CCPC highlights FY22 funding recommendations

By Guest

With annual town meeting only days away, the Canton Community Preservation Committee wishes to share some information relative to its recommendations to town meeting (Article 19) that will be voted upon on May 22.

Canton’s historic Town Hall building is in need of major exterior repairs. (Moira Sweetland photo)

A total of nine projects across the three eligible funding categories have been recommended for funding in FY22. In addition, the CPA article includes a motion to appropriate $32,500 for administrative expenses and a motion to appropriate $251,490 for the third debt service payment associated with the 2019 acquisition of and improvements to the open space at the Paul Revere Heritage Site.

Among the recreation project recommendations is the $270K proposal to replace the large upper playground at the Luce Elementary School. The requested funds will be used to replace the outdated playground equipment and to install a poured-in-place surface material, which will improve accessibility to the new structures.

In the historic category, the CCPC is recommending a $283K grant for the design services associated with the full exterior rehabilitation of Memorial Hall. While this is just a fraction of the full cost of the restoration work (estimated at over $2 million), it is an important step in preserving the 140-year-old building, which serves as the seat of Canton’s town government.

Other appropriations proposed under Article 19 include the following:

* $100K to replace emergency staircases at nine buildings in the Hagan Court senior housing complex.

* $50K to update the town’s Housing Action Plan, a process that would be overseen by a proposed Municipal Affordable Housing Trust.

* $50K to fund preliminary design work to extend the Warner Trail through Canton to the Blue Hills Reservation.

* $34K for capital improvements at Gibson Field to improve the safety and function of the field.

$25K to be transferred to the Conservation Fund for open space expenses that comply with restrictions in the CPA statue.

* 46K to restore and preserve an 1829 Hunneman Hand Tub (fire pumper), which will be on permanent display at the Revere Heritage Site.

* $5K to develop a plan to rehabilitate a Henry Hooper Bell to allow for its meaningful incorporation at the Revere Heritage Site.

The CCPC was delighted to receive such well-researched funding applications for projects that will have demonstrable benefits to the community. As the town becomes increasingly aware of the role that CPA funds can play in preserving and enhancing the places and experiences that make Canton special, the request for CPA dollars has also increased. While CPA funding requests and recommendations have been at an all-time high, the CPA budget is limited. Given the budget constraints, the CCPC is committed to being as transparent as possible about its decision-making process.

Basis for CPA funding decisions

When beginning the application review process each year, the CCPC looks at the accumulated CPA funds not already committed to a town meeting-approved project (“unencumbered” funds) as well as the estimated new CPA revenue for the coming fiscal year. Based on input from the Finance Department, the CCPC used a conservative unencumbered fund estimate of $479K as the starting point for calculating available funding in FY22. Similarly, the CCPC has been purposely conservative in calculating estimated CPA revenue as demonstrated in the chart below.

Again, working with the Finance Department, the CCPC used a CPA revenue estimate of $725K for FY22 to reach an available total CPA funding level for FY22 of $1,204,000. While recommending that town meeting authorize funding projects to the tune of nearly $1.148M will leave a smaller “surplus” of CPA dollars for next year, it was the collective opinion of the CCPC that the strength of this year’s round of CPA applications merited such action.

Further information about each of the nine projects recommended for funding can be found on the CCPC website at: https://www.town.canton.ma.us/222/Community-Preservation-Committee. Furthermore, the CCPC will be holding a public meeting via Zoom on Monday, May 17, to entertain any questions from the public regarding their recommendations.

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