Great Barrington — The May 4 annual town meeting will be the first time Community Preservation Act (CPA) projects are presented for approval by Great Barrington voters, who decided in 2012 that the town should adopt the CPA, its funding source a 3 percent surcharge on the property tax bill that is generously matched by the state. In 2014, the town received a 48-percent state match of $190,000.
After a grueling and extensive review process, the Community Preservation Committee found that nine proposed projects were worthy of funding, with a $866,640 grand total for all projects, less than the total available CPA funds of $1.2 million. The remainder will be banked for future projects, said Town Planner Chris Rembold. The rest “doesn’t go away or expire,” he added.
CPA projects must fall into one or more of three categories: Historic Preservation, Open Space and Recreation, and Community Housing. All projects are eligible to receive funding on July 1 if approved at town meeting, Rembold said, and detailed agreements with the town will be signed for each.
“The historic character of the town, open space and recreation are absolutely critical components for the economy and this is one way to underwrite that quality of life,” Rembold noted. “A vote for or against any of these projects does not impact your tax bill. CPA funds have already been collected since 2012, and will continue to be collected. We have nine worthy projects to start spending the money on.”
Selectboard and CPC member Ed Abrahams said this is an “exciting time for Great Barrington. Some of these are town projects that the town would have had to pay — some of them will generate income,” noting that when 100 Bridge — one project seeking funding — is completed, “we will have around $400,000 per year on the tax rolls.”
Abrahams said the CPA is “an incredibly good investment for the taxpayers,” in that it generates other money. He said that the state decided to fix the Bridge Street bridge, for instance, because of all the development on Bridge Street.
“We’re getting much more back then we’re putting in,” he added.
The projects are as follows:
Community Housing
The 100 Bridge Street proposed redevelopment of the former New England Log Homes site includes affordable housing, retail and commercial space, a riverwalk and park, as well as the Berkshire Coop Market.
100 Bridge ($200,000) — The only project in this category is 45 affordable rental units of family housing at 100 Bridge, a $40 million multi-use development at the old New England Log Homes site, which has undergone a bioremediation process that is to continue this spring and summer. The project is the brainchild of the Community Development Corporation of Southern Berkshire (CDC), which plans to feature an expanded Berkshire Co-op Market as an anchor, though nothing is in writing yet, said CDC Executive Director Timothy Geller. The 8-acre site will contain retail, office, housing (affordable and market), a community-gathering plaza, and a park-like setting along the restored banks of the Housatonic River. The income qualification for the housing units, Geller said, will be 60 percent of the area income: $51,000 for family of four, and $36,000 for a single person.
Rembold says this is an “interesting project” because CPA money is being used as predevelopment funding for design and permitting. He calls it “early working money” that is important both for doing the work and “boosting other funders’ confidence.”
“The committee [CPC] views this [project] as meeting a very urgent and deep affordable housing need, and we think that even though it’s early money, it’s safe money, because there’s already been such due diligence done by CDC at the site, and we know that once the clean up is done…and the other funding…this project is going to happen.”
Open Space
100 Bridge ($300,000) — The funds will be used to restore the land and native habitat along the Housatonic River, create a walking path, and turn the space into a 1.3-acre riverfront park with a separate gathering spot between the Co-op and the river, which Geller refers to as a “piazza.”
“It will be public open space forever,” Geller said. “The town is getting a 1.3-acre public park on the river, right downtown, with no maintenance.” The CDC will maintain the area, he said.
“It will be a very natural space and allow both the public and people who live and work at the site to see the River,” Rembold added.
The Trustees of Reservations ($20,000) — The funds will be used to repair existing trails on Monument Mountain, which receives 20,000 visitors every year; and to begin the planning of trails and a trailhead for the Flag Rock, which will eventually connect with trails on Monument. The Trustees, who already own and manage the mountain, partnered with Fish & Game in June to purchase 45-acres of private land that provides access to, and includes, the Flag Rock overlook on the southwest slope of the mountain, and 280-acres that includes Monument’s highest elevation. The existing trails to Flag Rock begin in a residential neighborhood in Housatonic Village, and The Trustees will begin taking the community pulse there to decide where to eventually site an official trailhead with parking and a kiosk. Once a decision is made, The Trustees may return to the CPC in a future funding cycle to request more CPA money to build the new trail.
Historic Preservation
The Mason Library roof and railing system needs repair to prevent leaks.
Three projects in this category are for town-owned properties. This was a reason voters were in favor of adopting the CPA, and also an important consideration of the CPC in determining which projects should be recommended for funding.
Mason Library ($65,000) — This will repair the cupola, which is damaged and leaking into the library, in addition to repairs of the roof railing. The repairs were not part of the library renovation and expansion project nine years ago, according to Rembold.
Town Hall ($20,000) — For an investigation into leaks and decay at the southwest corner of the building. These funds will be used for planning only.
The Newsboy statue and fountain, as depicted in 1890, requires preservations work.
Newsboy Statute and Fountain ($31,640) — To repair and preserve the circa 1890s monument and fountain on Route 23. The Great Barrington Historical Commission brought this project to the CPC for consideration.
The Dutch Wagon House on the Truman Wheeler Farmstead ($50,000) — A Great Barrington Historical Society project for repairs to the rare Dutch Wagon House, an important part of the early Dutch farmstead at 817 South Main St., and the home of the Historical Society. The Fitzpatrick Trust considered the farmstead — on the National Register of Historic Places — so important that it gave the Society a challenge grant of $100,000 for rehabilitation of the Wagon House, said Executive Director Debbie Oppermann. The Society raised enough over the last several years to begin restorations of the main house — which has four exhibit rooms — outbuildings and barns. And the Society plans to turn the farmstead into a town museum, where it will install its archives, now at Ramsdell Library for safekeeping.
The Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center ($30,000) — Also on the National Register of Historic Places, the Mahaiwe’s basement has serious ground and rainwater problems that, if left unchecked, will deteriorate the foundation of the building. The money will be used for pumps, piping and drainage; a sump pump and a trough will be installed. The Mahaiwe has received additional grants for other work from the Massachusetts Cultural Council’s Facilities Fund and the Fitzpatrick Trust, and Executive Director Beryl Jolly says that correcting this drainage problem is “critical” to the other projects.
St. James Place ($150,000) — In what is a monumental $7 million renovation project to turn the former St. James Episcopal Church on the corner of Taconic Ave./St. James Place and Main into an artistic and civic center, and the permanent home of The Peoples Pantry, developers Fred and Sally Harris asked the CPC for funding towards structural repairs of the roof. Some of the funds will also be used to create a small public park on the land surrounding the large oak tree at the southeast corner of the site. St. James Place, Inc., a nonprofit, also got a $500,000 grant from the Massachusetts Cultural Council for general work to the site. The Harris’ are using federal and state historic tax credits and will continue to raise money, according to Fred Harris. The project, he added, should be completed on June 1, 2016.
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