Major renovation for the West Branch Public Library may be getting underway soon if the Board of Aldermen approves the CPA funds earmarked for the project.

By Josie Grove

The Board of Aldermen will soon vote on a $2.5 million bond to renovate the historic core of the West Branch Library, along with nine other projects to be paid for with revenue from the Community Preservation Act.

“The Community Preservation Act is funded in part by a surcharge on property taxes,” explained Dick Bauer, the chair of the committee that reviews projects for CPA funding. Somerville voters approved the CPA with a ballot measure in 2012. The revenue from the 1.5% surcharge is matched by the state, and supplemented with other city appropriations.

By law, money from the CPA must pay for affordable housing, open space, recreational space, or historic preservation. “The CPA is very specific in what these funds can and cannot be used for,” said Kristin Stelljes, the city’s CPA manager. In Somerville, 45% of the CPA revenue is set aside for affordable housing and transferred to the Affordable Housing Trust. This split was determined after a community process following the passage of the CPA.

The Community Preservation Committee, a nine-member committee of residents and city officials, decides how to allocate the remaining 55% of CPA revenue.

The committee reviews the projects for eligibility for CPA funding, and then submits them to the Finance Committee of the Board of Aldermen. Finally, the full Board of Aldermen will vote to approve or reject the proposals.

The CPA brought in $2,199,821last year, including the state matching funds. Including nearly $2 million that was not spent in the last funding cycle, the CPA has $4,178,942 available.

The Community Preservation Committee has spent the past several months deciding what to do with that money. In addition to eligibility, the committee considers how well projects meets needs outlined in the Community Preservation Plan, the committee’s guiding document.

Last Wednesday, Bauer and Stelljes presented seven projects to the finance committee, which voted to send all seven to the full Board of Aldermen for approval.

The renovation of the West Branch Library is by far the largest project recommended by the committee.

“The CPC is recommending funding through bonding for the preservation of the interior and exterior,” said Stelljes. The $2.5 million will be borrowed by the city, and repaid with the income from future CPA revenue. If the Board of Aldermen approves the measure, Stelljes estimates that $150,000 to $175,000 of CPA revenue will go toward repaying the bond each year for the next 25 years.

The CPA bond will not cover the proposed addition to the library, nor will it pay for any landscaping. The bond will pay only for renovations to the 1909 building, including changes to make it accessible to people with disabilities.

Six other projects were given the approval of the finance committee, and will be voted on at Thursday’s Board of Aldermen meeting. The CPA revenue will pay for them outright, with no bonding required.

The Somerville Museum could receive $423,480 for its renovations. If approved by the Board of Aldermen, the building will be made accessible to disabled people, and an elevator will be added.

Another proposal would establish a fund help property owners do preservation work on the hundreds of privately owned designated historic buildings in Somerville. “This fund would provide small grants to property owners to improve the exteriors of buildings that are visible from the pubic right-of-way,” said Stelljes.

Three parks – the Hoyt-Sullivan Playground on Central Street, the South Street Farm in Ward Two, and Allen Street Park just off Somerville Avenue – will be rehabilitated with a combined $480,160 from CPA revenue.

Three more will go before the finance committee on April 27, 2016. From there, projects will be presented to the Board of Aldermen for final approval at the May 11 meeting.