that's why I don't see any attendees oh there Laur very do I got a thing that said there's a couple folks in the waiting room Laura and uh Tanisha both from Valley yeah two people from Valley welcome two of you we will get to you in a while uh then I'm going to call the meeting to order at whatever time it is 7:01 uh we do have a quorum and hopefully our other two members will come in a little while so let us first review the June minutes Greg will be our notetaker again for this meeting and um does anyone have thoughts or concerns or anything welcome Grover we are just on to try to review the minutes the very beginning um so does anyone have any to any corrections or concerns or anything about the minutes from June that were in the packet I see a lot of people sh no so are we good with accepting the minutes as they are presented I would settle for some thumbs or some head shakes or anything you want to do fantastic okay we have accepted the minutes and I think that the next thing that we want to do as you may all notice there is a new person here Alex Cox he is our newest member and we are very grateful and happy to have him here and uh welcome you Alex and if you would like to say a few words about your interest involvement whatever please do please share whatever you'd like absolutely thank you so my name is Alex I use heem pronouns um I'm newer to the valley I I've lived here for about a year I'm a grad student at UMass uh I study Regional planning and public policy in administration with background in architecture and planning and a focus on affordable housing so I am super excited to be here and grateful to be part of this group and yeah I think that's that's all I got thank you great welcome we're glad to have you here um I see the next thing I have on here is a trust Finance report which we have although we don't have and here is Rob yay Rob welcome we now have all of our members we are about to look at the finance report unless we I don't know if we have any dramatic questions we have to wait for Nate who Greg said he will join 7:30ish or something is that right so 730 um the main reason I mean we want to we try to look at this quarterly anyway but the main thing I wanted to be able to to do was see where we are standing financially since we are about to get a request for additional funding it seems like we might want to know where we are at the moment um so this is the financial report for now um and I think that to me the significant number is a kind of bottom place there where it says that are development funds we have $564,000 $564,000 but this doesn't include the 375 375,000 that we have promised to uh Valley already for the project they're coming back about uh in a little bit and it also doesn't include the $300,000 that the CPA has promised us that we should get I think sometime soon so that kind of means that we are down roughly $75,000 from what this says we owe 375 will get 300 so that leaves us as Nate said here at about 489 is what we have this doesn't count that uh two two other things we expect to get a million oneish uh for the inl payment from the project up behind Hastings I don't know when that happens but um and the fact that we're going to get that I think one of the things that we will need to consider is what do we do about going to the CPA how do we ask them again for the money that we know we need in light of the fact that we have more money coming to us sometime shortly than ever I believe we have had before in one Fel we uh but if does anybody have any other questions or thoughts about this report if there's anything very detailed we'll probably have to wait for Nate but Erica sorry had up on my mute button um yeah I think it would be important to know when we could actually expect the 1.2 in hand because that could take a while and we do have an interest in making sure we have projects in the pipeline or initiatives in the pipeline so I think that's really important um as well as I believe that we were hoping it was unrestricted um but we still don't know that so I think those are questions that I hope Nate can answer for us um the other question I have is um we have uh jointly funded uh Greg's position Greg put your fingers in your ears um doesn't look like a lot of money has been uh appropriated for that uh I just see 3,685 and we've had the absolute uh benefit of having him work with us for a while now so I wonder if that's just if that's correct or not so that's another question and Paul has his hand up so I'm GNA put my hand down and be quiet Paul yeah I don't have answers to those questions maybe Greg does but one of the things I would wanted to talk about was um or on this is that it seems like we should have the conversation about how we want to allocate funds for the coming year or whatever what is our budget what's our plan versus I mean I find I found it challenging to have these sort of periodic requests for funds and then you know all needy and but I don't know it's hard to make that decision in a vacuum and we don't know what's coming down the road um we know we have other projects in the pipeline and um I think it would be a helpful discussion and talk with the planning department about what else do they see coming in what what do we from our collective intelligence what do what else do we see coming in so I think maybe in some future agenda item you could add that a good idea um algra um two things and Greg can correct me if I'm wrong but I believe that the word about the funds from the payment in L of was it was until the certificate of occupancy went through for the units so that could be a while um and then I guess my my kind of to piggyback off what Paul just said do we end anticipate that there would be any requests upcoming on the beler toown road so East whatever it's called East Street School development um since they are you know that's another project that's in the works at this point because we would have a smaller pot if we allocated These funds so good questions good questions to which I don't think we know we haven't heard anything from wayfinders so far uh and I don't know exactly where they are in their process I presume that they have also been impacted by increasing um construction costs and the other thing is that we are trying to get through our own strategic planning or strategic our planning process which hopefully will give us some idea what it is that we're trying to do over five years and then some idea what that might mean we want to do over one year and a balance between planning and knowing what we're trying to do and being responsive to what comes up is a challenge and Grover yeah just echoing what you said Carol I was gonna say that too so oh okay I mean it sounds it sounds like we're like in the talking about how much money we have section and then later we'll talk about the project but those two things that was also a a point or concern that I have right uh anything else if not I would like to ask Greg to invite Robert Ryan who I see is an attendee into the room because this will impact our financial situation um let's see if we can get Robert to come into the room Robert is with the Interfaith housing I forget its proper name Robert helped me out um welcome hello to our meeting uh Robert is here because his organization is planning to close and to make a donation of funds to the Housing Trust and we wanted him to come and be able to say something about whatever he wants to say but about what they have been doing and how it is that they have come to decide to give money to us for which we are incredibly grateful they did do a donation a while AG Go and show Robert great thank you very much for inviting me into your meeting so my name is Robert Ryan I'm chair of the Interfaith uh housing um Association of ammer um and so it's been Interfaith has been existence for probably 30 years it started when Village Park was developed um up in uh off East Pleasant Street long before my time and as part of that so it was brought together to create Village Housing and then at some point um it became a nonprofit that um worked on affordable housing and we've donated lots of money to different town projects in fact we're by our bylaws um limited to giving um funding to projects in the town of amst so we've given to Olympia Oaks um we've given to the east um with the one over by ammer college we given um to lots of different projects um so we gave some money for the belter toown road project the Northampton row project um so Interfaith though was using the money that it got sort of as the proceeds to the close out of um Village Homes and so we're sort of the end of our funding basically and uh we saw the trust as a perfect venue for giving our funds you guys weren't all in exist before when Interfaith started but you're the perfect sort of logical place for the funds to go so Interfaith um has a board Jim lumley's on the board um it was really Jan dard who was involved for many years um on the board um Sarah Marshall's on the board now Rebecca Frick who you may know um Jim lumbley um Charles Thomas Hancock um Etc so so we voted to to dissolve our nonprofit because we are sort of getting at the point where we're spending money on sort of tax fees and stuff and we're getting down to we have around 40,000 45,000 um some of that will go to our lawyers and our accountants as we dissolve the the nonprofit um but the balance will go to the town so the balance being around 40,000 approximately depending on what the all the fees are and it'll take a while for this state to go through the paperwork so I'm hoping that it'll happen both the end of our fiscal year which is end of September um it could be after that it could be in the fall um for that and so I did want to talk to Nate or folks on the call maybe Mr bamman about the best way to kind of get you the funds in the past we have just mailed checks um to the town and we could do that to someone's attention I think the lawyer could do that as well um so yeah um that's about it I guess the other part of interfaith is it members of interfaith um help start Craig doors and Craigs doors was another large recipient of our funding when they were at the um Baptist Church we help fund some of the uh improvements there to make the shelter possible like the sprinklers and stuff so that's been another recipient of our funds well thank you thank you so much for that little bit of History it sounds like you've done wonderful things in Amherst over 30e period and uh we're grateful to be able to be the recipient of what's left as you move on to other things and let me see if either Paul or Greg wants to speak to answering Paul has a sign up so maybe he can answer your question you're mute Paul thank you um I just want to thank you for uh all the work you've done over the decades and um for this wonderful contribution I I think just to clarify you want this money to go to the trust to the trust account right correct yeah so I think you could write whenever you're ready