Starting in 2002, I began working on the goal of getting a rail trail in Danvers so I am familiar with how difficult it is to find funds in the town budget for such things. If it were not for luck in finding Iron Horse Preservation, Inc, the company which made the start of the trail possible, Danvers may still be without the rail trail due to funding issues.
Rail trials, parks, historic buildings, and low income housing are all part of life in Danvers. These places all require funding to preserve, improve, and add to them. That is why voting yes on Question 5 to show support for Danvers to adopt the Community Preservation Act (CPA) is the right thing to do. For Danvers to be a CPA community, there would be funds to help preserve open space and historic sites, create affordable housing, and develop outdoor recreational facilities.
The CPA Trust fund revenues which are shared with all CPA communities are derived mostly from a surcharge placed on all real estate transactions at the state's Registries of Deeds so anyone buying property in Danvers is paying into this fund. Communities who do not adopt the CPA are not getting any of these funds back. No community which has adopted CPA has ever opted to discontinue it.
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Many of those opposed were also opposed to the rail trial. Danvers does come up with funding for essential things. What about funds needed to help keep Danvers a special place to live?
