Barnstable County pilot for shared regional housing services draws town interest; administration proposes continuation by intermunicipal agreement

Joe Pacheco, Barnstable County human services director, and Rena Hammond, home program manager for Barnstable County, summarized the county’s two-year pilot shared regional housing services program on April 14 and said towns have expressed interest in continuing the service.

Rena Hammond described the pilot’s origins in a Home Consortium advisory council request and said the program used ARPA funds to finance a two-year pilot, working with the Cape Cod Commission and a consultant, Barrett Planning Group. She said the pilot produced a database of deed-restricted properties across towns, biweekly drop-in sessions for town staff, and templates and guidance for monitoring and enforcement of affordable and deed-restricted housing.

Hammond said the database fills an information gap: "Getting a list of all of the deed restricted properties in each town ... is an enormous feat," she said, and described it as a work in progress that the program will continue to maintain.

The pilot offered a tiered structure for continuation: a base fee, an extended base fee and a separate monitoring fee to cover the labor-intensive tracking of units. Barrett Planning Group ran drop-in clinics that averaged about a dozen participants, Hammond said.

County Administrator Dutton and other county staff said early feedback from towns has been positive and that the county is likely the appropriate place to continue hosting the program. Dutton said his intent would be to convene a broad cross section of housing advocates, town planners and municipal representatives so recommendations to the commissioners and assembly have broader support.

On financing and staffing, Dutton said the county does not plan to absorb the program fully with existing human services staffing without new resources. He said the county expects to continue the model of contracting consultant services while the county and towns evaluate long-term options: "I would probably be looking at a potentially a 3 year, contract there ... paid for by an inter municipal agreement with the towns that have expressed interest," he said.

Committee members asked whether the shared services office could support other county housing initiatives; Dutton said the office could provide a base and feedback loop for county initiatives if towns request those services.

Ending: The committee discussed keeping the program at the county and funding it through intermunicipal agreements and consultant contracts rather than absorbing it into existing staff without additional resources. Several delegates said they supported continuation; detailed scope, pricing and the final governance model remain to be worked out with interested towns.