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CPA > Massachusetts Preservation Projects Fund
Massachusetts Preservation Projects Fund
The Massachusetts Historical Commission is accepting applications for grants. This would be the perfect thing to use CPA for. The Massachusetts Preservation Projects fund gives you a 50% match for historical preservation. If we were in CPA, we could spend some CPA funds on these sorts of projects. The net result would be that we would receive 3 dollars for every 1 dollar we invested.
Look at the numbers. Imagine a theoretical $200K project to restore some historic building. Further imagine that we fund the project with CPA money and this historic grant and assuma a 50% CPA match.
Total cost: $200K
Historic matching: $100K
Middleboro contribution: $67K
CPA matching funds: $33K
End result – we get $200K worth of historic preservation for $67K. That’s nearly a 300% return.
Now let’s get back to reality. Without CPA, most likely we will never spend any money on this historic project, we will not receive the matching CPA funds, and we won’t get any money from this historic grant project.
If you’re not in, you can’t win. If we don’t adopt CPA … we’re not in.
Here is a quote from the Massachusetts Preservation Projects fund web page.
Keep writing Bumpkin.
You’re convincing me more than ever.
And if the matching funds increase, the Town’s portion would be even smaller. 25% by my calculations if the match is 100%.
But what’s even more important is that if the project really needed to be done on a town owned building, we have no choice but to borrow the money. We might take a look at the Green School that is falling into disrepair. How long before that will be a pile of rotted wood?
And maybe we could have saved the Washburn Mill.
I hate to say it, but from watching the BOS meeting, it seems like some short-sighted residents would rather watch our town decay and lament our predicament, than participate in any state sponsored program where we get matching funds with a small investment from us.
The flexibility for the establishment of a piggy bank beginning in 2010 when the economy is again progressing is called future planning.
We can’t compose a list of potential uses today, but we can recognize the future needs.
Each of the articles you’ve posted clearly exemplifies why this is needed now because of the delay in implementation.
Anon. 10:47,
Really well put!
Town government is supposed to represent the town. But then, I suppose some people in town are more equal than others.
Best of luck to Middleboro in this endeavor!
The reception of the BOS to me was quite hostile.
Not surprising and indicative that this BOS in not capable of reasoned discussion of issues. It’s their way or the highway.
There’s plenty of video to come.
In the meantime, it’s clear the CPA opponents, at least the ones at the BOS meeting don’t actually want discussion of CPA, they want it stopped.
I apologize for ranting in my previous comment. That tirade was born out of frustration of living in a town where nobody seems to have any vision of the future.
What is everybody afraid of?
I want to pull my hair out when I hear Mimi Duphily and others say we need to take it slow when it comes to CPA. We need to have lengthy discussions, do research, educate ourselves about the potential impacts of CPA.
But you want to build a mega-resort casino? OK, no problem! Slam Bam Thank You Ma’am, we’re signing onto that before you can say Blackjack!
Bumpkin, you gave an excellent presentation and had more facts than anybody at that meeting. Once again, they just did not want to listen.
Let me know if you want the comment pulled.
I was borderline on publishing it but felt a similar frustration.
I thought your presentation was very effective and for those listening (not just hearing), you made a lot of sense. It is incredible how, when it has to do with trash fees, overrides, buying landlocked pieces of property like Fuller Street, or selling properties at an absolute loss (Cherry Street) that get flipped for private profit of BOS friends, then the cost to taxpayers is irrelevant AND MUCH HIGHER! I wish those same pillars of society would come out and scream about how the BOS is ignoring the oppotunities which face the BOS on the IGA issues. Self interest and greed is all I see, with all kinds of people lining their pockets at taxpayer expense.
What you really see here is that if the CPA gets $40.00 annually from the taxpayers, that is $40 less that these same people can tap for salaries and benefits of overpaid, recession proof municipal employees. At least with the CPA the money goes to the common good, not to longevity, sick leave buyback, overtime or step raises.
I guess that is the problem