WESTFIELD – The Finance Committee will send a recommendation to the full city council to approve two Community Preservation Act (CPA) funding requests discussed in committee Thursday night.
The committee voted 3-0 to appropriate $9,900 from the CPA undesignated fund to the CPA Open Space Pitoniak Property Account.
The City Council in January approved $381,500 in funding to purchase more than 62 acres of farmlands off Northwest Road currently owned by John Pitoniak.
Principal Planner Jay Vinskey said Thursday night that the property has recently been purchased, a process that took over two years because of a technicality.
Last year, the City Council, which has to appropriate the purchase funds under the provisions of the Community Preservation Act (CPA), heard the details of the land purchase from Thomas Pitoniak, John’s nephew.
The City Council could not act on the Community Preservation Commission’s recommendation to complete the land purchase at that time because of a technical issue. Under the state CPA law there is a requirement for an organization to act as the agency to enforce conditions of the conservation restriction.
Originally the city had planned to have the city’s Conservation Commission serve as that enforcement agent, but the city was informed by state officials that the city could not be both the property owner and conservation restriction enforcement agency.
City Planner Jay Vinskey said that the issue has been resolved by securing a different agent, the Massachusetts Audubon Society, through a local chapter, to serve as the conservation restriction enforcement agency.
Vinskey said the Audubon Society and the Law Department have requested the city to conduct a survey of the property and to install boundary markers. The Audubon Society will use the survey, and markers, to ensure there is not encroachment onto the property under conservation restriction.
Vinskey said that the city recently closed the purchase on the property, which is actually two properties with separate deeds. Vinskey said the Law Department, which is handling the property transaction, has requested the survey be completed and recorded as part of the property deed.
Former Fire Chief Frank O’Brien presented the details of the second CPC appropriation to the Finance Committee members. O’Brien is a member of the Dewey House trustees, which is an arm of the Western Hampden Historical Society, the owners of the historic structure.
O’Brien said a $30,800 funding request is being made because the trustees plan to make the roof repair using materials, cedar shakes, which would have been used during the period when the house was originally built. The group will also repair the brick chimney original to the Dewey House while the roof work is being done.
O’Brien said any and all repairs to the historic structure use period materials and construction methods of that time period. The building was constructed in 1735.
“It has been a long-standing proactive to maintain the house was it was originally built,” O’Brien said.
There was some consideration given to using a modern material which mimics the appearance of cedar shakes, but which is more durable and which has a much lower fire risk.
O’Brien said that idea was rejected by members who felt that it was too great a compromise from the historic materials used in the original construction.
The committee voted 3-0 to recommend that the City Council approve the funding.
