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March 10, 2006     Barnstable Patriot
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March 10, 2006
 
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From the Registry of Deeds Volumeflat, value down The volume of realestate sales for the.Town of Barnstable in February 2006 was unchanged from February2005 volume and the total value of sales was up 9.7 percent from the previous year, according to Barnstable County Register of Deeds, John F.Meade. Themedianindividualproperty sale value was down 8,3 percent from the previous year wiith an 8 percent increase inthe volume of mortgage activity from February 2005 levels. Year to date, sales volume is down 6.4 percent; total sales value is up 15.7 percent; median individual sales Value is up 0.7 percent and mortgage volume is down 5.4 percent. Therewere69deedsrecorded at theBarnstableRegistryofDeedsfor the Townof Barnstable in Febru- ary representing a stated value of $37,023,101inrealestate sales. Themediansalepriceofproperty in Barnstable County in February was$330,000. There were 314 mortgages re- corded in February with a total value of $88,856,470. The median mortgage amount, commercial, residential or other, was$202,250. By way of comparison, in Feb- ruary 2005 for Barnstable, there were 69 deeds recorded at the Registryof Deeds for the Town of Barnstable, representing a total value of $33,758,300 in sales. The median sales price, based on allpropertysalesvaluesabove $50,000 was$360,000. There were 339 mortgages recorded in Barnstable dur- ing February 2005 with values above $50,000with atotal valueof $94,370,702. Themedianmortgage amount, commercial, residential or other, was $210,000. CountyVolume, ValueDown The volume of real estate sales countywideinFebruarywasdown 12.7 percent from February 2005 and the total value of sales was down 0.7 percent from the previ- ous year, according to Meade. Themedianindividualproperty sale value was up 8percent from the previous year,There wasa4.5 percent decreaseinthe volumeof mortgage activity from February 2005 levels. Yeartodate,thevolumeofsales is down 20.2 percent; the total valueofsalesisdown13.3percent; individual sales value is up 4.22 percent;and mortgage volume is down 8.1percent. There were 405 deeds recorded at the Barnstable Registry of Deeds in February representing a stated value of $207,640,577 in county-wide real estate sales. The median sale price of prop- erty in Barnstable County in February was$372,000. There ,were 1,662 mortgages recorded in February ,with a total value of $721,547,099. The median mortgage amount, com- mercial, residential or other, was $216,800. By way of comparison, in Feb- ruary 2005, there were 464 deeds recorded atthe Registry of Deeds with stated sales values above $50,000,representing atotalvalue of$209,083,416incounty-widereal estate sales. The median sales price was $344,250. There were 1,741 mortgages recorded in February 2005 with a total value of $460,808,496. The median mortgage amount, com- mercial, residential or other, was $210,000. All figures based on property sales valued above $50,000 Shaky strides in outgrown shoes... CONTINUED FROM PAGE A:1 to allow the center to open at 30 Elm St. in 2002. It wasn't until a year later, however, that the center be- ¦ ganto truly thrive.Along with receiving another $771,900 in federal funds to expand services, the center merged with Harbor Health Services, a much larger company that manages community health centers. "Wejust didn't have enough [resources ] when we first started out,"saidKaren Foss, a nurse practitioner who has worked at the center since 2002. "It was a blessing to be merged." The resources of Harbor Health , which owns other community health centers such as the Ellen Jones Com- munity Dental Center in Har- wich, are stretched due to the large number of facilities it operates and their individual needs. "Monstrous growth" at the Hyanniscenter hasled Harbor Health to search for a larger location , said Leah West , administrative director of the Mid-Upper Cape Health Center. Though the center is "trying very hard to meet demand," she said, too many patients meanless-than-ideal conditions. The center offers both medi- cal and dental care; almost 90 percent of patients rely on Mass Health or free care pro- grams for those services. Be- causethe center doesnot have the security of patients' co- pays,the increase in numbers does not translate into alarger amount of money. Instead , resources are spread thin to accommodate all needs. For most patients,any help at all is appreciated. Often, they return for follow-up visits, like William Bell, a pa- tient who first came in 2005 for dental care. Though his teeth needed urgent care, "I couldn't afford to have them capped ," he said. By setting up a monthly payment plan, Bell got his new teeth, and the center gained two patients: Bell and his grandson, Louis, who recently went for his first ap- pointment. "Over 500 people in Hyannis have got their teeth in their mouths because of this pro- gram," said Bell. "I was al- ways afraid of the dentist as a child... I look forward to coming here." The numbers back up Bell's declaration. David Reity, the center 's executive direc- tor, said that 2005 saw more than 4,400 medical patients and more than 11,000 dental patients. He expects those numbers to increase to 5,000 and 12,000, respectively, by mid-2006. Three medical rooms and four dental rooms are used to treat the up to 240 patients seen each day, according to Foss. "What was in anybody 's wildest dreams...we need five of them," said Bickford. Faced with the growth, ad- ministrators have