HomeMy WebLinkAbout2010-10-04-LEARY-min Meeting Notes
Ad hoc Leary Property Community Housing Task Force
October 4, 2010, 9.00 a.m.
Room 207, Town Office Building
Present: Bob Bicknell, George Burnell, Marilyn Fenollosa, Aaron Henry, Wendy Manz,
Deb Mauger, Maryann McCall-Taylor, Lester Savage, and Betsey Weiss,
Garry Rhodes, Ross Speer
Absent: Bill Hays, Stephen Keane
Housekeeping
■ Minutes of September 13, 2010 approved
Site Visit
Marilyn Fenollosa distributed emails from Hannon and Andrade who toured the
property and have worked with affordable housing in historic structures. She felt their
conclusion was that preservation is doable with a small unit as part of a larger
development.
Ross Speer, an architect who has volunteered his services, said the house has an
odd layout as to functionality and it is a gut rehab kind of project. If the Secretary of
Interior standards are applied they cover both inside and out, whereas the state only
deals with the exterior He felt 4 to 6 units seem reasonable.
Aaron Henry felt the other units could not subsidize the cost of historic
preservation and CPA fund should be sought to cover those costs.
Les Savage asked what had happened to the$10,000 voted by Town Meeting for
historic preservation. Maryann McCall-Taylor explained that the$10,000 was
mentioned in the description,but not the motion as voted,but also that it had gone to
the structural study done by Salemi Architects.
Deb Mauger asked if LexHAB would manage the unit if it is rehabbed, and is the
$250 to$300 per square foot the figure for the entire program or that unit? Les said that
LexHAB 's units are costing about$150 a square foot using the Minuteman Tech
workers. Ross Speer said cost runs about$170 a square foot with a 20-unit development
and the price goes up as the project gets smaller
George Burnell raised the issue of whether prevailing wage regulations applied.
Aaron said that was with federal money and Davis/Bacon applies at 11 units. Work
might be governed by procurement under 30B In general, affordable housing trusts are
subject to 30B but LexHAB predates that enabling legislation.
Bob Becknell said the units could be managed by LexHAB or the Housing
Authority and rental was the way to go
Betsey Weiss said that maybe Town meeting would view the historic unit as
affordable but not require it to be on the subsidized housing inventory (SHI)but the
remainder of the units would be on the SHI.
Funding for the planning process was discussed. CPA funds should be applied
for,but would not be available until late spring of 2001 HOME funds should not be
committed at this time,but could be used later in the development.
Building Commissioner
The Building Commissioner Garry Rhodes reported on his impressions from the
site visit. The house is not habitable today but what is existing today can remain unless
it is dangerous. For example the stairs might no meet current code but could be left.
The unlined chimneys could not be used as that is too dangerous. He felt that for the
unit to be habitable it would require a heating system, safe wiring, plumbing for a bath
and a kitchen, structural issues, particularly the center beam need to be addressed and
they might have to connect to the town sewer When asked if someone could "camp
out"in the kitchen,he said that while he thought his list was the minimum required, it
might be possible to phase some of the project, for example do the wiring upstairs at a
later date. Garry noted that Occupancy Permits are for end structures,not for existing
He is there to help people live in a safe house.
There were questions about accessibility If the development exceeds 5 units, one
must be accessible. If federal funds are used any number beyond 3 must include an
accessible unit. The state requirements kick in at 20 units. Fair housing laws require the
provision of an accessible unit if one is needed. George Burnell had heard that Housing
Authority units were kept empty as they couldn't find a handicapped person to occupy
the unit.
Existing Structure
Several options were discussed-keep the farmhouse as a separate historic
preservation project, keep the farmhouse and minimize costs by creating a curatorship,
keep the farmhouse and do it as affordable with additional units, or do affordable
without the farm house. The consensus was that the curatorship program would be
difficult to pursue with affordable housing standards,but that the last two options
should be explored. In addition the committee will need information on what triggers
there are, over instance when does AD come in. Ross said he could put together a few
sketches to see what is possible. Aaron urged them to start with what they wanted as an
overall program, and then see if the farmhouse fits into that program.
On a motion duly made and seconded, the committee voted 5-0, that 1) the
committee is willing to explore all options to see if the farmhouse can be preserved, 2)
Ross Speer be asked to do preliminary concept sketches, and 3)funds for study and
design up to the level of construction documents, as well as money for stabilization of
the structure,be sought from the CPC.
The meeting was adjourned at 10.50
Action items
■ Concept Plans-Ross Speer
■ Contact Metro West Collaborative Development, Inc about services the\ could provide
■ Get a cops of the CPC town project form
Next meeting: Wednesday, October 13 at 8 30 a.m., Room 207 Town Office Building
Documents
■ Letter from James Igoe, Preservation Massachusetts, 9/20/10
■ Email from Marcia Hannon, Cascap, 10/1/10
■ Email from Americo Andrade, 10/2/10