The Community Preservation Committee (CPC) evaluates and recommends to Town Meeting grants, funded by the Community Preservation Act (CPA), for historic preservation, open space, recreation, and community housing projects. Applying for a CPA grant is simple and open to any group or organization with a project that aligns with the CPA's purposes. Information about the CPA in Shutesbury and applying for funding from the CPC is provided in the Shutesbury Community Preservation Plan.
The CPC typically meets on the third Thursday of each month from September to May or June. For upcoming meeting notices please visit the Town Calendar. All meetings are currently being held virtually.
All CPC meetings are open to the public and everyone is always welcome.
The CPC's remaining schedule for FY2025 is:
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June 5: Meeting to draft and vote on grant agreements and FY26 calendar
CPA Articles for 2025 Annual Town Meeting
FY25 was the most active year for Shutesbury CPA applications since the Town voted to adopt the CPA in 2008. In addition to articles to fund six CPA projects, the CPC will be presenting to 2025 Annual Town Meeting two articles to close old grants, one article to rescind a grant, and two operational articles. (All of the articles here are subject to review and revision by Town Counsel and approval by the Select Board. Final versions will be available in the Town Meeting Warrant.)
The following information is to help voters prepare to vote on these articles at the 2025 Annual Town Meeting.
These are the full grant applications and accompanying warrant articles for the six projects that the CPC will be recommending to Town Meeting:
- Historic Gravestone Restoration at West Cemetery (Applicant: Shutesbury Cemetery Commission. 2025 ATM Warrant Article.)
- Lake Wyola Dam Preservation and Repairs (Applicant: Lake Wyola Advisory Committee. 2025 ATM Warrant Article.)
- Historic Town Common Guideboard Foundation (Applicant: Shutesbury Historical Commission. 2025 ATM Warrant Article.)
- Historic Town Common Guideboard Restoration Project, Phase Two (Applicant: Shutesbury Historical Commission. 2025 ATM Warrant Article.)
- South Brook Conservation Area Trail Repair, one-year project option (Applicant: Shutesbury Conservation Commission. 2025 ATM Warrant Article.)
- Top of the Lake Conservation Area Invasive Plant Management (Applicant: Shutesbury Conservation Commission. 2025 ATM Warrant Article.)
When a CPA project is complete based on the terms of the original application approved by Town Meeting, any remaining funds in the project's account should be returned to the appropriate CPA account(s) so they can be used by other projects. To that end, the CPC will be presenting the following two warrant articles to recover remaining funding from completed CPA projects:
- 2021 South Brook Conservation Area Trail Consultant (Open Space/ Recreation funds remaining: $1,000)
- 2015 Lake Wyola Canoe Launch (Open Space/Recreation funds remaining: $359.89)
When, based on advice from the applicant and/or the expiration of the grant under the terms of the Grant Agreement, a CPA project is no longer going forward, any funds designated for that project should be returned to the appropriate CPA account(s) so they can be used by other projects. To that end, the CPC will be presenting the following warrant article to rescind an unstarted CPA project:
- 2019 Old Town Hall Restoration (Historic Resource funds returned: $34,000)
Finally, the CPC presents two routine operational articles to Annual Town Meeting every year--one to set aside funding for the Committee's administrative costs (membership in the Community Preservation Coalition, legal ads, etc.) and one to distribute the year's CPA fee revenues to the appropriate CPA accounts. Both of these are in compliance with Section 6 of the CPA statute:
Often voters have questions about the financial status of the Town's various CPA accounts. This information can be helpful in making decisions about particular CPA grant requests. To that end, the CPC Chair has prepared this summary of CPA account statuses that details how those account balances would be impacted assuming the articles here are approved.
Please submit any questions about any of these materials to the CPC by emailing cpc@shutesbury.org.