With trust fund proposal on TM warrant, forum to explore affordable housing plans
/By Carol Britton Meyer
The Affordable Housing Committee will host a meeting next week to share information about the town meeting proposal to create an affordable housing trust.
Such a trust would help create and preserve below-market-rate housing for low- and moderate-income households and fund community housing, as the AHC doesn’t have the authority to develop housing, but rather can educate citizens and advocate for it.
The purpose of the meeting is “to help citizens understand what a trust is,” Select Board Chair Irwin Nesoff – the board’s liaison to the AHC – explained at his board’s meeting Wednesday night.
The affordable housing trust session is scheduled for Thursday, April 10, at 6:30 p.m. in the Hull High School exhibition room.
The presentation by members of the committee is entitled “What is a Municipal Housing Trust Fund?” and will explain how the trust fund would help to create affordable housing in town. There will be an opportunity for community members to offer input, ask questions, submit ideas, and share experiences.
The select board, which earlier approved the article, voted unanimously in favor of Nesoff, and any other interested board member, speaking on this subject on the floor of town meeting. Board member Jerry Taverna was not present.
“This is a very important project, and I want to congratulate the committee, which has worked for many months to put this article together [with input from] consultants and town counsel,” Nesoff said. “The important thing is that a trust would give the town a method for supporting the construction, renovation and/or rehabilitation of affordable housing, none of which has been produced for a long time in Hull.”
AHC Chair Cynthia Koebert thanked Nesoff for his “active part” on the committee and the select board for its support. In addition, the advisory board recently voted unanimously in support the article.
“This would be a tool to act in a more timely fashion,” she said. “The housing crisis has only gotten worse, and it’s not getting easier.”
Contingent on town meeting approval, a trust would bring additional expertise and timely decision-making to the utilization of Community Preservation Act funds for affordable housing. The Community Preservation Committee has approximately $500,000 available from the annual required 10% allocation of funds, plus reserves, to support community housing.
Koebert noted that some neighboring communities have had success with affordable housing trusts.
“During my two years on the committee, we haven’t developed one single unit of affordable housing,” she said. “With a trust, we would be able to provide affordable housing for various income levels.”
Board member Greg Grey thinks the warrant article will “pass on a breeze” at town meeting with Nesoff speaking on behalf of the article.
Following the information session, the presentation will be posted on the town’s website. The meeting will also be recorded by Hull Community Television and available on demand at hulltv.net.
In other business…
• The idea of creating an interactive town meeting warrant with links to related information is being explored, Town Manager Jennifer Constable told the select board. A future town newsletter will also feature information about the warrant articles.
• The proposed two-way road plan in the Surfside/HRA area and the deteriorating former hockey rink in the parking lot near Rockland Circle will be discussed at the next meeting between the Department of Conservation and Recreation and town officials, according to Constable.
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