you could write a check to the town with the instruction that it' be included into the trust's um account and we can add we can add that into that okay great so that's perfect yeah and there'll be some letter that all they'll be sent with it and I don't know lawyer may want some acknowledgement of seed for it I'm guessing but you can send it to the town manager's office and we'll make sure it gets into the Treasure's office okay perfect beautiful thank you great Robert thanks so much for this I was just gonna add um you know we'd love to know about the participating um Faith communities that are that are part of interfaith so that we can um send our our our thanks to you but also you know to the other whichever entities are part of it well interesting you you you raise it started as Interfaith Coalition of folks from different religious organizations but um long before my time they were involved in creating village Village Park but then there was a lull there as Village Park was up and running and so when it was reenergized um Jan dard restarted basically and there's no no like direct um representative from Interfaith Community I mean I'm a member of the Methodist Church other people are members of other churches or faith denominations but none of them none of us are official Representatives so I you one thing that Sarah suggested in Rebecca it might be just nice for us to do some sort of press announcement that just sort of says you know that that Interfaith gave these funds to the town and is is uh wrapping things up because we have given funds to Valley CDC and other nonprofits so we're also spreading the word to them that we're sort of shutting down because we've funded them in different ways as well great thank you well maybe someone will come up with something to write in the paper or something when this happens to commemorate the the all that you've done and and what's happening going forward uh Greg are you still have your hand up or is it just left up Erica well we definitely want to send a letter uh to your board members and I absolutely agree uh any opportunity to get information um one in terms of the kindness and um you know the proactiveness of your board to do something like this and focus on affordable housing in Amherst raises again the issue of the need for affordable housing so if we can you know co-write something um I'd be happy to work with somebody to do something I know that um I don't remember his name but he's pretty good at writing articles in the Amherst bulletin and really keeps affordable housing um on I'm pretty much uh on the radar um but I think it' be a great idea uh and maybe the town wants to do it as well since Paul has his hand up I just want we do have a Communications person who can help draft it I mean she doesn't have the background that knowledge of everybody but here but um she can certainly facilitate something in in however the board I'll connect Greg with with with Sam her name is Sam Samantha and then Greg can manage it through if you find that I think that would be good it seems like a thing to but there's so much bad news that comes about things it's nice to have some good news I would like to see that happen so yeah so thank you Robert very much for joining us and being willing to give us this little Spiel and your funds and uh hopefully we'll connect again over something or other great wonderful yeah you're you're very welcome we're we're great to have the trust working on different projects and we're excited you know um to interface with you as we have in the past so it's great to do that in the I remember I forgot to mention sarin daren's another one of our um board members who was very involved with Craigs doors and stabos so yeah I can send you a list I'll send a list to board members thank you thank you that's a great idea thank you very much okay okay well we will um send you back to being an attendee and you can stay or leave as you choose and let us invite Jessica Laura and Pisha to come in from Valley TDC and talk to us about their funding request for Community homes and Jess should I do everybody or just yourself or who's presenting tonight uh please bring everybody in bring them yep Laura and Tanisha all right and I will take this opportunity while I'm unmuted here um to uh just say I'm I'm not going to weigh in on the merits of this request as I have a conflict uh um so I will be silent from here on in all right I guess I can um looks like Laura's in now so why don't I start the presentation I do have some some slides and um thank you so much for taking us in in such short notice I know we put our funding request in last week so I appreciate that we were able to EK onto this agenda in July um I'd like to give you just an update of where we are um I was just sitting here thinking as as you were talking and and Robert was talking that I started Valley um almost three years ago in August and I've been working on this project basically since I entered Valley so so three years in and we are really cooking now and we are really getting Steam and we are really um looking to break ground in Spring of next year so we're kind of in this final funding push here um to get shovels in the ground so um we're just getting more and more excited at Valley about this project it because it's just it's becoming real and it's becoming it's it's going to happen so um I'm going to share my screen and I'm let me just give you some updates about where we at with this project can everybody see presentation I can yes okay thank you all right let me just move this Zoom panel thing out of the way so I can see what I'm doing okay perfect so um these are some renderings of the houses if you haven't seen these These are um these were presented as part of our permitting um process um so they are duplex homes as you recall um and we have a mix of two and three bedrooms um for these homes 30 homes and 15 duplexes um all clustered together in um in preserving half of the site is open space so we have got our permitting in place we are done yay big harah um so we received our order of conditions from the Conservation Commission in March um we received our comprehensive permit from the zba in April and we have just received our um driveway permit from massot as of today so our permitting is complete and we are we are rolling so that piece is check and done so that's a Hu that was a huge lift that was a lot um and we're happy to be past this major milestone in permitting and moving moving on um we are in the throws of pre-construction activities right now um we have selected kaider Corporation out of uh Florence area as our general contractor we are working very closely with them um to do um to help us with pricing and value engineering to get to a price point that makes sense for our budget um so we provided them with our schematic design drawings which are the drawings that went through the permitting process um and they gave us a cost estimate um earlier this year um of a low range of 12.5 $5 million at a high range of $15.3 million which includes both building and site work so that was the whole shebang but that was the that was the range of estimates they were able to provide us based on those schematic drawings so with that information in hand we are we are working closely The Architects are working very closely with the preconstruction folks at kider and we've provided them with our 100% design development um plans and specs and they are currently in the process of doing cost estimates based B on those plans so really refining the numbers more based on more refined plans um at the same time we have a parallel tract with Mass housing so Mass housing also has a design architect review team that needs to look at our plans we've provided the plans to them they are specifically really interested in the accessibility piece so they they've they've informed us that there's three things they're really looking at the accessib accessible units which there are there's going to be one fully accessible unit and then there will be five adaptable units um um they are also looking at the mechanical systems and they also looking at fire protection so those are the three things that they're really highlighting on and they have our DD plans and they're in that process as well um we are also have interviewed two different property management companies and I believe we are um we're going to be going with Codwell Banker they have a very um large condo portfolio and a very um uh well seasoned condo budget team they also have inh housee their own maintenance crew which I think is fantastic so if something electrical happens they have an electrician that's part of their team they have a plumber they've got landscapers they have a 12 staff um maintenance crew that works for them so we don't have a property management company that's waiting for an electrician for three days if somebody has an issue so we are we are um waiting on a contract from them in a scope of work but we've had some good conversations they've ALS so um plan to help us look at the condo docks make sure that our um our condo budget is in line and makes sense so they're really coming on as a partner to this to this development um in the future we'll be doing um 100% uh construction document plans and specs and final pricing then we're going to lock in that pricing with the GC and that's the number we're going to be moving forward with um so we're about halfway there in terms of pre-construction activities we we're chugging along pretty well I'm going to turn it to Tanisha because she is taking the lead for valley with our marketing and she's just going to um walk through this slide and talk about what we're doing with marketing and who our partners are with this marketing go ahead fenisha take it away hi everyone I am Tanisha windbush and I will be working alongside Jess I'm an associate project real estate project manager at Valley and I have the great honor of being kind of the head of the marketing piece here so we um have the pleasure work of our Consultants DVM housing Partners in our village initiative who um are in charge of two different parts of the marketing so DVM housing Partners will work on kind of helping us finalize our affirmative fair housing marketing plan as well as taking on the role of helping um our applicants through um the buying the buying process the Lottery Plus process as well as the application also with um buyer coordination as well and they will also be taking on the role um of facilitating the actual Lottery and the sales of the homes we are um with our village initiative I will be working directly with her name is Denisha I'm working directly with Denisha to get our Flyers together our social media um website information up so that we can um get our applicants an easier way to access our applications as well as give them more information on the buying process also working with Denisha on creating kind of like not a course but classes around wealth building