In an introductory tour of applications that will become the subject of more decisive scrutiny on February 26, the Marion Community Preservation Committee met on February 12 via Zoom to run through 10 Fiscal Year 2022 funding applications.
“The real discussion will be two weeks from now. Bring a lunch; it’s likely to be a two-and-a-half, three-hour meeting,” CPC Chairman Jeff Doubrava told the members.
With $456,000 in its account, Doubrava reported that $473,892 had been requested among 10 projects. The CPC would be able to fund $334,000. He said two projects had money to be returned: a Habitat for Humanity balance, and basement waterproofing at $65,000 that the Music Hall cannot spend until next year.
“A lot of things funded last year weren’t spent due to COVID,” said Doubrava.
Cushing Community Park Committee requested $30,000 to install a paved walking path on the grounds of the Benjamin D. Cushing Community Center on Route 6.
The selectmen have allowed work out front where a 1/8-mile walking track will hopefully someday be complemented by a pavilion. The committee is working with the Council on Aging and the Recreation Department, and the COA and Friends of Marion Recreation have donated to the effort.
Discussion ensued regarding the surface. While asphalt is planned, Board of Selectman Chairman Randy Parker suggested pouring concrete where possible. “It’s a good project, but I would like to see what concrete would cost,” said Parker.
COA Chairman Harry Norweb said the selectmen approved the walking path phase last year. “Marion’s older adults will be users of the facility, but we anticipate all ages of the community,” he said.
Chris Collings may find $30,000 in funding to buy more boats, kayaks, and equipment for Marion’s community sailing program, but he readily accepted the likelihood that very little of it will come from the CPC.
As first pointed out by Parker, the roadblock is in the basic stipulation that CPC money can only fund permanent fixtures. That would include a basketball hoop, for instance, but not a bicycle and definitely not boats and kayaks.
“I’m happy Randy was the bad guy because I was going to be the bad guy. Love the idea, but CPC funding cannot be used to buy boats,” said Doubrava, calling the answer “a hard no.” He asked, “Is there some other way we can fund this? Because it looks like a great idea.”
While the town’s Recreation Department hires the staff, Collings works as a volunteer in the program. He founded it during a long rehab from a shoulder-replacement surgery.
“This is really my favorite application,” said CPC member John Rockwell, calling the bay “our greatest open space.” Rockwell asked who would own the boats, noting the absence in the request of the Recreation Department, and said endorsement letters would be needed from the Friends of Marion Recreation. Collings said he could return in two weeks and satisfy some of those questions.
Facilities Director Shaun Cormier has made numerous repairs to the steps at the Main Street entrance of the Town House, but the steps need a complete overhaul. A $221,000 project would include new entry doors, saving the old granite steps, and using them in the new construction in the same style. The plan is to remove the two side bulkheads that once served the former school building as an entryway to its woodshop. The bulkheads were not part of the original design and have no future purpose.
Noting railings from the 1860s, Rockwell asked about outsourcing a reproduction of the design. Cormier said the architect would specify railings like the Taber Library entrance so that all three railings will match and be historically correct.
Meg Steinberg, the chairperson of the Marion Historical Commission, said that the entrance is not historically accurate and has been modified many times. Steinberg asked about plans for the doors. Cormier said he has old photos from the early 1900s and plans to match all of the railings. The plan calls for a solid mahogany wood door with double glass that will match the originals. The current aluminum storefront doors will be removed.
CPC member Will Tifft said to anticipate overages.
Steinberg was present to speak about and answer questions about the Historical Commission’s $30,000 request to continue the town’s historical inventory.
Doubrava asked Steinberg about the $125,000 previously awarded that has not yet been spent. Steinberg said the money has been “committed,” including a $12,000 consultant’s fee. Steinberg told the CPC that the Historical Commission was advised to use the other $15,000 in the request as the required local commitment in a state grant application meant to net much more in funding.
Steinberg further explained that in assembling more funding through grant applications and CPC requests, it would be “probable four to five years down the road before we have it all done, but we have no other sources.” Steinberg said she learned that it is “very common” for towns to use CPC funding for such a project.
Doubrava cautioned that such a lengthy project could become an ongoing activity, so hiring staff would be a problem.
The Town House Annex received private funding to replace its windows and is now seeking $90,000 to finish the job, including trim. “There’s a lot of labor in that, and it’s good to have it redone, I think,” said Rockwell. The CPC voted to have the Board of Selectmen file a conservation restriction to protect the building.
The Elizabeth Taber Library has requested $4,867 to complete funding for a $7,300 project that would add the stone carvings of four more books under the benches outside the building. The titles would represent the works of authors of diverse backgrounds. The rest of the project has been privately funded, including a donation from Tri-Town Against Racism. Steinberg indicated that the original contractor would donate some of the cost of installation.
Sippican Historical Society has requested $25,000 to continue its archival catalog. SHS Executive Director Leslie Thayer Piper said the prior award of $125,000 has been allocated and will be spent by July on documents and artifacts before being digitized, putting collections online to make them accessible by students and the community. Thayer Piper said people around the world are looking to SHS to provide information, including German descendants of one of the crewmembers of the abandoned ship Mary Celeste.
CPC members were not confident about Sippican Women’s Club’s request to fund an upstairs apartment because the funds target maintenance costs that do not qualify. Rockwell said the CPC had funded the building before. “Some components aren’t eligible for funding, but the ones that are (eligible) have dollar value, so we can look at that,” he said.
Citing 550 total gravesites, CPC member Margie Baldwin noted that a project to update veterans’ grave markers calls for 500 sites. The project would use $228 unspent from 2020.
Other projects include a $10,000 project to maintain split rail fencing at Silvershell Beach.
The next meeting of the Marion Community Preservation Committee is scheduled for Friday, February 26.
Marion Community Preservation Committee
By Mick Colageo