MPPF Round 31 Application Presentation

Thank you for your interest in the Massachusetts Preservation Projects Fund or MPPF. The following presentation is offered as a substitute to the traveling MPPF workshops typically offered by the Mass Historical Commission. Due to COVID, the MHC is opted to continue to offer an alternative PowerPoint describing the MPPF application process.

The following schedule describes the key dates associated with the MPPF cycle, including the application deadline, the award selection, the Local Project Coordinator workshop and the project end date.

The following expanded schedule includes all the key dates relating to the entire MPPF cycle.

General Information and Guidelines, Eligible Applicants and Properties. In order to be eligible for the MPPF program all applicants must represent either a registered non-profit organization or a municipality. All properties must be currently listed in the State Register of Historic Places.

It is strongly recommended that all potential MPPF applicants confirm State Register status of their historic properties before they begin preparing an MPPF application. What is the State Register of Historic Places? The State Register, maintained by the MHC, is a compilation of local, state and federal designations including National, State and Local Historic Landmarks, properties individually listed on the National Register, properties included within National Register historic districts, properties included in local historic districts, properties for which there is an MHC, MPPF, or Chapter 184 Preservation Restriction and Massachusetts State Archaeological Landmarks. Any historical property included in the National Register is automatically included in the State Register and therefore eligible for MPPF assistance.

The Massachusetts Historical Commission offers an online database called MACRIS which is short for the Massachusetts Cultural Resource Information System. MACRIS will allow you to confirm listing status and will also allow provide you access to the Massachusetts Historic Inventory forms. If you are unable to navigate through MACRIS to confirm State Register listing status, please contact either your Local Historical Commission or the Massachusetts Historical Commission to get assistance.

Eligible MMP Activities are broken out into three (3) categories: Pre-Development Projects, Development Projects and Acquisition Projects. Pre-Development Study typically involve the following: historical structures reports, summary, conditions assessments and feasibility studies; Development Projects or Construction Projects typically involve stabilization preservation, rehabilitation and restoration; eligible interior work will generally be limited to restorations based on documented historic evidence. Emergency acquisition involves the purchase of endangered historic properties.

A typical Pre-Development Study will involve the following: a historical summary, a comprehensive conditions assessment, prioritized repair and restoration treatment recommendations, budget estimates for all recommended work, an outline plans and specifications addressing the highest priority repairs.

Here are three examples of typical Development Projects including the in-kind replacement of a shingled roof on the left, stained glass window conservation in the middle, and the repointing of brick masonry on the right.

Acquisition Projects. Applicants for acquisition assistance must document that acquisition is the only way to ensure the preservation of the historic resource.

The following work is considered ineligible for MPPF Development Projects. Routine maintenance, the upgrading of mechanical systems, interior renovation, the relocation of historic buildings, or the construction of building additions. For religious properties, any interior work, stained glassed window conservation, or the repair of religious symbols. Universal accessibility is allowable but up to a maximum of 30% of the total project cost.

Grant Requests. The amount of grant requests for Pre-Developments can range from a minimum of $5,000 to a maximum of $30,000 and for Development or Acquisition Projects the minimum can range from $7,500 to a maximum $100,000.

Funding Options. All projects applying to MPPF must involve a 50% matching share. Endowment options are not available.

All recipients of MPPF grants will be required to enter into a Preservation Restriction Agreement. For Development or Acquisition Projects the restriction will run in perpetuity. For Pre-Development Projects the term will range from 5 to 10 years depending on the grant amount. Attached is an example of the Standard Preservation Restriction Agreement which will be included in the Application.

All submitted applications will be evaluated based on the following selection criteria. Those criteria identified with an asterisk are determined and provided by the MHC.

A complete MPPF Application will consist of a printed copy of the Application Form, along with all other required attachments. All signatures must be live and in blue ink. A USB flash drive should be included containing the digital photographs requested in Section 1.

Section 1, Project Overview. Section 1 includes basic Property Information including the Property Name and Location, the Level of Significance based on the National Register Nomination and Property Use information. Please check all appropriate boxes and include a description of current and future uses for the property as well as a description of the properties’ level of accessibility.

Supporting Documentation. All Applications should include color images both in printed and digital format. Photos should include each elevation as well as the surrounding project area. Photos should be printed on high quality 4x6 format or larger size and digital copies on USB flash drive. Also to be included is the MHC Inventory Form for your property, a location map at street level, and written directions from the Mass Historical Commission to your property.

