AI-generated transcript of Community Preservation Committee Meeting 04/24/18

[Roberta Cameron]: So this is the meeting of the Community Preservation Committee at the Medford Media Center at the high school on Tuesday evening, what is the date?

[Cheryl Rodriguez]: April 24th.

[Roberta Cameron]: Thank you. So I'm going to call the meeting to order. We are going to be accepting presentations today for the first round of applications for Community Preservation Act funding. First we're going to just review and accept minutes from the previous meeting But then I would like to outline how this evening of presentations is going to work. In the meantime, before we get started, I would like to let everyone know that we are collecting written comment as well as verbal comment. So I invite you to put your signature on the posters that we've put on the door so that you can let us know if you're here. in support of or in opposition to any of the projects that are on the slate for this round of applications. And we've also provided some index cards that we'll invite you to leave written comments on if you'd prefer, rather than stepping up to the microphone. But with that, shall we review and accept the minutes?

[sBk_gQcj4fU_SPEAKER_04]: I'll make a motion to approve the minutes of the last meeting.

[Roberta Cameron]: All in favor? Aye. Thank you. And so we'd like to invite our first applicant to come to the microphone. That is going to be the Roberts School PTO. What we're asking everyone to do this evening is to give a very brief presentation, perhaps five minutes. All of the committee members have had the opportunity to review the application already, and we are hoping to respect everyone's time this evening to have question and answer and public comment and question and answer within a half an hour or less for each of the projects. So we're going to keep on a timeline. Mike Lewis, committee member, is going to help us to keep on a timeline this evening so that we can have everybody have all of the presentations by 9 o'clock this evening. And with that, I'll invite you to come up.

[Cheryl Rodriguez]: Okay, so hi, I'm Cheryl Rodriguez. I'm representing the Roberts PTO. We put in our application for the surfacing of our playground to be replaced. The surface of the playground was put in around 2003 when the school opened, and it was slated to last for eight to 10 years, so now it's past replacement. I brought the actual pictures if it's easier for the committee to look at, thanks. So we're at a point where this is poor in place and they've been trying to patch, but this is what it looks like today. Close to 600 students play on this playground every day. We're the largest elementary school in the city. So this is very well utilized. Just today on this beautiful day when I went to pick up my daughter, there were probably 30 to 40 younger siblings playing on the playground before dismissal and easily 200 after school. So this is a well-loved and utilized playground to the point that when I went to get my pictures, I could not find a day to take a picture where there wasn't a family playing there. So we're just hoping to have the surfacing done. We made this application as lean as possible. We haven't asked for anything other than the surfacing. The playground equipment was inspected and found to be fine and can continue to be used. We haven't asked for a bench or a planting. We've only asked for the surfacing. We picked rubber interlocking tile, which needs to be professionally installed. The reason we picked that is because it has zero maintenance requirements. So this won't happen again. We won't have the holes. It'll be just like this. So if there is damage to a tile, a tile can be replaced singly. And it'll look like this for the next 15 years. So it's really a great product. It's extremely safe. And we're excited to have a new playground.

[Roberta Cameron]: Thank you. So I'd like to see if any of the committee members have questions. If you do have a question, please use the mic. So indicate, if you're not close to the mic, indicate that you'd like to use the mic. Yes?

[Bm5-jrZInBw_SPEAKER_07]: Cheryl, I'm just curious. I can't picture this playground in my mind, but does only school people have access to it, or is it open to the public?

[Cheryl Rodriguez]: It's open to the public outside of the school day. So during the school day, it's just the students, but outside of the school day, in the summer, on the weekends, at night, it's very well used. Can I make a comment on it?

[Erin DiBenedetto]: It's also well lit, so even late in the evenings, the whole community goes there, because it is the only lit park in the neighborhood.

[Cheryl Rodriguez]: Yes, it is lit.

[Erin DiBenedetto]: It's a community value as well as the spiritual inside it.

[qIvMl_-GSJQ_SPEAKER_17]: Thank you for the application. It's very complete, very thorough. A couple questions. You mentioned in the application that this request for repairs for this has gone back to when Mayor McGlynn was mayor. Did you never, you never got any traction obviously in the last, that's at least three years ago now, trying to obviously take a a project that is a need in the community and get it fixed. Can you talk a little bit about that just so I can understand the background?

[Cheryl Rodriguez]: Well, I started trying to find funding for this project when my daughter was in kindergarten. My daughter is now a fourth grader, so yay, we're hoping she's going to get that one more year at the school. I was told that I could fundraise the money if I had wanted to, and our PTO was not in a position to raise $100,000 extra. We do provide a lot of funding for the school. We do enrichment nights. We're preparing for field day. We buy t-shirts for all the students. We have entertainment, snacks. We do the book fair. We buy books for the library, books for the teachers. We buy school supplies at the beginning of the year. We do in-school enrichment. We pay for buses for field trips. So we're around $25,000 in expenses a year. And it's a very dynamic and involved group that helps to raise these funds and we're very fortunate. But $100,000 we would be raising for the next probably 20 years because we still have to provide that core amount of funding every year.

[qIvMl_-GSJQ_SPEAKER_17]: And plus you said you can't actually do the construction because the city has to do that, right? For bidding purposes. You can't do it even if you wanted to.

[Cheryl Rodriguez]: Right, this project has to go out to bid. Unfortunately, I tried to make the application leaner by saying, oh, can we do the demo? Because that was around $30,000 just for the demo. We were able to talk to the playground company, and they said if we hired a landscaper, that would be half the cost. So that's how we took out some there, and they said by having it professionally done, it could decrease the amount of repair we have to do to the substructure when we take it out, but it has to be done by hand. It cannot be done with a machine, unfortunately. So, yeah, unfortunately, because it's city land, we cannot just have volunteers go in there and tear it out and put it in. And because of the intricacy of the installation, it has to be professionally done.

[qIvMl_-GSJQ_SPEAKER_17]: My last question is about the schedule. It seems like you have, it's extremely tight. If the city bidding process doesn't go smoothly, you might run out of time at the end of the summer potentially. Would you build this in September if you had to? I know it wouldn't be ideal or into the school year if you actually had to do that. Beyond your control obviously.

[Cheryl Rodriguez]: I like to be in control, so I hope to leave this meeting and speak to the Building and Grounds Subcommittee and say, we really want to be on the ground the day after, if we make it through this round, the day after the City Council hears this, we want the bid to go out immediately and do it as quickly as possible. They told us it was five to ten days of construction. We would not want to do it in September, it would be very sad. But we really do want to have this done as soon as possible. We have another project where we're going to be painting the rainbow outside the school, so we want this to be a fabulous start to the school year. And I do have a school committee member with me, Aaron DeBenedetto.

[Erin DiBenedetto]: A little shorter. A lot shorter. Anyway, so the school committee has been behind Cheryl in this process. We had talked about doing this. Cheryl took action. She just really was right on it. This is going to set a precedent for all the other schools as well. And we want to see how this material holds up and does well and figure out ways to fund this. Because the school budget is only You know, so big, and we really are buying books and technology and other things. So it's not that this isn't a priority for us, but this is a great way for us to get started. And I really am grateful for the opportunity. I am on the Buildings and Grounds Subcommittee. Mia Mastone is the head of that. She's very much in favor of this project and it moving forward. I think as a committee, I don't want to speak for the committee as a whole, but as a member, I know it's a priority for all of us. We would be thrilled to take this money and run with it and have it ready for the children in September. Director of Buildings and Ground, John McLaughlin, knows about it. He did the preliminary research on the products. This is his recommendation. He's on board. We're all behind it. The superintendent, I just met with him before I came in. He's like, go get that money. So we're just very hopeful, and I think this is a great first project for the CBA. So that way, so many children, 600 children that go to the school, plus all the children in the neighborhood, you're affecting very many people with these dollars. So I think it's a great way to do it. Did I sell you yet? Thank you. I hope so.

[Roberta Cameron]: Any other questions? I wanted to ask, how would you anticipate the city is going to be paying for future school yard improvements after this?

[Erin DiBenedetto]: We're gonna show them how great this works, and then we're gonna just take action and steps and make this as best a priority as we can. We're gonna be having a major transition in the school department with our superintendent and our administration, so seeing this beautiful new thing and how safe it is for the children, we need to move forward in that direction, and this is our first step.

[Roberta Cameron]: Thank you. I think there was another question behind you. Sorry, my back.

[_Zabvvh8vxM_SPEAKER_18]: Yeah, that's actually two questions. One is about, is it possible that when the current surface is removed that there might be additional work discovered in the sub-base, or is that

[Erin DiBenedetto]: Why don't you come forward? She's the expert.

[Cheryl Rodriguez]: So our estimate includes $10,000 in repair to the substrate so hopefully it'll be less but they said they did that on the high side so that we wouldn't have a surprise coming in.

[_Zabvvh8vxM_SPEAKER_18]: And none of the existing structures needs to be moved or damaged or anything else by this process?

[Cheryl Rodriguez]: They actually said they can do it without removing any of the equipment, which is amazing. And I'll be down there watching them do it, because there's a lot of equipment there. And they're going to install the tiles one by one and cut each one to fit. So we're getting a really custom product here.

[_Zabvvh8vxM_SPEAKER_18]: Great. And my question is for the school committee member. Following up on what Roberta had just asked, could you just describe a little bit about the capital improvement plan for the school department in terms of the playgrounds? And I think one concern that we have, since we're just starting to fund, is that if one group comes and sees that we'll fund school playground improvements, what's to prevent all the other schools from coming and saying, you did this?

[Erin DiBenedetto]: This particular playground is a little different, because it's a community playground. It's the only lit playground in the area, so that really justifies this being a community project, and that benefits the school children as well. So we're looking for a community project for that neighborhood that also benefits the 600 children in the school community. So it does both. There's only eight hours that the school really takes use of this, and there's 24 hours in a day, so there's a lot of the community that can use it other than that. As far as the capital improvement plan, I think that question would be best answered by Mayor Burke directly, because we're still working on those priorities, especially with the new superintendent coming. Some of those changes might come forward. We do have a grant application out as well within the community for improvements, especially at our high school building. So we are always working on improvement and capital improvements throughout the school districts. But this is a great opportunity not only to help the school, but also help the whole community in that area.

[_Zabvvh8vxM_SPEAKER_18]: OK. Thank you.

[Erin DiBenedetto]: Anything else? No? Good.

[Roberta Cameron]: All right. Any other questions from the committee? Would anyone like to share comments, questions? All right. Thank you. Thank you very much. I'd just like to remind everyone to sign in. There's a sign-in sheet. So if you leave after a presentation, please make sure that you've signed in. And if you have any further comments, you can leave them for us in writing. So our next applicant. I'm sorry. Yes.

[SPEAKER_15]: No, I was just going to ask, how many applicants

[Roberta Cameron]: For tonight, we have three applicants with a total of five projects. Some of the applicants have multiple projects.

[SPEAKER_15]: So after every project, we'll have the committee members ask questions for about 10 or 15 minutes. Oh, if you're not on the agenda.

[Roberta Cameron]: Okay, so a public comment period we

[Bm5-jrZInBw_SPEAKER_07]: You mean general, not based on the applications, but just in general? Is that what you're asking?

