By Elizabeth Harmer Dionne
Belmont’s Community Preservation Committee (CPC) has recommended the following projects to Town Meeting for Community Preservation Act (CPA) funding in FY2022.
Phase I Consulting Services for Payson Park Renovation
Organization: Friends of Payson Park (Linda Oates, Susanne Croy, Jay Marcotte)
CPA Category: Recreation
Amount requested: $35,000
This is the first step in renovating Payson Park, which suffers from inadequate access, crumbling infrastructure, and haphazard layout. Phase I involves an assessment of existing site conditions, neighborhood consultation and feedback, a conceptual design, and a proposed budget for construction costs. Due to changes implemented by the CPC in 2019, sponsors of town-approved projects involving public assets no longer need to raise private funds to cover part of the project’s overall cost.
Map of the proposed Phase 1 Belmont Community Path design. Graphic by Nitsch Engineering.
Preparation for Community Path Right-of-Way Acquisition
Organization: Community Path Project Committee (Russ Leino, Patrice Garvin)
CPA Category: Recreation
Amount requested: $200,000
This project will assess the right-of-way acquisitions necessary for the construction of Phases 1a and 1b of the Community Path project, including the Alexander Avenue underpass and Brighton Street to Clark Street Bridge, and calculate the associated costs for such rights of way. (Design work for Phases 1a and 1b is being funded with previously appropriated CPA funds.) The town needs to acquire temporary easements for the construction of the path. In some instances, the town may need to acquire permanent easements or make outright land purchases.
The proposed tennis court location. Photo: Town of Belmont.
Tennis Court Expansion—Winn Brook
Organization: Select Board, School Committee (Jon Marshall)
CPA Category: Recreation
Amount requested: $190,000
Construction of the new high school and the addition of the 7-8 school on the high school site eliminated space for the high school’s tennis courts. With the anticipated construction of the Alexander Avenue underpass, Winn Brook is the closest set of tennis courts to the high school. Varsity tennis teams need at least five courts to host home meets, and Winn Brook requires an additional court to meet this threshold. Some tennis community members wanted two additional courts to accommodate junior varsity matches while some neighbors wanted no additional courts. The Recreation Commission endorsed one additional court as a compromise solution.
Transfer to Belmont Housing Trust
Organization: Belmont Housing Trust (Betsy Lipson, Rachel Heller)
CPA Category: Community Housing
Amount requested: $250,000
These funds would enable the Belmont Housing Trust to identify and move quickly on real estate opportunities to increase the town’s affordable housing stock. This project would replenish funds previously approved and appropriated by Town Meeting for FY2019. In June 2020, Town Meeting approved the use of the FY2019 funds for an emergency rental assistance program for Belmont residents.
Looking Ahead
As chair of the CPC, I am concerned about reserving sufficient funds to meet the costs of future, high-impact projects, such as funding the design of Phase 2 of the Community Path (up to $2 million), or ensuring sufficient seed money to qualify Belmont for affordable housing construction grants at the state and federal level ($1 to $2 million). The CPC can allocate up to 5% of its annual revenue for administrative costs including funding studies or design work related to CPA-eligible projects. I have reached out to both the Recreation Commission and Historic District Commission and invited them to submit applications for studies to create inventories of current and future CPA-eligible projects.
A member of the CPC serves on Belmont’s Long-Term Capital Planning Committee (LTCPC) which is creating a master list of Belmont’s capital needs. Studies by the Recreation Commission and Historic District Commission could be a valuable addition to the LTCPC’s work. Careful stewardship of CPA funds can ensure the preservation of current assets, while simultaneously facilitating valuable aspects of Belmont’s future.
For more information about the history and current operations of the Community Preservation Act in Belmont, see “How the Community Preservation Act Works,” Belmont Citizens Forum Newsletter, May/June 2020.
Elizabeth Harmer Dionne has served as chair of Belmont’s Community Preservation Committee since January 2020. Any opinions expressed in this article are personal and do not necessarily reflect the view of the entire committee.
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