The Nahant Community Preservation Committee continues preparing resident-proposed grant articles ahead of the upcoming Town Meeting in May.
The Commonwealth’s Community Preservation Act allows the Town of Nahant to invest in projects related to open space, historic preservation, affordable housing and recreation. The town’s three-percent property tax surcharge is matched annually with state funding to finance potential projects. The committee voted to move forward with seven out of the 12 articles proposed by community members during its previous two meetings. Committee Chair Lynne Spencer helped assign the writing of the articles for some of the most prominent proposals to each committee member. Committee member Paul Spirn volunteered to write the Flash Road Master Plan proposal, valued at $39,000, while Austin Antrim offered to oversee the Heritage Trail Plan for $20,000. The proposal for a $60,000 grant to fund a housing development location study will be written by committee member Dave Wilson.
Spencer later reviewed the committee’s expenses to evaluate what the committee’s financial state would be like if all the proposed grants were successfully funded.
“We have a housing reserve of $53,098, and then we have interest earned of $18,018,” Spencer said. “So the amount that we have exclusive of the housing reserve for allocation is $623,251. If we proceed and fund all that we’ve recommended, we’ll still be leaving a reserve of approximately $123,000.”
Town Administrator Tony Barletta eventually joined the meeting to discuss the progress of a potential new kitchen for the Council on Aging. Spencer inquired about receiving financial clawbacks from the project to add to the town’s financial resources, however Barletta said the time has not yet come for that to be feasible.
“I would think we don’t claw back yet,” Barletta said. “We’re currently exploring the library portion of the school as an alternative location for the Council on Aging. If all the stars aligned and we end up going down that road, then this would get clawed back.”
The committee will need to have their articles prepared by April 19, as the Finance Committee will review them before the Town Meeting.
