Southborough trustees, CPC agree draft warrant language to transfer affordable-housing funds; chair authorized to accept nonmaterial edits

Southborough's Community Preservation Committee and the Board of Trustees of the Affordable Housing Trust on March 5 approved draft warrant language to transfer CPA funds to the trust, with leaders authorized to accept nonmaterial edits from town counsel before the article goes to Town Meeting.

The action follows months of coordination after trustees populated the Affordable Housing Trust in January. At the meeting, trustees and CPC members worked through draft article language and sought to replicate the protections of a grant agreement inside the warrant article because town counsel said he would not use a separate memorandum of agreement. "I think the cleanest way to go is take all the language that we like out of a grant agreement and simply insert it right into the warrant article," said Ben Smith, a committee member, describing the legal and political rationale for embedding terms in the warrant article.

Committee consultant Freddie Gillespie and trustees reviewed specific provisions pulled from model grant agreements recommended by the Community Preservation Coalition and the Massachusetts Housing Partnership. Trustees asked that the town, not the trust, hold deed restrictions placed on properties acquired or funded by the trust; members clarified that state law requires the town to accept long-term deed restrictions. The draft includes requirements for reporting (six-month written updates), tracking of eligible costs, and a two-year sunset for the transferred funds, measured from the date the funds are transferred.

Trustees and CPC discussed statutory constraints. Ben Smith cited the state enabling statute for municipal affordable-housing trusts, referencing Massachusetts law governing trusts that can enter into grant agreements (M.G.L. c. 44, 55C was cited during the meeting). Committee members also discussed guidance from state agencies and the town's intergovernmental regulations about returning proceeds if property purchased with CPA money is later sold; the draft sets a 60-day target for returning proceeds to the CPA fund if a funded property is sold, subject to counsel review.

On a motion to approve the draft warrant language subject to nonmaterial changes by town counsel and committee designees, the committee recorded a roll-call vote: Ben Smith (yes), Kristen (yes), Claire (abstain), Brett (yes), Grant (yes), Allen (yes) and Lisa Braccio (yes). The motion passed with six yes votes and one abstention. The article language and a revised project application will be finalized and filed before Town Meeting; the committee authorized its chair to approve nonmaterial edits arising from town-counsel review.

Committee members directed staff to update the application posted on the CPC webpage so the final warrant article may reference a specific, dated application file. Trustees asked that executed deed restrictions or a draft restriction be filed with the CPC for the committee's records after closings, and that the town attorney confirm the exact form of certification and timing required for fund transfer.

The committee said it would return to finalize any remaining placeholder items (exact account name, dates, and fiscal-year language) and to coordinate with town counsel before publishing the article for Town Meeting.