Community Outreach & Public Hearings: Creative Ways to Spread the Word on CPA

Public outreach is an important part of the responsibilities of the Community Preservation Committee (CPC) in each CPA city and town. At a minimum, the CPC is required to hold a public hearing each year to get feedback on the city or town's priorities for community preservation, write a Community Preservation Plan based on that feedback and update it every year.  Although the law is ambiguous about the need to have a hearing each year, the Department of Revenue confirmed in a CPA guidance document (Page 24 of IGR 00_209) that a hearing must be held “as part of the initial study and annual review process.”

Here is what the CPA law says in Section 5(b) (1):

As part of its study, the committee shall hold one or more public informational hearings on the needs, possibilities and resources of the city or town regarding community preservation possibilities and resources, notice of which shall be posted publicly and published for each of two weeks preceding a hearing in a newspaper of general circulation in the city or town.

There is no specific timing specified for the hearing during the year. It is not required to have a CPA hearing before Town Meeting, nor is it required to have a hearing on the CPA projects that the Community Preservation Committee has recommended to the legislative body.

Some communities have two hearings a year – one at the beginning of the year to get community feedback, and another to review CPC recommendations before they are referred to Town Meeting or the City Council.  But a second hearing on projects is optional—the law only requires one hearing for the purpose of getting community feedback on overall CPA needs in town. The annual hearing must be posted publicly and published for each of two weeks preceding a hearing in a newspaper of general circulation in a city or town. Here is a sample public hearing notice from the Town of Acton.

But a strong CPA program includes lots of public participation.  Many communities have come up with creative and innovative ways to spread the word about their CPA annual hearing and actively encourage community participation and input. Some examples of this outreach include:

• The Town of Tisbury ran newspaper ads to drive attendance to their upcoming public hearings.
• The Town of Hanson printed a full color brochure, “The Benefits of the Community Preservation Act Funds”.
• The Orleans Community Preservation Committee created a detailed informational brochure explaining how the CPA program works, what types of projects have been funded in town, and encouraging residents to attend Town Meeting to vote on future CPA initiatives.
• The Town of Arlington sent out media alerts to place announcements about their upcoming public hearings in major newspapers.
• Newton held a “Happy Birthday CPA” celebration and an open house at their local high school.
• Salem and Springfield both issue a press release every year advertising their public hearing.
• Springfield holds annual workshops to help residents understand how to apply for funding
• Boston created a "What's on Your Shopping List?" flyer that invited residents to participate in a community-wide forum discussing upcoming CPA projects.
• Some other great examples of outreach flyers include the City of Somerville and the Town of Yarmouth advertising their public hearings.
• The City of New Bedford put together an extensive powerpoint presentation for their hearing to educate residents about the future goals for their program.
• The City of Watertown created an online survey for residents to provide ideas to the CPC for future CPA priorities and projects.
• The Town of Canton worked with a consultant to organize a community survey, a community forum, and held several focus groups in order to prepare an update to their Community Preservation Plan and reach out to residents outside of their annual public hearing.
• In recognition of their 20th anniversary with the CPA program, the Town of Dartmouth prepared a retrospective fact-sheet to provide residents with a "big picture" perspective on how much CPA has accomplished over the years.

If your community has done any outreach or held any public engagement events for your local CPA program, please let us know!

Aug. 2023