Applicant and Owner information. Please provide the name of the Applicant, and property owner if different than the Applicant, as well as the project participants. For Development, Pre-Development, and Acquisition Projects please identify the Local Project Coordinator. For Development Projects only, also provide the name of the Project Architect, Project Engineer, or Other Preservation Consultants.

For Pre-Development Projects, the MPPF Grant plus the required matching share will pay for the consultant’s fees. Typically, the consultant’s team will involve an architect, engineer, and other preservation professionals. Consultants cannot be pre-selected. Potential consultants should play no role in assisting with the development of an application for a Pre-Development assistance in order to avoid potential conflict of interest.

For Development Projects. The cost of construction labor and materials is eligible. The Grantee is solely responsible for all architectural and engineering fees. All Applicants must identify the architect or engineer associated with their project and confirm their availability to provide professional services throughout the MPPF process.

For Development Projects. The contractor is the professional who will perform the actual grant assisted work. The contractor will become involved only after the grant allocation is made and cannot be pre- selected. The contractor must be chosen in accordance with competitive procurement or public bidding requirements and should have demonstrated experience in historic preservation.

For Development Projects involving municipalities the contractor selection will be based on the municipal bidding guidelines.

Non-Profit Supporting Documentation. All non-profit organizations will be required to submit the following: A copy of your 501 (c) 3 IRS determination letter, a copy of your current annual operating budget, a list of your existing endowments, any restrictions on those endowments, and finally a completed Request for Taxpayer ID# and certification form and the next slide will show an example of this form.

The following is the Massachusetts W-9 Request for Taxpayer Form.

Section 2 of the Application deals with the project authorization. The first thing we ask for is a list of the individuals in your organization who are authorized to fulfil specific tasks associated with the grant. Next, we ask you to fill in two certificates. One tells us who in your organization is authorized to sign the contract with the Massachusetts Historical Commission (MHC). The second tells us who is authorized to sign the Preservation Restriction.

Here you see a copy of these three parts of the authorization. You will notice in both certificates, we ask for the date on which your organization voted signature authority to the chosen individuals. Please note that this should be a current vote. If your non-profit organization, or municipality, is set up so that the person holds that authority by virtue of their position, then the date you fill in should be the date on which they were voted into office. You will also notice that the Certificate for the Preservation Restriction asks for two names. Municipal applicants only need to provide one name. Non-profit organizations will need to provide two names. These should be two officers, such as the President and Treasurer. Since we ask at the bottom of each certificate for your Clerk or Secretary to certify the names, this person should not be one of the signatories.

Next. Let’s talk about the Preservation Restriction, or PR. As was mentioned earlier, the placing of a Preservation Restriction on the grant-assisted property is a requirement of the MPPF program. If a PR in perpetuity, held by MHC, already exists on your property, all you need to send us is a copy of that PR, a copy of the current Assessor’s Map of the property, and any other legally recorded plot plans or surveys.

If such a PR does not already exist, you will need to send us more information. The first thing is a copy of the deed, or deeds for your property. These copies should have the Registry, book, page and number clearly shown on the front. Second is a copy of any currently existing PRs, or other restrictions. Third, is a copy of the current Assessor’s Map and any other recorded plot plans or surveys. Fourth, is a letter from your organization, clearly stating their intention to enter into a PR with MHC.

Fifth, is a certified copy of the vote to enter into a PR. Remember to schedule such a vote in plenty of time to include it with your application. If that vote is dependent upon a Town Meeting that will not take place until after the application deadline, please include a copy of the Town Warrant for holding that vote, along with the date of the Town Meeting.

You will also need to provide us with a legal opinion from your attorney, containing the following items: 1) a legal boundary description of the property, 2) an assurance that this PR can be recoded, 3) an assurance that the MHC PR will not be subordinate to any other restriction, and 4) a list of the correct names of the owners and any others who hold an interest in the property (such as a mortgage holder).

Sometimes in a state as old as Massachusetts, it happens that there no deed or legal boundary description exists for a property. Don’t worry if this applies to you. Send us a letter explaining the situation. MHC staff can work with you, if a grant is awarded, in order to correct the situation. This usually involves the commission of a confirmatory deed, which will be recorded at your local Registry of Deeds. This can then be referenced in our PR. Please be aware that the costs involved in having such a confirmatory deed made, will be the responsibility of your organization.