and money mindset to help with the credit portion as well as getting financially ready when it comes time um to purchase the homes and on Valley on our end will be the local point of contact as well as the boots on the ground so getting out and speaking with businesses and speaking with the the leaders in the community and getting people ramped you know ramped up for our project and getting more people involved as well as hosting information sessions attending cultural events kind of meeting people where they're at and also attending Community meetings we are looking kind of at a timeline of a year of Hardcore marketing so our timeline would pretty much start this September and go for the full year until September 2025 thanks fisha [Music] whoops doesn't want to advance there we go nope backwards there we go okay um so here's just a kind of a timeline and trying to make this as graphically simple and easy to follow as possible because we have a lot of moving parts that are happening here all at the same time so we're looking to start construction shovels in the ground March 2025 um by July 2025 we will have completed and set our sales prices so right now the sales prices that um are being provided to us in through Mass housing um are really based on Hud's income levels as of today so those income levels may change by the time and likely will they're usually set around April so by April 2025 we may be looking at different sales prices hope hopefully interest rates are coming down too so that all of those kind of pieces play a part in how we can set those final sale prices so right now we've got prices that make sense for now and the numbers that are out there right now um we'll open the lottery in August 20125 of about six months and then there's a many steps that happen in here but the lottery would be complete by January 2026 and then uh DVM will start doing the income qualifications so um that takes a lot of paperwork and a lot of work on their have to do all of the income qualifications people just as a reminder under the Commonwealth Builder requirements they have to be able to qualify for um a standard mortgage they have to be able to pay for closing cost they have to be able to put 3% down um payment um so there's a lot of things that need to be hit financially which is why we have our village initiative um OVI to really be that that partner to help buyers get themselves financially ready so they are ready to go by the time that the house is ready for sale we'll start actually selling the homes um in May 2026 um by September we'll be finishing the the income qualifying process or DVM will um and then finishing up sales by December then we have a couple months where we're um we got to do the final um Closeouts um Co from the Builder um transferring the homeowner associ assciation from Valley as one of the board members making sure that we've got all of those pieces in line and then transferring that home ownership Association to the home buyers with the property management company um assisting them so that's the lottery and sales piece so by um December of 2026 we shall have sold have sold all of the homes so this is our kind of financing stack um where we're at as you can see we've got a lot of them already in place we um we've the town has graciously given us money through CPA and Trust um Valley is going to be putting in $1.65 million of our we're putting in our whole developers fee um to contribute to this project um we have um three construction or we have three banks that have submitted term sheets and we're going to be doing that analysis and picking a construction lender probably within the next couple weeks um Commonwealth Builders is is um committed with an Loi with their Commonwealth Builder funds and then Mass housing site condition funds which is used for site work um between the selling of the new affordable homes and the sale of the existing home that's on the property if you recall there's about an 800 squ foot home that has a current tenant in it right now we'll be selling that house probably at the end of the construction period so that Revenue will contribute to the um to the budget and we're also looking at Mass saves and their energy incentive payments to contribute as well so those are kind of locked in but we still have this Gap so we are heading into we have a $20 million project and we have um you know less than a million dollars that we're trying to fill here to kind of finalize this and move forward with all of our funders um Commonwealth Builders will not move forward until we've got kind of everything locked in so we've had conversations with the Commonwealth Builder folks about um tapping another fund through Mass housing which is Market contingency funds that's really kind of a reflection of how how the market will change between the construction start and by the time we sell the last home so there's a whole formula that they go through but that's funds that they are willing to commit but they've indicated that they wanted to see what the town might may might be able to contribute as part of that before they they finalize that decision so we're in conversations with them right now on that we are looking to we've uh put in Loi with Eastern Foundation to contribute $100,000 to the project they have um they are very much focused on um racial equity and home buying so we think this is a very good project that meets their mission and their portfolio for the foundation um and then we're here tonight um looking for additional funds from the trust there's a type Bell there it should be 350 not 375 I apologize about that I just gonna ask you that sorry sorry Carl I'm trying to see if you're paying attention is what I'm doing um and we also have a uh earmark in the Senate version of the bond bill for $500,000 to really um really to be paying for the PV system so right now we have valued engineered the the PV solar individual homeowner systems out of the project because we just can't financially afford it with construction costs being as high as they are so our hope is that this Senate um the Senate earmark will remain in the final bill that is signed by the governor and we'll have $500,000 that can be used to um to make sure that we've got every homeowner with a solar just to bring down those operating costs um I we were actually at a staff meeting and our our um home buyer U Donna Cabana I'm sure many of you know she's our home buyer assistance she was talking about a recent sale and the complexity of somebody installing their own so solar so you know they're trying to resell their home and it's kind of complicating the closing and it just made me think man we really need to get solar on these buildings and not put that burden on the home buyers afterwards I mean there's definitely tax credit incentives that are coming down the pike through the solar for all program but that would be the responsibility of the individual homeowners to make that happen and we really want to see PV on the um on the buildings themselves right from the get-go we just think it's the right thing to do so we're really hoping this earmark comes through so sort of break it down in terms of our status so I mentioned that we we are still looking at about a 915 $1,000 Gap so our total development cost to date which excludes the PV at this point is um $20 million project we have um 195 committed so we are looking at a gap of 915 and how we're looking to F fill that Gap again is looking at Mass Housing and their Market contingency funds Eastern foundation for an extra 100,000 and the trust contributing 350 for a total of um 950 and then again flagging that housing Bond Bill earmark for 500 for for PV that would be fantastic if that comes through and because we know you're going to ask we put together a slide to show sort of the breakdown of how the local money is in comparison to the whole budget so with this additional request to the trust we're looking at local uh total local funds contribution of 1.47 five million um which would be 7.2% of the total development cost and it breaks down to $ 49,1 167 per unit so um it's the .4 divided by 30 and that is the breakout so um the town putting in you know little less than $50,000 per home as a contribution to the project and just quickly our timeline so 2024 we got our zoning approvals we did our GC selection we're in the 100% DD plans and pricing um we'll have the 100% CD plans in pricing by the end of the year um Tanisha DVM and OVI are going to be moving forward on that home buyer Outreach really trying to um capture as many people as we can that typically don't uh participate in the home buyer process and looking at at getting this Gap um financed so that we can move this project forward we are like shovels ready ready to go we just need to fill this Gap to make it happen um so 2025 we'd be closing we'd be starting construction still doing that home buyer Outreach and then we would do the affirmative fair housing marketing piece um plus the lottery um and then 26 and 27 it's the home buyer selection and their income qualification process moving through those home sales and then construction completion and turning the HOA over to the home buyers themselves so that is our summary and we are happy to answer any questions I don't know if Laura you're I don't know if you want to add anything that I might have missed during this whole no I think that was great Jess I'm I'm curious to see what questions there are well I guess I have a question to start with and then we'll see what other questions anyone else has but what I would like to know is when do you need a commitment from us ideally and also when do you need the actual money from us assuming that because I'm asking because we're in a strateg in a planning process and we would like to be able to have some sense of what we're actually trying to do before we make a lot more decisions about what we're already doing that said I we're totally in supportive of your project but so that's the reason for my for these two questions sure I think those are both two valid questions given the position of the trust and where you're at right now and what I heard from your earlier conversation so um ideally we'd like a commitment I'd love to see a vote at your next meeting in August I think Mass housing is really kind of waiting to see what the town's going to do before they jump on those Market contingency funds theyve basically said they'll work with us but they want to they they want an update on the town process before they'll really um move forward so so that's kind of what's giving me a little bit of anxiety is like before I can get that next Chunk from from Mass housing I kind of need to be able to say yeah the town likes this project supports this project has already supported this project but sees enough value in it to be able to throw some more money at it because they recognize construction costs are high construction interest rates are high and we're kind of in this financial