[SPEAKER_15]: Yeah, a presentation from the commercial sector. We don't have an application before you right now. You still want to present something verbally. You said you could.

[sBk_gQcj4fU_SPEAKER_04]: Yeah, that would probably be at another meeting. This meeting today is just to go over those that have applications.

[SPEAKER_15]: That's what I was told at the last meeting, at the GPW. So you never get a chance to speak. unless you're on this, you know, you have an application in front of you. So how does that work?

[sBk_gQcj4fU_SPEAKER_04]: I mean, we've had a lot of meetings. I think this specific meeting and then the next one in two weeks is just for the presentations of the ones that have already submitted and pre-approved applications. You can certainly talk to Danielle anytime she has office hours in the mayor's office. She worked with all these groups, have talked and worked with Danielle to get a pre-application approved. an application approved and then to be honest.

[SPEAKER_15]: So there's never going to be a venue where you can just come up and speak on something?

[Roberta Cameron]: We have in the past had people come up and talk to us.

[SPEAKER_15]: I've been to world meetings and there's never an opportunity I've seen. It's always like this. It's structured in a way that If you have something to present, unless you have an application, you don't get a chance to speak.

[Bm5-jrZInBw_SPEAKER_07]: We usually have a public comment session at the end.

[0HXibsUvumY_SPEAKER_14]: Through the chair, can we go through the whole process if we have extra time? If we can allow the business community to get up and say a few words? Yes, that's fine.

[Roberta Cameron]: If we can receive all of the applicants who are on the agenda, then we'd like to listen to give you some time at the end. Thank you. Thank you for that suggestion. All right, the next applicant this evening is Medford Community Housing. Thank you.

[SPEAKER_20]: It's a little bit tight, but.

[Susan Collins]: Hi, thank you for allowing us the opportunity to apply for funding from the Community Preservation Fund. Medford Community Housing. I'm Susan Collins. I'm the executive director. I'm here with two of our board members, David Brosnan, our treasurer, and Henry Rappa, our president. Thank you. Medford Community Housing was founded and operates for the purpose of making housing affordable, safe, and inclusive for all people who live and work in the city of Medford. Our goals are, number one, to promote the development, rehabilitation, and maintenance of affordable housing in Medford. with a special focus for limited and moderate income people. Number two, to encourage the development of a caring community in Medford. Number three, to maintain and enhance the cultural, racial, ethnic, and economic diversity of the Medford community. Number four, to take any other actions appropriate for the enhancement of the social and economic well-being of Medford community. We feel the production of these affordable housing units will assist the city to reach the mandate of 10% of the community's housing stock to be affordable. Medford, as this committee is aware, is at 7%. There's a two to seven year waiting list for housing vouchers with a housing authority for two and three bedroom units. We've worked with the city in assisting in the rehab and development of affordable housing in Medford over the last few years while growing in our capacity to produce more units. This funding will assist another subsidy for smaller projects like ours that don't have the ability to be given tax credits or state funding. New construction is limited in federal funding programs, for example, like community development block grants. We think this project aligns with the goals of the CPC Committee to preserve Medford's income and demographic diversity by sustaining and increasing Medford's supply of affordable housing for families, seniors, and individuals. It will facilitate investing affordable housing that will preserve and complement the character of existing neighborhoods. It will support low and moderate income housing, access to housing that they can afford. And I'd like to turn it over to Henry and David, because they'll be answering questions along with myself.

[SPEAKER_20]: Thank you.

[SPEAKER_04]: As you can see from the screen here, we actually own this parcel of land. In 2016, we purchased this house and this lot. And this house currently has two affordable income families in it. Our goal is to develop. up to three units on this parcel, where we already have site control and some preliminary zoning is already in process, some zoning checks and the like. But we have control of the site, which puts us in an unusual position that we have some certainty as to what we can do going forward. The real issue is creation of affordable housing units. As everyone knows, it's a very important issue. And with the escalation of costs where they've been over the last four to five years, it's getting more and more difficult for people to stay in the community and be a part of the fabric. What I like about our type of product is people get to live part of a neighborhood. They get to live in a house type dwelling, and it gives them a chance to integrate into their neighborhood, which is a unique thing that we're able to offer to our affordable housing tenants. It's very important too that we can offer two and three bedroom units. The 705 Fellsway West has a three-bedroom unit, which really allows families a chance to stay together and have an opportunity to live in Medford. That's an ultimate goal, so we're accomplishing a few things here. Not only creating units, we're doing it on a site that we actually own. Now, that's a very big part of it, but financing becomes an issue, and that's where the need for CPC funds is an important cog in the wheel because that will help us to finalize other funding and put together other funding gaps because it's very competitive to get the necessary funding to do projects. But as you can see from the lot, it's a clean, undeveloped lot. And what we'd be building would be in pretty much, it would be very reasonable in relation to what's in the remainder of the neighborhood. There's a lot of multi-family houses in the area. It's a built out area and this happens to be the only lot on the street that I can see that would meet that type of goal. So does the board have any questions for us?

[Roberta Cameron]: Would anyone like to start with questions?

[Bm5-jrZInBw_SPEAKER_07]: I was just, I had, and you may have answered it already, so it's a, it's not, you're not buying a house, you're, you've got land and you're gonna create brand new housing.

[SPEAKER_04]: Correct. We actually own the house next to it. Right. So when we purchased the house next to it, and the deed is in your package, we purchased that in April of 2016 with the extra lot. Okay. So now that extra lot provides an opportunity to build something on it that would be able to create new units of affordable housing. within our mission of having multi-bedroom units to give people an opportunity to stay together as a family and be integrated into a neighborhood with a yard. Those are some very important goals as part of the affordable housing thing. It's great to have affordable housing, but we want to have affordable housing as well that targets the needs of families, which is so challenging with the price of rent only two and three bedroom units, the rent is really driving so many people out and we have a unique opportunity to help some families get settled and that's an important part of owning the land and not having to chase down a parcel of land where the acquisition costs would be extremely high in today's market.

[sBk_gQcj4fU_SPEAKER_04]: So you have two applications in, one for $30,000 and one for $250,000. Can you just parse out what the $30,000 would go to and what the $250,000 would go for?

[SPEAKER_04]: Sure. The $30,000 is for some of the efforts that go into architectural plans, legal, that type of soft costs that go with any project. And the 250 is actual for costs in relation to some of the construction of foundations, site development. In this instance, it's my understanding we can't get CDBG funds because it's new construction. Most, a lot of our deals will include a component where we get funding from the home consortium from CDBG. and then we finish it off with some funding from Century Bank most times. We can't get that type of CDBG funding in this instance because of the new construction and the rules. So funding from the CPC would fill that gap for us and allow us to be able to do the type of project that we normally do but with CDBG funds backing us.

[David Brosnan]: I just, in very simple terms, the $30,000 is to get the project off the ground. And the second application for $250,000 is to get the project in the ground.

[SPEAKER_09]: I'm going to piggyback off of that question. You have multiple funding sources listed here. Can you just talk about those a little bit more? Have any of those been confirmed?

[Susan Collins]: I can walk through that.

[David Brosnan]: Yes, please.

[Susan Collins]: So usually when we do projects, there's a layer of funding. Because we're doing, if you have six units and under, that precludes you from state funding and from tax credits. So that leaves very few funding sources available. So we work with, Henry brought up the home consortium. So that comes through the home program. It's a federally funded program. And they're usually our lead funder. And then we'll get a private loan grant. And then as Henry mentioned, there's federal funding through the community block grant funds. But because it's new construction, they do not allow funding for new construction. There is some slight utility work that you could get some funding for. but that's not going to be possible in this case. We have worked with the city over the last few years, and more recently they said they wanted new construction units. So we're trying to fall in line to what the city has wanted for development of affordable housing and the production of new units. And that's why we've gone with taking this vacant parcel and utilizing it, which I think meets in the goals of the CPC committee as well as underutilized land. So that's kind of how the funding, and then we get private grants, as I mentioned. So we don't have access, where larger projects have more access to funds through tax credits, through other state programs that currently have gone, that they're providing funding for.

[sBk_gQcj4fU_SPEAKER_04]: How would you select who goes in there? Say the units are done, do you go off the state wait list or do you have your own separate wait list?

[Susan Collins]: So what we're mandated to do through the home program, which is the federal program, which is the lead lender on this, would be that we have to go through a lottery process. And also, for these units to be counted on the state housing inventory list, we're also mandated by DHCD to go through a lottery process as well. You can do local preference, which we usually do on our project when we did the Felsway. We had local preference on one of the units, and so we do have a local, we have a Medford family that lives in that, in one of the units.

[qIvMl_-GSJQ_SPEAKER_17]: The total project costs, soft costs and hard costs, looks like about $1.1 million, right? And that's a little more than $350,000 per unit. Is that consistent with what you're seeing in the marketplace these days for ground up new construction, including all the soft costs and design costs?

[Susan Collins]: Yeah, that's a really good question. And one of the things that's really important when we did the Felsway in our other projects as well, is what we're finding is there is no per square footage construction price anymore. It really depends on the bids that you secure. So that's been one of the things that when we started out and we did our first project on Boston Avenue, we got differences in pricing of $100,000 to $150,000 sway. So there is no set cost price. So what we've done is because we've done so many of these size projects, is we've kind of incorporated the cost and then increased the cost factor. But we feel that because we don't have the land acquisition, that actually those costs are brought down because we own the land. And that's a huge piece. As you all know, being in Medford vacant land is impossible to find to build on.

[Roberta Cameron]: Have you sought input from the City, from the Building Department, the Zoning Board of Appeals staff, or the Office of Community Development on what kind of zoning relief would be required for building on the site?

[Susan Collins]: So I'm going to have David talk about the construction piece, and then Henry can talk about zoning, if that's all right.

[SPEAKER_04]: Thank you.

[David Brosnan]: Henry.

[SPEAKER_04]: As far as zoning, I'm actually a lawyer and counsel to the board as well. So we've done some preliminary work as part of this. And David and I did meet with one of the building inspectors last week. Jeff Fargo. Jeff Fargo. And we went in and met with someone from the Secretary for the Zoning Board.

[David Brosnan]: That was Dennis McDougall. the Secretary to the Board of Appeals.

