Chilmark Housing Committee
Minutes
Thursday, March 15, 2018 9:00am
Chilmark Town Hall, 401 Middle Road, Chilmark, MA Conference Room 1
Present: Jim Feiner (Chair), Jess Roddy, William Randol, Michelle Leonardi, Andy Goldman, Ann Wallace, Jessie Holtham (admin)
Others Present: Peter Cook (Planning Board)
Absent: Bill Rossi, Roland Kluver
Meeting was called to order at 9:00am by the Chairperson.
Minutes from 2/8/18 approved as amended. No quorum to approve January minutes, moves to next meeting.
Rental Assistance Program (RAP) Rent Rate Cap Increase
Documents: Draft Chilmark Rental Assistance Program Cover Letter; Draft Letter to BoS requesting rent changes.
Revisited the proposed new rent cap figures. Jim Feiner supported the new rent rates by comparing Chilmark’s rates against Morgan Woods in Edgartown and his general knowledge of market rental rates island-wide.
At a previous meeting the CHC had voted on the new rent rate figures by calculating 30% (the maximum amount of a household income that should be spent on housing) of 100% AMI based on the 2017 HUD AMI Chart. Jess Roddy felt the rent increase should be covered by the subsidy from Town CPC funds rather than from the tenants. Andy suggested visiting CPC first for recommendations so as to bring all information to the BoS.
Excerpt from CHC 1.11.18 Minutes;
Rental Assistance Program Rent Rates Cap – Vote
Document: Chilmark Rental Assistance Program Draft November 2, 2017 created by Ann & Jessie
Reviewed the current rent rate caps island-wide provided by DCRHA and listed in the 11/9/17 minutes. Bill Rossi commented that island-wide rents were close to market rate and suggested the 1.5% increase multiplied by 14 (years) option. The committee discussed the increase in common home repairs since 2003. Peter Cook suggested a case study of increased costs accompany the rent increase recommendation to the BoS. The committee would not move to implement a yearly % increase but plans to revisit the R.A. rent rates every-other year.
Andy Goldman moved to increasing Chilmark’s Rental Assistance Program Rental Rate Caps to 1.5% x 14 per the document. Bill Rossi seconded. SO VOTED: 4 Ayes, 1 Abstention
Andy will draft an updated letter to the BoS outlining the CHC suggested RAP rent rate increase with CPC subsidy increasing over 50% and further explaining the income qualifications of tenants.
RAP Application Cover Page
Document: Chilmark’s Rental Assistance Program Application cover page
Changes still needed are to define “adjusted income”, and further explain the 100% AMI qualification, and add specific “Chilmark” language to distinguish our program (at 100% AMI) from other towns (at 80% AMI).
$1 Second Mortgage request to legal counsel for template
When approaching Tim Carroll to request Town Council draft a template second mortgage agreement for the CHC it was suggested by Tim that first we pull together a draft from previous versions used at Nab’s Corner. Jim will discuss $1 Second Mortgage needs with Tim.
How to Make a Homesite Lot
Document: How to Make a Homesite Lot instruction
Jim raised questions of the 1 acre minimum lot size for affordable housing. Peter commented that the Planning Board would be happy to look at the idea of changing lot size for affordable housing and referenced the PB discussing raising the allowable guest house size and removing the 5 year waiting period to build guest houses.
Jim (and all committee members) will look at the document and clean up questions for next meeting.
PB Memos
A memo was sent to PB from CHC re: Tax incentives for creating affordable housing and Provincetown example. The PB reaction was positive and requested the Provincetown “Playbook” documents for discussion at their next meeting.
The CHC will send a memo to the Planning Board re: lot sizes of less than 1 acre for affordable housing purposes.
Ann & Peter attended a recent JAHG meeting where seasonal workforce housing was discussed. The commission is working on a potential site at the airport which can be legally referred to as a “Hotel” rather than a dormitory, etc.
Meeting adjourned at 9:55am.
Respectfully Submitted, Jessie A. Holtham.
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