July 1, 2004

Scituate Town Library

Members Present: Wendy Ballinger (Chairwoman), Joe Armstrong, Constantine Constantinides, Kathy Donahue, David Grace, Scott Roberts

Others Present: Mr. Frank Regan (Harbormaster).

1. MEETING CALLED TO ORDER
Ms. Ballinger called the meeting to order at 7:05 PM.

2. ACCEPTANCE OF AGENDA
The Committee unanimously agreed to accept the agenda.

3. COMMITTEE ASSIGNMENTS AND LIAISONS FOR 2004-05

Ms. Ballinger distributed a contact list for Advisory Committee and asked members to review it for accuracy.

Ms. Ballinger said that she was reluctant to finalize committee liaisons positions with three members missing, but suggested that tentative assignments be made for committee liaisons pending confirmation with the missing members. She suggested that budget liaison assignments wait until the next meeting of the committee.

The tentative committee liaisons are as follows:

Selectmen
Wendy Ballinger

School Committee
David Grace and Tony Vegnani

Capital Planning Committee
Constantine Constantinides

Financial Forecasting Committee
Scott Roberts

Waterways Committee
Kathy Donahue

Planning Board
Joe Armstrong

Street Acceptance
Kathy Donahue

Community Preservation Committee
Al Bangert

Council on Aging/Senior Center
Dave Friedman

The schedule of the Committee for the coming year was discussed, and it was noted that by meeting on Thursday nights the committee is generally in conflict with the Planning Board which also meets on Thursday. Ms. Ballinger agreed to contact members and ask whether Wednesday nights are a possibility for our meetings.

Ms. Ballinger also distributed for review a proposed schedule for deadline and hearings related to the fall Special Town Meeting and one for the Annual town Meeting.

The schedule for the Special Town Meeting was revised as per the attachment to these minutes. It was noted that both David Grace and Constantine Constantinides will be on vacation from August 25 to 31, 2004.

4. UPDATE AND DISCUSSION OF THE PROPOSAL FOR THE PURCHASE OF 119 EDWARD FOSTER ROAD

Ms. Ballinger noted that the meeting that was requested by the Trust for Public Land with representatives of many Town boards has been rescheduled to July 6th allowing time for discussion of the issues the Advisory Committee wished to raise as the proposal moves forward.

The Committee discussed, with input from Mr. Regan, the state of the current marina, what is known about the restrictions currently on it, the price proposed for the purchase and the need for public forums and hearings on the proposal. It was pointed out by several members that expertise with regard to marinas, real estate and financing exists in the town and that assistance from such experts would be helpful in evaluating the proposal.

Ms. Ballinger said that she had determined from Ric Agnew that the process will be that the Trust for Public Land will purchase the parcel from Mr. Webb and then will turn around and sell the parcel to the Town. This arrangement gets to the issue of the purchase and sale agreement between TPL and Mr. Webb being a private document. Mr. Grace noted that he no longer thought it relevant to review the purchase and sale agreement between TPL and Mr. Webb, but did want to know what the agreement between the Town and TPL would look like. There was general agreement that it would be helpful to know how much money the TPL was being paid as part of the agreement with Mr. Webb.

A discussion was held about the need for an independent appraisal of the property so that voters could be informed about the real current value.

It was agreed that Wendy Ballinger would bring four issues to the meeting on July 6th as representing the views generally of the Advisory Committee:

1. The process from this point forward should be a public one. There should be no further meetings held to which the public (and other interested members of Town boards and committees) are not allowed to attend. In addition, there should be one or more public forums or hearings held which are widely publicized and during which the public is invited to offer their opinions and suggestions.

2. An independent appraisal of the property is needed to be commissioned by the Board of Selectmen and prepared for them. This appraisal should be made public.
3. The agreement that is proposed between the Town and TPL for the purchase of the land should be made public in advance of the Special Town Meeting and with sufficient time for questions to be raised and answered regarding it. This includes all the details with regard to the purchase and its financing. Although the agreement between TPL and Mr. Webb is private, the Committee noted that it strongly advised the Trust to make public the portion of the proceeds which will go to TPL (as a donation or commission or in any other form). There has been talk that the high price is the result of a large amount being included for TPL and it would be helpful if this could be clarified and, perhaps, put to rest.

4. A conceptual plan for the site should be developed to allow the public to evaluate the value to the Town of the recreational and other proposed public spaces. Issues such as the water on the site during certain tides should be addressed.

5. OLD BUSINESS

Mr. Armstrong reported on conversations he has had with the Scituate Housing Authority regarding the proposed affordable apartment complex on the Driftway. Land was transferred to the Housing Authority for such a development almost a decade ago, but progress on the development has been stalled. With the identified need for affordable housing in Scituate, Mr. Armstrong was asked to find out about the status of the project. He reported that he held discussion with Marshall Genaro who is working the South Shore Housing Development Corporation on a plan for the site. He also spoke to Paul DeLeo, director of the Scituate Housing Authority and was able to assist in the drafting of an RFQ for development of the site which is expected to be issued later this summer. He reported that progress on this site is likely in the near future.

Mr. Roberts reported on the Selectmen’s meeting at which the proposal from the Council on Aging for a new Senior Center was reviewed. He reported that the Council on Aging has a current estimate of $2.7 million for construction of a 10,400 square foot Center on the property behind Central Park and the Town Library. The COA plans to ask for $1.9 million at the fall Special Town Meeting and hopes to raise the additional $800,000 through a federal block grant.

The value of the property on which the current Senior Center is located was raised at the Selectmen’s meeting but the COA indicated they did not plan to use that property to offset the cost of building the new center. In addition, it was raised at the Selectmen’s meeting that Cohasset is attempting to build a new center with construction costs donated by a developer in return for approval of a proposed project. Mr. Roberts noted that the Financial Forecasting Committee had developed five scenarios with regard to financing the Senior Center, all of which resulted in red ink at some point.

Ms. Ballinger reported on a meeting held with Frank Colpoys and the owners of the marina adjacent to James Landing. They hope to bring their proposal for overlay zoning for their site back to the Special Town Meeting in the fall. They can only do so with Planning Board approval. Ms. Ballinger reported that the discussion centered around the steps the owners would need to take to address the concerns raised at the Annual Town Meeting which rejected the proposed overlay district.

Mr. Roberts raised the issue of the letter to Selectmen which was to be sent at the end of the last year. It was agreed by the members present that the letter should be sent and that it would be discussed at the next meeting of the Committee, which is tentatively scheduled for July 15th.

6. NEW BUSINESS

No significant new business was discussed.

7. ADJOURNMENT

MOTION to adjourn the meeting by Mr. Grace at 8:47 p.m., SECOND by Mr. Roberts. The motion was unanimously approved.

Respectfully Submitted,

Wendy Ballinger