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March 2003 CPA Conference
for Community Preservation Committees
Approximately 150 people from more than 40 of the 58 CPA communities attended this year's CPA conference in Bedford, MA, sponsored by the Community Preservation Coalition. Because so many new communities adopted the CPA in 2002 (15 in the spring and 7 more in the fall), it was the first time that many Community Preservation Committees had the opportunity to meet with their counterparts across the State.
The Coalition would like to build on the momentum created by the conference with this page, which contains the presentations given at the conference, handouts, and notes and questions from the sessions.
Feel free to download and use any of the materials posted here and please let us know
if you have any questions. Also let us know if you would like the contact info for someone you met at the conference. We would love to see communities stay in touch with their counterparts to share best practices, etc.
Please note that some of the presentation files are large and may take some time to download,
especially for those of you without high speed internet access.
The following is an outline of the conference sessions, including summaries of what was said and documents that may be downloaded. This section will be fleshed out more thoroughly in the coming weeks.
Opening Remarks
Implementing the CPA
Community Housing
Historic Preservation
Land Protection
Closing Remarks
Opening Remarks
Catherine Cordes - Chair, Bedford Community Preservation Committee
Catherine opened the proceedings with a welcome from the Town of Bedford and the Bedford CPC
and an invitation to all of the participants to visit some of their CPA projects. As one of
the communities furthest along in the three CPA areas, Bedford was a natural choice for the
conference location.
Chris Norris - Citizens' Housing and Planning Association
Chris welcomed participants to the conference on behalf of the
Community Preservation Coalition and recognized several Coalition members in attendance -
Clarissa Rowe from Preservation Mass, Bob Kuehn from the Keen Development Corporation, and
Marilyn Fenollosa from the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Chris then introduced the
keynote speaker, Stephen Burrington, Deputy Chief of Commonwealth
Development.
Stephen Burrington - Commonwealth Development
Stephen spoke about the Governor's new office of Commonwealth Development and the four goals that they will pursue: 1) smart growth; 2) doubling the amount of new housing construction; 3) improving mobility though better public transport and incentives to locate housing near existing public transport; and 4) climate protection. He challenged participants to consider new ways to channel growth towards these priorities and mentioned that his office would be examining statewide activities to see how they can contribute to their smart growth objectives.
Dorrie Pizzella - Community Preservation Coalition
Dorrie spoke about some of the services the Coalition provides and how she hoped that the conference would be a time for CPC members to make connections with their colleagues around the state and to discuss the issues that they have been struggling with.
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Jeff Hoyland - Bedford Community Preservation Committee
Jeff spoke about Bedford's experience implementing the CPA and some of the lessons they have learned. He spoke about some of their projects and the ways in which they have approached project evaluation and funding.
Download Jeff's Presentation
Doug Dickson - Newton Community Preservation Committee
Doug focused on many details of a successful CPC, including project criteria, how Newton communicates with the public, and other CPC nuts and bolts.
Download Doug's Presentation
Audrey Child - Amherst Community Preservation Committee
Audrey spoke about Amherst's experience with the CPA, in terms of how they have approached recommending CPA fund expenditures and what kinds of projects they have completed or are working on.
Dorrie Pizzella moderated the session.
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Gene Clerkin - Bedford Community Preservation Committee
Gene talked about the importance of assessing a community's housing needs as the initial step to doing housing projects. He suggested a city or town spend approximately $25,000 to hire a consultant to examine the existing affordable housing inventory and come up with a comprehensive housing plan. He also talked about some housing creation strategies like forming a non-profit housing entity, buying-down condos, and doing scattered site small-scale housing. He followed up with a discussion of Bedford's housing projects to date.
Download Gene's Presentation
John Coolidge - Hopkinton Community Preservation Committee
John discussed Hopkinton's experience moving a house that was donated to the Town by EMC Corp. Combining CPA funds with hundreds of hours of donated labor, the CPC was able to move the home to town-owed land, restore it, and create two affordable units, which will be sold for more than the Town's investment. The extra funds will be put towards future housing projects.
Download John's Presentation
Connie Kruger - Massachusetts Housing Partnership
Connie spoke about MHP and the services that they offer to communities that are working to create affordable housing. She addresses some of the necessary steps for obtaining funding and planning for projects and addressed some of the challenges and solutions particular to the CPA.
View Connie's Presentation Notes
Bonnie Heudorfer - Citizens' Housing and Planning Association
Chris Norris moderated the session.
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Stuart Ivimey - Cohassett Community Preservation Committee
Chris Skelly - Massachusetts Historic Commission Christopher Skelly discussed some of the other "tools in the toolbox" that community preservation committees should know about. More information on each of these items can be obtained from the Massachusetts Historical Commission.
View more info from
Chris's presentation
Robert Kuehn - Community Preservation Coalition
Bob spoke about the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for historic preservation, which communities should follow when undertaking CPA historic preservation projects. Section 3 of the CPA (as amended in July, 2002) reads: "With respect to historic resources, rehabilitation shall have the additional meaning of work to comply with the Standards for Rehabilitation stated in the United States Secretary of the Interior's Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties codified in 36 C.F.R. Part 68."
View Bob's Presentation
Betsy Shure-Gross from the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs
moderated the session.
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George Johnson - Holliston Community Preservation Committee
Bill Stanton - Marshfield Community Preservation Committee
Bill spoke about some of the basics of land protection, including determining what role the CPC should take, steps for identifying open space in town, the importance of using other town plans (Master Plan, Open Space, etc). He went on to discuss some specific strategies for land protection projects.
View an outline of Bill's Presentation
Priscilla Geigis - Executive Office of Environmental Affairs
Priscilla spoke about EOEA's work with the CPA and how to leverage local CPA funds with state grant programs like EOEA's Self-Help and Urban Self-Help grants.
View an outline of Priscilla's Presentation
Richard Hubbard - Department of Food and Agriculture
Carol Hall - The Trust for Public Land
Carol spoke about how land trusts can help CPCs protect open space, mentioning some of the specific assistance they can provide and some successful examples that TPL has worked on.
Download Carol's Presentation
Elizabeth Adams, from The Trust for Public Land moderated the session.
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Clarissa Rowe, Community Preservation
Coalition - thanked participants for coming, especially those who came
from as far away as Williamstown and Nantucket, saying that they are the pioneers of the Act
who are forging the way for other communities. The Act fosters a cross-pollination so that
each separate CPA use can build upon and complement the other two uses. She challenged CPC
members to think about multiple uses of CPA funds in their projects - when buying open
space, think about the potential for preserving historic structures on it or setting aside
some of the land for affordable housing. She suggested that community members consider the
older buildings in town centers for adaptive reuse projects. In closing, she reminded people
that the Community Preservation Coalition stands ready to help with technical questions
about implementing the Act. Stay in touch.
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