Natick’s Community Preservation Committee (CPC) this past week held a public information forum to clarify what the appointed body is, and to answer people’s questions. Given the drawn-out timeline involved in adopting the Community Preservation Act (CPA) and getting to the point of funding projects through the CPC, offering a refresher on this subject makes sense.
Spring Annual Town Meeting voted overwhelmingly in 2022 to adopt the CPA, and the public later that year voted in favor of it via a ballot question. The town’s adoption of the CPA resulted in residents and commercial entities—with some exceptions—getting hit with a 1% property tax surcharge starting in July 2023 to support investment in historic preservation, open space, recreation, and affordable housing. The CPC coffers should grow even bigger if the proposed override is approved. Local funding is matched to some extent by the state as well.
The nine-person CPC is in charge of vetting funding requests and making recommendations on them to Town Meeting, which has the final call.
New CPCs get consulting firms licking their chops, as no small portion of funds typically head their way for various studies and other work. In fact, reps from such an outfit were on hand at the information forum to facilitate it.
Natick so far has collected $1.75M in CPA funds, including an 18% state match (the state match percentage can change from year to year). Fund allocation includes 10% each for open space/recreation, affordable housing, and historic preservation. Another 5% is set aside for administrative expenses, and the rest is discretionary and can be used for any category, explained Committee Chair Bill Ramage. Not all funds need to be spent right away, and money can accumulate.
CPC funding allocation
Projects are submitted by interested parties, the CPC reviews and scores them based on their impact and feasibility, and then the CPC recommends projects to Town Meeting for approval. “So basically, we are the clearinghouse,” Ramage said at the public forum, during which he cited some examples of projects from other communities, including a playground and rail trail. Also check out this database of projects from across the state.
Natick’s CPC has begun holding focus groups on the various areas for possible funding. A public survey was also conducted online and results are available for viewing. For additional questions, reach out to the CPC at obeck@natickma.org
The CPC tentatively expects to start accepting applications in the spring and make recommendations in time for Fall Annual Town Meeting, which will vote on each CPC project separately.
Most of last week’s information forum was dedicated to answering attendee questions, which ranged from those about affordable housing to playing field restorations. Bill Grogan, a Natick Housing Authority commissioner, fielded a question about affordable housing, noting that what gets funded will depend on what sorts of project applications are submitted (so we could be talking senior housing, new construction, family housing, etc.)
Others asked about how the CPC will go about scoring submissions, say weighing the desire for dedicated pickleball courts vs. improving marked trails, or weighing input from community groups vs. more formal town bodies such as Natick Recreation and Parks. Ramage said the CPC is finalizing a rubric that will include a series of questions about projects falling into the various buckets. “The attempt is to evaluate them all using similar criteria and no one group has any benefit over another,” he said, emphasizing later that all CPC meetings are public.
At the end of the meeting Ramage said: “This is all new to us as well as the town. We don’t know if we’re going to get one application or 2o. So to be continued…”
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I am interested in becoming a member of the board. How do I go about this?
Hi Jan, committee members were selected during a process that started in 2023, but it’s worth keeping an eye on meetings and being ready to apply if any spots open (members are appointed for 3-year terms). The town’s page on the CPC does need a bit of updating.