[SPEAKER_04]: But looking at it, there do not seem to be any obstacles to getting zoning relief. We are able to do this several different ways. That's part of what the $30,000 is for, is to have consultants advise us to what is going to be the best way to do it. But clearly, where we own the land, have site control, and there are options, whether through special permit or variances, to be able to get the relief we need to construct. And that would be consistent with the reliefs that have been granted by the zoning board. There seems to be a new trend to assisting relief, and our relief, if we in fact went the route of a special permit, it is a much lower standard than a variance standard. We do not have to prove hardship. A special permit, you just merely have to prove that it's not contrary to the neighborhood, which clearly this wouldn't be. This would be a benefit to the neighborhood. So as far as that goes, we've met with them. We've gone over different variations, but ultimately, the necessity of the funds is to help make final decisions on that. But clearly, the number one aspect is we own the land. and there are options available, and having read the article in the Medford transcript, 13 out of 14 projects have been given relief, particularly when they have some facet of affordable housing. This is all affordable housing. We're a non-profit company. We are not out to make profit, we are out to help people in the Medford community have a place to live. We also take whatever revenue that comes into our organization stays within our organization and helps fund other things we do with respect to advocacy of Medford. affordable housing. Any small profit we do get stays here to be used on other projects as we move forward. We're a growing organization. We've developed five or six units over the last five years. This certainly would be one that would be very happy to create new units. As Susan was saying, there has been talk from the Office of Community Development that they prefer creation rather than conversion. In the past, what we had been doing is we've been buying underutilized properties that needed renovations and updating the properties. The acquisition costs have become incredibly high. As many of you know, a two-family can go for almost $950 to $1 million. So I'm looking here saying if we can get $350,000 per unit, when it would cost us maybe $500,000 per unit to buy a two-family and have to renovate. Because remember, we're putting tenants in there. We're a non-profit. We have to make sure that they have a decent living space. We can't just move someone into a place that's not up to standards because we have inspections and the like. And our whole goal is to treat people with respect. in need-blind eyes, and they need to have a property that's in good shape. Plus, another benefit of this, with the 350 per unit, the difference is, is those are going to be energy efficient, they're going to be 2018 code, they're going to be set for many, many years without renovation. So actually, the 350, while it sounds high at first blush, is a fairly benign costs. In this world, it's hard to believe that. But in the last ten years, what has happened with purchase prices and with construction costs is mind-boggling. But the essential element is there are routes for us to get the relief. We've done preliminary work in speaking to that. And certainly there would be no barrier to doing it. The main barrier in this economy is finding a parcel of land where you can build and we have site control. And that is the one thing I stress to the board here, is that we have control of this parcel. We're not waiting for a purchase and sale or a lease. We have complete control. It is ours to do what we need to do with it.

[Susan Collins]: I also would like to follow up your last question. You talked about the city. When you do these kind of projects, because there's this layer of funding, someone requires you to open the first door. So all of the lenders are going back to your committee to say, this is a community project, it's community money, so they want to see that first door open for the other doors to open. And that's kind of standard policy. So if we do our other projects we have done, is the city has supported us with this community development block grant money that we have received, and then the home consortium follows suit, and then our private lender is always happy to lend us the money, but they want to be sure that the other funders are in line as well.

[Roberta Cameron]: I guess my concern is just ensuring that the project that we fund is going to be feasible to be able to be completed with the funding that's available, you know, that you're able to obtain the necessary permits to be able to carry the project out and that the project works on the site that it's proposed on.

[Susan Collins]: Yeah, those are all valid points, but any projects that are being done, they all have to go through this kind of approval and spend, do the pre-development work, and then also work with the Board of Appeals because it's very hard to find projects that are fitting into that scope where you could go in and get the money and not have any variances done. So that's been predominant, as Henry brought up, of the variances that have been approved by the Board of Appeals, the projects that have been presented to them.

[SPEAKER_04]: And again, some of our requested relief would be limited to a special permit, which again, has that lower threshold. And there may be a parking variance, which again, is going to be a threshold that would not be hard for us to meet for a couple of reasons. A, we're affordable housing, so we have a lower number of parking spaces necessary. And keep in mind, the land has a slight slope to it. So the only reason for a parking variance would be parking down this way, which everyone on the street does. but that requires a variance. But hardship is certainly there. Hardship is there because of the topography of the land. That's the main thing, having done this for 24 years, the main thing with variances, the main thing the board's going to look at is do you meet their criteria, and one of them is hardship from the topography of the land, and we have that.

[Roberta Cameron]: Has your organization done new development before, or have your projects been all... Yes, there's been new construction development.

[Susan Collins]: Okay.

[David Brosnan]: Yes, we've actually built a couple of houses. We've built one on Arlington Street. We've built one on, I believe it's Circuit Road. That's the other one. And those were... They were back in the 80s or 90s, I would believe. And those are occupied now under deed restriction.

[SPEAKER_04]: And home ownership.

[David Brosnan]: And home ownership, yes, by two families.

[SPEAKER_04]: And again, if I could just quickly cover this, the Medford transcript had an interesting article. It talked about 14 developments going before the Zoning Board of Appeals since 2009. and they were residential or mixed use projects containing some residential units. Keep in mind ours is all residential units. Of those projects, 13 were approved. So you can see a clear told the zoning board to approve projects, as you investigate zoning, and no one has a, no one's clairvoyant, but the reality is you can often look from the facts and start to piece together how many variances you need and how much relief you need. And clearly in ours, we don't need, the main issue is the special permit, which again, I have not seen a board deny a special permit in years, and then, a parking variance which would be very unusual to not get because they've granted them to several places in the neighborhood and the building inspector had confirmed that there have been a few in that neighborhood recently that have got parking variances to park elsewhere.

[Susan Collins]: And there's also on-street parking and we have the building next door so we could do an easement as well. It's nice owning the property next door because it gives us more flexibility.

[SPEAKER_05]: I was wondering that because obviously that gives you an opportunity to have maybe one less current practice. I mean, obviously you need to design it. Exactly. And that hasn't happened yet.

[David Brosnan]: Well, it's our intention to get our best concept on paper and then to go forward with that, work with the neighbors. and work with the city, and minimize the impacts to everybody else, understanding that there has to be some degree of zoning relief. Toward that end, I'd just like to acknowledge someone in the audience, Barry Byszynski of Blackstone Block Architects is here to provide us a little support tonight. And we have also consulted with a surveyor, who's familiar with the area. And we're at an early stage, but we think we have a good approach to this. I mean, you can kind of look down the street here and see what happens, I suppose, when you don't have a good approach. blast a hole in the ground and figure out what to do later. We'd rather go in and try to get our ducks in a row early and do the thing that works well for everybody.

[Roberta Cameron]: Thank you. I've got a question on the other side.

[0HXibsUvumY_SPEAKER_14]: As an organization, how many properties do you currently manage and how many projects have you worked on since your inception?

[David Brosnan]: Okay, we have sold two to first-time home buyers, and we have, I think, a total of... We have four units, and we did two other units, which was through a partnership with a local church in Medford, that we were the lead developer.

[Susan Collins]: We did the development, the project management, and the lottery process, and we were the project manager for it. So we've done six units in the last five years. And they've been smaller project units. So we've done rehab. We've done new construction. We have a seasoned structural engineer, which David is. We have someone that's in affordable housing on our board. I've been in project management, real estate development, federal housing, state housing, and lending for the last 30 plus years. So I think we have a pretty good deck. on housing development, financing, construction, and I think we can handle a project of this size.

[sBk_gQcj4fU_SPEAKER_04]: Thank you. Do you have a timeline? I know obviously it's very fluid. I'm sorry, I have to ask.

[Susan Collins]: So that's a good question. We, I think we pulled this together very quickly. But it's also, this is our goal. This is what we do. This is what we want to provide. We're a strictly affordable housing developer. We do educational outreach. We put time in this. This is where I spend a majority of my time as well. If everything goes right, Board of Appeals sometimes, it can maybe take one or two meetings, but that's why we asked for the site development, because we do want to get on the ground and start from there. Getting the contractors lined up is not the issue so much as it is the timetable of all the upfront work that we're going through right now. So construction is roughly around 12 months. So depending on the weather, because the way that this funding goes is, you know, we can't control what's going on, but we wanted to get a jump start before we get into winter months, just because it's easier from a construction standpoint. It moves the project along a lot faster.

[SPEAKER_04]: And again, if we have the grants from the board, that's going to allow us to line up our other funding, tie everything up quicker, and be moving along. You know, we're in a unique position because we are experienced, and yet we're not so large that we need approvals from multi-different agencies. I mean, we're not doing a tax credit deal. We're doing a straight development of a fairly easy project. I mean, comparatively, this is not, you know, reinventing the wheel. This is a very simple, you know, for-profit flippers and developers do this on a daily basis if they can find the right land or tear it out.

[Susan Collins]: And our other two lenders, it's a faster process. Our private lender, it's something that we already had a commitment in the package that they're willing to lend on this and had given a letter as long as we have the other funding sources in place. And then the home consortium, that's a short process. We've gone through that application process several times. And we also have grant funding. We also have grant funders that have offered to give us money for these kind of projects, because that's their understanding of the necessity and need for affordable housing in this area as well.

[Bm5-jrZInBw_SPEAKER_07]: There's another question over here, Roberta.

[Unidentified]: Yes.

[_Zabvvh8vxM_SPEAKER_18]: Go ahead. Thanks. Can you remind me, this is a rental project. Is that correct? And can you talk about the income limits and what that means for

[David Brosnan]: It's going to be affordable to what level and... We were hoping to, and correct me if I'm wrong, Susan, but we were hoping to meet economic stratum of about 60% of the area mean income as defined, I think, by the census.

[Susan Collins]: Well, it's defined by HUD. HUD comes out with the income and rental limits every year. We are required by the home funding that all of the applicants that live in and reside in the housing have to be at 60% area median income or below. So some of our tenants have housing vouchers, and then some of them do not. But all of our residents are working families.

[_Zabvvh8vxM_SPEAKER_18]: Right. And can you just Kind of explain what level that is, like what's the income level at 60%?

[Susan Collins]: I think it's, they just actually came out with new ones, so I believe, it's gonna be below 50s for a family of two. I can't give you, but it's in the 50s, 50,000.

[_Zabvvh8vxM_SPEAKER_18]: And you're gonna do the property management in-house?

[Susan Collins]: So we have a property management company that's been managing our properties, but I'm actively involved as well because We also have to do income certifications every year because it is affordable rental housing. So I do that and also I do inspections of the unit but also work with the property management company. And I also have relationships with the tenants just to stay in touch because we also get feedback from our tenants too because they're living in affordable housing. They are up against the income challenges. So that's, and because I'm intimately involved in the projects as we go, I get to know the families as well that end up becoming residents and living there.

[_Zabvvh8vxM_SPEAKER_18]: Thank you.

[David Brosnan]: Well, I'd just like to add that we've collected a pile of signatures from Medford residents, and I'll leave those with Danielle.

[SPEAKER_20]: Thank you.

[_Zabvvh8vxM_SPEAKER_18]: Thank you. Thank you.

[SPEAKER_20]: Thank you very much.

[Danielle Evans]: So Tom Lincoln is going to be here around 745. Any questions?

[Roberta Cameron]: I'd actually like to ask if there are comments from the public on this proposal.

[Bm5-jrZInBw_SPEAKER_07]: He's here now, Daniel.

[Roberta Cameron]: Yes, please.

[SPEAKER_01]: Regarding the housing? Yes.

[Roberta Cameron]: If you can use a microphone, that would be helpful.

