Local Housing
Partnership
Combined with
Provincetown
Housing Authority
Public Meeting
December 10, 2004
4:00 p.m.
LHP
Members Present: Arturo Alon, Tim
Hazel, and Teri Nezbeth.
LHP
Members Absent: Cindy Bowes,
Scott Campbell, and Eileen Kennedy,
(all excused absences)
PHA
Members Present: Margaret
Bergman, Patrick Manning, and Teri Nezbeth
Others
Present: Keith Bergman and Doug Taylor
Meeting
Agenda
Joint Meeting with the Keith Bergman, Town Manager and The Provincetown Housing Authority
Margaret Bergman began the joint meeting by saying it was to discuss
trust fund expenditures.
Keith Bergman (KAB) said the Board of Selectmen
(BoS) voted at their November 8th meeting to fill the Assistant Town Manager
position and to include a new job description for it. Attachment A, which was handed out to the group, is the job
description for the Asst. Town Mgr./Affordable Housing Assistant. The position has been advertised and about
45 applications have been received thus far.
Each applicant has been notified regarding the receipt of their
application and has been sent a job description of the position. After a paper screening of applicants a short list will be drawn up and
maybe a position start date of February 2005 for that position. Keith said he’s looking for 5 months of
funding to pay for this position. He
would like $3K from the trust for 5
months toward the funding of this position.
AJ, chair of the LHP wondered what amount will
be asked for next year toward the salary?
KAB said the Housing Trust Fund was enacted in 2002 and this is the first
request to fund this position. He needs
$26K total and he has money from other budgets for the rest of the amount. He imagines a combination of staff and
consultants to orchestrate this position.
KAB has been working with his other counterparts to see about town’s
sharing one central entity providing services, i.e. income verification, deed
restrictions, etc.
He hoped that Laura Shoefeldt would be the point
person for deed restrictions, etc.
KAB’s vision is that the Asst. Town Mgr. would
be the staff person providing all the support needed for administering
this. Keith wondered if each of the two
boards would like to take part in the interviews? There could be as many as 10 finalists. If you’d like to take part it can’t be more than 2 people from
each board – otherwise it becomes a quorum.
Any questions per KAB?
Tim Hazel said the money from the Land Bank
looks like it amounts to about 10%.
“Does that indicate the amount of time they would be able to devote to
our projects? Only 10%?” KAB said that about 10% of his time is spent
on affordable housing. He would guess
about 25% of the new person’s time would be spent on affordable housing.
KAB told the group that there are 4 properties
the Town owns because the owners defaulted on taxes. One appears buildable. It
is located just past the Sand Castle on 6A; the address if 951R Commercial
Street. Keith will present it to the
BoS and would like to have a proposal regarding properties which fall into this
category. Two of the properties are wet
and unbuildable and would probably best be given to the Open Space group. The fourth is a tiny lot that would only be
of interest to an abutter and it would give the abutter a buildable lot. The property at 951R Commercial Street is
assessed at $412K. If it were to be
sold at auction for $400K then 25% would go into the Affordable Housing Trust
fund.
Patrick Manning asked if The Provincetown
Housing Authority had the BoS promise that they would receive first divs on any
property that owes taxes and goes up for auction? He then ruminated, “Maybe the best use could be a 40B?”
The procedure per KAB is that the treasurer is
empowered and can auction off property that has been foreclosed on. He’s not doing that now but would have to
call for a public hearing to establish
a precedent. “We could also go to town
meeting and get a 2/3 vote to establish this precedent.”
Tim Hazel asked, “If it’s conveyed to the Housing Authority can they apply to the
Lower Cape Cod Community Development for money to rehab?” KAB will be glad to convene staff and look
at feasibility to develop properties.
Margaret Bergman knows that 2 of our members
want to be on the interview team for the Assistant Town Manager position.
AJ asked, “Does the affordable housing part of
this position have set hours? or how will they spend their time?” KAB said he would be willing to have some
kind of written agreement. Tim said
they would definitely want this person at their meetings. KAB said that it would be reasonable to
require them to attend your meetings – and to be available to answer questions.
Tim said he noticed on the matrix that KAB
designated Laura Shoefeldt as our point person. Tim asked, “So does that preclude us from asking her for
advice?” KAB said he will get down a
written protocol regarding this issue.
Motion: Tim Hazel made a motion to recommend to the Provincetown Housing Authority that the money outlined in the document 6D be approved along with the job description. Teri Nezbeth seconded the motion and it was approved 3-0-0.
Teri Nezbeth asked if the LHP will get some idea
of the time spent on the LHP by the new person?
AJ asked if - after the person had been hired –
when it came to their evaluation – could the LHP vote on it? K AB said that this could not happen
formally but perhaps informally. Keith
also said he would encourage feedback from members of the LHP but only in
groups of two so that it could not be construed as a quorum. Perhaps it would work with the chair and one
other member (so no quorum) – it would be helpful to me (per KAB).
Patrick Manning said he would like a monthly
report submitted by the new person for the 1st 5 months. KAB said it might be arranged.
The next meeting will take place in January
2005.
Motion: AJ made a motion to adjourn the combined
meeting with the Provincetown Housing Authority. It was seconded and unanimously approved.
Motion: Teri Nezbeth made a motion to approve the
minutes of the October 15th meeting as amended. Tim Hazel seconded the motion and it was
approved 3-0-0.
The amendment was to change one word on page two
from state to county.
The meeting adjourned by popular vote at 4:50
p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Evelyn Rogers Gaudiano
Approved by
________________________________________________on_____________
Arturo Alon, Chairman