Responsibilities of the CPC

The state bylaw or ordinance establishing the CPC also serves to enumerate the responsibilities of the CPC. These three responsibilities are outlined in Sections 5(b) and 5(c) of the CPA statute.

Develop a Community Preservation Plan

The first responsibility is to study the needs, possibilities and resources of the community with regards to community preservation. In performing this research function, the CPC must meet and consult with town departments and other committees to get their input, and must hold at least one public hearing annually to get input from the general public. The public hearing must be posted publicly and advertised for two weeks preceding the public hearing in a local newspaper of general circulation. Following its research, the CPC is responsible for developing a local CPA plan to guide its decision-making on CPA project proposals. The CPC adopted 5 Year CPA Plan in March 2022.

Review and Recommend CPA Projects

The second responsibility of the CPC is to accept project proposals from the community, and conduct a thorough review of them, with the aim of selecting the most compelling projects for recommendation to Town Meeting. Project proposals can be submitted to the CPC twice a year.  Once the CPC has voted on a slate of projects to recommend, along with the specific dollar amounts and CPA funding sources it recommends to complete them, it forwards these to the town meeting for action. As part of preparation for town meeting, a representative of the CPC makes a presentation to the Select Board and the Finance Committee to describe project recommendations in the CPC warrant article and the reasoning behind its choice of that particular group of projects.

Keep Records and Report on the CPA Budget

The third responsibility of the CPC is a record keeping and budgetary responsibility. It is required to keep records of all CPC meetings, proposals, and recommendations, and to submit a CPA budget annually to the legislative body.