Westport News

TOWN OF WESTPORT

AFFORDABLE HOUSING SPECIALIST

The Town of Westport, acting through its Affordable Housing Trustees of the newly created Westport Affordable Housing Trust Fund, seeks proposals from professional affordable housing specialists for a contract position to establish programs, budgets and documents to support the production and preservation of affordable housing in Westport, MA. Proposals will be accepted until the position is filled: send to the Office of the Town Administrator, Town of Westport, 816 Main Road, Westport, MA 02790.

The proposer’s name and address must also appear on the outside of both submissions envelope/packages. Standard unbound 81/2"by 11" format is suggested. Proposals must contain the name and proper address of the proposing firm and must be signed by a responsible member of the firm. Proposals that are not complete, contain omissions, erasures, alterations, additions, or contain irregularities of any kind, may be rejected. THERE MUST BE NO MENTION OF THE APPLICANT’S FEE IN THE TECHNICAL PROPOSAL. ANY MENTION OF THE FEE WILL SUBJECT THE PROPOSAL TO REJECTION.

The Town has determined that this solicitation is subject to the provisions of the Uniform Procurement Act, Massachusetts General Laws, C. 30B, Section 6. Therefore, the applicable provisions of MGL, c. 30B are hereby incorporated by reference in this Request.

The Town reserves the right to reject any or all proposals, and to waive any informality contained therein, as well as any part of any or all proposals, to negotiate any and all terms and to award the contract as decided to be in the best interest of the Town.

Questions regarding this Request for Proposal should be directed to:

Dianne M. Baron, Chair Westport Affordable Housing Board of Trustees bardianne@gmail.com 2

Westport, located on the Massachusetts South Coast, lies between the cities of Fall River and New Bedford. It is also bordered by Little Compton and Tiverton, Rhode Island to the west and by Dartmouth, MA to the east. Westport is approximately sixty miles south of Boston and thirty miles southeast of Providence, RI. The primary access to Westport is from Interstate Rt. 195 that parallels Westport’s historic Rt. 6, connecting Fall River and New Bedford. Route 88 is the major north-south roadway that provides access to coastal Westport and the Horse neck Beach State Reservation from the Interstate Highway. Westport’s beaches, rural character, Westport Point historic district, open space, and its scenic rivers continue to make it an important tourist and summer vacation destination. Originally a major farming and fishing community, much of Westport continues to reflect the Town’s rural heritage despite a significant housing development surge in the 1970’s. It was designated by the state legislature as The Coastal Agricultural Resource Community of New England in recognition of Westport’s traditional dairy and produce farming as well as more recent commercial ventures including a vineyard, brewery, cheese-making, and hydroponics. Westport’s 64 square miles is an environmentally sensitive area with an extensive network of waterways and wetlands. Westport’s two major rivers and its harbor continue to support commercial fishing and provide for recreation. The current population of approximately 15,000 year round residents is mindful of the fact that the abundant and valuable natural resource of the community also poses significant challenges for further economic and commercial development.

The Town is working to expand the supply of affordable housing in our community. Presently, the Town’s Subsidized Housing Inventory (SHI) percentage is only 4.04% (224 dwelling units). Of Westport’s 224 units, 188 are rental units. The rental units include the Westport Housing Authority’s 48 units at Greenwood Terrace for elderly and disabled households; 48 units at Westport Village Apartments, an over 65 community; and 72 units at Edgewater Apartments on Sanford Road. The rental units also include 20 units in Department of Developmental Services group homes. There are also 14 ownership units planned at town owned Noquochoke Village (54 total units) though the town is considering changes to that plan that could include rental units. With the pending 2010 census expected to confirm Westport’s residential growth over the last decade, Westport’s actual affordable housing percentage is expected to drop below 4%. In the absence of any proactive initiatives, Westport will lose ground. However, a number of positive steps have been taken in the last year to establish a stronger base from which to launch some affordable housing activity in Westport. These include:

1. Town Meeting approval in May 2009 establishing the Westport Affordable Housing Trust Fund. In February, 2010, five Trust Fund members and two alternates were appointed by the Westport Board of Selectmen. 3

2. Town Meeting approval in June 2010 to amend the Westport Affordable Housing Trust Fund by increasing the number of Trust Fund members to a minimum of seven members and no greater than nine.