construction battle and you know it's just 9:15 we've got a fill of a $2 million budget so um we're trying to we're trying to find it anywhere we can um so in terms of the spending of it I feel like it could wait until at least we get to construction closing which would be next year um we could be very flexible in terms of the fiscal year draw of that if need be um if it needed to wait until after July we could make that work in our cash flow um so you know I I would look to the town in terms of what would make the most sense for you earlier but rather than later because it's an interest free funds that we can draw for the construction project anytime we draw the construction loan we're paying interest on it so that's just more money that we end up having to pay in the project so our strategy is typically always pull the interest free money first then hit the construction loan later in the project so thank you thank you um other questions Rob um you you you have uh cheed $7 million in in sales and I think on your in your slide you you say that s prices are actually aren't going to be set until next year something so you know if those if those prices vary by $110,000 from what you currently are projecting that's $300,000 right there I'm just wondering how how that obviously costs are also probably going to go up but but how does that how does that work I mean are we offering are you asking for $300,000 that you actually might not need it's a good question so I think that's where that market contingency funds actually play A Part here with Mass housing they don't actually come into the project until the very very end to make sure we actually need it so that's money that is withheld from us um and we don't have access to that until basically the last month of our of our draw and that is is the end so um so there's that piece um I think also I don't know Laura if you have anything else you want to add to here yeah I think that you know a budget is always a budget it's always an estimate and um we don't expect those sales prices to change dramatically because we typically don't see dramatic changes in median income from year to year um but the the market contingency fund which is what 465 Jess yep that's money that they won't give us if the sales prices go up so they've already kind of locked us in to taking as little money as we actually need from them as a funer uh Grover so your timeline Slide the last Red Dot was an acronym a uh but I didn't see any dots that said moveing date the movein date related to the sale or are people buying and there's this long Gap no no NOP so we will um we've we had this conversation during the zba process and with the Building Commissioner and how the the co is a certificate of occupancy so I apologize for the alphabit soup of of land development in real estate um but uh so the idea is that we are going to be able to build these houses so that they can move in and then the final pavement won't go on which will constitute the the final Co until the very end we don't want moving trucks damaging the road to begin with anyway so that will be one of the last pieces that go in but these will be and we're working with the with the GC on how do we phase the construction in such a way that they are going to be available for sale as soon as possible we don't want to see houses empty houses sitting when there's a housing crisis so I mean it doesn't make sense for us to build it and just have it sit there so we want to get people moved in as soon as possible as soon as they're ready to that is always our our game plan we hate to see housing just sitting there so um so we are talking to the GC about how do we do this so that we can meet the building permit requirements get our temp c for each person to to move in and then get a final certificate of occupancy when we get the final Paving in when we turn in our as Bill plans and all of those things that we need are required to do guess so yeah I liked uh Rob's question um because certainly if we can be a liquidity provider rather than giving money that's preferable if money comes back to us and so I'm wondering if you can imagine ways that we could be the one that gets the money back before Mass housing lowers their their uh Grant so I will remind you that the deed restrictions that will be with these homes so they 15-year de uh 15-year deed rest 30-year D restrictions chunk down into 25 years for the 100% Amis the 80% Amis will have a a full 30-year um deed restriction because it was permitted under 40b and that's what we need to do to make the 40b requirements um but for those 100% Amis which are 20 of the homes if they sell within the last 15 years a chunk of that profit so there's no like sealing to how much profit they can make but they have to split that profit between themselves and the public funders one of those being the town of ammer and Mass housing is indicated on calls that they typically send all of the money back to the municipality so that you know if the home gets sold within that last chunk the town will see money coming back as part of that sale if they stay in the home the full 30 years that's not the case case the deed restrictions then lifted and it's done but within that last 15-year chunk it's an it's a shared Equity provision within that deed restriction so the town would see money coming back if the homes are sold within that chunk thank you I I I think I was asking about at the prior to when Mass housing decides whether to cut a check for 465 or less at at the front end of the project I I'm still not understanding but Laura's nodding so she must understand your question better than I can I do I think the question is if Mass if it's good for Mass housing why isn't it good for the town so if the town puts in money and the sales prices go up can the town recover some of its money that it put in and my answer is I think that's unlikely given that mass housing's putting in much much more than the town and so they're going to have more leverage of um demanding some of those funds back if there's Surplus um we don't we're fighting to get pricing down so it's happy to think about a time when there's Surplus um but again I just don't I don't think that's a likely outcome I don't think it's a likely outcome that we're going to give money back to Mass housing I don't think likely um outcome that we're going to have Surplus um because the house houses go way up in sales prices thank you yeah other questions barl can I make a comment of course so I've been participating in the trust for many years now um and certainly been around when this um the original asks for CPA went in um I was around through the entire process of developing the application for the trust and what I've observed is there have not been many applications to the trust during that period and a lot of the time um the conversation has been about how can we ask the CPA for more money when we haven't spent the money that we're sitting on um and so I we see that you guys are concerned about spending down too much and not having money for other projects I might feel the same way in in your shoes but but I would also suggest is it a better problem to spend your money and need to get more and have housing being created right now or save it for the rainy day save it for the future project that you don't know when it's going to happen so I think it's just something to think about I think in the history of the trust it's been more of the lad that there's been more money kind of not being put into use um and so I do feel like it's appropriate to reward people who are actually going to go and build um as opposed to holding on to money for people who might not be building for a couple of years um with the wayfinders project I don't believe they've applied for their 40b permit yet so I can see you know that there's a ways to go before they're going to actually need commitments for construction I I would make the same argument for the V W project that it's still pretty early on so it's a question are we really taking money from other projects or is it a timing issue that by the time those projects come to you you'll have more CPA money maybe you'll have some of the zoning money come in I I don't know obviously I'm biased but I just wanted to throw that into the mix thank you thank you Laura I think uh Paul has something else to say yeah so um Laura hit on some of the things I was going to say intense that we do this time we do have projects that are in the offing I do believe Greg can correct me but I believe wayfinders has filed for their their comprehensive permit so it is in the in the mix um and I think you know the the value of trust money is that it's flexible we can use it in pre-development work and things like that which is very valuable and valuable money because you don't get it like as you can see the funding uh stack that that um Valley has is a very sophisticated fun funding stack um so I I do think that you know we do have to think about what else is in the pipeline because it's we are fairly active with the with the um with the two projects on belter toown Road and East Street um so um but I also recognize that this is I think this is one of our top priority projects you're doing incredible projects that of a major need of the town so I I want to recognize that um and so uh thank you for you you are always so well organized in your presentation iica really terrific um and it helps us makes it makes a decision you you make it um palatable to make a decision I have one question is there do you C can you anticipate any circumstances in which you would ever come back to the trust or the town for additional funds oh never say never right or is this the last request I mean this I'm this really I'm hoping is the last request I mean if if you are able to provide this funding and I can go to Mass Housing and say yeah the town is there in and they have given us we've gone back we've gone three times to the town this is their third time giving us money um I I really want to get shovels in the ground in March and I just can't get there until I get this Gap so I can't never say never but it's not my plan let me just put what it feels what it feels like to me is I first time second time third time is like correct there's a little bit of uh but as but the longer we wait the longer we wait the more construction pricing continues to increase so yeah really the time is a it real estate is is time and money right so as Laura always says She Bangs it into her heads time and money time and money so so would has the trust or would the trust ever condition um a commitment with language saying this is our last commitment it it could be something we consider yeah when we talk about this next that's a thought yeah thank you okay are there any other questions I have a kind of almost an aide question but and it's probably just because of something that I don't remember well enough but I recall other times you're talking about wanting to engage