Westport News

 

AFFORDABLE HOUSING TRUST

MINUTES OF MEETING: APPROVED 3/4/2010

FEBRUARY 25, 2010 TOWN HALL ANNEX, 1ST FLOOR

Call to Order

Catherine Williams, Vice Chair, called the meeting to order at 11:15 a.m.

Those present were Brian Corey, Jr., and Craig Dutra. Elaine Ostroff joined the meeting at 11:30 a.m. and hooked-up a telephone connection with Dianne Baron.

Alternates Liz Collins and Warren Messier were absent.

Minutes of February 22, 2010 Meeting

Catherine made a motion to correct the Minutes of February 22, 2010 Meeting by replacing "to delete the first sentence in the Introductions", with "Each trustee, the two alternates and guest gave information on their background as well as current projects relating to their involvement in Westport and housing issues." In addition, the second paragraph under "Introductions" from the February 18th meeting should be completely removed.

The motion was seconded and the vote to approve was unanimous.

By-Law Review

Craig and Brian suggested that the broadest interpretation of the state statute, i.e. minimum of 5 and maximum of 9 trustees, should be observed. We need to propose an amendment to the By-law at the Town Meeting to make this happen.

Elaine suggested that the numbering of the articles should be changed from first, second, third, etc. to Roman Numerals I, II, III, etc.

Trust Document

Article II:

Brian wished to add, "Endemic to the Trust shall be the obligation of the Trust to meet once a year with the Board of Selectmen.

Article III:

There was considerable discussion about the issues to bring before the Town Meeting. The change from 5 to 9 Trustees has already been proposed by the Board of Selectman.

Elaine suggested changing the name of the Trust to eliminate the word "Fund". It was decided to maintain the original name. 2

Diane questioned whether the Trustees should attempt to change the number of trustees at this Town Meeting. It was decided to concentrate on raising the number of trustees at the upcoming meeting and to do the name change later.

Brian moved to request an Amendment to the By-law allowing a minimum of 5 and a maximum of 9 Trustees. Craig seconded the motion. The vote to approve the motion was unanimous.

Two Trustees will serve until 2010 and three will serve until 2011.

Article IV:

Brian said that there should be a minimum of four meetings per year. The Trust has the power to call meetings. The second sentence of this article should read "A written notice stating the place, day, hour, and agenda of each meeting of the Trust shall be posted at the Town Hall within a timeframe consistent with the Open Meeting Law.

Catherine suggested that the Trust move their meetings to the Town Hall Annex, 1st floor. The Committee agreed.

Catherine said that she wanted to keep the meeting scheduled for March 4th since she had invited Steven Ozug to speak to the Trustees about Habitat for Humanity. Craig mentioned that we might also explore the Buzzards Bay Habitat Group.

Adjournment

Brian moved to adjourn the meeting at 12:40 p.m. Craig seconded the motion. The vote to approve the motion was unanimous.

Respectfully submitted,

Gretchen S. Whipple