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Select Board appoints Ellen Maria to Southborough Affordable Housing Trust; members discuss CPC funds and planning
Summary
The Select Board appointed Ellen Maria to the newly reconstituted Affordable Housing Trust and discussed using the town’s Community Preservation Act funds and a planning process to guide the trust’s investments.
The Select Board voted unanimously to appoint Ellen Maria to the Southborough Affordable Housing Trust.
Ellen Maria introduced herself at the meeting as research manager at the Massachusetts Housing Partnership’s Center for Housing Data. “I work at the Massachusetts Housing Partnership, or MHP. I’m the research manager there, at their Center For Housing Data,” she said, explaining her professional background in housing policy and research.
During the discussion prior to the vote, members of the Select Board and Community Preservation Committee (CPC) representatives raised questions about the trust’s early priorities and the need for a planning process. Several speakers urged that the trust develop a strategic plan defining goals, allowable project types and how it will use its existing funds. Maria said she favored a planning process so trustees could “agree on what that impact should look like” and make CPC applications consistent with a shared strategy.
Board members and CPC members noted the affordable housing portion of the CPA fund currently holds a significant balance because relatively few eligible projects have applied in recent years. The Select Board discussed the legal-by-law mechanics of CPC representation: the CPC bylaw allows the Select Board to designate a replacement for a dissolved committee; if the Affordable Housing Trust becomes the appointed replacement it will have a seat on CPC and must decide whether trustees will also serve as CPC at-large members or appoint a designated representative.
The board also voted to replace the former SHOPC seat on the CPC with the Affordable Housing Trust. The Select Board said the trust — once formed and if appointed to CPC — should proceed with a planning process before submitting major CPC funding applications to ensure alignment between strategy and requests.
Outcome: Ellen Maria was appointed to the Affordable Housing Trust by unanimous vote; the Select Board also voted to designate the Affordable Housing Trust as the CPC representative replacing SHOPC. The board did not adopt a final trust strategy at the meeting and directed trustees to undertake a planning process.