turned to groupsthat helpedinthe past. The need has grown almost exponentially, but resources have dwindled in the same manner. Barnstable County, origi- nally a partner in creating the center, has had its shoe- laces tied in this way. During a study lasting about a year, the county 's Department of Human Services found it needed $1 million to address all the county's health care issues. The budget available is around $275,000. "With the revenues of the Registry of Deeds being down, the funding isn't there," said County Commissioner Mary LeClair. "We don't need any more studies to say we need this," she said. "What this needs is collaboration." In 2003 , the center was accredited by the Joint Com- mission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations. This designation makes the center part of a nationwide network of community health centers that can count on future federal aid. Steven Broderick , commu- nications director for Dela- hunt's office, said that the congressman is involved in ongoing conversations with the center's administrators, and he is aware of the needs. But for the center , aid cannot come soon enough. Though money is short, the line of Hyannis and Yarmouth residents who need care is long and growing. According to West, the den- tal center sees an average of 13 new patients per day, and the medical center is growing as well. Another Hitch in its Step Culturaldifferences , alarge number of one-time patients , and Massachusetts ' long- standing tradition ofbureau- cracy act as barriers in the center 's attempts to take bigger steps toward a more efficient and effective health care system. "In this country, 50 percent of the health care dollar is spent on administration ," Bickford said. To help patients network with specialists in the area, Bickford and others set up the Specialty Network for the Uninsured , which allows specialists to donate their time to see patients who have Mass Health or are covered by the free care pool. Even so,the center often has difficulty finding specialists to whom they can refer patients. "There are many specialists on Cape Cod. A significant number will not take Mass Health ," said Dr. Lindley Gifford, medical director at the center. "You can't go get asurgeon that is goingto take free care." At the same time the center focuses on expanding its spe- cialist network, Gifford and West want to expand their patient base. A study done by Gifford found that 60 per- cent of patients are Brazilian Portuguese,and 1to 2 percent speaks Spanish. Because of this, the center is reaching out to Brazilian churches in the area. The center employs several fluent Portuguese speakers, and one fluent Spanish speaker,to help patients understand how the center works. Learning to understand the culture is a major obstacle for the center. In some cases, patients hesitate to ask for help for fear of deportation or backlash from the community, especially in cases of domestic violence. "Alot of people are afraid to reach out,"said Foss. She and other medical providers at the center make sure pamphlets are available in Portuguese and other languageto ensure communication. At this point , the center is reliant upon cobbling to- gether supplies that others offer, whether money, refer- rals to willing specialists, or support . Without more fund- ing, the center cannot help more patients or expand its services for uninsured Cape residents. But in order for the center to continue its walk in the right direction , changes must be made, "so that we can help with the next step," said Gifford. William Bell isready to walk the walk. "Alot of families are still to- gether because of this place," said Bell. "It's a blessing." $6.1M capital plan heads to council... CONTINUED FROM PAGE A:1 prehensive financial advisory committee,including depart- ment head interviews and the scoring of all requested projects. The recommendations and project scoring from CFAC are different from those con- tainedin Town Manager John Klimm'ssubmission.That was the topic of discussion at the Feb, 6 CFAC meeting where the recommendations were first compared. Committee members wondered about the value of their analysis if ulti- mately the resulting recom- mendations are not followed by the administration. That's a familiar question from past iterations of the CFAC. Klimm's response was that there remains a need for an objective , empirical analysis of the capital requests. But he also said there were political factors that weigh in the deci- sions. As an example, Klimm said acommitment wasmade to Barnstable Little League to replace the field to be lost for the new Youth & Community Center. That $88,000 recom- mendation scored low on the CFAC list, but is in Klimm's proposal to the council. ' Alongwithits recommenda- tions,the CFACpresented the town manager with a report suggesting how the capital budgets should be addressed in future years. Among the recommenda- tions was the creation of a capital asset maintenance fund.The committee observed that evaluation criteria for capital projects appeared biased against routine main- tenance. With 24 requests representing $10 million for what can be characterized as maintenance projects, the CFACbelieves more attention should be paid to not letting the town'sassets fall into dis- repair.A recommendation for a professional facilities man- ager for both town and school assets was also included; the school department is already interviewing candidates for a facilities manager. Another recommendation suggested a different ap- proach to "pay as you go" projects , which typically are $50,000 and under. 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