Community Preservation Committee forwards funding package and $3.5M bond to City Council after 7–2 vote

The Newburyport Community Preservation Committee voted 7–2 to recommend a slate of project allocations to City Council and approved sending a $3.5 million bond proposal for Bartlett Mall to the next stage of review.

The motion, made by Committee member (speaker 2) and seconded, listed specific recommended amounts including $91,211 for the Belleville Meeting House ceiling repair (after removing cosmetic work and prorating scaffolding), $58,000 for sanctuary windows at Old South Church, $2,000 for gravestone restoration, $117,000 for fire-protection upgrades at the First Religious Society, $82,000 for Saint Paul’s Community Hall roof (with a condition to amend preservation restrictions), $300,000 for priority housing needs and rental assistance, $100,000 to the open-space reserve, $65,000 for Hill Street shared-use design, $75,000 for Woodland Park improvements, $221,350 for the In-Street and Patrick Tracy Square restoration, $22,000 for a Jason Sawyer fencing project, $14,999 for Brown School outdoor-space design, and $385,000 for the Lower Atkinson multi-sport court. The motion recommended no funding for the Fuller Field track resurfacing project. The committee then approved a separate recommendation to forward a $3.5 million Bartlett Mall bond (15-year paydown, first payment expected in 2027).

Why it matters: the committee’s recommendations shape what City Council will consider for Community Preservation Act (CPA) funding and affect competing priorities across housing, historic preservation and recreation. Committee members framed the choices as a trade-off between immediate community needs—rental assistance and long-used recreation facilities—and conserving funds for high-cost, multi-year capital projects.

Discussion highlights included debate over how to treat mixed-scope historic projects. Jane Healy (speaker 1), who led the allocation breakdown for Belleville Meeting House, said she removed cosmetic items from the CPA-eligible request and proposed splitting scaffolding costs 50/50 between eligible and ineligible work: “I would split it 50 50,” Healy said, explaining the approach produced a recommended eligible award of roughly $91,211.

Several members pressed for full funding of the $300,000 housing request, noting increased need for rental assistance, while others urged partial cuts to recreation items to free money for the track resurfacing. One resident who identified herself as a Hill Street resident (speaker 7) said the Hill Street shared-use design would affect her neighborhood and supported moving that design forward.

Committee members also discussed a bonded approach for the frog-pond/Bartlett Mall restoration, describing the project as long-standing and eligible for matching funds. Chair (speaker 3) summarized the debt-service estimate and timeline and said proceeding now would help capture matching funds; committee members voiced support for moving the bond recommendation to council.

The roll-call vote on the funding recommendation recorded seven votes in favor and two opposed (O’Brien and Jamie Gagne), and the chair declared the motion passed. The committee then moved and approved (roll call) the bond recommendation and handled administrative items, approving several sets of minutes and granting staff-requested project extensions (typical extensions were 12 months). The committee adjourned following the administrative items.

Next steps: the committee’s funding recommendations and the bond proposal will be presented to City Council for review and final decisions. The Bartlett Mall bond—if approved by Council—would begin debt service in 2027.