Westport News

Minutes

March 18, 2010 [amended and approved 3/30/2010]

Town Hall Annex

Present:

Chair Dianne Baron (DB), Catherine Williams (CW), Elaine Ostroff (EO). Brian Corey, Jr. (BC)arrived at 11:12am.

Absent:

Craig Dutra, member, Elizabeth Collins, alternate, Warren Messier, alternate

Acting Secretary: Betty Slade (BS)

Meeting was called to order at 11:04 by Chair.

1. Minutes of 2/22/2010 have already been approved. It was decided to postpone approval of minutes of 3/4/10 and 3/8/10 until the next meeting after everyone had received the drafts. BS agreed to obtain electronic versions of all the unapproved meeting minutes to date, and distribute them to the Trust members and alternates for review before the next meeting. BS also agreed to check what process would be preferred by Diane Pelland, BOS confidential secretary, for transmittal to the BOS upon approval and to carry out that function. She would also send the approved minutes to Lucy Tabit, for distribution to CPC members, and they would be put on the town website.

2. Review of Town-Owned Land. George Foster, Town Treasurer, was not able to attend. The discussion centered around the 3.7 acres of land on School Street which had been identified as a possible site for a cooperative project with Habitat for Humanity (Habitat). EO noted that the CPC had agreed to the proposed project with Habitat for Humanity and allocated $75,000 for that purpose by CPC. BC noted that he had spoken with Jim Walsh, agent for the Board of Health. BC suggested there may be two issues with that property: need for zoning variance because uplands were limited and septic issues. It was moved by BC and seconded by CW, and passed unanimously that BC should draft a formal letter to the Conservation Commission (ConCom) requesting their approval for the ConCom agent to flag the parcel in question to determine the extent of the wetlands. BC agreed he would send the draft on Friday to DB.

DB stated that she felt it imperative the first project undertaken by the Trust be one that would generate goodwill in the community and not be fraught with disagreement. EO suggested that the Trust get some feedback from Habitat. All agreed that no special treatment should be sought which would upset the neighbors or townspeople. It was agreed that this project fulfilled the goal of "infill". BC did not think it would really create a problem for the ZBA.

In the context of this discussion, the Trust, upon a motion by BC, seconded by CW, voted unanimously to make it a policy of the Trust to use alternative septic systems in their projects. BC suggested the Trust look at the alternative septic system which has been installed at Oakridge in North Westport.

BS agreed to provide the Cemetery Task Force Survey to the Trust to see their report on town-owned land. 2

3. Filing of Trust Document. A model trust document was provided to the Trust by Kathleen O'Donnell, esq. Adjustments were made to that document at a previous meeting and the document is ready to be reviewed by a lawyer. BC agreed to call Kathleen O'Donnell to ask her to review the Westport Trust document and to participate in a conference call of about 15 minutes at the next Trust meeting on April 1, 2010 if deemed necessary. BC will provide BS with a copy of the original trust document with the marked-up sections as an attachment to this meeting's minutes as Attachment 1.

4. Action Plan prepared by Jennifer Goldson. EO suggested that there is no need to present the total Action Plan as is to the Town Meeting because the warrant article will be presented by CPC and not by the Trust. However it was agreed that the Trust should present a power point along with a single-sheet explanation of the Trust project for which CPC funds would be awarded. CPC public hearings are on April 8, 2010 and the Trust should attend to be ready to answer questions concerning their project. EO will revise the Action Plan as suggested by comments she received and send it to various people including Trust members and alternates. It will be put on the website. EO emphasized the role of public education. She agreed to handle publicity for the Trust projects in the period between the CPC meeting of April 8 and Town Meeting on May 25th.

5. Trust Website. EO suggested that Greg Stone, who developed the town website, would be the person the Trust would deal with to set up the website. She noted there is "fixed information" as well as notices of meetings, minutes and documents which are considered as "additional" information. BS noted that she handles this for other groups and would be willing to work with DB to set up the Trust webpage and show her how to add documents. BS could continue this function until a permanent secretary/clerk is appointed.

6. RFP for Housing Consultant. After suggestion by CW and some discussion, it was decided that BC in the course of his conversation with Kathleen O'Donnell, would ask her to provide a model, if available, of such a RFP. DB agreed to contact a housing consultant in Sudbury. It was emphasized that there should be clear benchmarks that should be achieved, and that these be carefully set out. EO noted that such deliverables were presented to CPC and agreed upon. DB read those to the group. (See submission to CPC on March 11 for details and shown as Attachment 2.) Experience is a prerequisite - someone who would immediately be able to be effective. Discussion as to when advertisement should be made ensued with hesitancy to do anything before approval at Town Meeting (TM). The final agreement was to have everything set up before town meeting but to do the interviews immediately after TM. Citizens for Housing and Planning Association (CHAPA) resources would be utilized.

7. Noquochoke Village. The Housing Partnership Committee (HPC) in connection with the RFP to be issued for bids for the Noquochoke Village project received Town Counsel advice and further questions from Town Counsel. HPC asked the Trust to consider these questions. See Attachment 3. The Trust members did not feel that they had enough information to make such decisions. It was agreed, upon suggestion by EO, that there should be a joint meeting of the HPC and the Trust with interested developers to see what the market interest is now, how the alternatives could be worked out, and what would be the ramifications of certain decisions. The issues brought up were: time table for approval of a sale or lease, terms of a lease, price if sold, number of units required, opposition by townspeople. It was suggested that after June new appointments, there might be joint meetings of HPC and the Trust posted as such and eventually HPC would disappear. Discussion on the benefits of transferring the land to the Trust came to no conclusion. No action was taken on any of these suggestions. 3

8. The next meeting will be April 1, 2010 at 10 am at the Town Hall Annex.

9. CW moved, BC seconded and it was approved unanimously to adjourn at 12:55 pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Betty Slade, Acting Secretary

Attachment 1. Draft of Trust Town of Westport Affordable Housing Trust Fund

Attachment 2. AHT Submission to CPC, March 10, 2010

Attachment 3. Review of Inclusionary Zoning Article by Town Counsel Ilana Quirk.