MHC wants to see how important your property is within your community. To that end, we ask that you provide us with letters of support. These can be from other organizations who use your property, concerned individuals, neighboring institutions, or public officials. Since the MPPF program is a State program, we would especially encourage you to seek letters of support from your State Representatives. We also require a letter of support from your local Historical Commission. Include a letter from your local Historic District Commission, if you fall within their jurisdiction. If your town does not currently have a Historical Commission, please provide us with a letter explaining the situation, and try to get letters from your Town officials and local Historical Society. Make sure that all your letters of support are current, and that they reference the MPPF grant for which you are applying.

The last item in Section 2, is a list of the 20 things your organization will be agreeing to, should you receive a grant from MHC. Please read these over carefully. This should be signed by the same person who has been granted authority to enter into a grant with MHC.

Section 3 of the application is all about your grant request. First, check off what type of project you are coming in for, whether Pre-Development, Development, or Acquisition. You are only allowed to come in for one of these activities at a time. This does not preclude you from coming back to us in subsequent rounds for other types of projects on the property. Next, give us a brief description of what you hope to accomplish with the assistance of our grant. This only needs to be short paragraph, as you will be providing a more thorough description in Section 4.

If there is ground disturbance anticipated with the work of this grant, we ask that you give us a description of what that entails. We also ask you to include a plan of the property, clearly showing where the disturbance will take place. Also, give us a description of any previous ground disturbances in this area that you are aware of.

Next, let’s go over the estimated cost of this project. For a Pre-Development project, the grant would be utilized to hire a design professional, such as an architect, or engineer. They would be responsible for conducting a study of your property. This would contain such things as a history of the development of the property, a survey of existing conditions and a prioritized recommendation treatment plan. You would also likely get plans and specifications for the highest priority repairs. The thoroughness of these plans would be determined on the amount of money you are willing to pay.

For a Development project, the grant will be utilized to hire a contractor, or conservator, to initiate actual construction or conservation work. The costs you fill in for this section will be associated with the actual work, such as for masonry, or roofing, or gravestone conservation. The costs of these divisions will be provided to you by your design professional. Please remember that the costs of your architect, or engineer are not eligible as part of a Development grant.

For an Acquisition project, the grant would be used to assist in buying the endangered property. The price must be based on an independent, professional appraisal. When filling in the section for the Project Period, you should consult the MPPF Schedule in the Application Instructions. The project cannot begin until after July 1st of the application year. The project completion date can be no later than June 30th of the following year.

MHC cannot reimburse your organization for any costs that are incurred before you have an executed contract with us. We also cannot make payments for any work accomplished after the June 30th deadline, as that is the end of our fiscal year.

Next, you need to indicate the type of request for which you are applying. Since the Endowment Option is not available for this round, you should check off the 50% Matching Share option.

When filling in the actual grant request section, it is important to remember that MPPF is both a matching and reimbursable grant. This means that you can’t fill in the funding request line with an amount greater than the amount you enter on the Applicant Share line. It also means that you will need to have some extra funds available to keep the project moving, while you are waiting on your reimbursement. This amount should equal 25% of the total project costs. In the end, grant recipients will only be paying for their share. The extra funds are only to help keep the project moving.

In this next section, you will need to indicate the source of your matching share. Cash, Community Preservation Act grants, or binding award letters from other grant agencies are all acceptable. What cannot be used are in-kind-services, volunteer time, or other State funds, such as a Massachusetts Cultural Facilities Funds grant. You also cannot use unsecured individual private pledges.

Remember that if the matching share funds are dependent on a Town Meeting vote, that Town Meeting should be scheduled before the MPPF Application deadline. If the Town Meeting does not take place before that date, then you will need to include within your Application an explanation when that Town Meeting will take place and a copy of the Town Warrant placing that vote on the Town Meeting agenda.

Please check off which type of Procurement you will be following. Obviously, municipalities will need to follow Municipal Bidding Procedures. Most others will be following Competitive Bidding Procedures. If your grant request is below $25,000, then you will be able to utilize Small Purchase Procedures. In order for MHC to judge your organization’s administrative and financial management capabilities, we will be looking at two things:

1. How well you were able to follow directions in filling out this application
2. Your explanation of your capacity for managing a grant like this

The last item in Section 3 is an explanation from you as to your organization’s financial need for our assistance. Let us know why this grant is important to you. Please tell us of any other sources of funding you may have received for this property. These can include tax credits, CPA funds, or any other type of State, or Federal funding.