people who might end up being the people who get to live here in a kind of uh educational Pro Financial education or something or other beforehand like maybe starting already it already has started I'm not sure and I maybe you talked about it and I just didn't recognize its name but I would love to hear more about that sure fisha do you want to speak to that or do you want me to go ahead I can speak to it a little bit if I miss anything then you can jump in absolutely um so basically what we're trying to do is prepare all of our potential home buyers to be in a position to win so that involves credit counseling as well as Financial counseling to a lot of people so I took a poll um and a lot of people didn't know what credit was how to get it going um but everybody wants to buy a home but they don't know where to start so we want to start at the very beginning kind of with the basics on how to get your credit ready how to get to save because there are closing costs or you know other things that could come in the pipeline um but just how to get you know prepared for the closing and the the buying process because a lot of people don't know what it takes to actually buy a home and how to get your credit and a and a a great spot to get preapproved for a mortgage yeah I'll just add that that's what obi's role is so our village initiative and I would encourage you to go look at their website um just Google it it'll pop right up um Denisha is a community engagement specialist and she also has these um Financial webinars that she hosts once a month so the idea is that we're doing this pre-marketing we're getting people excited hey by the way we our village initiative has these financial literacy once a month trainings that you can attend and learn how to get your credit up so you know it's really sort of kind of partnering those two things together saying there's this great opportunity but in order to do it you need to get your financial ducks in a row here's somebody who can help you here's somebody who can guide you and um and as um dar who is the consultant with DVM housing as she's doing income qualifications she and Denisha work very closely together so Denisha can do that handholding for that financial piece to help people with the home buying process so it's it's supporting kind of on two different sides it's um it's doing that kind of pre-marketing getting people excited and interested in financial literacy money mindset that sort of thing and then Denisha will do that handholding during the um buying process as well to help people get there yeah the idea is it's the wealth Gap is not simply a product of housing stock at an affordable price there are other barriers there as well right you don't if you don't kind of confront some of those issues you're missing the boat so we're trying to take that part seriously yeah yeah I that's what I thought I just didn't hear it a little bit about it again uh Erica um so my question is more about the community that you're talking about the specific Community because I think um Jessica when you came a while back you had asked us if there particular communities or organizations that you should reach out to so could you speak to what Outreach has been done and we also had um oh all of a sudden I'm blanking on her name um Mills from um the the imher um reparations Miller thank you I'm totally blanking her name Michelle yes um and we also want to do something together so um we just want to make sure that you know when we did our listening session you know we walked a lot around and people were like I don't want to give feedback I want the space now you know I want the affordable rental house now or I want the condo now I want the house now so um who who is the community that you're making sure they know about this and are starting to prepare for this sure so T she's got a list going so every every all the information that you've been sending fisha has been compiling and putting into a um into a a database or an Excel spreadsheet basically um all the community events the contacts um and she and Denisha are working very closely Denisha on the back end is like she's doing LinkedIn connections for UMass grads she she sent a message to Professor shabaz I mean she's like doing stuff behind the scenes um and Tanisha is kind of doing that and they're going to be working together so the idea is that this summer Tanisha and Denisha are going to be finalizing the marketing messaging because we want to get the message correct before we start really getting boots on the ground so um what are the Flyers in the you know marketing going to say they've talked about having a QR code and we're going to put the QR code everywhere so somebody can just snap a picture of the QR code and we'll take them to a Google form where they can put in their information like even just like income levels basic information so that DVM can start compiling a database of interested applicants so that we've got that information to send out when we're ready to do that Lottery process so um did I miss anything Tanisha do you anything you want to add nope okay so that's that's what what we've been doing to date is just doing some basic collection of um you know ammer black Business Association reparations committee um Tanisha did a deep dive on black owned businesses in ammer um and compiling that list um what what who else chur is Community Center so you know really trying to to make sure that we've got all the right people um in organizations and then once we get that marketing message correct then we'll get boots on the ground in the fall is in September is is what our plan is at this moment sounds great um I see we have a question from an attendee Kathleen Anderson Greg can you make her be heard so we can hear her question or whatever it is she has her hand up so I wanted to um follow up because I didn't really hear you spe Jessica specifically answer the question about the um people that you're is this the affordable housing project on ball Lane I'm sorry but I came in late so I yes it is you are correct you in the right place all righty then um yeah so it's supposed to to be an affordable housing development and I'm curious to understand what your thinking is about affordability so the latest price and I'm part of I'm Excuse me but I'm vice president of the um black Business Association of Amis area awesome and I haven't heard any re any reach out to our organization about this project at all I think Tanisha tried to reach out so um I think that you and Tanisha need to connect Tanisha take down Kathleen Anderson's name and maybe there's a way that we can I don't know if there's a possibility through the chat maybe um using the town as mediator to get your uh correct information to Tanisha because she's been she's been trying to I think Hound the black Business Association a little bit so to have a face face-to-face contact right now is like I can tell Tanisha is like glowing she's super excited about so I can see the smile on her face yeah she's psyched I can tell so um so yeah this is perfect and I think Tonisha will be happy to connect with you maybe even via a phone call just for like a briefing before we actually do this like big campaign um starting in the fall but I know that I'm pretty sure I don't want to speak for Tanisha but I'm guessing she'd be psyched to talk to you yeah so anyway um about affordability what are what is the criteria that is being used to identify or describe affordability sure so the housing prices are set based on U making sure that an individual is not spending more than 30% of their household income on housing and so the sale prices are set looking at um a combination of the mortgage payment PMI interest rates um condo fee real estate taxes so we take all of these things together compute it out and we we are looking for that window of um a very specific for 80% area meeting income and 100% area meeting income for the town of ammer um for those income income guidelines for specific household sizes and trying to determine those house prices based on all those different things so those those those things vary and and very overtime so as of as of right now based on the HUD income levels that were set in April we're looking at $161,000 for a two-bedroom one-story 80% Ami home what's what's Ami Ami is the area median income so for I'd have to I didn't bring my my cheat sheet of Ami home with me but um I think uh when I last look 63,000 does that sound about right Laura for a family of four for 80% Ami and about 97 for a a family of four for about 100% Ami does that seem about right yeah that's that's not affordable house that's not affordability right so the standards for affordability around home ownership do tend to be different than for rental housing because people need to have enough resources to pay taxes and keep up the properties going forward but there's nothing for sale in ammer for $161,000 in new not even an old rundown house is available so it's a pretty big um below Market difference that we're talking about for the sales prices um and then some people will access first-time home buyer funds and other kinds of subsidies so that they can bring down their mortgage payment so Jess is talking about the maximum you can earn but we're going to see people who are earning considerably less who are able to access these homes when you say considerably when you say considerably less what do you mean by consider what's a figure yeah so I think I think it's realistic we usually look at a window I think we might be able to get families down into the high 30s and low 40s for household income to be able to purchase one of these homes um we're not going to get down probably as low as we do with rental housing it's just a different a different kind of activity thank you thank you everyone thank you Kathleen for your thoughts and questions and for making a connection that you two are now going to make and uh if there are no further questions I'm think we're does anybody have any other questions or shall we can we move on okay well then I see that Shelly is here so Greg can you rearrange the people in the room thank you Valley all of you for coming thank you for joining us appreciate it thank you and so I will now as Greg is doing this turn the meeting over to Erica for the rest of the meeting and ask Shelly to come into the room so that we can have our conversation about our planning strategic planning or what thank you Carol yes so we're moving forward with the action planning process so as you know we have a subgroup that's meeting in between these meetings to try to get to you as much as possible as much information um for us to look at and then to agree upon uh discuss and then agree upon or um Wordsmith as needed um and so Shelly is um going to join us I think is she in the panel here now perfect perfect so she'll facilitate it so um those of us in the subgroup which is Rob Carol myself Greg and sometimes Nate joins us as well can partici