Selectmen Weigh In On CPA Projects

Earlier this week, the Board of Selectmen was asked to offer some guidance on projects that could be put before annual Town Meeting for Community Preservation Act funding in fiscal 2013.

Opinions were split this past Monday about stabilizing the White House, upgrading the and pushing forward with plans to upgrade the , but the BOS was OK endorsing plans to continue with the Paint Mine barn preservation and implementing certain components of the Battle Green Master Plan.

The Community Preservation Committee will consider requests at a public hearing on Monday. Dec. 19. (For more information about the projects, check out these fiscal 2013 Project Narratives.)

In the meantime, here’s a quick rundown of how the selectmen saw certain CPA proposals.

-- Asked about spending  $202,000 to stabilize any bit of , four of five selectmen said they’d rather wait to hear the Historic Districts Commission’s view on moving the decaying Greek Revival, or sections of it, before committing to an investment.

-- Regarding a $550,000 request for design and engineering work on building , the selectmen seemed supportive of investing in the building, but were wary of moving forward if it means in the near future as opposed to a prioritized, phased approach.

-- As far as the request for $561,518 for the Muzzey Senior Center, the majority of the board was cautiously optimistic about moving forward with improvement plans, but had questions about specifics and the dissenting selectman, George Burnell, said he would be in favor of site upgrades, but not those which have been proposed.

-- Selectmen also supported continuing with Paint Mine barn preservation at $34,700; continuing with the at $605,718; the Battle Green Master Plan Implementations at $150,598, while deciding plans to renovate and expand the for $117,731 were too new to make any decision about.