Given the scale and scope of the projects funded by the town’s Community Preservation Committee, one would expect folks to line up to apply for the annual $4 million or so that is doled out via a competitive grant process.
Maureen Callahan, vice chair of the CPC, said there is no such line. “People don’t seem to know that we’re here,” she said. “If they even know the name ‘Community Preservation Committee’ they don’t know what that means or what we actually do.”
Last year, the CPC received three applications. By comparison, New Bedford’s CPC received 23.
In the November 2004 election, Needham voted by a 58% to 42% margin to add a 2% surcharge to the town’s property tax bills to create a Community Preservation Fund, a pool of money designated for open space protection, historic preservation and the provision of affordable housing.
The fund was created by the passage in September 2000 of the state’s Community Preservation Act, which gave municipalities the option whether to participate. In addition to raising funds via the local property tax, participating communities receive a share of a statewide pool generated by surcharges on real estate activity.
Since then, Needham’s CPC has recommended, and Town Meeting has approved, CPA funds to augment projects such as the preservation of Town Hall ($14 million in CPA funds), the construction of the Rosemary Recreation Complex ($12 million), the Needham Housing Authority’s planned Linden Street Redevelopment ($6.9 million), the renovation of the Emery Grover school administration building ($6 million) and the Town Common redesign and renovation ($1.364 million).
Callahan is in her second year on the CPC, but is hardly new to its mission after years of experience on the staff of outgoing state Rep. Denise Garlick. She said she was a bit surprised to learn that her role would involve having to do some marketing to attract applicants for the funds.
At its Sept. 11 meeting, the CPC held a workshop for prospective applicants, the start of an effort Callahan said would continue until the Nov. 1 deadline for applications and that she hopes will broaden the applicant pool.
The vast majority of the more than $50 million in CPA funds that have been distributed in Needham through 2023 has gone to a handful of major projects. Likewise, a small number of town entities regularly avail themselves of the funds because their missions are a great fit with the CPA’s goals.
Not surprisingly, the Park and Recreation department has been a frequent flyer, as CPA funds can be used for certain recreation projects. The Needham Housing Authority has also been a regular applicant and has had multiple projects approved to support its mission as Needham’s primary provider of deeply affordable housing.
Callahan believes the CPC could extend its reach beyond the low-hanging fruit of Park and Rec and the NHA and draw applications from more town departments, as well as from nonprofits or even residents.
“They don’t necessarily have to go through the town budget process for capital money, but could get money from us by applying,” she said of the potential for town departments to access the funds when their goals align with CPA criteria.
The multimillion-dollar grants the CPC has made are outliers in terms of scale. The majority of the nearly 200 appropriations that Town Meeting has approved have been for less than $100,000. Many have been for less than $25,000. The grants often involve hiring consultants providing expertise town staff lacks.
The program is not restricted to the public sector, and nonprofits have received awards. “Private citizens can certainly come together and make an application,” Callahan said.
“They may live near or know a place that would be a cool area for, like, a little park. Others may just have ideas of what might benefit the town in some way. It’s not a layup of course, but anything that falls within the four categories that we fund would be eligible.”
Callahan said anyone interested should begin by reading the application on the town website. The project need not be fully baked, “but they do have to have a pretty good idea of what it’s going to cost.”
“We just opened up the application process, so it is brand new,” she said. “And we are open until Nov. 1, which is our deadline, so certainly there’s time.”
The CPC is not the sole arbiter of what gets funded. It must consult with the Select Board and the Finance Committee as it develops its recommendations for funding to Town Meeting.
“This money is from the real estate tax,” said Callahan. “People have paid into this for this reason, right? It’s there for the betterment of our community. It would be really nice if we had a broader reach so that more diverse groups could come forward.”
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