ROCKPORT — Seven applicants are seeking a total of $827,000 this year from Rockport's Community Preservation fund for projects ranging from the conversion of the former Old Farm Inn into an affordable housing complex to repairs and restoration at the Public Library and further rehabilitation work at Scout Hall.
Mary Francis, chairwoman of the Community Preservation Committee, said there is an estimated $828,941 available in the town's Community Preservation Act fund this year.
That figure accounts for a required $122,900 payment toward the debt accrued in 2009 when the town agreed to borrow $1.5 million against future CPA revenues to rehabilitate the Community House. The total figure also assumes a state match of $149,668, Francis added.
The Community Preservation Act, which pairs revenue from a 3 percent local property tax surcharge with a state match of around 38 percent, was adopted by Rockport voters in 2003. The fund can only be used for historic preservation, open space, recreation and affordable housing.
The deadline for project applications was Feb. 1.
Francis said of the seven applications received, four fall under the affordable housing category.
Supportive Living Inc., a Woburn-based nonprofit, wants $275,000 to put toward the purchase and conversion of the former Old Farm Inn into an eight-unit affordable housing complex for survivors of brain injuries.
The inn, which consists of two buildings located at 291 Granite St., has been on the market for several years. The total cost of the project is estimated at $2.4 million, Francis said.
The group received an award from the Community Preservation Coalition in 2009 for a 15-unit affordable and supportive living center for adult survivors of serious brain injury known as the Douglas House, located in downtown Lexington.
The Rockport Housing Partnership, a private nonprofit organization, wants $285,000 to boost the town's affordable housing offerings. The group plans to purchase a plot of land and place a single-family modular home on the property.
Francis said Rockport is in need of more affordable housing, as it sits some 170 housing units short of the affordable housing percentage that would make the town immune to 40B housing projects.
Action Inc. is requesting $100,000 to provide tenant-based rental assistance, and mortgage assistance to low-income Rockporters.
Meanwhile, the Cape Ann Home Ownership Center wants $5,934 to provide Rockport residents with foreclosure prevention assistance. The center is part of the Gloucester Housing Authority, a private, nonprofit organization.
The Rockport Public Library is requesting $63,000 to complete ongoing exterior renovations and to repair interior water damage caused by the recently-fixed roof leak.
The library received $148,350 in 2006, mostly to replace the historic building's roof. Town Meeting approved an additional $57,695 in 2009 to rehabilitate the School Street building's exterior wood trim and other masonry work, Francis said.
Citing preservation of a historic building, the caretakers of the Alvin S. Brown Scout Hall are also seeking $48,000 from the town's CPA fund. The money would be used to complete structural improvements, especially in the basement.
"There are old brick columns holding the floor up and they need to replace those," Francis said. "They need to pour a new floor, too."
To date, Scout Hall has received some $258,396 from CPA funding, Francis said; that's in addition to $390,000 that the Friends of Scout Hall have been able to raise through in-kind work and various fund-raisers.
Lastly, the Conservation Commission wants $50,000 to build up its own Conservation Trust fund.
As the commission looks to further protect Rockport's watershed land, and purchase parcels of land to secure sites for new wells, its members would like to have a "healthy" Conservation Trust fund in preparation of an opportunity to "move quickly" on the purchase of property, Francis said.
The Conservation Commission only needs the Board of Selectmen's approval to purchase land for conservation purposes, Francis said.
Francis said the CPC will process the applications over the course of the spring.
"By the summer, we should have a pretty good idea about which ones we want to support and why," she said, "but right now, we're at a learning curve, just as (the applicants) are."
Copies of the applications will be available at the library and in the Town Clerk's office at Town Hall later next month.
All CPA decisions must also be approved at the fall Town Meeting in September.
Jonathan L'Ecuyer can be reached at 978-283-7000 x 3451 or jlecuyer@gloucestertimes.com.
ROCKPORT'S COMMUNITY PRESERVATION ACT SPENDING SINCE 2003
Open Space/Recreation: $748,895
Historic Preservation: $2,161,348
Affordable Housing: $1,448,500
Raw Video: Gay Protest Blocked in Moscow
Vatican in Chaos After Butler Arrested for Leaks
Jimmy Carter Endorses Egypt's Election Results
Biden Addresses West Point Graduating Class
Dozens of Children Killed in New Syria Attack
Raw Video: Activists Allege Massacre in Syria
NJ Man Charged With Murder in Death of Patz
Support, Fun for Kids of Fallen Soldiers at Camp
Fugitive Penguin Caught, Returned to Aquarium
50 Years Later, Underground Fire Still Burning
Light Show Transforms Sydney Opera House
Raw Video: Unruly Passenger Restrained in Miami
Raw Video: Robber Uses Drive-thru Window
Raw Video: Dragon Arrives at Space Station
Calif.'s Coronado Named Nation's Best Beach
CEO Salaries Become Sore Issue in Labor Disputes