3. Town Meeting approval in June 2010 to amend Article 13 of the Westport Zoning by-laws regarding affordable housing/inclusionary zoning provisions. The intent is to encourage the development of more affordable units by providing incentives and alternatives for developers, as well as to ease the burden of small developers including families who are developing smaller properties and where lots may be sold without any building. One of the alternatives includes cash contributions to the Affordable Housing Trust in lieu of providing an affordable unit. Donations of land may also be made to the Affordable Housing Trust. In addition, the amendment clarifies the process for getting a building permit. Since the bylaw was passed in 2005, no Inclusionary Housing has been built.

4. The Town’s Conservation Preservation Committee (CPC) has allocated all of its reserve funds for FY 11 to the category of Affordable Housing.

The Town of Westport’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund (The Trust) seeks the assistance of an experienced affordable housing specialist to establish programs, budgets and documents to support the production and preservation of affordable housing in Westport, MA.

The Trust intends to develop a variety of programs to be funded by the Trust assets. These include Community Preservation Act Funds and the Town’s Inclusionary Housing By law, approved June 2010, that will include payments in lieu of construction of affordable units and land donation options as well as and tax title properties and any surplus town-owned land for potential development of housing or as a means to generate revenue through property sale. The Trust’s priorities are more fully developed in the Action Plan but include construction of new affordable housing units and/or renovation of existing structures on infill properties, land acquisition, support of ongoing town efforts to develop affordable housing at Noquochoke Village, establishment of a homebuyer assistance program that provides mortgage assistance subsidies, establishment of a small grants program to provide funds for low-income homeowners to make small repairs and improvements, establishment of an elderly grant program to enable elderly to stay in their homes.

We invite applicants to submit a scope of work that is responsive to our priorities as detailed in the Action Plan approved by the Trust on May 20, 2010. The Scope of work should be organized around deliverables that can be accomplished within the budget of time and money. The initial contract for the Affordable Housing Specialist will be for work to be completed by June 30, 2011. The amount of funding for this first phase of work is 4

$32,500 for 50 hours at $65 an hour. Upon review, the contract will be renegotiated for the FY 12 at $48,750 at $65 an hour.

Final products sought from the affordable housing consultant, under supervision of the Trust include but are not limited to:

• Establishment of a Housing Assistance Office at Westport Town Hall, where space has already been obtained for such use, which would provide public outreach and education and technical assistance for our housing initiatives. A critical function of the housing specialist would be to connect local residents to various housing assistance programs—federal, state, local and private. The office would be open one day per week for limited hours and staffed primarily by the Housing Specialist.

• Upon acquisition of developable property by Trustees for FY11 small development initiative, complete predevelopment work, issue and award RFP, contract with developer to begin construction by spring 2011.

• Produce an action plan for FY12 and FY13, including budget and capitalization strategy, that includes program descriptions and procedural guidelines and includes specific procedures and strategies to inventory and preserve existing units as well as produce new units.

• Produce an action plan for Noquochoke Village.

Bachelor’s Degree plus three years in housing plan implementation, planning, development or housing policy.

Successful implementation/adoption of affordable housing plans, bylaws, applications and operating procedures as described above.

Ability to produce the action plan for FY 12, and FY13 by February 15, 2011

We seek an affordable housing specialist who can produce the desired end products through a highly interactive and consensus building process. The selected consultant will have experience both in planning and implementation of municipal affordable housing programs in Massachusetts. Familiarity and direct experience with trusts is advantageous. 5

The proposals will be evaluated by a Review Team comprising members of the Trust; at least one member of the review team shall be a member of the Community Preservation Committee and the one member from the Board of Selectmen. Interviews will be conducted as appropriate. The Town will rank each criterion under experience as follows:

1. Highly advantageous: the applicant has had experience in two or more communities.

2. Advantageous: the applicant has had successful experience in one community.

3. Not advantageous: the applicant has not had successful experience in any communities.

All proposals shall be judged against the comparative evaluation criteria detailed below:

 Developing municipal housing plans, affordable housing and/or trust fund programs in suburban areas in a least two municipalities;

 Ability to build community consensus around housing issues; and,

 Demonstrable understanding of local geography, politics and regulatory framework for affordable housing in Massachusetts.

 The applicant’s responsiveness to the Priorities in the RFP and the Action Plan

 The applicant’s ability to meet the objectives of the proposed scope of work

 The quality of the applicant’s written communication skills

 The applicant’s responsiveness to the Town of Westport

3. Years of Experience. The Town will review the number of years the applicant or key members of the applicant’s team have in the appropriate fields of discipline required for the success of the project. 6

4. Quality of References. Reference checks will be performed to evaluate the special skills, relevant expertise, the quality of past performance in comparable projects, and the ability to perform assigned tasks in a timely and accurate manner of the prospective applicant, including all subcontractors, principals, and the project manager.