Provincetown Community Housing Council

Judge Welsh Hearing Room

February 25, 2008

4:00 p.m.

 

 

Members Present:        A.J. Alon, Elaine Anderson, Joe Carleo, Catherine Reno Brouillet, and Molly Perdue.

         

Members absent:          Bill Dougal (excused)

 

Staff:                              David Gardner and Amy Lawson

 

The meeting was called to order at 4:09 p.m. with a quorum.

 

Meeting Agenda

 

Review and approval of Minutes

Approval of the February 11th minutes has been postponed until the meeting on March 10th.

 

Housing Specialist’s update on recent activities

Amy Lawson distributed new technical manuals to the committee. The committee agrees that they would like copies of HUD rental guidelines to include in the manuals and additional zoning bylaws. The committee also agrees that the Board of Selectmen should receive a copy of the manual.

 

There was a brief discussion regarding the balance in the Affordable Housing Trust Fund. David Gardner is looking into it and will share the balance with the committee as soon as he has the information.

 

Amy Lawson has emailed Polly Hemstock about the brochure two times with no response. The town will move forward with invoicing in order to release TAP grant funds.

 

Amy Lawson distributed the new Affordable Housing Permit Application. The committee agrees that the word “topic” should be changed to “project” on Form A. The committee agrees that the application should go on the town’s website and be available at Town Hall. Changes will be made as they are needed.

 

There was more discussion regarding Form A. Ultimately, the committee decided to keep it as a piece of the packet based on the notion that a paper trail is good to have. Form A will be left as-is.

 

Motion:  Move to accept the Affordable Housing permit application for use in the Provincetown Housing Office.

Motion:  Elaine Anderson       Seconded:  Cathy Reno       Vote:  5-0-0.

 

Amy Lawson will keep a log of all inquiry phone calls received by the Housing Office.

 

Discussion of the potential need for updates to the Housing Needs Assessment

Joe Carleo points out that needs assessments have a shelf life of 5-10 years. Aspects of the report require a periodic update, but Joe does not feel as though the town should proceed with a new assessment.

 

Molly Perdue and Elaine Anderson agree that the town should not undertake a new assessment, as the current report is still valid, and projects of such magnitude are very expensive.

 

Elaine believes that the idea for a new needs assessment has come about due to three units on Sandy Hill Lane that are still on the market, but stresses that the Ryan Report is not responsible for the lack of a sale.

 

AJ Alon indicates that the committee should look at the need for affordable units for purchase and median units for rental.

 

Amy will look into GAP funding to try to get the units filled quickly. The Affordable Housing Specialist from the Cape Cod Commission is on vacation until March 4th, and he will be able to provide applicable information when he returns.

 

The committee agrees that information should be available to the public that illustrates how the suggestions in the Ryan Report are being carried out. For example, 90 and 83 Shank Painter are rental units, as well as half of the new Race Point Road project. Ideas include updating the website and use the Community television station to share information.

 

Motion:  Move to not support a new housing needs assessment because the information in the current report is viable, and performing a new assessment would not be fiscally responsible.

 

Motion:  Elaine Anderson       Seconded:  Cathy Reno       Vote:  5-0-0.

 

The committee agrees that they should hold a joint work session with the planning board to revise the Affordable Housing ByLaws to reflect recent changes.

 

Motion:  Move to have a joint working session with the Planning Board to update applicable bylaws in the next two months.

 

Motion:  Cathy Reno       Seconded:  Molly Perdue       Vote:  5-0-0.

 

Other Business

A public comment is made my Jack McMahon. Jack tells the committee that he has received a great deal of misinformation about affordable housing, has concerns about condo complexes, and attended the meeting to gain information. He indicates that the meeting has supplied him with some clarity. Jack suggests publishing a small article in The Banner to help the public understand both sides of the story.

 

The committee discusses the three available units on Sandy Hill Lane. Molly stresses that they need to be sold, Elaine agrees. The CHC discusses the idea of using the Affordable Housing Trust fund to provide GAP funding so that unit prices can be lowered to meet low and moderate income households.

 

Elaine talks about the Land Bank issue and what would happen if the debt were to be transferred to the CPC. David Gardener points out that the new structure of CPC funds would need to be voted on at Town Meeting.

 

The CHC will try to get the Community Preservation Committee to cover the Housing Specialist’s salary for the next fiscal year. If they do not agree to this payment structure, the CHC will look into using the Affordable Housing Trust Fund to pay for 25%. Elaine adds that the CPC will only be able to fund the position for three years.

 

CHC members are unable to find motion to request the CPC to fund the Housing Specialist’s position in old minutes.

 

Motion:  Move to accept the Affordable Housing permit application for use in the Provincetown Housing Office.

Motion:  Elaine Anderson       Seconded:  Cathy Reno       Vote:  5-0-0.

 

Future Meeting Schedule

The State of the Town address will be held on March 31st at 4pm.

 

The next Community Housing Council meeting will be held at 4pm on March 10th.

 

Motion:  Move to adjourn.

Motion:  AJ Alon       Seconded:  Elaine Anderson       Vote:  5-0-0.

 

Respectfully submitted,

Amy Lawson

Amy B. Lawson

 

Approved by _____________________________ on ____________, 2008.