Initial Requests Top $3.7 Million for Belmont Community Preservation Funds

The popularity of using taxpayer-fueled resources for a series of community goods is evident with the release of the preliminary applications supplied to the Community Preservation Act Committee by its Sept. 6 deadline for initial submissions.

A total of 14 requests totaling a bit over $3.7 million will be competing for approximately $2.1 million in CPA money available in this second annual funding cycle.

On Wednesday, Sept. 11, the CPAC will meet at 5 p.m. at Town Hall to "make the  preliminary selections that will move into the final round which takes place Nov. 1," said Belmont Town Treasurer Floyd Carman who's department manages the account. 

"It's now just a case of going through these projects and selecting those which are the good projects and the ones that might not make the cut," said Carman, who is also a CPAC member.

The funds, established when voters approved a Community Preservation Act ballot question in November, 2010, are available to protect open space, historic preservation, affordable housing and outdoor recreation, with at least 10 percent of the total amount spent on each of the above items.

Earlier this year, Belmont Town Meeting approved approximately $940,000 for nine projects in the inaugural round of CPA financing. 

While the total dollar amount being requested outstrips the funding the CPA Committee has to give out, a single item is responsible for the majority of the money sought.

That appeal, for $2 million made by the Belmont Board of Selectmen to pay for a portion of the construction of the proposed new Underwood Pool, is seen as a "placeholder" for an amount to be determined later this year during the next step in the CPAC process. 

If approved, the $2 million would pay for just about half of the anticipated $4.3 - $4.5 million it will cost to construct a new pool and bathhouse. 

"[The pool] is a serious project and proposal but most of its funding will be subject to a debt exclusion," said Carman. The Underwood Pool Building Committee is also anticipating a debt vote by town residents at Town Election on April 1, 2014.

Below are the applications and the amounts for each:
 
• Winn Brook field renovation, $100,000.
• JV Field irrigation upgrade, $8,700.
• Environmental land inventory for the town, $30,000.
• Pedestrian/bicycle connection between Belmont High School and Winn Brook, up to $50,000.
• Rehabilitate/restore land abutting Pequossette Field, $70,000. 
• First-time homebuyer assistance, $375,000.
• Viglirolo Skating Rink/White Field House feasibility study, $50,000.
• Belmont High School athletic complex study, $50,000.
• Underwood Pool, $2 million.
• Electrical upgrade at Belmont Housing Authority buildings, $165,000.
• Daniel Butler School playground project, $43,800.
• Green enhancement to Belmont High School parking lot and Clay Pit Pond, $170,000.
• Thomas Clark House relocation and restoration, $600,000.
• Belmont community moving image archive, $12,000.

Carman said the 14 requests will be placed into three categories this Wednesday: those moving forward, others that are determined by the committee as not fitting the requirements for funding and then a third group "that is a worthwhile proposal but we don't have the money. We'll tell them, 'come back next year'," said Carman.

"That's the dilemma we are facing."