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Present for the Community Preservation Committee and attending the meeting were: PersonNameAndy Goldman, Chairman, Warren Doty, PersonNameJane Slater, Bill Randol and PersonNameChuck Hodgkinson. Pat Manning, Executive Director of the Island Affordable Housing Fund also attended. Russell Maloney, PersonNameKarin Wetmore and Janet Weidner were absent.
The meeting came to order at 7:00 PM.
1. HELM LOAN PROGRAM: Mr. Goldman introduced Mr. Manning and thanked him for attending the meeting. Mr. Manning thanked the Committee for its support and outlined the history of the Helm Loan program and its current structure and benefits. There was much discussion about the new feature of requiring a Helm Loan recipient to transfer the title of his or her land to the Island Housing Trust. This was not a condition of the original program. Mr. Manning explained that this condition was added to this program to help guarantee the property will remain as affordable housing inventory in perpetuity. The Committee commented that almost 100 percent of the homesite lots in Chilmark are Town-owned and will be leased to the recipients. They also asked for assurance that the Town’s transferred PersonNameCPA funds and matching Helm Loan funds (total $120,000) would be reserved exclusively for qualified Chilmark affordable housing recipients.
Mr. Manning said this is not the design of the program. His organization and its sister organization – the Island Housing Trust – are promoting island-wide affordable housing. He then added that at a recent Director’s meeting, the Board agreed to make special amendments to accommodate Chilmark’s concerns. They are: 1. The PersonNameCPA and matching Helm Loan funds appropriated and raised for Chilmark will be isolated for Chilmark recipients. 2. If a Chilmark Helm Loan recipient is leasing his or her lot from the Town, the requirement of transferring the title of the land to the Island Housing Trust will be waived. The Town will retain ownership and control of the property as the lessor.
The Committee thanked Mr. Manning for these special considerations and taking the time to attend the meeting. Mr. Manning welcomed the comments and left to tend to his herd of goats that are due to give birth to 36 kids within the next 24 hours.
2. MARCH 3, 2008 SPECIAL TOWN MEETING: Chuck H. distributed a copy of the warrant and explained how it will be amended on the floor.
3. APRIL 28, 2008 ANNUAL TOWN MEETING: Chuck H. distributed a draft of Mr. Goldman’s Report to Voters on the Middle Line Road Community Housing Program. It will be distributed at the March 3, 2008 Special Town Meeting and put on the Town’s website. Mr. Doty outlined the additional infrastructure that is needed to prepare the site for construction – addressStreetMiddle Line Road roadway improvements, installing the access road and driveways to the building sites, running utilities to the site from addressStreetTabor House Road and installing ten wells. The estimated costs for these necessary improvements and proposed use of PersonNameCPA funds were discussed at length. The impact and consequence of adhering to
the PersonNameCPA affordable housing income cap of 100 percent of county median income was also discussed. The Committee agreed with the suggested solution as outlined in the draft report and recommended it should be confirmed with Town Counsel. If necessary, the report suggests reimbursing the PersonNameCPA fund reserves with Town funds to release ay of the housing units from the PersonNameCPA income cap of 100 percent of county median income. A subsequent motion was made to recommend using PersonNameCPA funds for the required infrastructure costs as outlined in the Report to Voters dated February 2008. The specific recommendations are as follows: 1. To appropriate $376,400 of fiscal year 2009 PersonNameCPA funds for addressStreetMiddle Line Road roadway improvements, creating the access road and driveways to the building sites and installing utility service to the site. The sources of the funds will be $156,400 from the FY 2009 Community
Preservation Unbudgeted Reserve and $220,000 from the FY 2009 Community Preservation Budgeted Reserve. An additional amount of $132,500 will be recommended for installing ten wells on the site. The sources of funds will be $100,000 from the FY 2009 Community Preservation Unbudgeted Reserve and $32,500 from the FY 2009 Housing Reserve Fund. The motion for both proposals was seconded and unanimously approved. Chuck H. reviewed the projected PersonNameCPA fund balances if all of the proposed warrant articles are approved by voters at the Annual Town Meeting.
4. NEXT MEETING: Wednesday, March 26, 2008 @ 7:00 PM.
With no further business to discuss the meeting adjourned at 7:30 PM to allow the Committee to attend the Finance Advisory Committee meeting.
Respectfully submitted, PersonNameChuck Hodgkinson, CAS.
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