[SPEAKER_01]: Hello. Hi. My name is Sinsa. I've been a Section 8 voucher holder since 2009. Prior to that 10 years, I was in affordable housing within the LaPreez Village. Lived in Medford all my life. I never knew it was called LaPreez Village. We always referred to it as the projects. But I recently attended one of Susan's workshops where You learn about home ownership and everything that's involved with that. And oh my gosh, that's a project in itself. But I do have to tell you, with regards to your question on income, I've been looking for over three years for a two bedroom apartment. And I will say, and I've said this before, Medford is not a Section 8 friendly city. Not at all. You know, I can't even begin to tell you, I've already taken two people through Mass. Commission Against Discrimination have won. I've already taken one person to court and have won, and I'm testifying in June against another party, which I expect to win. But as much winning as you think you're doing, you're still not getting into the apartment. If you have to fight with somebody for housing discrimination to try to get into an apartment, do you really want to live there? You don't want to live there. It's uncomfortable. The Medford Housing Authority, well, all the housing authorities, really, I think it's the federal government have not ever caught up to the fair market rent values. Right now, Medford and Malden are very similar with regards to their apartments. And again, my phone is just, my emails are flooded with apartment rentals coming in. Zillow, Trulia, Hutpad, Zumper, everything that you can imagine. And the average apartment today is $2,000 for a two-bedroom apartment. And that will include, if you're lucky, laundry. If you don't get laundry, you might get $1,900 for a two-bedroom. Right now, Medford, including utilities for a two-bedroom, they're only paying $1,740. So if you don't have that extra income, if you can't work, if you're disabled, and you don't have that extra income coming in, what they're doing right now is What's going to happen is you're going to end up somewhere out in Lynn, somewhere out in Chelsea, Lawrence, Chelmsford, Lowell, all places like that. I've been here all my life. I don't want to go out and live in Lynn or Chelsea. I'm lucky that my son finally graduated high school, but this is where I'm comfortable, and I don't feel that it's It's not fair to have to stop moving these families out who can't afford to live here when they've been here all their life through no fault of their own. Myself and my son, we do work. My son does have autism. and does have a disability, but I thank God that he is able to work and, you know, be a productive member of society. But I think of all those other families who, you know, may be veterans or somebody who is in a wheelchair who can't work, you know, who is permanently disabled and they rely on the government for those housing for their livelihood to be able to live. And they mentioned something to the effect of to be integrated within the community. The days of segregation are over. We want to be integrated in communities as well. So I really hope that you would consider the funding for this project and help us out a little. Thank you. Thank you very much.

[Roberta Cameron]: Okay, are there any further comments on the Medford affordable housing? Thank you. Our next applicant is the Medford Brooks Estate Land Trust, and we have three proposals. Yep, thank you. Just because we've had a few people coming in and out since the beginning, I wanted to remind everyone to sign the attendance sheet. And if you'd like to put your signature on the poster outside that you are in favor of or opposed to any of the proposals, please do so. And if you'd like to fill out a comment card, please do so as well. Yes, please do. Yes. Yes.

[Steven Pompeo]: I just want to, I wasn't prepared to speak for them, but I did sign their petition, and I'm familiar with their properties. I helped them insure some of them. But if folks aren't familiar with them, I just want to point out that the quality of work that they do on their renovations and their construction when they build is very in keeping with the neighborhood. And this is an organization where 100% of the properties that they work on remain affordable, essentially forever. So this isn't 10% of a project. And it's a hometown group. But what they do within the neighborhoods, they take properties, some that are in really tough shape, they beautify them, and they keep them really in character with the neighborhood. So if the board isn't familiar with that, if there is going to be, Any CPC funds used for affordable housing, I think that group is a great way to use it. Thank you.

[Unidentified]: Thank you. All right.

[Tom Lincoln]: I'm not going to be able to stand.

[Roberta Cameron]: You don't need to stand for 45 minutes. Unfortunately, we don't have a chair at the mic, but you can sit down and stand up if you can.

[_Zabvvh8vxM_SPEAKER_18]: You can put a chair here and use this microphone. Thank you.

[SPEAKER_20]: Thank you.

[Tom Lincoln]: How about this one? Because that way, you'll have that one. You tell me.

[Roberta Cameron]: We have on the agenda first a Japanese.

[Tom Lincoln]: Oh, Japanese. OK, we'll talk about Japanese. It's been a long day. I feel like a backup singer here.

[Unidentified]: You can take that out of the stand if you want. You're the lead singer tonight.

[Tom Lincoln]: Did you bring your guitar? No, I played the piano, though, quite nicely. So, I'll be brief here. I'm Tom Lincoln, the head of the Medford Brooks Estate Land Trust. We've been working for two decades to restore the Brooks Estate for public benefit. The property has been owned by the city of Medford for 76 years. We've made a tremendous amount of progress and we're delighted that the CPA is now on the scene to help us make more progress. We have three projects here tonight. I'll talk about the first one, the Japanese knotweed. It's the smallest ask, I think, is the right word. Japanese knotweed is an invasive plant. It looks like bamboo. It's spread all over Massachusetts. In fact, I think it's in 49 states at this point. There are two patches of it along the access drive, very prominently displayed at the Brooks Estate, a total of about 1,400 square feet. If you don't do something about Japanese knotweed, it'll eventually take over any area that it can thrive in. And it's very tough. It likes sunshine. It thrives in crummy soils. I'm not a plant biologist, but it's really quite an amazing plant on its own. But we've been aware of this issue along the access drive, and we thought this was a good opportunity to apply some expertise, some funds with your help to eradicating this before it gets any larger. We're going to put up about 48% of the money. We have talked with a licensed invasives expert to help us on the project. I think it's safe to say the biology of the plant requires a sustained effort over several years. We've consulted both with the gentleman that's mentioned in the application and also the Friends of the Mystic River has had some considerable experience with this This is a plant that also likes water. I guess all plants like water, but it likes lots of water. So it's been down by the Mystic River. So it's a pretty straight ahead project. We think we'll have great benefits in terms of the habitat because we will replace these plants with native plants. It will certainly improve the aesthetics. It's certainly tied into another part of our applications here on the access drive. design It will improve the visitor experience at the Brooks estate for people are walking walking their dogs jogging birding which are some of the main activities for passive recreation at the few runners to I see but mostly walkers at the at the property, so I don't know what else to tell you about about this, but Questions or are there any questions from the board

[Roberta Cameron]: Is this a full application or does it fall under the small grants application? We could discuss that. It wasn't submitted as a small grant, but we could discuss whether to, because it falls in the criteria for a small grant, whether we want to put it in that category.

[SPEAKER_05]: How many of the small grids have we gotten?

[Roberta Cameron]: I think none this round. Yeah. So.

[Tom Lincoln]: I want to mention two other things. There's a gentleman named Dana Gallop, who coincidentally lives on my street, is a retired landscape designer and a landscape contractor who's going to be helping us help from our side of it, manages He's had about 40 years experience in this realm. He's a great guy, if you've ever met him. I think he and his wife have been quite involved in the schools over the years. Yeah.

[Roberta Cameron]: I have a question for you. So in your proposal, you show, I think, a three-year plan for keeping it under control. And I wondered what happens after that. What is the likelihood that you need to come back and repeat the process?

[Tom Lincoln]: Well, basically, the general practice with invasives is plants need space. And evasives look for empty spaces, places where they can overcome other plants. But if you do the right kind of plantings, replacement plantings. You have to keep an eye on it, you know, on an annual basis, but that's the general long-term solution here. The company, Apolitan, that we've been talking with, which I think has a very good record, has done some rather large Japanese knotweed projects, like 15 acres, which is hard to imagine 15 acres of Japanese knotweed. And that was done, I think, 15 or 20 years ago. been replaced with native plants and has been quite successful. Japanese knotweed is a bad invasive. It's probably not the worst invasive, but it's certainly one of the most prominent ones because it tends to be along areas where there's light or pathways, access drives, things like that.

[_ywkXQwBNaw_SPEAKER_07]: What are you looking for for replacement species?

[Tom Lincoln]: I couldn't tell you off the top of my head. I think when we get the gentleman on site, At the beginning, we'll make some decisions there. One of the issues with the replacement species is how that, you know, how you fold that in. And again, I'm not an expert. This is why we're hiring an expert. But certainly, this is an area, it's an edge, I think is the right word. kind of meld into the understory of the woods there, which is mostly oak and maple. Second growth forest, third growth, fifth growth. And so things that will certainly thrive on light, because there's quite a bit of light there. And I think eventually with the access drive opening up that, which we can talk about more too, there'll be more light than there is now.

[_ywkXQwBNaw_SPEAKER_07]: And I presume you'll be natives.

[Tom Lincoln]: Oh, absolutely, natives. Natives all the way.

[SPEAKER_09]: Is this the only area where there's Japanese knotweed?

[Tom Lincoln]: Well, it's the primary area. There is some... The Brooks Estate has a donut hole in the middle of it called the Stump Dump, where the city DPW has piled large quantities of dead trees, and there's some up near there. Japanese knotweed, like a lot of invasives, thrives when there's been soil disturbance. And that's certainly an area, so that, but we thought that, and that's not technically part of the Brooks Estate, although it's certainly Japanese, not weed. I think the idea here is to tackle the most prominent and containable area first, and then think about moving on. It's funny you should mention that, because I just noticed it today. I took a walk.

[Roberta Cameron]: This is a question I think that pertains to all three of the proposals that you have, but I know that you've developed a lot of these action items from the master plan.

[Unidentified]: Yes.

[Roberta Cameron]: But I wonder, was there public process or was there input that you obtained from the community in the process of developing that master plan? What I'm getting at is, is there To what extent can you demonstrate community support or support of other organizations in the community for doing the projects that you've identified here?

[Tom Lincoln]: Well, we have a long track record of projects at the Brooks Estate, a combination of things. We've raised and spent probably $600,000 or $700,000. We've leveraged that with CDBG money. We've got some preservation projects fund money. which most years it's very scarce on the ground. We've gotten a Cummings grant. We have a membership. We certainly have lots of people using the Brooks Estate. We've done projects with the Mononomy, with the Bird Clubs. We've done projects with the Boy Scouts. It's a pretty long list. I think that some of these projects, certainly the physical projects on the buildings, are very much classic historic preservation, historic restoration. projects that involve a degree of expertise that volunteers don't bring to the table. I don't know what else to tell you.

[Roberta Cameron]: That's good. Do we want to move on? Are there any more questions about Japanese knotweed? Yes.

[_Zabvvh8vxM_SPEAKER_18]: No, not about that, but a follow-up on what you were saying, Roberta. Could you just talk a little bit about the land trusts, the board composition, how many people are involved in that way?

[Tom Lincoln]: The MBELT was put together in the wake of the conservation and preservation restriction in 1998. So there is a governing document called the manager's document passed by the city council and the mayor. And basically the board is made up of a mixture of appointed members from the historical commission, from the mayor, from the historical society. and elected members. It's a membership organization. It's a 501C3. Right now, we do have a couple of vacancies, but we have five board members. Myself, who's elected. Doug Carr, who's elected. Basically, it's the president and two directors are elected. And we have Mark Warren, who's new, who was appointed by Mayor Stephanie Muccini-Burke. He replaces Mae Markerbreck, who is a famous person here in Medford, who was on our board for a long time. And our newest member is a woman named Jennifer Keenan, who lives on Grove Street, and she was appointed by the Historical Commission.

