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2/29/2024 AC Minutes <br />6 <br />Article 19 Establish, Amend, Dissolve and Appropriate To and From Specified Stabilization <br />Funds <br />Ms. Kosnoff stated that the only action under Article 19 Stabilization Funds would be to appropri- <br />ate $4,036,373 into the Capital Stabilization Fund. The Committee voted 8-0 to recommend ap- <br />proval of Article 19. <br />Article 33 Authorize the Select Board to Seek Affordable Housing <br />Mr. Bartenstein proposed that the Select Board modify their motion on Article 33 to include a time <br />limit on the requested authorization such that it would expire at the end of 2025. A future town <br />meeting could extend the time limit. He further proposed that the motion also include a non-binding <br />resolution that outlines the expectations for any development that results from this authorization. <br />Mr. Bartenstein suggested that the Committee’s report on this article should identify general catego- <br />ries such as school enrollment, police and fire services, and the like. Mr. Bartenstein stated that he is <br />not opposed to the project, but he objects to giving the Select Board “carte blanche”. <br />Mr. Parker noted that Mark Sandeen was at the previous meeting of the Committee where he stated <br />that the Select Board would be modifying their motion to specify an all-affordable development. <br />Mr. Sandeen had hoped to have the Select Board engage in a public discussion on any guidance that <br />should be included in the RFP, but it was unclear when such a discussion would occur. <br />Mr. Osborne stated that he discussed the article with housing advocates and Select Board members, <br />and that his understanding was that any time limit would dissuade developers from responding to <br />the RFP. He believes 40B developers already face major difficulties getting through the permitting <br />process, and they would not respond to a process that requires them to make major financial com- <br />mitments on a deadline. <br />Mr. Osborne noted that the actual costs to the Town had been covered in previous discussions, and <br />that the School Enrollment Working Group established reasonable expectations of at most one new <br />student per housing unit, distributed across multiple grade levels. <br />Mr. Bartenstein disagreed that the Committee has enough information to a detailed evaluation. Mr. <br />Padaki supported Mr. Bartenstein’s view that he would like to see a better definition of the project. <br />Mr. Parker stated that he was having difficulty deciding how to report on this request to town meet- <br />ing. He feels strongly that we do, in fact, have enough information about the kind of development <br />that would result, and the analysis from the School Enrollment Working Group (EWG) derived its <br />results in response to previous failed enrollment predictions from large developments. <br />Mr. Bartenstein disagreed with Mr. Parker’s assertions and noted that the enrollment projections for <br />Avalon Bay had significantly underestimated the enrollment impact. <br />Mr. Parker suggested that the report should cover some of the points raised during the committee’s <br />discussions, but without a formal vote. Mr. Padaki suggested that the report might be limited to a <br />summary of information that the Committee needs before it can make a recommendation. <br />Mr. Parker commented that concerns regarding school enrollment don’t come up when developers <br />build new market-rate units “by right”. Mr. Bartenstein replied that those homeowners would be <br />paying taxes, implying that an all-affordable development would not. Mr. Parker stated that the ex- <br />pectation was that the all-affordable development would make regular property tax payments, or <br />payments in lieu of taxes. Mr. Bartenstein questioned that assumption. <br />Mr. Levine suggested that a negative recommendation would send a message to the Select Board <br />that they need to provide more information to the Committee and to town meeting. He suggested