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Affordable housing trust fund draft goes to Board of Selectmen; public hearing set for Aug. 24
Summary
The committee heard that the town's draft Affordable Housing Trust Fund will be discussed by the Board of Selectmen on July 20 and, if advanced, will have a public hearing on Aug. 24 at 6 p.m.; a local developer urged faster action and said he had been incorrectly characterized in earlier reporting.
The Affordable Housing Committee reviewed the schedule for the town's proposed Affordable Housing Trust Fund and took public comment from residents and a local developer.
The committee chair said the Board of Selectmen will discuss the latest draft at their July 20 meeting (the draft may appear as item 15 on that agenda). If the Board of Selectmen moves the draft forward, the committee was told a public hearing on the trust fund ordinance is scheduled for Aug. 24 at 6:00 p.m., with the Board of Selectmen scheduled to take up the ordinance at their regular 7:00 p.m. meeting that night.
Developer Robert Lenskis (Refined Living) used his public-comment time to describe his company's affordable-for-rent and for-sale pilot projects and to urge the committee to put a plan in place to procure housing more quickly. Lenskis said he had sought a letter of support for a 28-unit workforce project at the Academy School site and disputed reporting that the committee had refused to support his proposal. "When I sat in the Board of Selectmen meeting, it was conveyed… that this committee would not stand by housing in that location, which doesn't make any sense," he said; the chair replied the committee had previously written to the board saying it did not want to pick a winner or support individual projects without sufficient information.
The committee indicated it intends to send the trust-fund draft back out to members and encouraged attendance at the Board of Selectmen meeting on July 20. There was no formal vote to change the draft at this meeting; the chair recorded that the committee had approved the minutes from its June 25 special meeting by voice vote earlier in the session.
Next steps: Committee members were asked to attend the July 20 Board of Selectmen meeting (in person or via Zoom) to hear any questions and to participate in follow-up as needed; if the board advances the draft, the public hearing and vote are scheduled for Aug. 24.
