Pittsfield CPA Committee Will Review All Projects
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Conservation Preservation Act Committee will take another look at all possible projects and determine if they will go forward with any of them during the novel coronavirus pandemic.
The CPA Committee agreed Tuesday that it would take another look at the 18 applications and may award funds to some projects able to move forward at the time or in the near future.
"We can take another look and decide if it is worth going forward with any of them or all of them," Chairman John Dickson said. "If we need a presentation then we will have to wait."
With COVID-19 halting many government functions, the CPA has been unable to meet with applicants to go over possible projects.
City Planner CJ Hoss said he reached out to applicants to see if there was still a desire or the ability to go forward with projects during the pandemic or directly after. He said he heard back from about half of the 18 applicants who for the most part communicated that their projects would not go forward without CPA funding.
"Overall what I am hearing is that most of these projects are relying on CPA funds and are not likely going to happen in the foreseeable future without CPA funds," Hoss said.
He said, in general, the applicants felt that if their projects did not happen this year they could still take them up in the future and were willing to work with the committee’s schedule.
Hoss did note a few seasonal projects that would likely need funding this year.
With out funding, the Greenagers work crews would not be able to conduct their seasonal work this year at Burbank Park. He said they are exploring ways to conduct their work safely during the pandemic restrictions.
Also, Berkshire Rowing's purchase of a new dock would also likely not happen this summer without funding. Hoss said they plan to purchase a used dock from Bates College in June and it is unclear if this would happen if there was a delay in the funding.
Also, there is a Central Berkshire Habitat for Humanity project hoping to move forward with tenants already lined up.
Hoss said it is still unknown when City Hall will reopen so it is hard to plan presentations. He said these presentations would most likely have to held remotely if they want to go forward in June.
He said they could recommend a few smaller projects to the City Council and Dickson said he would be amenable to this.
"I am open to considering a few small funding projects that are really seasonally tied to the summer," he said.
Hoss said the decision sits with the City Council and did not see an issue as long as the committee was transparent and really able to justify its decision making.
"As long as you keep doing this in a transparent manner even if you have to change the process a little on the fly," he said. "I think you have some wiggle room."
Committee member Alexandra Tasak Groff suggested taking a step back with another look at all the projects just to be fair to all the applicants.
"Perhaps in good fashion, we could look at everything holistically," she said. "That way we really are considering everything and we may be able to include a few more projects in June."
The committee agreed to regrade all of the applications and Hoss noted although presentations are helpful they are not a mandatory part of the process.
The committee plan to meet early in June to make their decision.
In other business, the CPA Committee amended its fiscal 2020 budget to reflect a new bottom line of $655,399. The original budget approved was $512,000 but because of increases in the local collection, an increase in the state share, and the rejection of the pickleball court project, there has been an increase in available funds of around $140,000.
"That money automatically slides right back into the budget but we still need to approve the budget," Hoss said. "We have do this every year."
The $110,000 the city plans to use for emergency housing funds will be subtracted from this amount and other associated costs within the program bring this amount to $520,000.
"It is bit more than was expected," he said.
The committee also recommended the fiscal 2021 budget of $1,016,110. This amount is built from funds raised locally, money from the state, and reserves from the fiscal 2020 budget, which this year may be the entire fund.
Hoss said when the time comes to make funding decisions, they will look back to see what was available during fiscal 2020 so that funding decisions are based on existing funds and not what the city has yet to collect.
Tags: CPA,
