The Community Preservation Committee at its meeting Thursday night received updates on outstanding funding requests for fiscal year 2026, including one for an adaptive playground proposed at Marathon School.
Under the Community Preservation Act that was signed in 2000, Massachusetts communities may add a surcharge on top of their local property taxes to fund open space, historic preservation, outdoor recreation and affordable housing projects. The current rate for Hopkinton is 2%. At least 10% of CPA funding must be spent on each of these four categories, with the rest available for any category. The CPC administers the allocation of these funds based on submitted proposals and makes recommendations for approval at May’s Annual Town Meeting.
Chair Ken Weismantel announced that the Capital Improvement Committee recently decided to support all of the CPC’s funding recommendations, with the exception of a $300,000 request for the adaptive playground. This was a compromise amount the CPC approved that balanced the need for an accessible playground in town with concerns over funding a town project located on school property. The project’s total cost is estimated at $1.2 million.
“The rationale is that it’s a nice project, but we just can’t afford it,” he explained, adding that the CIC reviews any requests over $25,000.
Weismantel noted that the School Committee’s request for funding for this project appears ahead of the CPC’s on a current draft of the Town Meeting warrant. If the School Committee’s request is not approved, “we should not go forward with ours.”
Planning Board representative Parker Happ urged the committee to not consider this as a school project.
He noted that Town Meeting approved the $100,000 recommended by the CPC for FY 25 for the adaptive playground’s engineering costs and location study. The study concluded that Marathon School was the best location for the adaptive playground because of its flat terrain.
“We need to help these folks in town realize that this isn’t a school project,” he stressed. “It happens to be a playground that would be at the school.”
Happ added that there has been outreach out to state and federal officials about the project “to try and find other mechanisms for funding.” He also noted that 10% of Hopkinton families “have a stake in this game” because they have a child with a disability who would benefit from an adaptive playground.
Member Dan Terry, the Parks & Recreation Commission chair, countered that outside funding should have been pursued before the request came before the CPC.
The other request discussed during the public hearing was for funding for a parking area at Pyne Field. Terry said survey work had been completed, but no estimates were given for clearing trees to create parking. This issue will be revisited at the next CPC meeting on March 20.
Weismantel reminded committee members that the CPC will be appearing before the Appropriation Committee on April 2 with a presentation on its finalized requests.
Trails Committee chair gives project updates
Trails Committee chair Peter LaGoy appeared before the committee to give a status report on projects the CPC previously funded for the former Trail Coordination and Management Committee and the Upper Charles Trail Committee. A new nine-member Trails Committee was created after these two committees were abolished, which called into question what would happen with previously allocated funding. The Select Board recommended transferring the funds to this committee.
LaGoy said that he and former TCMC member Chuck Dauchy, a retired wetlands scientist, are in the process of preparing a notice of intent for the Chamberlain connector trail. It will need to be presented to the Conservation Commission for approval. Because the work is “weather dependent,” LaGoy said he was unsure if it could be completed by the end of FY 25 on June 30.
“Don’t spend any extra money to meet that date,” Weismantel said.
The CPC understood the time lapse that occurred before the new Trails Committee became active, he added, and members expressed continued support for this project.
LaGoy noted that because the state defines this as “a horizontal project,” the bidding process is “a little more robust.”
Money allocated for bridge repair work at Berry Acres came in significantly under budget, as did trailhead parking on Pond Street. LaGoy said he would return the unused money to the CPC. Proposed boardwalk and bridges at Legacy Farms South were not able to get off the ground this fiscal year, he added.
Projects expected to be completed before the end of FY 25 include the cross country course at the middle school and a trailhead parking area at Ash Street. The Ash Street project will require an appearance before the Planning Board because it involves a scenic road and removal of a tree.
“With a new committee, I think it probably makes sense to step back,” LaGoy said of a previously proposed Upper Charles Trail western alternative route and proposed bridge and boardwalks at Legacy Farms South.
The new committee has not yet discussed plans for the proposed first segment of the Upper Charles Trail, which would go from Hopkinton State Park through Legacy Farms North. The CPC previously allocated $48,000 to the UCTC for a wetlands assessment, topography evaluation and trail mapping of the proposed route.
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