I took that hat off I'm putting it back on now as a committee person and this is the first time I've sort of really had to think about it so when are we going to deliberate and discuss it so once we receive an application for eligibility and funding we would actually be able to dive into the numbers and consider what we have in reserves the impacts and um of course that would have to go I assume maybe concom would be proposing the actual um applications for eligibility and funding um we haven't discussed that on the concom um but um so we would get the the two applications before us we will review them and uh essentially dive into them for tonight's purposes since it's not an explicitly posted um um item item on the agenda we can't really take any votes or do anything um anything like that but um I understand yeah that that'll make sense I guess then um it would feel like uh it would feel like a good process I have no problem not talking about it more tonight I being assured that in the in our next meeting we might look at eligibility we try to separate eligibility from applications for funding and you know this is a press because we're coming up on calendar issues yeah we've done we've uh we haven't followed that plan much tonight but it would be nice to talk about it in terms of because what we usually do is assuming it's a really big ticket item is we want to make sure that we press against our presenter and say have you beat the bushes for partners you know do you have skin in the game these are the types of questions we ask and you know are there other funds in the town that that could be you know brought and we we do have uh some fundraising efforts I know through the community Through Littleton conservation trust so all that stuff is things that I'd like to discuss absolutely before we're having a look at the dollar figure I think it's a very important part because there will be a lot of moving parts to something like this as we uh noted in the last go around uh see I think it would be very helpful um and I would hope that uh you know prior to us actually holding our next meeting there would be a chance for materials to get out to the committee members for review um not to discuss of course du to open meeting law but um but to review and give us a really good sense of what we're looking at in terms of appraisals proposed uh estimates from this committee um and any other funds that may come from say the trust grants um so yeah it's it's going to be it's going to be a process and a compact process unfortunately but um but yes so we um we will wait those applications and we'll see where and and also if there's a a pass from um the administration or or fincom about how we would would go about making the purchase whether it's a a straight purchase or a bonding or there's there's other layers there and and actually saw this has come up uh I know that fincom has promoted bonding CPC funds which increases our capacity I mean that's something that he I think that's something that we should look into I don't think this committee has any experience Bond conservation has well there are I mean when Carolyn shows up the overall there there are some projects that have been CBC projects have been bonded in the past right yeah right and and the tennis court is one that we is is maybe a model because that's a um was bonded and then the funds are coming from or the the town is depositing the equivalent of the bond payment each year into Blended funds um so it's sort of that that mixing of of Blended fund and and direct payment but but I guess the question was who does the like the town bonds it I mean is this is my head explodes thinking about I know it's happened but yeah I don't remember participating in it except to S do it say you know I'm glad you're coming back yes when is your the next CPC meeting typically it's uh the thir Wednesday of the month so that would be have a calendar in front of me [Music] unfortunately 16th so April 16th I'm sorry 17 so it's earlier in the month okay all right so just for clarity you're hoping to say eligibility on the 17th and then May 1 vote funding effectively or something like that I think that would be good or maybe we could do it what I's got to get the actual ask to you and he yeah may not have it by April 17th on the actual cost right so it's going to be much probably closer to town meeting time so I don't know I I don't know if it matters to anybody else but the 17th is vacation week uh um I will once again be away but can can do this again be better to move it up or back you also away that week yeah okay uh what should we do then let's see not a problem for me not vacation let's take a look you're going to have to be here twice so I mean the alternative would be April 24th the the last Wednesday of the month is that earlier and we have the doc thing also we do yeah uh let's see so hisorical commission meets the second Wednesday of the month which would mean that Linda and myself would be off but um if we could get a Corum together um I'll be here so we'll have to maybe we'll put a a doodle pull out to to get a good date together because I'm not sure what will work for Carolyn and uh she does typically attend the historical commission meetings too so so we'll um yeah why don't we do that we'll put a do a little pull out to see what would work best sort of on the earlier side would be much more absolutely well I think you're saying you won't have information earlier right right but if you wanted to yeah well what if we can do the eligibility discussion okay you wanted to separate this earlier is probably better if you want them all together then later it's better okay and you wanted a thorough discussion Ian you don't think we could do it at the same meeting we could I think it I I just want to advocate for as a reminder at least that we we do