[_Zabvvh8vxM_SPEAKER_18]: Yeah. I'm more concerned, just not concerned, but interested in learning about, you know, the membership and how broad-based that is.

[Tom Lincoln]: Well, most members are from Medford. I mean, I'd make this in contradistinction with the Royal House of the Slave Quarters, which I'm also involved in, in a different capacity, where the membership is probably half outside of Medford, but that's a National Historic Landmark. And, you know, it's not a huge membership. If you talk to most small non-profits, membership is one of the most difficult things to sustain. But it's certainly been loyal, and it's, you know, covers, I have every address in my head, I have a lot of them, but it covers, you know, wide swaths of Medford. This is a public property. It's open every day from dawn to dusk. You can go there and enjoy it. It's passive recreation. It's a wonderful place.

[Roberta Cameron]: Thank you. Shall we have you present the next project for the Brooks Estate, which is the entryways restoration?

[Tom Lincoln]: OK. Let me switch this around here. So, this is a classic, I think that's the right word, building restoration or a portion of a building restoration. The two buildings at the Brooks Estate are the Shepherd Brooks Manor and the Carriage House, both built in 1880, designed by Peabody and Stearns, very fine examples of Victorian I think it's safe to say when we got started on this project that both buildings and certainly the manor were in very, very bad shape after years of decay, I suppose is the right word. I could spend an awful lot of time telling you everything that's been done to the manor. It's a very long list. But this restoration, East Entryways, really is one of the last major pieces of the exterior restoration. We've completed the west porch. We've completed the south veranda, 70 windows, a new roof, five chimneys, shutters, boiler, upgraded electrical. The list goes on quite a bit. The east entryways consist of really two entrances, obviously on the east side. One is under the Port Cochere, which is a fancy name for a carport. There you go. There you go. We have a good drawing here. And then to the right, the smaller entrance. What's interesting is in the time that the Brooks occupied this property as a summer home, It was a summer home and they were not there in the winter, and particularly the entrance on the right gets a lot of snowfall from a very steep roof there. I use the word temporary, it's really been there a long time, a porch there and the steep roof is above it. So that area and the portcochere needs work in terms of pointing, particularly the piers. The other entrance is a little more complicated because it needs work on the pathway, which is not draining properly. The temporary slanted roof needs to be replaced. And underneath that, you can kind of see it, I think, well, it's the other picture of the other entrance. There's a marvelous half-moon, I think that's the right word, half-moon window hidden. Yeah, there it is. Thank you. Hidden under there that we wanted to restore. The manor actually has, I think, five entrances when you add them all up. So right now, it's already qualified under the ADA with existing entrances. So this will complete a huge portion of the building's envelope. The only other piece that really hasn't been tackled is the trim, the wooden trim. The building is very high. It's 70 feet from ground to crown in the back, I think. painting trim at that level requires, but that's a different project. So this is the focus here. The Port Cochere entrance is really the formal entrance for the building, has nice double doors, comes into the main hallway, off of which are the four or five public rooms, the dining room, the Shepherd Brooks office, the parlor, and the library right off of that. And so this is really designed to complete that portion of that side of the building.

[Roberta Cameron]: OK. Are there any questions from the board?

[_Zabvvh8vxM_SPEAKER_18]: Yes. On that east entryway, you're removing the structure that protects the entryway from snow, and is there going to be an issue there then?

[Tom Lincoln]: Well, I believe, and I think it should be in here, we need to also add, I think this is the right term, snow guards. Yeah, on the roof above. The roof was completely redone in slate. But for some reason, it's kind of lost in the midst of time at this point. Snow guards were not included there. So that needs to be. Is that part of this project? Yes, it is. It's a critical but fairly minor piece. I mean, the biggest cost element here is the pointing, I believe.

[Roberta Cameron]: Other questions? I was curious to learn. I'm sorry, did you have a question? I did.

[SPEAKER_09]: I was actually just curious if you started discussing this project with the MHC? Do they know that this is in the pipeline?

[Roberta Cameron]: Can you spell out MHC?

[SPEAKER_09]: Sorry, the Mass Historical Commission.

[Tom Lincoln]: Yeah, they'll need more drawings than we have at this point. But we have a very good relationship with Mr. Holtz. And I think, frankly, they're delighted that this building has been brought back from near death. I should also mention, on all these projects, we're contributing a percentage from our own funds as an act of good faith. I think it's the right thing to do.

[Roberta Cameron]: That was actually going to be my question, is where does the funding come from for this project? So a part of it you're contributing and a part of it you're asking from the CPC. Is that all of the funding?

[Tom Lincoln]: Yes.

[Roberta Cameron]: Okay.

[Tom Lincoln]: We raise money, like any non-profit, through memberships, through some fundraising, through things like sponsoring our picnic, which is July 14th, by the way.

[SPEAKER_15]: Lots of fun.

[Tom Lincoln]: Best deal day. Maybe we'll have a French theme this year. Yeah, so.

[Bm5-jrZInBw_SPEAKER_07]: Thank you. So I think it's dollars plus in-kind contribution of project management and stuff like that, right?

[Tom Lincoln]: Yes.

[Roberta Cameron]: Okay. Any other questions? Are there comments, public comments about the projects thus far?

[SPEAKER_15]: Definitely in support, absolutely, as a former board of directors. I mean, he's right. Without Tom and Doug and so many others, Tommy and Doug and everybody else. It's such an incredible, historical piece of property in Medford, and it's been neglected for far too many years. So anything that this committee can do along those lines is, wow. That would be something.

[SPEAKER_20]: Thank you.

[qIvMl_-GSJQ_SPEAKER_17]: Thanks Tom, I appreciate it. Tom served on our board many years ago, in its early years, and I appreciate it. Of course you do. You've been consistent over the years. I just want to mention that I serve with Tom on the InBelt board, and so when it comes to voting on this project, I will be recusing myself because I obviously have a conflict of interest. So I'm listening, obviously, and I'm part of this committee. But on these three projects, I will not be voting. I will not have a vote.

[SPEAKER_15]: I realize why you want to do it, but it shouldn't have to be that way, because each one of you represents really a quota or a segment of Medford, whether you're in favor of the Parks and Recreation, and I know you do. And so Parks and Recreation come before you all the time, and you still vote. I don't think anybody should recuse themselves in this committee, because that's who you are. You were chosen because you're going to represent this particular segment of the Methodist society. So because you're an incredibly ethical guy, and I've known you since your high school days, obviously. But I don't think you should recuse yourself, because you add a lot to who you are. And maybe you guys should talk about it.

[qIvMl_-GSJQ_SPEAKER_17]: Uh, we've spoken to Mr. Remway. I'm, I'm following his, his directive. I, I'm actually serving on the, from the historical commission. That's, that's where I'm coming from on this, as an appointee from, for this board, um, this committee. But, um, just to, there's the appearance of ethical lapse and then the, you know, it's, it's just being conservative. I have full faith in my colleagues. You know, they're, they're a well-rounded, well, very diligent, hardworking group, so I have full faith that they will do, choose good products. There's so many great ones here. They all look great to me.

[Roberta Cameron]: Thank you. Well, we have one more project for the Brooks Estate, and that is the access drive design.

[Tom Lincoln]: Yes, this is our biggest application. There was reference made earlier to the master plan document, which is 350 pages long. But this is certainly a big chunk of it. If you haven't been to the Brooks Estate, there is a 1,900 foot access drive. Starts at 275 Grove Street and goes all the way up to the manor. up the hill around the curve. This is basically what's left of a country road, hand-built, probably by Irish immigrants, I believe, in the 1850s. It was a classic country road, and it provides, obviously, given its name, the access to the historical core or the built environment. of the Brooks Estate. From the get-go working on this project, we've recognized the critical nature of this element of the infrastructure. It also ties in, as you can see from the design parameters here, ties in such critical things as utilities and parking. The first thing I want to say is, and we discuss this with Danielle, et cetera, we will pay the portion of the design that is not directly connected to the historic road, and that is the parking area at the top, in the very upper right corner there, which has been contemplated. There's very little parking at the Brooks Estate, and in order to operate the manor, more efficiently, and certainly the carriage house, and when that comes online, we do need parking. The parking, this general plan was developed in several pieces. We, despite some time, we engaged a landscape architect to talk about the landscape treatment in the historic core. I think we got some MPC money for that. I don't remember at this point. The state actually has a very interesting landscape initiatives that kind of comes and goes a little bit from MHC. So that's where that came from. But as for the rest of the drive, there are some quite a long list of critical design issues here. The ultimate width of the road, the nature of the... I've been using the English word verge, but that's not right. Shoulders, I guess, is the right word. Or at least the sides. The access drive is both a functional element, an historic element, and an aesthetic element in the estate. Right now, if you go up the access drive in the summer, it feels very confined because of the invasives and other plants that have just crowded. And if you look at historic photos of the country road, look, it doesn't look like that. So improving the aesthetics will also improve the functionality of the drive. We created a conceptual plan with some cross sections, et cetera, master plan, but this has not received the necessary full design treatment to discuss a number of issues, to reach some conclusions, and then to get to the point where we have design documents, I guess is the right word. in order to move towards ultimately the construction. This is a big project. This is one of the big pieces of the remaining puzzle of the Brooks Estate. But certainly, achieving the full benefit of the restored buildings is not going to be possible without a redone access drive. I should also mention, this will help some operational issues too. The electricity now comes up on a series of poles from Grove Street, which are very prone to snow, the wires are, et cetera, and aesthetically are not appropriate for a property of this sort. So conduiting the electrical is a critical element as part of this.

[Roberta Cameron]: Thank you. Are there any questions from the board?

[Bm5-jrZInBw_SPEAKER_07]: No questions. I'm just, I'm glad that you clarified that because my first question was how a 50 car parking lot was restoration of an 1800s carriage house. Just carriages. Okay.

[Tom Lincoln]: Well, one thing I should mention, a detail, the area, we've thought about this, and we're very concerned about balancing uses and balancing impacts. The area where the parking area is proposed is below the grade of the surrounding area. It's also where at one time, probably up to the 1920s, there was at least one or two car garages. The Brooks actually had a car with a driver at the Brooks Estate and a car with a driver at 92 Beacon Street in Boston, besides the carriages. I don't think the carriages were used much in the 1920s, but I'm not sure. The thing that we're really working towards too is, on the aesthetics side, is that we want people to visit the property, whether they're there for a meeting, a wedding, whatever, and be in the 19th century as much as possible. So the parking will be hidden. You park your car and the whole area there will look as much as possible. as a historic landscape.

[Bm5-jrZInBw_SPEAKER_07]: As a follow-up, I know that one of our goals was to enhance public access to historic assets, so I looked at it upon that, but my follow-up is, will there be bike racks or something like that installed? Oh, absolutely.

[Tom Lincoln]: The other thing, which is not directly part of the access drive, but up to the right, just before where it says Acorn Hill, there is a foundation of another building, which was built as a believe it or not, graduation present for Gorham Brooks in 1902. It's called, what's it called? The Hamlet, I'm sorry, I never remember the word for it. And that is a really nice landscape feature. And we've actually cleared out a lot of that. More work needs to be done. We see that as sort of a place for photo ops, et cetera. There's actually an historic brick pathway that goes up the hill to it. It's pretty interesting. It was burned down as a firefighting exercise, I believe.