The purpose of section IV is to provide a clear overview of the property’s history and significance, to analyze its present physical condition, to develop a clear plan for its management and repair, and to justify the proposed grant work.

You will provide Section IV as a separate attachment to your application. I will review the information required in Section IV for each type of project: Pre-Development, Development, and Acquisition. Section IV is on page 17 of your Application and begins on page 27 of your Application Instructions Starting with a Pre-Development Project, under A, you will provide a Brief Overview Statement. We are looking for 3-4 sentences to summarize the purpose of the proposed work and identify how the proposed work relates to the history of the property, its physical needs, and its present and future use.
Under B, you will provide additional detail:

1. Provide a general description of the property including type, materials, style, and major alterations.
2. Provide a brief history of the property including how the property has been used, what groups or individuals are associated with the property, and its relationship to local historical trends and events.
3. Describe the architectural and historical significance of the property.

In Section C. you will provide a Conditions Assessment of your property. You should use the following Conditions Assessment components to determine the work that is most important to address on the property and to identify which work to include in the application.

First, you will provide a Survey of the Physical Conditions. We recognize that if you are applying for Pre-Development funding, you are seeking assistance to hire a preservation professional to prepare a conditions assessment. However, we need to know what information has already been gathered on your property, as well as its current general condition.

In this section, we ask that you attach any previous studies and repair records you may have. If you have never conducted a conditions assessment, or that assessment is greater than 3 years old, you should provide a current assessment. This will include a brief narrative description of the current condition of the exterior and interior spaces of the building. You may also use annotated photographs for your survey. Be sure to include at least a general assessment of the roof, siding, windows, foundation, ceilings, attic, basement, and so on.

One of the most useful means to convey your property’s condition is through photographs. In addition to the photos that you may have chosen to use for your Survey, you should also provide photos that illustrate important parts of the building or property.
Printed photographs must at a minimum include:

• Each elevation of the resource
• Detailed photographs of significant materials
• Deteriorated conditions and
• Major alterations

In the next section of the Assessment you will list Prioritized Needs

Using the information gained from the Survey, you will list the property’s research, conditions assessment, and planning needs. If you are awarded an MPPF grant, funding will be used to hire a team of preservation professionals who will prepare, at a minimum, an overall conditions assessment of your building. You may determine that your Pre-Development Study also focus on a particular need such as a structural issue or universal accessibility. You will list those needs in section 3. Under Potential for Loss or Destruction, you should describe the degree of threat to your property. When evaluating grant applications, MHC gives preference to properties that would be severely damaged, altered or destroyed without grant assistance. Please be sure to provide documentation to clearly present this threat to us.

In Section D. you will list the Proposed Scope of Work. This is a List of the projects you intend to complete if awarded a grant. Your list might include a conditions assessment, a focused structural evaluation of a foundation or roof, and conceptual plans for universal access for example.

Under Appropriateness of Proposed Work, you should provide justification for your project. Does it meet the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties? Is your budget realistic? Have you included MPPF eligible costs?

In the next section, we ask for you to provide a Draft Request for Qualifications/Proposals, or RFQ or RFP for short. As this is a pre-development study, the RFP will be used to seek architectural and or engineering design services. The RFP should include project phases, goals, tasks, and expected products. Examples of RFPs from previous MPPF projects are available upon request. If awarded a grant, your MHC project manager will work you to finalize your RFP. Municipalities should consult with their procurement officer or purchasing department to develop the draft RFP.

Please keep in mind that Pre-Development grant funding will be used to pay for architectural or engineering services. You may not pre-select an engineer or architect. Any engineer or architect who prepares part of your application cannot later be awarded your actual pre-development project.

If you are applying for a Development Grant, Section IV, parts A, B, C and D may be prepared either by a preservation professional such as an architect or engineer OR someone familiar with your property. Section E, however, must be prepared by a professional.

For Parts A and B, you will provide the same type of information I described for a Pre-Development application. This includes a Brief Overview Description and a Property Summary.

In order to apply for a Development grant, you should already have a thorough understanding of the condition of your building and its most critical needs. Your Survey of the Physical Conditions of your property should include the current condition of the interior and the exterior and a chronology of changes made to the property.

