Its vetting complete, the Marion Community Preservation Committee met on March 4 to vote to recommend the distribution of $595,761 in Fiscal Year 2023 Community Preservation Act funds to 10 community-based projects.
Seven of those projects are Town of Marion sponsored: $124,000 for a sprinkler system and ADA compliance design and bid specification at the Town House; $240,000 to complete the Main Street-side restoration of the Town House Annex building; $35,000 to continue funding the cultural and historic resource inventory being conducted by the town’s Historical Commission; $26,811 to fund the installation of fencing and ground-anchored benches and litter receptacles at the Cushing Community Center; $18,000 to the Pathways Committee for Shared Use Path easement appraisals; and two applied for by the Open Space Acquisition Commission, $8,600 for a criteria update and $1,850 for the Great Swamp Forestry Plan.
The committee also voted to approve $75,000 in CPA funds for the Marion Garden Group’s irrigation project, $25,000 to the Sippican Historical Society for the preservation and digitization of materials, and $41,500 to the Marion Natural History Museum for collections cataloging, displays and exhibit-space improvements.
The CPC’s recommendation will be brought to the Select Board for its vote to include on the warrant for the May 9 Town Meeting.
Most of the projects were recommended for CPA funding with the stipulation of a June 2023 end date for the spending of the funds. The CPC recently voted to set time limits to avoid dormant moneys allocated for projects that, for whatever reason, are unreasonably delayed or abandoned. Funds coming back from FY22 awards will be in the CPC’s control on July 1.
In justifying his $124,000 pitch for the sprinkler system earlier this year, Marion Facilities Manager Shaun Cormier said that the town is prohibited from resuming any Town House construction until ADA compliance has been established in public-access areas.
The Annex Building’s Main Street-facing entrance, at $240,000 the largest recommended allocation of FY23 CPA funds, will see its steep steps built in 1940 torn down and completely reconstructed using the same granite blocks.
The Historical Commission’s next phase of survey work on properties in north Marion and Delano Road, Converse Road, Spring Street, West Avenue, Point Road, and Planting Island is scheduled to begin in spring 2023 with a projected completion date of December 31, 2024.
Marion Community Preservation Committee
By Mick Colageo