Full Community Preservation Act Slate Recommended to City Council

FRAMINGHAM - The Framingham City Council’s Finance Subcommittee has approved the full slate of projects that were recently recommended to receive Community Preservation Act (CPA) money for the upcoming fiscal year during their meeting on Tuesday, April 8, priming those projects to be considered by the full legislative body.

Last month, the Framingham Community Preservation Committee (CPC) recommended that seven local projects receive money through the act. Those CPA dollars are accumulated through property tax surcharges and matching money from the state government. Based off of the total money collected over the past year along with their previous reserve budget, the CPC will have close to $1.9 million available for future projects.

Close to $1.75 million were recommended by the body for the seven projects this year. Plans that are eligible for CPA funding must work towards promoting community housing, the preservation of historic areas, or outdoor space and recreation.

“The CPC deliberated on project merits, funding amounts, and funding conditions,” Framingham Community Preservation Coordinator Heather O’Donnell told Finance Subcommittee members at the Memorial Building on Tuesday.

The projects recommended by the CPC to receive funding this year are as follows:

-$100,000 for JFS of Metrowest’s rental subsidies program

-$600,000 for the construction of handicap and ADA-compliant units at Carlson Crossing East

-$500,000 for the addition of a splash bad at Cushing Memorial Park

-$105,000 for renovations to the Carol Getchell Nature Trail’s middle section

-$315,000 for additions and renovations along various other local trails

-$30,000 for woodwork restoration at the Edgell Memorial Library

-$89,000 for new fire alarms at the Old Academy Building

Finance Subcommittee members did point out that an eighth application, which had originally set out to secure money for a floating boardwalk at Farm Pond, was withdrawn from the process due to an incomplete application. O’Donnell explained to City Councilors on Tuesday that cost estimates for that application were not submitted in time, as resident and local trail advocate Ron Chick later said that the quote he requested from a local contractor was received too late in the CPC’s process.

Chair of the CPC Tom Mahoney added that from his group’s understanding, the Framingham Parks and Recreation Department was not fully in favor of the floating boardwalk project. District 7 City Councilor and Finance Subcommittee member Leora Mallach mentioned that the city’s Conservation Department may not have been fully in line with the Parks and Recreation team in regards to who would take charge for that plan’s development through the CPA. With that, District 4 City Council member Michael Cannon and At-Large City Councilor George King both lamented that the city was not able to provide assistance in order to make that application complete; King said that it was an instance where the municipal government let the community down.

“This is a thing where at the beginning of a CPC year…get everybody together, have some conversations: what do we want to do together as a group, and figure out who’s going to get it done,” Cannon said.

Mahoney told the Finance Subcommittee it was the CPC’s understanding that the floating boardwalk at Farm Pond would have been included in the design for the upcoming Chris Walsh Memorial Trail; applications to access state and federal dollars for that plan have been made, as local stakeholders are hoping that the trail’s development can be placed on the State Transportation Improvement Program in the near future. Cannon went on to suggest that the boardwalk project itself should be completed through efforts at the local government level.

Eventually, the Finance Subcommittee unanimously approved of all seven recommended CPA projects. Those plans are set to be brought before the full City Council for final approval.

Mahoney also requested that the Finance Subcommittee approve of the reappropriation of $500,000 from last year’s CPA slate. Money that was initially earmarked for Reardon Park’s redesign project was not included in the FY25 municipal budget, which was a condition of its approval by local leaders back in 2024. The CPC later voted to rescind the money, as the body will use those dollars for a future CPA proposal. The Finance Subcommittee approved of the reappropriation on top of the aforementioned $1.87 million that are slated to go back into the CPC’s reserves.