[_ywkXQwBNaw_SPEAKER_07]: So excuse me. Go ahead. So I think I remember in a previous presentation that the pavement is supposed to be porous.

[Tom Lincoln]: Yeah. Yes. And the, I'm sorry, I can never remember this term, supported, what's it called?

[Unidentified]: Reinforced.

[Tom Lincoln]: Reinforced earth on the shoulders in terms of being able to take heavy vehicles or But there's also, there's a management side to this eventually. You don't allow parking along the access drive, that sort of thing. There's a small parking lot across from the boardwalk, which was put in when the boardwalk was built in 1994. And there's a provision for some handicap parking along the access drive. And as well as the requisite handicap parking spaces in the built environment.

[_ywkXQwBNaw_SPEAKER_07]: So part of the existing drive is paved now.

[Tom Lincoln]: Is that correct? Yes.

[_ywkXQwBNaw_SPEAKER_07]: Or is it all of it?

[Tom Lincoln]: Well, it's about half gone. I don't know how else to explain it. But the first third of it, the city put in a paved few years ago. It must be 10 years ago at this point.

[_ywkXQwBNaw_SPEAKER_07]: I presume you'll be coming, obviously you'll be going before the consequences.

[Tom Lincoln]: Oh, absolutely. On this and also the Japanese knotweed, I wanted to mention that too.

[_ywkXQwBNaw_SPEAKER_07]: So the access drive will need to meet the redevelopment standards for stormwater management.

[Tom Lincoln]: Yeah. Again, the drive has been there for, say, 1850. I don't know how long that is.

[_ywkXQwBNaw_SPEAKER_07]: So it's literally a redevelopment in terms of stormwater. It's not a new project.

[Tom Lincoln]: No, you're absolutely right. You're absolutely right, yeah. It's actually quite close to the pond at one point.

[_Zabvvh8vxM_SPEAKER_18]: And this is going to be privately owned and maintained?

[Tom Lincoln]: No. The property is owned by the city of Medford. We are just the proponents and the manager. In the master plan, the master plan has two pieces. It has the capital side, the planning side in terms of what needs to be done to complete the project, than it has an income projection side to. And the general vision, which is very common for these sorts of properties, is to have, use the carriage house primarily as a function facility, but also have, you know, it's a public building, you know, access for community groups, small meetings, whatever, you know, depending on the capacity of the rooms and the nature of the building. The manor is a domestic structure. It has some fairly large rooms, but it doesn't have a ballroom. Unlike the Point O'Rocks mansion, which had a fabulous ballroom, but that's been gone since 1946. So that's the vision, because you want a sustainable.

[_Zabvvh8vxM_SPEAKER_18]: So my question is, does the city plow this currently?

[Tom Lincoln]: Oh, absolutely. They actually do a good job. There are caretakers in the manor. You have to have a presence there. And the manor has, like any house, has electricity and water and a good heating system. We completely redid the kitchen in the last few months, that sort of thing.

[_Zabvvh8vxM_SPEAKER_18]: Have you walked the street with the fire chief?

[Tom Lincoln]: That'll be part of this process. There's a bit of a chicken and the egg thing in terms of you need a professional design to work against or work off of.

[_Zabvvh8vxM_SPEAKER_18]: Just because being on the board of community development, I'm dealing with the access issues. The fire department is generally the most important department. There's a lot of concern about being able to get large fire vehicles down there, and oftentimes that can come into conflict with the desire to have a more of a rural road character. So I would encourage you to just do that and kind of talk through that with the fire department early in the process.

[Tom Lincoln]: Absolutely. We've been well aware of that.

[_Zabvvh8vxM_SPEAKER_18]: My other question is in terms of the rural character, you know, black hot top is not very rural. So is this going to be a different coloration? Is it going to be more of a natural cement or

[Tom Lincoln]: Yeah, definitely lighter colored, and then as pervious as possible. I think what we try to do, this is conservation land, and it's wetlands, portions of it, et cetera, and the thing that makes the Brooks Estate unique, I think, in Medford, but also wonderful, is it's a combination of natural habitat, historic built environment, historic landscape. in one place. I mean, I think you can all think of these things. You can think of lots of historic buildings that have lost their context completely in terms of landscape.

[_Zabvvh8vxM_SPEAKER_18]: The other thing about porous or pervious concrete or surfacing is that it needs to be cleaned on a regular basis in order to function because sand gets in it and then it doesn't run off. It doesn't run through. And I know that's, again, something that the Community Development Board would be concerned about. We just had a meeting. We went over a lot of these same kinds of issues for a very short street, and a lot of concern about that. So just want to flag those for you.

[Tom Lincoln]: Oh, no, I appreciate it. I think one of the key issues here, of course, is we've never had the wherewithal to have design professionals in terms of looking at all these issues. in a concentrated fashion. We've had a vision, we've had some details, we've looked at other places, but we're not access drive designers.

[_Zabvvh8vxM_SPEAKER_18]: So will this funding, would this funding enable experts to be hired to look at different possible treatments and compare alternatives, or is it really just to do one build out?

[Tom Lincoln]: I think Doug will have to answer that.

[qIvMl_-GSJQ_SPEAKER_17]: I think the intent, and again, we're talking about just design drawings here, right, so there's no construction happening with these dollars, just to get a design so that the landscape folks and the civil folks and the fire chief and all, there must be 20 stakeholders Right. In this project.

[_Zabvvh8vxM_SPEAKER_18]: It's a complex project.

[qIvMl_-GSJQ_SPEAKER_17]: Complex project. The neighbors and abutters certainly are a part of this as well along Grove Street. So I think balancing all those concerns and getting a design that does, that looks like it did in the 19th century but still functions in the 21st century is the challenge. And as Tom mentioned, I think we're going to rely on experts on the landscape side and the civil engineering side, but for that road design especially, to tell us the right thing, a very durable project and something that is very low maintenance, but not no maintenance, because we know that that road will need to be maintained.

[_Zabvvh8vxM_SPEAKER_18]: Right, but part of this process would help get that those stakeholder conversations and feedback from the relevant departments and agencies. Absolutely.

[qIvMl_-GSJQ_SPEAKER_17]: And I think in the schedule that Tom put together, there's a detailed, I think there's at least three or four different meetings for stakeholders, both the city and the abutters that's built into the schedule. It's going to take a year to just design this road. It's a very complicated process, public process.

[_Zabvvh8vxM_SPEAKER_18]: I'm sorry, my final question would be, and then assuming the design documents are done, the actual construction would require a bond?

[Tom Lincoln]: Or something similar. Certainly. This is a public asset, like the library or the police station, et cetera. You know, we would contemplate, depending on our wherewithal, contributing to that as we can, to the bottom line there.

[Roberta Cameron]: So I wanted to ask you to elaborate more on how the access road improves access and function for recreational use, for handicapped accessibility.

[Tom Lincoln]: If you want to drive to the Brooks Estate, right now you pretty much have to go through the cemetery. That's the geography. There's virtually no place to park. I don't mean to be dramatic here, but there's four or five spots in the little lot that's across from the boardwalk. So there's some parking up near the manor, which we always reserve for events, pretty much for handicap. access. But if you want to bring a group of people or whatever, certainly use of the manor, there are limitations. In terms of handicap access, there's an intermediate handicap parking, a couple of spots near one of the main very flat access to the pond. This is a natural landscape. We're not destroying the natural landscape for some of these things. And that obviously was why parking was put across from the existing boardwalk to the pond, which is ADA accessible boardwalk. It basically allows more people to enjoy this at once and more people to have access. The historic entrance to the estate is gated on Grove Street, but the section between Grove Street and where it meets the road, the access drive, as it comes in from the cemetery, there's a corner there, is in rough shape. And, you know, you want as much operational control over the properties, especially with a major investment in the carriage house, et cetera, going forward. I mean, the geography is what it is, and it's been that way for several million years, I think.

[Roberta Cameron]: And if you could also comment on the historic landscape and how the road fits into restoring the historic landscape.

[Tom Lincoln]: Yeah. The purpose of the access drive, obviously, was to get the brooks from Grove Street up to the house. There's about, I think, 80 or 100 foot rise there as part of The general landscape treatment, we want to improve some least seasonal views towards the ponds. This property had many more fields. It was a working farm in the 19th century. We're not cutting down 40 acres of forest and turning it back into that, but there's some opportunities for some view sheds, which we've shown on some previous documents in the master plan. It also, the redone access drive will certainly enhance what you might call the sense of arrival. And part of it, in a sense, it's I think also sort of the sizzle in terms of the attractiveness of the property when you're talking about weddings and things like that. The things that we need, like any property like this, in order to pay the bills on a sustaining basis going forward. You know, it sounds silly, but it will just look a lot better. It'll be more inviting, it'll be much more open, much more naturalistic than it is now. The road's in very rough shape at this point. No two ways about it.

[Roberta Cameron]: Anything else? Are there any more comments, questions?

[SPEAKER_12]: Can I make a quick statement? Yeah. So shame on me. I've been in medicine for five years. I've never seen it. And your passion is just beautiful.

[Unidentified]: And Doug, yours as well.

[SPEAKER_12]: How do you pay your bills? Do you have functions?

[Tom Lincoln]: Well, we don't have many bills now. That sounds stupid, but what I'm saying is that we played a long period of catch-up ball here, I think is the word. Let's put it this way. The manor is 90% someplace, 90% done. The carriage house is just a shell at this point. We have a plan. both operational, capital, et cetera, for both buildings moving forward with the cost side, the income side, the projections, et cetera. The access drive is probably the biggest impediment. You could have the finest manor up there, but people aren't going to come there on this road as it exists at this point. You know, it's an interesting question. There's a chicken and the egg proposition here. You should start with the road or start with the buildings. But if we hadn't started with the buildings, there wouldn't be any buildings there at this point. Yeah, you're absolutely right. But at least there's an access drive. It's not like there's no access drive.

[Danielle Evans]: Thank you. Can I just get your name for the record? Thank you.

[John Anderson]: I'm John Anderson. I'm also president of the Medford Historical Society. Obviously, I support this application. I also would just like to comment that there was a question about the public process going into the master plan, and I don't think Tom fully Great lengths by the board. Various experts were brought in. For example, Jim Kiley, the landscape architect. Who's that guy, Wes?

[Tom Lincoln]: From the... From Trustees of Reservation.

[John Anderson]: Wesley Warren. Yes, Trustees of Reservation. Tom talked about it endlessly at our annual meetings. Which were all open to the public. These are public meetings.

[Tom Lincoln]: And this was also, the master plan was in front of the city council for about two and a half years.

[John Anderson]: Yes. So it had plenty of public process.

[SPEAKER_20]: Thank you. Okay. Great. Yes?

[qIvMl_-GSJQ_SPEAKER_17]: Just to echo what Tom said earlier, if you want to see the master plan, go to brooksestate.org. You can see the entire 300 pages. I'm sure that's an executive summary. It's only like 10 or 12 if you want to read that. And there's also a cleanup on May 5th, Saturday, that is open to the public from 10 to 3. And a free picnic on July 14th, also a Saturday from 12 to 3. So if you want to come up, have some free burgers, come up to see the Brooks Estate, this is the two good dates to do that.

