The Natick Select Board at its Nov. 29 meeting is slated to conduct interviews for 4 at-large appointments to the Community Preservation Committee (CPC).
That new body will be responsible for reviewing requests for Community Preservation Act (CPA) funds and making recommendations to Town Meeting for approval. Spring Annual Town Meeting overwhelmingly (92%) approved a motion to amend Natick’s bylaws to create a CPC. The town this summer began hitting locals with a property tax surcharge to establish a pool of money to support investment in historic preservation, open space, recreation, and affordable housing.
The CPA has been around in Massachusetts since 2000, and more than half of the state’s cities and towns have adopted it.
The Select Board recently extended the deadline for people to apply as CPC candidates, and now it has a pool of 6 to choose from for the 4 at-large spots. The rest of the 9-person CPC will come from existing Natick governmental bodies—the Conservation Commission, Planning Board, Historical Commission, Housing Authority, and Recreation & Parks Commission.
The at-large candidates offer a diverse set of professional skills, from landscape architecture to finance, for consideration. The candidates, who have a mix of experience in town government and volunteering, are:
- Steven Cosmos
- Bob Foley
- Sara Hanna
- David Krentzman
- Jose Montemayor
- Bill Ramage
The first job for the CPC will be establishing rules for how the group will operate.
Next door, Wellesley’s CPC recently had articles approved at a Special Town Meeting for CPA funds to be used for a housing study as well as a study on possible pickleball court locations.
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