SPRINGFIELD — The City Council voted to allow members of the Community Preservation Committee to remain on the board after their term is completed to give officials time to appoint new members.
Members can serve two terms that are each three years long but have to leave after that. The problem is some of the members who were first appointed to the committee when Springfield adopted the act six years ago will have to leave the board at the end of the year and there will be several vacancies, City Council President Michael Fenton said.
Appointing members is more complicated because six different committees, including the Planning Board, Conservation Commission and Historic Commission each select one member. The City Council makes three appointments.
The committee is in charge of combing through applications and deciding how money earned from a 1.5% real estate tax surcharge is spent every year. The state also matches the amount taxpayers contribute at a different percentage every year.
Fenton said he eventually will propose the City Council eliminate the term limits that it set six years ago, saying they did not work as expected, but that is likely to be more controversial. For now, the problem of filling vacant seats is immediate and he did not want the committee to be low on members.
The proposal passed in a 12-0 vote in December.