participate um and uh you'll see right away that with Goal number one um Shelly has added the um edits that we um suggested and then um at the last meeting we focused on goal number two and we hope to have goal number three ready for August so shelle thank you so very much for your patience and working with us and all the advice and support you've given us so I'm G to hand it over to you absolutely so um Greg do you want to share your screen with the have the document up front does that work or should I do mine uh yeah I can do it bear with great and it um and so hopefully some of you were able to review it beforehand but uh as Erica said that under the first goal development we did add specific language about support the creation of 200 homes for rent or ownership to be clear that you're supporting both and then the 1e we modified that so that it's was less about a Loan Fund and more about strengthening the um development ecosystem in ammer GRE can you make it bigger please and then based on feedback from our last meeting with the funding goal we did have a little bit of conversation about that um we did some modifying and so we wanted to to review that again again with you so go down to the funding so I think what we did last time I think we just went through it and then we had a conversation um so funding your the goal that was we talked about a couple I think months ago was Secure $4 million over the next five years to support the work of the Trust And then trying to come up with strategies about how are you going to try to make that happen so the first so 2A is looking at the short-term rental fees so advocating for the full 3% Community impact fee on short-term rentals to be directed to the trust so that's one goal we had some discussion last time that it's not necessarily a huge amount of money at this point for amers but um it is a funding source and trying to direct the the 3% of the community impact um 100% to the trust B is to seek a yearly CPA contribution from the town working toward an automatic 10% recommended transfer now I did have a note that Greg was going to work a little bit on the best percentage to S to request so maybe that's some conversation we can have tonight um the 10% is the um the CPC the community preservation committee has to set aside 10% for community housing so at this point this is set up that that that 10% would just be directed to the trust but maybe there's a different percentage maybe there's a higher percentage that makes sense to to your group C work toward the implementation of a real estate transfer fee with a majority of the revenue being allocated to the trust so this was not has is not being included in the bond bill for the senate or the house so um it it's a it's now a much longer term goal but it could be something that's still on the table if that's something that you still want to work towards D then we modify the language on this um collaborate with the permitting board in reviewing inclusionary zoning developments particularly those being considered for an inl of payment to provide affordable housing Insight so we had discussion last time that the trust isn't always at the table with these conversations or it might be later in the conversation and this strategy is really trying to um make sure that the trust is from the beginning in conversations around inclusionary zoning particularly when there's possibility of an in of payment so at this point these are four strategies and they likely won't reach 4 million over five years perhaps but I'd like to open the conversation about how do these four look and then if even if folks have an idea of a of an additional strategy I think that could be helpful tonight anyone want to start um you can just um I don't know if Carol if you want to facilitate the actual questions but raise your hand or unmute yourself yeah I'll just look to see if any hand yeah let me just check here oops my hand went up okay I'm not seeing any hands up so I'll just say with a does it seem reasonable to request the full 3% of the community impact fee for the trust algra is that a thumbs up yep and Carol Paul do you have any concerns yeah always because we have competing interests I mean but I think the trust should be advocated for what it thinks it needs and then it'll be considered with everything else you know ultimately the council will have to but um yeah yeah yeah as shelle said before um at this point it's very small but who knows I mean Amber is a wonderful place um might be more airbnbs coming in um and so there's a potential for that um but I think our challeng is is that what we have right in front of us more than likely within the next five years will not grow the four million um I think you know we have a head start with the 1.2 but um I think funding will always be a little bit of a challenge all so with the community preservation act funds um at at this point so the convers some of the conversation is trying to get to a point where your relationship with the CPC is such that the CPC automatically recommends money to be transferred each year and not always requiring the trust to necessarily apply which this happens in communities where the the CPC just puts in a recommendation to the legislative body of a certain percentage or dollar figure to be transferred to the trust so the hope is kind of mve in that direction and we've started at the kind what I would call kind of the lower end 10% um H how are people hearing this strategy and the 10% Carol go ahead I'm not so sure about the I'm not so sure about the 10% can you hear me yes I think I unmuted myself um I'm not so sure about the 10% my question about one of the questions I'd like to know the answer to about the 10% is over the last say 5 to 10 years or something what is the percentage that the CPA has been giving to housing cuz housing is usually not just us usually there are other housing projects and so so I I don't I want to know that before I made a decision about what I thought was a good percent but one of the things that I think is true about asking for something that's regular is that knowing that there's regular income is something that we have never been able to do and it seems like it can be very important so we know that there's something or other that we can kind of count on we don't know how much 10% is going to be exactly or whatever the percent is you don't want the total amount is going to be every year but you have some idea and I think that that makes based on that I don't know that we would ever do that but based on that it might be even be possible to borrow money and be able to pay it back because you know that you could there's not something we could possibly do now when we have no idea where we're going to get anything from so I think there's two advantages to it um one is not having to write something every every year uh and the other one is having some regularity of income thank you would allow your trust to better plan if you knew that you'd have a certain amount of money J robon do you want to go next and then Nate thanks um Char sorry I didn't think about this um in our small group meetings um for for those towns that that have that relationship with the CPA committee where they get an automatic funding um do they do they you know if they regularly go back to to the CBA committee to ask for more words if they're getting 10% and some year they think they need 15% or 20% you know some higher amount are they going back or or do they end up getting just that and and and um and then the CPA committee you know feels powered to spend the rest of it on other things other than housing so I I don't know for certain um I do know that there are some communities where they they are okay with the with the developer coming to the trust and the CPC which you I think you've already experienced that in ammer um and I I think it just entirely depends on the community and their commitment to housing so I would imagine that I would hope in ammer that the conversation would be to start with kind of Carol's point of having some something you can count on so you can do better planning I think that you're you're showing a track record of your work in ammer so I would hope that that counts for something with the CPC and with town meeting um but to make the case of um to start perhaps the smaller number with the idea that if there was a special project or something that was coming up that you could ask for more I mean I think that that should stay on the table but to to to kind of Carol's point of this establishing where you don't have to write an application every year because you you're building a track record in town that you're working you're adding units you're you're you're working diligently towards um affordable housing goals and um then having some income that you can count on so you can do a little bit more planning but I think that do not take off the table that if something if a parcel or comes up that you would be able to ask for for more Nate go ahead yeah I was gon to say that you know 10% is less than what the um trust gets now so you know I if we're going to try to get a you know an allocation ratio i' I'd say it's 15% um and then you know in terms of what the CPA you know recommends in the town Council approves it's you know um as of a few years ago it was pretty evenly distributed amongst the categories of historic preservation housing uh Recreation an open space you know and then in recent years there's been a fair amount of housing projects so you know we the CPA committee often recommends things that are borrowed and then we have Debt Service and so you know um I think uh just The Debt Service alone in recent years has exceeded 10% for housing just of the the CPA so you know we're paying down a number of projects um so you know I for me it would be like you know if we were able to secure a percentage I would assume that's good for the trust unless there's a Project Specific application the trust would make in some year but not just to decide like oh let's get our piggy bank bigger let's try to get 20% this year you know it' be only if there's a you know a really specific project the CPA legislation allows the trust it's one of I think one the only or one of two named places that can bankroll CPA money without having a specific project and so that's why this percentage allocation uh can work you know the town can't do it for instance the historical commission can't say I want a certain percentage every year but the trust can and so I think it's worth pursuing um but I do think that you know the town has been very uh generous with the housing in the last say five years so um I'm just looking at The Debt Service this past fiscal year uh you know over half of them were for housing and so um you know that's something that often happens so Nate given this Dynamic of what you're Lan out do you think that it's that it's realistic to start with asking for 15% of it of requesting an automatic transferred yeah yeah