Beverly Boards Gather for Rare Joint CPA Strategy Session, No Votes Taken

BEVERLY — April 26, 2021 — Beverly convened a rare joint session of the City Council and six boards to strategize over Community Preservation Act funding priorities. Mayor Michael Cahill called together roughly 52 participants — including the Community Preservation Committee, Affordable Housing Trust, Golf and Tennis Commission, Historic District Commission, Open Space and Recreation Commission, and Parks and Recreation Commission — to survey a project list running into the tens of millions of dollars against a fund that holds just $1.1 million and generates about $1 million annually. Finance Director Brian Ayles reported total CPA revenues since 2012 exceed $7.2 million, with more than $6 million already distributed, and noted the city recently secured 30-year borrowing rates under 2 percent, making a bonding strategy increasingly attractive. The Beverly Golf and Tennis Commission confirmed a $500,000 CPA-and-commission-funded master planning effort for its 110-year-old clubhouse, with construction costs expected to top a 2018 estimate of $5 million. Parks Superintendent Bruce Drouin disclosed that lights at Cooney Field alone would cost $575,000, and that the city's 28 playgrounds cycle through replacement so slowly that earlier work ages out before the circuit is complete; he and the mayor plan to file a state grant application in June targeting approximately $400,000 for court repairs across several parks.