Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Committee Governance topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Richmond housing committee sets recruitment push, a draft housing-fund plan and public outreach tasks
Summary
The committee agreed to pursue recruitment via Front Porch Forum, explore a town-managed housing trust fund (legal setup needed), create template letters of support for the town manager, and combine Nov/Dec meetings to track implementation of the strategic housing plan.
At its Oct. 28 meeting the Richmond Housing Committee mapped near-term organizational and funding tasks to help implement its strategic housing plan.
Members agreed to place a targeted Front Porch Forum recruitment message in November listing specific volunteer roles (water/sewer experts, lawyers, master-plan designers) and to seek people who could own discrete work packages rather than rely on a single new chair. One member, who will step down in December, encouraged transitioning leadership and solicited volunteers.
On funding, the committee discussed two tracks: low-effort actions and longer-term institution-building. Low-effort steps include drafting a template letter of support that the town manager could use for affordable-housing grant or loan applications. Longer-term work would explore creating a town housing trust fund; members noted that legal counsel will be needed to set up governance, spending rules and, if desired, tax-deductible donation mechanisms. ‘‘Setting it up is different than funding it,’’ a member said.
Members also agreed a combined November–December meeting on Dec. 9 will serve as a working session to rank actions, assign leads, and track progress. They will defer major funding decisions to future budget cycles and indicated that an unfunded or minimally funded trust could be established administratively first, with funding requests in the next budget season.
The committee will continue to coordinate with the planning commission and with outside partners such as Champlain Housing Trust and CCRPC on grant opportunities and scoping studies. Members emphasized that community engagement should be tied to specific projects — gateway, Far Farm, Cochran Road — so outreach supports concrete proposals rather than general education.
