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<br />3.Homeownership Subsidy Plans – <br />Ms. Manz updated the Committee on a <br />recent meeting of the Housing Partnership. She said the Partnership is <br />working to define a program where homebuyers who cannot make down <br />payments on mortgages or pay closing costs can apply for subsidies from the <br />Housing Partnership and the Town. The Housing Partnership is considering <br />applying for CPA funding. She noted that certain otherwise eligible buyers <br />have been unable to buy affordable homes in Lexington, since State and <br />Federal subsidies were not currently available for particular units. She said <br />there had not been much support for these additional subsidies from the Board <br />of Selectmen. <br /> <br />Mr. Kanter expressed his opinion that funding requests for such a subsidy <br />program should first have Town approval before applications are made to the <br />CPC. Ms. Fenollosa inquired about the cost of individual subsidies, to which <br />Ms. Manz replied they were very modest – in the range of $6,000. Ms. <br />Fenollosa suggested that the developers involved might wish to take a second <br />mortgage to cover such costs. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />4.Land Acquisition Projects, Timelines and Deadlines <br /> – Mr. Wolk spoke to <br />this item on the agenda at the request of the Chair. He explained that the <br />negotiation timeline for a parcel of land was difficult to predict. He estimated <br />that approximately two months is needed to request and receive the two <br />appraisals which will probably become standard practice in future <br />acquisitions. The Committee had a lengthy discussion of the benefits of a time <br />deadline for the receipt of appraisals. Ms. Weiss stated her observation of the <br />past two years, reminding the Committee that the Busa appraisal was received <br />th <br />late afternoon on May 5 2009, and that night the CPC met to vote on the <br />Busa project which was the night before Town Meeting voted on the project <br />th <br />at a Special Town Meeting on May 6. The Cotton Farm appraisal was <br />received mid-March, 2010, and the CPC’s request for a second appraisal was <br />th <br />received April 8, 2010, so the CPC voted on the Cotton Farm on April 26, <br />th <br />and Town Meeting voted two days later on April 28. In both cases, she said <br />the CPC did not have adequate time for proper review of the projects. Ms. <br />st <br />Weiss suggested the date of February 1 as a reasonable deadline for the <br />receipt of all final appraisals. The Committee discussed exceptions to this <br />deadline, and agreed that in extraordinary cases, exceptions would have to be <br />st <br />made. Mr. Adler moved to have the CPC adopt a February 1 deadline for the <br />receipt of all final appraisals. The motion passed 5-3-1, (Mr. McSweeney had <br />previously left the meeting at 3:00 pm.) A letter will be sent to the <br />Conservation Commission, the Board of Selectmen, and the other relevant <br />Boards and Committees to notify them of this new CPC policy. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />5.Needs Assessment Report Update <br /> – Ms. Manz spoke to this item, stating <br />that she and Ms. Fenollosa had done an initial editing of the report, <br /> 2 <br /> <br />