[Roberta Cameron]: Thank you. So I believe, without any further comments, that concludes the presentation from the applicants. And then we'd like to open up the floor for further public comment and invite you to come.

[Unidentified]: Yes.

[SPEAKER_15]: Thank you. Yeah, I'm working on it, thanks. But leading up to that, I'd like to share, and by the way, so my name is Dominic Camara, and I co-chair the Governmental Affairs Committee for the Chamber of Commerce, and my esteemed co-chair is right there, Steve Pompeo, and the ex-official president, Tina Caruso, from the Chamber's right there, Charlotte Scuderi, Tom Lincoln, he's not in the Chamber, but he should be. By way of getting us involved, I suppose, we meaning the chamber and the commercial sector with you as a committee, we've done some research obviously to just show you at least what the commercial sector contributes to the city of Medford. And how, hopefully, this commission, this committee, will recognize that and perhaps help us in the chamber, which represents the commercial sector, how best to distribute some funding. And so if you start from the top, I mean, this is a summary. This is public information, by the way. It's all at City Hall. As you can see, the total revenue from the levy is roughly somewhere around $110 million. The budget is somewhere around $150 million, but that's from state and federal stuff. But the levy from the residential, commercial, industrial sector is roughly $110 million. We, in the commercial sector, represent roughly 10%, roughly a billion of assessed value, which is 10% of the overall values that are in Medford, which translates into roughly $20 million that the commercial sector puts into that $110 million, because we get taxed at double the rate of the residential rate, as you all know, in the city of Medford. which also translates in terms of the CPA that I'm a homeowner at Medford and I pay, I think, I don't know, $60, $70, I forget what it is annually because of the CPA. 1.5% over what you pay in taxes. On the commercial side, that's exactly double. So while I pay X amount of dollars in terms of my residential thing, in my commercial holdings that I have at Medford, I paid 10 times that amount to the city, contribute quite a bit on the commercial side. In terms of the actual dollars, if you look at the fact that we contribute roughly $20 million to the levy, the 1.5% of that is roughly $300,000. So the CPA collects roughly, what, a million and a half or so? 1.3, 1.4, 1.3, something like that, yeah, that's right, and 1.3. And we contribute 300,000 of that. That's a lot of money. And so our question on the commercial side is what is the commercial side going to get for this? Because it's wonderful that it was voted, CPA, and I voted as a resident. I voted because I love parks and recreation. I love the dog park. I love everything for the M-Belt and so on. And quite frankly, it was emotional for me to hear this young lady that came up on section eight for affordable housing. It shouldn't exist. And I told the woman who presented the whole thing that I had a 20-unit complex in Melrose, and I went out of my way to get at least three or four section eight families into that building, to integrate into my building. So I believe in that stuff. But when it comes to the commercial side, for what I think we're going to get out of it, which is probably, I don't know. By the way, Roberta was very helpful. I want to compliment you for showing up at the chamber that night. It was a windy, crappy night, wasn't it? And to meet with the board and you know what? I need to compliment you as well because you actually, you heard me say something about the commercial sector when I came to admit, said, oh no, no, we're willing to help you out. So Danielle, thank you for that. And so this has led us to at least share with you some data of who we are, what we represent, and what we contribute to the city of Manfred. Then, perhaps, my question to you is this. Whoever constructed the parameters, that is now the CPA and the CPC, were very smart people, but they kind of left the commercial sector out of the picture, quite for me, from my point of reference. We are five, six, seven, eight different places in Medford that represent the commercial sector. When you talk about Medford Square, you talk about Haines Square, you're talking about West Medford, you talk about the Heights and the Tufts area, the Wellington Circle. So it isn't like Melrose where you got one street, oh, nice and neat, in Winchester, nice street. It's easy, the commercial sector. We are so dispersed and so huge in Medford that it's hard to unify all of that. And so we sort of need a wonder from you, is there any money that we can apply for to give us somebody that could become a grant writer, an application writer for all of these incredibly diverse centers that represent the commercial sector in Medford? Because we can't do it in the chamber. We don't have that facility to represent all of these people. So, is there anything that we can either approach the CPC that would allow for something like that? We met a young lady that Cheryl Rodigues, the one who was there, and she said, well, you know, I'd like to help you out to at least write the applications for whoever needs one in the commercial sector. What is your feeling on that? Do you think it's even out of the question, or is it something that you can look into for us and maybe make it happen?

[Roberta Cameron]: We're bound by the state law that created the Community Preservation Act. So we're working within those boundaries. There's a table. Of course, you can't see it from here, but I'm showing you what it looks like. It's available on our website, and it's available through the Massachusetts Community Preservation Coalition website. And it's a matrix that shows the allowable uses under the Community Preservation Act. So we're bound to fund projects that fit within this matrix using Community Preservation Act funds. That said, we hope that some of the funding will be able to, at least indirectly, help the business community by perhaps historic preservation projects, which make our business districts look more attractive and have a historic character that draws business to them, as well as public open space projects that likewise improve the quality of our commercial areas, particularly Medford Square, where we could have the Mystic River enhancements that bring the river into, you know, enliven, help to enliven Medford Square. So some things like that. There may be creative grant writers might be able to put together proposals that will specifically benefit commercial properties, perhaps historic preservation.

[SPEAKER_15]: That's what we don't have. We're going to get the money to get a creative grant writer. So you talk about Catch-22s and a lot of people kind of Now, where's Chris Donovan? Is he here? I was in Florida and he called me up to do, he says, Dominic, can I use your building in Medford Square because I want to light it up. I want to show how exciting Medford Square can be. I said, go ahead, what are you going to light up? You want to set it on fire? He says, no, no, I'm going to use all kinds of lighting. And I got to tell you, I think this gentleman was part of it, right, Fritz? Yeah. And when I saw it, I said, oh my God, if this was done all over Medford and all the squares, it would be so incredibly beautiful. But it's not historical. You know, see, these are all the catch-22s that we encounter. These are the kinds of things that would lighten up, whether it's lighting and so on, and we run into the same thing. No, it's not this, it's not this. We don't qualify for anything, it seems. It's frustrating as you know what, and yet, You know, this is data. I mean, this is not, that's a lot of money we contribute to the city of Medford. What are we going to get back? Steve, would you like to add anything to this? Madam President? You guys?

[Steven Pompeo]: I just want to thank Roberta for coming out to the chamber that night and helping us out and the whole committee for allowing us to and maybe how we might be able to help our own membership if there are some ways where they could somehow benefit from these funds and improve our downtown business district in some way.

[Roberta Cameron]: I would like to invite people to work with our coordinator, Danielle Evans, who can be very helpful to guide prospective applicants in what kinds of projects might be eligible and how to go through the application process and what are the steps that you need to take. So she can be a resource person to help guide.

[Danielle Evans]: And so I have talked to you a bit about some off the top of my head projects I thought could possibly qualify. So if one of the buildings is historic, as the historic commission has made the determination that it is, that private Property owners can apply for funding to you know restore the storefronts So there's a rehabilitation and restoration so making capital improvements or extraordinary repairs to make assets and

[Bm5-jrZInBw_SPEAKER_07]: functional for intended use, including improvements to comply with federal, state, or local building or access codes, or federal standards for rehabilitation of historic properties.

[Danielle Evans]: Yes, the Department of Interior standards. We have to meet those standards. And then I was also thinking if, I know a lot of, at least in Medford Square, a lot of the buildings encompass the whole lot, but maybe some of them don't, and you could maybe create a pocket park that would be publicly accessible, That could potentially be in qualifying a recreation open space.

[qIvMl_-GSJQ_SPEAKER_17]: So there's different things I've just kind of... I mean, I'm sympathetic with Bob, obviously, because it is a lot of money, and I think everyone in the city whether you own a single family or you rent, whatever, you want to see where the money goes, obviously. And that's what this committee is all about. I guess my question is, is it worth you calling the folks at the state level and trying to like put on the Chamber of Commerce hat and see like what are the precedents? Because these are the rules. We have to follow these rules, obviously. This is, you know, we can't just do anything. We can't, if we wanted to, we have to follow, this is the mandate, we have to follow those rules. But knowing that, is there a possibility to see what's kind of in that direction?

[0HXibsUvumY_SPEAKER_14]: What are the possibilities? We've had discussion before, even before when this first started. Why not lead by example? Go to other city sites, such as Cambridge, for example, and see what their business communities have done, what their private business owners have done, to see what has already been done and use that as an example to springboard into Medford.

[SPEAKER_15]: You're saying Cambridge CPA-wise? Well, it doesn't have to be.

[0HXibsUvumY_SPEAKER_14]: They're one of the first, but you can look at a lot of other cities and towns that have done it also.

[SPEAKER_15]: I know, I know.

[0HXibsUvumY_SPEAKER_14]: It's just a little bit of work, but it might pay off in the long run.

[SPEAKER_15]: The reality of the business community, which is us, is that we're up to our eyeballs in what we need to do. Unlike these wonderful committees that have 50 hours a day to spend on this kind of thing, chasing down things, we don't.

[0HXibsUvumY_SPEAKER_14]: First off, we don't have 50 hours a day to work on this. But you guys have a lot of smart minds with the chamber and everybody else. You should put a little committee together to see what could be going on and have someone investigate. Everybody takes one or two towns like we broke down. It sounds so easy.

[_Zabvvh8vxM_SPEAKER_18]: Okay, well anyway. So just a couple of thoughts. I agree. I think that, you know, there may be specific projects that could be funded that would directly benefit the business community. I think the benefit is more indirect in terms of this project because making Medford a better place to live and work, obviously, makes it more attractive for businesses, more foot traffic, et cetera. I think for what you're really interested in, though, is building some capacity so that you can, with the chamber, you know, go find some grant money and maybe have a staff person and really carry out the mission of the chamber. And I think for that there may be some other... On behalf of the commercial sector. Right. And I think that there may be some other opportunities to do that. I don't know if you've ever dealt with the Massachusetts downtown initiative that the state has. I think they have some resources that might be interesting. I'm happy to talk to you offline about it. I've worked with business improvement districts and things like that. There's other mechanisms for... We're getting that done too.

[SPEAKER_15]: We would love to have you as a guest on the committee. We have a possible 12 people on the committee, and several will have to go back to work. Like Maury Carroll, he's got a restaurant to run. That's the reality of our lives in terms of the commercial sector. We'd love to be able to chase down all sorts of things.

[SPEAKER_16]: I just want to jump in for a second. Everything that's been spoken about tonight needs to be taken care of. No question. But the commercial sector, as we're talking, We want people to come into our city and appreciate the city. If they're driving around and there's nothing to see, there are things that need to be taken care of, and everything we point out, it says, oh, the city will take care of it, the city will take care of it, and it's not being taken care of. But yet, the money is being put out through the commercial sector, and what are we getting back from? We need help, we need help.