I mean if you know it'd be to me it'd be 15% of uh you know total revenue before debt service so if the town gets 2 million a year it's 300,000 or something and then um you know as opposed to taking it out after the debt service because we have a fair amount of Debt Service yep Grover like Nate's idea of 15% and uh higher than 10 and similar language changes we made I believe to the bylaw is it possible to write this to say Seek a yearly contribution from the town working towards an automatic well like at least 10 at least 15% like that that it gives direction or or adding a sentence like or additional funds for specific projects just something that clarifies in the years and to the Future that the request for the 15% automatic but also if there's some larger uh need and and who who knows maybe Massachusetts will just have so much CPA funds that they're just sending out and and we want to use them strategically so thank you so at Le like at least saying working toward an automatic minimum 15% recommended transfer and then possibly adding language about um open we we we can think about that because it's it wouldn't really be a strategy if it's a possibility but um I get what you're saying of wanting to make sure that's on the table of sing more if necessary should there be special should there be projects where there specific projects where there's a higher need that we would then go back um okay algra and then Carol I was going to use the word minimum as well and then maybe have a caveat of if you know any additional funds beyond that requested would go through the regular application process or something okay along those lines groa did you want to add something okay uh Carol I what algra said is pretty much what what I was thinking of saying it just seems like something should be in here to make it clear that we're not saying if you give us 15% you're done and we're never coming for anything else so that should just be clear in however it is that it's said that there's still the option for other funds right great are others does anyone have a concern with 15% or or do others feel comfortable with that it sounds like at least a few of you are pretty most of you seem pretty comfortable with that okay and then C um given that the real estate transfer fee is has not been included in the the legislative bills are you interested in keeping this on the table and really actively working towards this do you want to pause it how are people feeling alra the status of the previous special act requests that had been can't hear you quite um there was a special act request being Flo for just for ammer and I don't know if we status of that or if that is then Mo if it's not Statewide but I thought that was the reason that we were doing a special act so I don't know who can speak to that uh we probably could check in with uh Grace or representative Dom um about that um I don't see Grace's hand up but maybe maybe Grace could check with representative Dom um but even I mean I my understanding is is that there are Advocates that are not going to let this go that they want to continue advocating for this so I think you know we're talking about a you know three to fiveyear plan I think it is worth our while to make sure that if this is a priority for us that this is part of our guidelines for policy and you know advocacy priorities um especially since we're going to get a good benefit from it if it does pass so I would say keep it in Carol I just I'm going to agree with you I mean there's a lot of there's a lot of effort out there going on and they were disappointed about it not happening this year but they are not done by any stretch of the imagination they're still going for it and not only is it a source of funding it actually feels to me like it's an appropriate source of funding that the people who buy all the expensive places it's reasonable for them to be making in some way some contribution to all the other people who can't afford the expensive places so it makes sense both from a funding perspective and from some kind of equity perspective to me thank you Carol I agree with you does anyone have a counter opinion I definitely agree that it's not being let it's not Let It Go I mean it's it's a it's a concept that so many communities support so okay we'll leave it and then D we had some conversation last time around inclusion arizoni and I think it was I think I originally wrote it like to increase the amount that the trust gets and we we decided to reframe it uh more around making sure that the trust is at the table and a part of the conversation so I'm wondering what your are and how it's currently um structured if that makes sense would you do it differently I would also like to ask oh sorry did I miss a hand sorry sorry no go ahead Grover go ahead go I didn't have my hand up either so go ahead Grover um okay so my question is whether so as it stated it's a little vague to me like maybe not clear or ambitious enough but uh I imagine it was changed so that it sounded more partnering and less uh like I'm coming for cash so my question is is there a formal relationship with the inclusion are I think we lost to Grover uh or is that the question is there formal relationship with the um plan with the pering aboard is that the question yeah I think we lost her I I think Grover froze the midst of a very compelling question if you know I'll just jump in so you know the inclusionary zoning puts the um kind of the ultimate decision with the permit granting body so that could be the most likely the planning board could be the zoning board and the trust is an advisory and an advisory role to them um and so you know the it could be that the bylaw is changed to include language for the trust or you know we just have that uh you know the expectation that if there's request or if there's inclusionary units as part of a project the Trust reviews it and and just becomes part you know folds into the review process for every every one of those projects um and the money does go to the trust so the trust is named in the bylaw but the trust doesn't have the ability to you know doesn't have that decision- making ability or authority so um you know I think this is you know I don't know how the trust feels I think that oftentimes you know the trust was involved in the recent one only because they were requesting a payment but for other projects when there is no payment oftentimes the trust doesn't get involved right it's just it stays with the permitting board yeah so um geston before I let you um speak I just want to say um part of this came out of Carol and my experience that we often signed off on um paperwork and we didn't realize the project uh that there were like you know 12 yeah apartments and we got to have you know 12% of those so part of it is um I think also setting ourselves up as part of the trust to have more of a collaborative role with other you know the the zoning board or the planning board so we're all on the same page um and that you know we should have an opportunity to um to weigh in on something not not to keep it from happening but at least you know since affordable housing is that's our wheelhouse is that you know to be able to weigh in on it and not just sign off on oh thank you you know we now afford um apartments that are affordable um go ahead gust um no yeah I think I um I think I agree with where Grover was was going that the language in that uh 2D is a little um I guess uh that second Clause is a little weak and in what it's saying and I wonder since we're in the funding realm if what we're wanting to say is collaborate with the permitting board in reviewing inclusionary zoning developments and advocate for funding of affordable housing through inlo payments or other you know or otherwise I mean is this a funding strategy and so does it mean that we want to be advocating for funding through in payments or other approaches that we may think of [Music] we had that conversation I think we were a little torn um so I agree I think you know having more concrete language helps us to be more clear on what the action is um and Carol you might be um better at presenting this but I think we were sort of torn with you know we want affordable units uh as much as we can uh but at the same time we want to be considered if affordable units are not the best option and then advocate for that in lie um to then go to the trust to make sure we can get that but I think we were sort of afraid that we're going to look self- serving by saying oh no forget the apartments or forget you know the the number um you know of affordable units and just give us the money so I think we were a little torn about that but Carol I think you said it better than I did when we were meeting um I'm not sure I can say again whatever you're thinking of but one of the things to me is that it's not just about does this particular project get an inl thing or units but it's what are the rules under which this all happens I mean that's what the overlay District thing is about maybe there's a way to do something to make a change in the zoning bylaws that actually encourages more Housing Development and we would like to know if that's a kind of thing that's coming up and be able to at least participate in a conversation so I don't I don't I guess my two things about this somehow the way it's written is seems cumbersome and also to guess On's point I'm not sure it's actually just a funding strategy it's so I don't know where it belongs and maybe it has Parts in two different places but because it's equally important to me or that's kind of what I think Erica was talking about that we don't just suddenly find out oh they just changed the zoning laws but we didn't even know that's something that is we would like to Nate's been pretty good about keeping us informed about stuff like that but you know so working at that that's why having some collaborative relationship is is part of the issue and probably that part doesn't exactly really belong under funding strategies but I don't know where it does belong yeah I think it's definitely fair to question whether it is remains a funding strategy how it's written now so it looks like Nate wants to respond then I saw Guston hand and then Grover sure thanks yeah I was going to say that the inclusion res zoning says that the you know the permanating board May Grant a special permit to allow this and so you know it doesn't require it so for instance If This Were A funding strategy the trust it's not like we could have a developer who comes and they're providing two affordable units and say well actually we're going to require you make a payment to us instead of providing those units and so the bylaw isn't written in that way right it's only if a developer is offering or thing about a payment then you know could we require it but it's not the other way around it's not as if we can review every project that is captured by inclusionary zoning and decide how we want to split out the units you