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Trust to press CPC for unspent CPA funds and explores short-term bank financing for property purchases
Summary
The trust will ask the Community Preservation Committee to transfer excess CPA funds into the Trust account and is exploring short-term borrowing with Main Street Bank to enable faster property acquisitions; members reported four recent unsuccessful property pursuits and noted CPA rules may limit creative financing.
The Town of Southborough Affordable Housing Trust agreed to pursue a two-pronged financing approach: seek excess Community Preservation Act (CPA) funds held by the Community Preservation Committee (CPC) and explore short-term bank borrowing to enable quicker property acquisitions.
Ellen (trust member) said CPC requested more specificity about projects in the trust's CPA application; the committee asked for project-level details, current trust account balances and clarification about proposed affordability levels. Trust members said they do not have a specific project to present now but described four recent attempts over the past 12 to 18 months to acquire parcels: the trust was outbid on one, faced timing and occupancy constraints on another, encountered regulatory hurdles on a third, and could not reach agreement on a fourth. Members described an attempted offer on the Atwood site tied to cleanup costs as an example of creative but constrained transactions.
The trust discussed asking CPC to sweep newly available CPA funds above a retained amount (members said roughly $100,000 had been held back and the account recently increased by about $12,000) into the trust account to enable immediate use. Members proposed asking CPC to transfer the excess and to reserve the right to return for more funds once the trust executes on a project.
Al (trust member) reported meeting with Main Street Bank and the town treasurer, Brian Ballantine, to discuss short-term bridge loans. The bank indicated a 3-to-4-week processing timeline is typical and would require sufficient unencumbered (non-CPA) funds to cover interest during the loan period. Trust members noted CPA rules constrain creative financing and that some transactions the trust hoped to pursue would not be permissible with CPA funds.
The trust agreed to update its CPC application to make clear the trust has been actively seeking acquisitions, to present the recent purchase attempts as evidence of activity, and to request that CPC transfer excess funds above the retained amount into the trust account. Ellen will attend and provide the updated answers to CPC; other trust members said they would attend the next CPC meeting to support the request.
