Due to the heavy rain and high winds which are pummeling Cambridge, many of the properties in the Historic District will sustain damage to houses, fences and out buildings. The Historic Preservation Commission (HPC) wants to make sure that those of you who sustain damage in the Historic District should do what is required to protect your property from additional water or structural damage without worrying about permits.

Repairs of less than 25 percent of a feature (such as a fence, windows in a house or a roof) do not require HPC approval or a building permit. If you have sustained more significant storm related damage, the HPC working with the Cambridge Department of Public Works can issue emergency Certificate of Appropriateness (COA) approvals almost immediately upon receiving an email and photos documenting the damage. Building permits, if required will then be processed by DPW.  Send the email to the HPC liaison Herve Hamon at hhamon@choosecambridge.com.  Mr. Hamon will send any appropriate HPC or city forms back and distribute the emergency requests to the Chair and Vice Chair of the HPC for approval.

If there are issues with obtaining permissions or additional concerns, please contact Cambridge Association of Neighborhoods (CAN ) at CambridgeCan@yahoo.com. They will forward the comments directly to the HPC Chair or Vice Chair.

Hopefully the emergency approvals will not have to be issued, but in case of damage we want you to know that there is a streamlined process available.

From Cambridge City Manager Patrick Comiskey

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Groove City Studios has two concerts coming up in the next week.

Red Sammy on June 22 at 8 pm and Josh Christina on June 25 at 7 pm.

Attached is a short promo ad for each.

Download (DOCX, 22KB)

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Greetings from the Cambridge Association of Neighborhoods (CAN)

Cambridge City Council will be considering and/or acting upon several issues during its meeting this week (on Monday, May 13, at 6:00 pm in the Council Chambers at 305 Gay Street) that have been of great interest to CAN members. These include:
• The Property Tax Increase for FY2020
• The FY2020 City Budget
• The Rezoning of the Mill Street School Property

Although CAN has not taken a formal position on these issues, we strongly encourage CAN members to attend the upcoming City Council meeting and make their views known to the Council. Discussion at the May 9 CAN meeting focused on the following, which you may want to consider in framing your comments to the Council.

• Overall, the proposed property tax increase appears to be necessary, but —

o How can the Council vote on a tax increase when there is no approved budget or even a clearly articulated budget proposal?
o One significant cost driver appears to be the increase in insurance for City employees: Were bids solicited to obtain better insurance rates?

• The budget process this year has been very confusing for many citizens and the format this year is very different from the format used last year.

o Why was the approach changed?
o The current budget worksheet format, with no explanatory narrative, obscures what funds are actually to be used for (e.g., specific goals and outcomes, employee headcounts for each department).
o The budget worksheet approach, with no explanatory narrative, fails to communicate any vision for the future
o There are no ongoing, out-year budget projections for reasonably anticipated needs, such as capital expenditures, IT updates, etc.
o Why are we paying for health insurance for City Council members (at a cost of $21,754) when there is no Charter provision for this benefit?

• The proposed rezoning of the Mill Street School property appears to be opposed by many Mill Street and Choptank Avenue residents, who believe that (a) the proposed density is too high, and (b) the school should be demolished and replaced with single family houses.

o Has the Council fully considered these alternate views?
o Perhaps the Council vote should be delayed until a poll can be conducted to determine whether Cambridge residents prefer the school be demolished or repurposed (“CAN” or “Operation: Destination Cambridge” could do this).

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

• Agenda: http://www.choosecambridge.com/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_05132019-607

• Ordinance 1148 to establish the Annual Tax Levy for Real Property for the coming fiscal year:
https://www.choosecambridge.com/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=94

• Ordinance 1150 to establish the City Budget for the coming fiscal year
FY2020 Budget Worksheets: https://www.choosecambridge.com/DocumentCenter/View/1734/FY-2020-Budget-Worksheet?bidId
FY 2019 Proposed Budget: https://www.choosecambridge.com/DocumentCenter/View/1542/Proposed-2019-Budget1?bidId

• Ordinances 1143 & 1144 to establish an NC3 Overlay District and rezone the property at 201 Mill St:
https://www.choosecambridge.com/DocumentCenter/View/1713/Ordinance-No-1143—NC-3-Overlay-District-Final