2022-04-27-AHTSC-min - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

Ms. Roy asked about the source of funding for the AHT. Mr.Johnson said that the Trustees were collaborating with Historic Preservation and Open Space,to secure CPA funding through Town Meeting. He believes they are going for 1%CPA. The relations between the Trust and other municipal entities have been strained at times.A planner used to coordinate with Metro West Home Consortium.That has created a void;the Trust is looking into hiring their own support in addition to basic bookkeeping and admin support,though it is hard to hire now for a part time position. Mr.Johnson added that the Town allocated an annual contribution of$80,000 to the trust every year over the last 10 years. Ms. Roy asked about the Trust's priorities in terms of who will be served through the AHT. Mr. Johnson said that the Trust had a strategic planning session and collaborated with the Select Board and Planning Board and are in the middle of arriving at a concrete plan with priorities. Jennifer Goldson,who authored the MHP handbook on Affordable Housing Trust was the consultant hired. She pulled together the Select Board and the Planning Board.That resulted in a commitment to affordable housing over the next 5 years. Mr.Johnson said that, in future, the AHT in Natick will not develop properties on their own; he based this on a previous duplex development AHT had done on their own in collaboration with Family Promise, which involved a lot of work for the volunteer trust members.They used labor for Keith Tech,their local school. And that in future,their plan is to make bigger projects and making bigger impact with the volunteer efforts. Mr.Johnson said that AHT in Natick has to work on ways to collaborate, communicate, and build consensus with the Select Board. Mr.Johnson shared details about the Veteran's Housing project initiative a couple years ago.The idea came from a citizen.The Trust devoted a lot of activity to the project,which was a subject for the Federal Reserve graduate students' competition. Article 97 (open space/conservation) issues stopped it from going forward. They never got the Parks and Recreation people engaged. He mentioned about the upcoming proposal for a veteran's housing on a portion of the land owned by Math Works,the planning board dedicated it to open space, but they are asking for a portion of it. Ms. Roy asked about who constituted the members of the AHT. Mr.Johnson said that it consists of a legal professional, a planner, historically a banker, a real estate professional, a member who is a resident of an affordable housing,the director of a non-profit development corporation, an architect, an accountant, and also has an associate member from CHAPA. Mr.Johnson said the AHT in Natick is trying to establish the ability to have more than nine members in the AHT. They engaged legal counsel to avoid having to go to the town counsel, who wasn't responsive in a timely fashion. Mr.Johnson shared a slide showing the timeline of the initiatives of Natick's Affordable Housing Trust developed by the strategic planning exercise.The initiatives were grouped under four categories namely Policy Initiatives, Program, Preliminary and Production. 2