In this section, we ask that you attach any conditions assessments, studies and repair records you may have. If your most recent conditions assessment is greater than 3 years old, you should have it updated to include in your application.

For your reference, we have provided a list of common Building Elements to include in your survey on pages 30 and 31 of the application instructions.

As I noted earlier, be sure that your application includes printed photographs that illustrate, at a minimum:

• Each elevation of the resource
• Detailed photographs of significant materials
• Deteriorated conditions
• Major alterations and
• Particularly important for a development grant application, please provide photos of the proposed work

The next section under the Conditions Assessment is Prioritized Needs.

The information learned from the Conditions assessment will help your design professional determine what your property needs are. For Section 3, your architect or engineer should list the repairs required for the property, prioritizing them according to need.

Under Potential for Loss or Destruction, you should describe the degree of threat to your property. When evaluating grant applications, MHC gives preference to properties that would be severely damaged, altered or destroyed without grant assistance. Please be sure to provide documentation to clearly present this threat to us.

Under Proposed Project Scope of Work you will list the project work that your organization intends to complete if awarded grant funding.

For Appropriateness of Proposed Work you should provide justification for each item. Please keep in mind that this is preservation program and the work you propose must meet the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic properties. A copy of the standards is included in the Appendix.

It is also important that your proposed scope and associated budget are realistic, that your scope includes work eligible for the MPPF program, and that your scope is based on clearly established priorities.

You will also indicate how the proposed work uses appropriate traditional materials and technologies. Will you use in-kind replacement of historic building fabric? If modern materials are proposed, what is the reason for the substitution?

At a minimum, applicants must submit detailed outline plans and specifications with their Development application. These must be prepared by a design professional such as an architect or engineer. Pictured here is one page in a set of outline plans.

The specifications section must identify the scope of work and must describe the quality and type of materials, construction techniques, and level of workmanship required.

The work items must follow the format of the Uniform Construction Index of 16 divisions or UCI. This will be familiar to your architect and are included in the Appendix of the Application Instructions.

If you are awarded a grant, you will be required to provide Bid-level documents, including full specs and construction drawings. These documents will form the basis of the contract agreement between the applicant and MHC.

These documents will also be used to solicit bids from qualified contractors such as preservation carpenters and masons should you receive a grant. Because the MPPF grant program is limited to a one-year cycle it is critical that construction projects begin as early as possible.

It is important to note that contractors and artisan studios cost estimates cannot be substituted for professionally prepared outlined plans and specifications. You must submit plans and specs prepared by an architect or engineer. For a non-building type of restoration project, such as monument restoration a draft RFP for conservation services can be substituted for plans and specs.

And as a reminder, development grants help to fund physical preservation work and pay for preservation carpenters and masons, for example. You cannot pre-select a tradesperson and you should not identify a preferred tradesperson in your grant application.

If awarded a grant, MHC will work with you to ensure an open and fair bidding process.

The third and last type of project you may apply for is an acquisition.

If you are applying for an Acquisition grant your Overview Description should indicate that acquisition is the only way to assure the preservation of this historic resource.

You must also list any alternative preservation methods that have already been pursued.

As I mentioned in the prior sections, your Property Summary should include a description, history and significance of the property that you wish to acquire.

You will also provide a Survey of the Physical Conditions and Photographic Documentation of the property. It is not necessary to describe the prioritized needs. The most important section of an acquisition application is the Potential for Loss or Destruction.

Priority will be given to those properties which are under immediate threat of partial or complete destruction. Preference will be given to projects involving buildings, landscapes or sites that would be severely damaged, altered or destroyed without grant assistance. The degree of threat to the property must be documented by photographs, structural analysis reports, and/or reports which document vandalism or other threats.

If you would like to acquire a property in order to prevent demolition or destruction, you must demonstrate that you are the developer of last resort.

In the Proposed Project Scope section, the Applicant should explain what purpose their organization has in making this acquisition; how will the property be used and how does that use further the organization’s mission.

Lastly, you must provide MHC with a copy of an appraisal for this property, prepared by an independent professional appraiser.

The last page of the application is an application checklist. For your application to be considered complete, all of the items on the checklist must be included.

Please use this for your own planning purposes and include a completed checklist with your application.

This concludes our application presentation. Please feel free to contact MHC Grants Division Staff should you have any questions on the MPPF application process or questions concerning your individual application.