[SPEAKER_15]: One of the things that this conundrum that we run into, Is that that when we ask about things a better lighting in all of Medford with oh, yeah, that's not the city So when it comes to the commercials, that's the answer we get but yet when you say well this park needs to be done Why isn't that the city to the CPA the CPA on CPC is more than willing to do that But yeah, that's a city responsibility Like do you say we pay the sidewalks and do this or do that? Oh, no, that's that's the city. It's not CPC It's almost like no matter what we want is not CPC the CPA or grant state guidelines. It's frustrating. And this is what we want to discuss with you as a committee. If you can find a way to integrate us, you know, the commercial sector. Forget the Chamber of Commerce, the vehicle that people complain to. You say, what will the Chamber do for me? I don't know. What do you want us to do for you? Here it is. We're fighting and fighting. All we got is brick walls. And when it comes to the commercial sector, not the residential sector, like I said, I benefit a lot. I taught at Medford High for 35 years. I love the city of Medford. I mean, every park, every, you know, we started the flower things in front of Medford High. But when it comes to the commercial, there's a blind eye to it on every level of government. And we get the feeling, I know you don't mean it, that there's that same blind eye here that we're willing to help, but we don't know how you're going to help us.

[Steven Pompeo]: I think at this point, if the commercial sector has a project, that's what they need to do is come up and present that project.

[_Zabvvh8vxM_SPEAKER_18]: Yes.

[Steven Pompeo]: Correct? There's nothing else. I think we've learned enough about what this committee does. There's nothing else that this group can do until

[SPEAKER_03]: Steve, you're right. We're not here to provide the ideas. We're here to receive the ideas and process them.

[_Zabvvh8vxM_SPEAKER_18]: We can help provide feedback before you get to that point so you're not wasting your time either.

[Danielle Evans]: If you have an inkling of an idea, run it by me before you start putting so much effort into it.

[SPEAKER_15]: Like I said, we would love to have some money from the CPC in terms of providing us with somebody that can guide us. Somebody who's professional that says, I know what to do. I know how to write this stuff. I know how to present this stuff. We know how to do this.

[SPEAKER_05]: That's planning.

[SPEAKER_15]: You're missing planning. Yeah, right. We don't have that and we don't know how to get that. You know, but here it is. We're providing $300,000 a year.

[John Anderson]: Can I ask if the board would consider an application, say, from a private... There are many historic buildings in Medford, commercial buildings that are privately owned, that over the decades have had rather unsympathetic changes made to them.

[qIvMl_-GSJQ_SPEAKER_17]: Yes.

[John Anderson]: I think of the Usher Building, for example, in West Medford, and there are many, many more. Would the board consider an application from a private owner to restore a historic facade?

[Roberta Cameron]: We would. According to our plan, we have prioritized different kinds of historic preservation projects. City-owned projects are a higher priority. Privately-owned projects are a lower priority, but they're still a project that we would consider in a given funding round.

[SPEAKER_15]: Like take Gaffey's funeral home. That's one of the oldest, as you know, John, right? Would, for example, if somebody were able to write this thing, you know, this application thing, would this committee be able to fund the removal of all the, you know, Aluminum siding or whatever and bring that thing back to what it used to be or is that something that that right? Yeah? Well, you know what I mean that we're just thinking that's rest of me.

[qIvMl_-GSJQ_SPEAKER_17]: There's approximately 30 something commuter properties in Medford that are on the national register. Yeah, all of them are High in the eligibility lists.

[SPEAKER_15]: I don't mean residential now. I'm talking commercial.

[qIvMl_-GSJQ_SPEAKER_17]: I mean it's commercial. That's all we're interested in. But the ocean building is a mixed use as well. Yeah, you know I think John is right. There's a lot of potential products out there.

[SPEAKER_15]: I'm just, my goodness, I've got photos in my office in Medford Square, in my building that shows you what Medford Square looked like years and years. It's gorgeous. I'm saying, oh my God, if only these things, these buildings of Versailles were still there. But that would take millions of dollars to renovate all that, to bring it back to what it used to be.

[qIvMl_-GSJQ_SPEAKER_17]: It's mostly limited to exterior restrooms. Yeah, yeah. The interior is what it is, but if it's what it is, absolutely.

[SPEAKER_15]: I think you guys have been gracious enough to listen to us tonight, and it's certainly given us an opportunity to vent, for lack of a better word, because that's what we're doing tonight, and we appreciate you not taking it personally. I hope you don't. This is just us talking to you. for how we feel in terms of the contribution we make. And without the commercial sector in Medford, there wouldn't be a social club, there wouldn't be a hockey team that could survive. We are the greatest contributors, not only because of taxation, but in terms of we get hit up every single day. I've got a pile like this and thousands of dollars a year. You know what I mean? So it's frustrating when our membership says, what did they do for us? I don't know, something, they do something. No, they don't. And we take the heat. So I hope it's radiating a little bit for me tonight. Not a lot, just a little bit. It's warm over here.

[Steven Pompeo]: Final question though, when is the next round?

[Roberta Cameron]: This year we have two funding rounds and the deadline has already passed for the preliminary applications for this year. So I believe that we'll be making our recommendations for the second round in October and then we'll be starting all over again. So that sometime over the winter we'll be accepting applications for the following round, which will be decided in October next year. So after our second round is completed this year, we'll be probably taking a little bit of time for ourselves to reflect on how this went this year and whether the The goals and priorities and criteria that we set out are still appropriate and if we want to make any changes to that before we invite the next round of applications. And then we start the process a little bit more slowly and less chaotically next year than we have this year.

[sBk_gQcj4fU_SPEAKER_04]: We're all kind of trying to figure this whole thing out. So there's learning pains for us, too. So we're doing the best that we can trying to get this thing up and running. So we appreciate you guys' patience. And we'll work with you. Just bear with us as well.

[_Zabvvh8vxM_SPEAKER_18]: And then just one clarification. We do have a small pot of money set aside for smaller proposals that can come out of grant round. It doesn't have to be.

[Roberta Cameron]: Well, actually, you're correct to make that. So I don't have in front of me the deadline for the second round. The second round for? The small projects, I have it in front of me.

[Bm5-jrZInBw_SPEAKER_07]: That's when the application is due, July 13th. The due date for the final application is July 13th.

[Roberta Cameron]: July 13th is the due date for the final applications, but small projects that are asking for less than $5,000 of CPA funds can submit a full application at that time. They don't have to have gone through the pre-application phase. So the pre-application phase deadline already passed for the second round, but if it's only a small project, you can go through the small project application process. And what's the limit on that? $5,000 limit for small projects, for CPA funding, for a total of $10,000 projects. So you have funding from other sources adding up to $10,000 altogether, including CPA funds. So thank you for that.

[SPEAKER_15]: One last thing, Roberta. You mentioned integrating the Mystic River. Yeah. A huge asset to the city of Medford and everything else. So I just happened to know this incredible, beautiful patio in Medford. It's right on the Mystic River. And I was wondering if, In the event you guys want to have a meeting, a historical meeting, to show how the Mississippi River can be integrated on the river. It's known as One Shipyard Way. It's my building. You can use it any way you want. Thank you. And we do have a cappuccino machine there, so I'm just saying.

[Unidentified]: I'm just saying.

[SPEAKER_15]: Espresso, cappuccino. And a certain friend of mine provides me all those pods. But anyway, no, seriously, I'm serious. If you ever want to use that gorgeous patio with umbrellas and tables and everything else, be my guest. And at least it shows that, hey, look at where we are. We're literally on the Mystic River, this incredibly historical shipbuilding thing that's part of Medford. And I've got enough little ships of you to put on tables to show just exactly what used to happen in Medford. Anyway, thank you so much on behalf of my co-chair, Steve Pompeo, and Charlotte, and my president, and so on. Thank you so much. We appreciate the fact that you listened to us, even too much at length, I probably.

[Roberta Cameron]: Thank you for coming this evening. And I apologize that it took you three tries to finally talk to us.

[SPEAKER_15]: That's all right. That was my drama.

[Steven Pompeo]: Thank you, Kelly.

[John Anderson]: All right. Yes. Yes. As you know, I'll be coming back next week. We'll be here. Can I put in an application? I think it was for $80,000 for an HVAC system. Yes. I continue. You can sit right up at that seat, John. Very quick. I had to put the application together rather quickly, and further research has indicated that I could probably do this project for substantially less. How should I handle that? Should I cover that in my presentation next week? Should I redo parts of the application? What's the best way to do this?

[Roberta Cameron]: I think if you can give it to us in writing so that we can keep it in our heads, but you can cover that in your application next week, that would be sufficient. Because we can recommend a funding amount for less than what you asked for in the first place, either because we choose to do that or because you have requested a smaller amount than what we asked for in the first place. But it would just be helpful for us to keep it straight by giving us that in writing.

[John Anderson]: Now, what happens in general with projects that have a change of scope after the grant has been approved? Either because of, you know, unexpected things happen, things cost less, things cost more, up or down, what happens?

[Roberta Cameron]: We can't increase the funding amount after the fact, but as long as the project remains consistent with the objectives, as long as all of the tasks that are being carried out are consistent with the requirements of CPA, I think that that is still allowable.

[John Anderson]: You mean to spend less?

[Roberta Cameron]: Yes, it's allowable to spend less or to change exactly the components that you're doing so long as those components remain. And we'll have Danielle to keep you on track to ensure that what you're doing is... Okay.

[qIvMl_-GSJQ_SPEAKER_17]: I want to echo what you said because I've been wondering this about... Everyone has cost estimates. Obviously, you don't really know until the... Affordable housing folks actually get the drawings from the architect. They won't actually know the actual cost. So what you were saying before, there's no ability to increase, but there is ability if you don't spend it to. There's no ability after the fact to say, oh, we're $10,000 short. We can wait. Can we get that or can we fold that into the next round, like phase it or something? Is that the only option?

[Roberta Cameron]: You could come back and ask for more money later, but that would go through the same process.

[qIvMl_-GSJQ_SPEAKER_17]: The same process, yeah. So that's a limit and it's fixed? Yeah. Okay, good to know.

[John Anderson]: So now if less money is actually spent completing the project than is awarded, That money remains in the CPA funds for future projects?

[Roberta Cameron]: Yeah, it goes back into the open pool. We release it back into the pool of funding available.

[John Anderson]: Okay. It's not encumbered.

[Roberta Cameron]: Right.

[John Anderson]: And is there a timeline? For example, some of these projects, the housing ones in particular, might take several years to complete. So the money just

[Roberta Cameron]: It stays until we tell it to go back into the, until you either spend it or we release it.

[John Anderson]: Okay, thank you.

[Roberta Cameron]: Yep. Thank you. That's it. Alright.

[sBk_gQcj4fU_SPEAKER_04]: Alright. We good?

[Roberta Cameron]: Yep. Do we have a motion to adjourn?

[sBk_gQcj4fU_SPEAKER_04]: I'll make that motion to adjourn.

[_ywkXQwBNaw_SPEAKER_07]: I'll second that motion.

[Roberta Cameron]: All in favor?

[sBk_gQcj4fU_SPEAKER_04]: Aye.

[Roberta Cameron]: Thank you. Meeting is adjourned.

Erin DiBenedetto total time: 3.49 minutes total words: 614