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Council advances $5,000 contract to help manage 12 deed‑restricted homes
Summary
The Weimoth Town Council heard a public hearing and voted to appropriate $5,000 for a one‑year consultant to manage monitoring, lottery administration and resale rules for 12 affordable homeownership units created in the late 1990s.
The Weimoth Town Council on Monday approved using $5,000 in Community Preservation Act funds to hire a housing consultant for one year to oversee 12 deed‑restricted affordable homeownership units built around 1997.
Director of Planning Bob Lango told the council the homes were created with federal community development block grant funds and carry deed restrictions that require resale to households earning no more than 80% of the area median income. He said homeowners sometimes do not understand resale limits or monitoring obligations and the proposed consultant would help the town run annual compliance notices, supervise lotteries and screen prospective buyers.
Lango cited a recent foreclosure on 21 Manfield Street as an example of why oversight is needed: the bank initially listed the property without recognizing the restriction, and the town intervened to ensure the sale complied with the affordability covenant. The consultant contract is intended as a one‑time engagement; town housing staff would “shadow” the consultant so municipal staff could run the program after the year ends, Lango said.
Housing Coordinator Calvin Williams told councilors the consultant firm has experience with local affordable‑housing restrictions and would manage wait lists and lotteries. The council held a public hearing on the measure; no members of the public opposed the request and some praised the proposal as timely given homeowner turnover since 1997.
On the committee report, Vice President Burger said the Budget Management Committee voted to recommend favorable action and moved the appropriation from the housing community fund balance account (account 4906-3210006). The full council seconded the motion and the motion passed on the record. The committee memo listed the housing fund balance as $956,277.89 at the time of submittal.
The appropriation funds a one‑year contract only; the measure does not change the deed restrictions on the properties. The council did not record a roll‑call tally for the appropriation in the meeting transcript.
