WESTFIELD – On Thursday, October 13, the Community Preservation Committee will conduct a public informational hearing on the needs, possibilities and resources of the City regarding projects locally funded through the Community Preservation Act (CPA). The meeting will take place at 7:00 PM in Room 201 at City Hall, and the public is encouraged to attend.
Westfield voters adopted the Community Preservation Act in 2002, allowing a 1% CPA surcharge on property tax bills (and enabling supplemental state funding not available to non-CPA communities). CPA funds are used for acquiring, improving or preserving land for open space and recreation; preserving and restoring historic resources; and creating and supporting community housing.
The Community Preservation Committee recommends how these local CPA funds are spent on qualified public or private projects. A Community Preservation Plan, available at www.cityofwestfield.org is being developed to evaluate funding requests and to guide the Committee’s efforts.
The purpose of the public hearing is to get taxpayers’ input on what types of projects they would like to see funded through the CPA, according to Jay Vinskey, principal planner for Westfield. 
“Hopefully, some people will show up, (so we can) further refine the priorities the Community Preservation Committee should be focusing on. They’re looking for input,” Vinskey said.
According to Vinskey, there is just over $1.3 million total in local CPA funds. Remaining from the FY17 appropriation is $55,000 that is restricted for open space projects, $55,000 for housing projects, and $55,000 for open space, housing, historic or recreation projects. Unspent funds from previous years include $52,495 for open space projects, $282,620 for housing projects and $817,956 for open space, housing, historic or recreation projects.
In addition to that total, this year’s state match is yet to be determined. Last year, Westfield received $119,720, a 29.7% match, Vinskey said.
The money must be used for CPA-approved projects. The most recent projects funded through the CPA were $200,000 for the Moseley Street School renovation for affordable housing, and $850,000 for renovations at the Westfield Athenaeum, approved at the September 1 City Council meeting.
Vinsky said they want to hear some feedback from the taxpayers on whether they are doing the right thing with the funds, which are collected on taxpayer bills.
The City is a member of the Community Preservation Coalition, which maintains a statewide searchable CPA Projects Database where a list of all of Westfield’s CPA projects through FY2016 can be found.
