Millis Select Board fields broad public comment on proposed land transfer for affordable housing

The Millis Select Board on March 23 held an informational public hearing on a proposal to transfer town-owned land to the Millis Housing Authority (MHA) so the authority can pursue a developer and state funding to build roughly 45 affordable housing units.

MHA Executive Director Candace Avery told the board the authority operates 83 units in town and that demand is high: “Our wait list for housing is over 9,000 people deep,” she said, adding that MHA tries to prioritize local applicants. At the meeting planning-board members and other speakers cautioned that the 9,000 figure is the centralized, regional/statewide wait list; MHA also said about 94 local applicants (including veterans) were reflected as local preferences on its list during recent leasing cycles.

The board outlined two candidate parcels: the Brun property on Village Street (approximately 23.1 acres, with roughly 6.7 acres proposed for transfer) and Cassidy Farm on Exchange Street (a larger 41-acre parcel with an upland square identified for the proposed site). Town staff and consultants presented slides showing that Brun is bisected by a wet area and that the nearest sewer for that site is across the Medway line, increasing potential mitigation and connection costs. Cassidy was described as having an upland portion closer to existing sewer at Island/Exchange but with high groundwater and intermittent sidewalks that would require extension for pedestrian access.

Neighbors and abutters gave mixed testimony. Several longtime public-housing tenants said local affordable units had allowed them to remain in town and urged the board to preserve such opportunities. “It’s been a great experience and I think it’s an important need for the town,” one resident said.

Others raised technical and procedural concerns. Jim McKay, speaking from public-works experience, cautioned that the Timberline lift station has had deferred maintenance and said a 40–48-unit development could “be a little overload for the station,” asking who would pay for required upgrades. Multiple abutters near Cassidy emphasized perennial wet conditions and reported past oil contamination and persistent sump-pump use; they urged the board to consider downtown parcels and to avoid rushing a transfer. Several speakers asked for clearer notice to immediate abutters and requested a firmer explanation of next steps and what contractual protections the town would maintain if it transferred land.

Board members and staff repeatedly clarified the sequence that would follow any property designation: the housing authority would issue an RFP to attract developers who would perform engineering, traffic, hydrology and wetlands work; projects would then proceed through planning, conservation and zoning review with public hearings. Staff said the RFP and developer studies cannot be prepared until a parcel is designated by the town and that MHA needs a site to trigger permitting and funding applications. Town staff and MHA representatives also said developer and state funding — not the town operating budget — would pay construction costs, and that the town would retain standard oversight through the permitting and review process.

Chair Erin Underh Hill closed the public-comment portion by noting the board will continue deliberations at its April 6 meeting and that, if the select board places a land-transfer article on the warrant, town meeting will consider it on May 4, 2026. The hearing was informational; no land-transfer decision was made that night.

Next procedural steps identified by staff: further internal review and legal drafting for any warrant article; additional neighborhood outreach; and, if the parcel is designated, issuance of an RFP and developer-led engineering studies that the public and town boards will review during the permitting process.