The Lowell City Community Preservation Committee on an evening meeting approved eligibility for four applications seeking Community Preservation Act funding, authorized placing $310,000 into the city's Affordable Housing Trust Fund as an eligible use, agreed to prepay membership dues to the statewide Community Preservation Coalition and debated establishing time limits for awarded funds and a formal appeals process.

Committee members voted to invite full applications later this year for the projects found eligible: window replacement at 91 Dutton Street (the Cobblestones restaurant), a conversion of 267 Pawtucket Street into 29 affordable units proposed for homeless veterans, restoration work at the Smithbaker Center (415 Merrimack Street) and a request from the City of Lowell to earmark $310,000 for the city's affordable housing trust fund. The committee also approved the CPC's 2026 meeting schedule.

The eligibility votes determine whether applicants may submit full proposals for funding consideration; they do not appropriate money. "That 1 is deemed eligible. We look forward to the application," Chairman Bakke said after the roll call approving the window-replacement eligibility for 91 Dutton Street. The motion to deem the Cobblestones project eligible carried on a roll-call vote.

Why it matters: eligibility determinations move projects to the next step in Lowell's Community Preservation Act (CPA) funding cycle, allowing applicants to prepare full proposals that will be scored for final funding recommendations. Committee members said clearer timelines for when reserved CPA funds must be spent could reduce administrative burden and free money for other projects when awardees do not make demonstrable progress.

The committee considered four eligibility items in detail:

91 Dutton Street (Cobblestones restaurant) 91 Dutton Street submitted by New York Ventures seeks $468,670.95 to replace windows. Staff recommended the request as eligible under the committee's historic-preservation criteria. The committee voted to deem the project eligible and invited a full application later in the cycle.

267 Pawtucket Street (conversion for homeless veterans) An application submitted by the Bridge Club (executive director Bob Cox spoke to the committee) requests $500,000 to convert the historic building at 267 Pawtucket Street into 29 affordable housing units for homeless veterans. Cox described the building's long history and the applicant's experience operating transitional housing. The committee voted to deem the project eligible both as historic preservation and as a potential community housing project; committee members and staff discussed that fund uses for acquisition versus renovation can be clarified at the full application stage.

415 Merrimack Street (Smithbaker Center) The Smithbaker Preservation Corporation (Dennis McCarthy, treasurer, spoke) applied for $859,236 to restore and rehabilitate the Smithbaker Center. Staff and committee members raised a question about whether hazardous-material abatement in the scope could be an eligible historic-preservation expense and urged the applicant to work with DPD staff to align the scope with eligible uses before filing a full application. The committee nonetheless voted to deem the project eligible and encouraged consultation with staff.

City of Lowell The City of Lowell submitted an eligibility application requesting that $310,000 be placed in the city's Affordable Housing Trust Fund. Committee members clarified the request formalized a previously decided budgeting intent (a 20% set-aside for affordable housing instead of the minimum 10% used in prior years). One member abstained from the vote because the request came from her department; the motion passed on roll call.

Other business and policy discussion

The committee approved prepaying dues to the Community Preservation Coalition so staff and members can continue to use the coalition's technical assistance and training resources. The committee also approved its 2026 meeting schedule.

Members spent the latter portion of the meeting discussing whether to set deadlines for when awarded CPA funds must be spent or when awardees must show progress. Staff explained there is no statutory requirement to set such deadlines but that indefinite hold periods on funds complicate city accounting and can tie up money that could otherwise fund projects that are further along. Staff described the current administrative practice of creating grant agreements that cannot run indefinitely and suggested an initial standard term (staff recommended two years as a reasonable baseline), with formal requests to the committee for extensions.

Committee members expressed support for a deadline with an appeal or extension process. "I would support a deadline wholeheartedly," said Member Boutenayes, adding the committee should re-award funds if a project remains stalled. Several members asked staff to provide historical draw and start-date data before the committee finalizes a policy; staff and members agreed to continue the discussion during the committee's January meeting and to include project-specific timelines when making recommendations to the city council.

Decisions recorded at the meeting were eligibility determinations and procedural approvals; no final funding appropriations were made. The committee will consider full applications and, if appropriate, recommend funding and contract terms to the City Council later in the funding cycle.

Votes at a glance

- 91 Dutton Street (Cobblestones) Motion: deem eligible for historic preservation; Outcome: approved (roll call: Bakke yes; Vice Chair Baez Rose yes; Member LaLacher yes; Member DePizzo yes; Member Boutenayes yes; Member Nindi yes).
- 267 Pawtucket Street (Bridge Club) Motion: deem eligible as historic preservation and community housing; Outcome: approved (roll call: Bakke yes; Baez Rose yes; LaLacher yes; DePizzo yes; Boutenayes yes; Nindi yes).
- 415 Merrimack Street (Smithbaker Center) Motion: deem eligible, subject to staff consultation about scope (hazardous material abatement); Outcome: approved (roll call: Bakke yes; Baez Rose yes; LaLacher yes; DePizzo yes; Boutenayes yes; Nindi yes).
- City of Lowell Affordable Housing Trust Fund $310,000 eligibility Motion: deem eligible to place funds in the Affordable Housing Trust Fund; Outcome: approved (one member did not vote due to departmental conflict; remaining members voted yes).
- Prepay Community Preservation Coalition dues Outcome: approved.
- 2026 CPC meeting schedule Outcome: approved.

Meeting next steps

Applicants approved for eligibility were invited to submit full applications this fall for evaluation. Staff will compile historical spending and draw data for the committee to review before the January meeting so members can set a standard deadline or project-specific timelines and an extension/appeal process.

Sources: meeting transcript of the Lowell City Community Preservation Committee (eligibility votes, applicant remarks and staff discussion).