know is some are some being paid for or some being created and uh so you know I think it's a it's a little different than um you know a say a stronger funding mechanism I do like the idea of collaborating with the planning board I think that they would often ask the trust if someone was asking for a payment to be you know to review it like they did with the previous project so um but in terms of having it be kind of this compulsory thing that the trust could weigh in on for every project and require it to meet its funding goals that's not the way the bylaw is written I'm not sure that that's something we could actually do um so you know I I agree sometimes it might make sense you know there's a project that provides one unit you know maybe for the developer it's a lot of work but then at the same time do they really want to you know make a pay payment of half a million dollars um you know they might actually want to have the unit themselves as well so I you know unless we're really going to try to change the BW the way that is written works with the how the BW Works um go ahead gone and then yeah so I I what I'm seeing is that a lot of what's in this D is really about political advocacy within the town and it seems to me that we can change the heading of number three to fit all of that in there because three is about advocacy you know it's education Etc and so I I would think that on an ongoing basis we want to be actively advocating to the town and and different parts of the town in support of our mission and that might include funding I mean at the very present moment we're in a sense proposing and advocating uh to make a change to the bylaws with respect to the uh requirements or possibility of in funding and so if there's something in funding here it's to reflect what we're actually doing in the moment and then the rest I would think can fit in three thank you EST Grover yeah I agree I was gonna suggest that the majority of bullet point D on part two move into public engagement and and education but I do think that naming like maybe the funding part that we're talking about is um consult on and receive in lie of funding as the trust and the planning board deem appropriate like whatever that language is but naming it as one possible source of income but not and then and then blocking uh the engagement piece into the third bucket okay I will say though I'm just gonna keep my hand up that I to Shell's earlier point it makes me kind of nervous that our funding strategies then have three pieces and none of them seem like super proactive we have plenty of work I'm on team throwing elbows for land is is like what I'm excited about but um yeah so I'm yeah it just makes me curious about how we are thinking about getting to that goal so we did a little bit of really casual brainstorming and I'm just going to throw a couple things out there to see if anyone has some ideas to build off of someone brought up um opio opioid money the possibility of some of that being directed to the trust we brought up grant writing like the possibility of grant writing um I don't know exactly who that would be too or if there's a regional kind of Community Foundation um free cash was put on the table and the thought was that that probably is not going to be an option in ammer um we put out tax title if there's tax title property that the that the city owns that um either selling it and some of the proceeds to the trust or being the tax title property being transferred to the trust there is a challenge with the a ruling from the um Mass SJC around well actually it was the Supreme Court and then it's in the legislature is putting Force some legislation as well of making sure that people are fairly compensated for tax title land because in the past the the municipality would just take it all even if only $20,000 or $50,000 was worth was um owed to the community and then they would sell it or they would give it away and um all the equity that was owned was lost so that that the issue of tax title has has changed um in the last year um and then well so that that's my little list and I'm wondering if anyone has any reactions to those or if anyone has any other thoughts any other ideas Paul oh who okay Paul and then um I think Grover you still had your hand up and then algra thank you so um I don't think that the town doesn't take tit tax title land we've never been in that process for a long time um so we've never been that didn't really affect us um and the opioid money uh the settlement was disallowed by the Supreme Court this week and so those those billions of dollars aren't coming into the state and so that's a and the money the we did have a process for allocating that money working with a region area the the entire Hampshire County so that we're addressing not just ammer needs but everybody's and trying to address the people who have suffered from the O oota addictions so I think I mean they're creative ideas but I don't think they may I don't think they will apply to the town of ammer yep and what are your thoughts on free cash um well free cash is is there's I mean free cash is um an appropriation so it's like going to it's going through the budget process the town uh allocates it has the town's fin fiscal Financial policies allocate a certain amount of money uh based on um cannabis tax revenues into the reparation stabilization fund it it uh puts a certain amount of money into its capital stabilization fund and then keeps a certain amount in reserves for um for rainy day funds basically so um free cash is not a recurring source of of Revenue if there's a specific project then they go through our normal budget process so that it's a it's we don't see that as a funding source um um but it's a but it's it's addressed uh through the council's or the town's Financial policies so is it something though that the trust would request or with a conversation with the c Council you'd go through the budget process the capital project process okay we don't fund many things out of free cash um we have process for allocating that over time got it okay okay do you have any any other ideas to tr fund the trust okay I have an idea that would require work from the trust it from the members and it's more like a public education Communications campaign and I don't know logistically how it would work if the town is able to receive [Music] um stocks or funds from stocks but you know an increasing portion of the stocks that like a retirement fund holds are investment in the for Market housing market that is like benefiting from the constant acceleration of the cost of housing so there could be a public education campaign that is like is your stock growing part of that is profiting off of the high cost of housing take a tax defer you know you can defer some of your tax load by donating that to the affordable housing trust and translating that into affordable homes so that if I was running a affordable housing advocacy nonprofit campaign I might go for that but I think there's also a way in which that could be compelling per thank you Grover Paul you're mute sorry twice in one night that's horrible sorry um to build on what Grover said I think that's really if if there's the energy and the capacity to really build a program I mean I think one of the arguments Beyond stocks is like a lot of people in this community have experienced meteoric increases in value of their homes and if they're like give 10% of those of that value that you increased if you bought a house for 200,000 now it's worth 600,000 you know but that's a very sophisticated campaign that the town Town officials would not be able to participate in but if there was a nonprofit or or there were energy here that could be a very compelling argument I think gust yeah I mean I guess I would I would hate us to think that our strategy document for closes being imaginative in the ways that that Grover and and Paul just identified and indeed I've thought of the same thing I mean all of that Equity could be collateral for funding for example if we put the right pieces together it requires some creativity um and I think it's worthy um energy to go into that kind of imagination and so I I don't know how we um just create a placeholder for being imaginative about um uh generating uh sources of funding Andor collateral to support lending you think that along those lines that it could be reasonable to have kind of a campaign of asking for donations to the trust not just cash but possibly land or a building or something along those lines does that seem reasonable for amest or maybe not getting on people's Wills yeah uh Nate go ahead yeah I mean I I I was gon to say that you know the amount of funding the goal is like you know also why why do we need that funding does it support other action items or goals of the trust right so if if we need a so much amount of funding to support creation of units sure but is there are there other action items and goals and strategies that can be achieved without that level of funding right so public education and Outreach may not need as much funding as other things and so you know do we really need to be you know cash driven or are there things the trust can do like what is the role of the trust right I mean to me like getting land and other things is cumbersome because we're a public entity and then we have public procurement and other processes the better thing would be to facilitate something where we you know don't necessarily maybe touch it right because if we all of a sudden own a property uh you know the trust still has to then go through a public procurement process to do something with it um and so maybe some of what we're doing is facilitating things putting land owners or property owners in touch with other agencies that are you know better equipped to do that you know we may have the ability in town you know in terms of town staff and everyone to manage certain of these you know certain projects but maybe it actually it' be better if we're facilitating it setting it up but then having someone else operate it and so I just want would want to say you know like what what's the goal in terms of fundraising in terms of meeting the other goals that we have in in this action plan in this strategic plan and so if we think that the CPA allocation or short-term rentals or other pieces can you know keep the trust moving do we need to then keep going or or do we also then have other areas of priority and focus and so you know I think public education Outreach is really important so I think a lot of people don't know what they could do with their property you know they've been you know keyed in in terms of conservation right there's been land trust for you know conserving land for decades and so people really know that they can donate their land or part of their land and get a conservation restriction or do other things right they can do donations in terms of value and keep it but I don't think they know they could do that in terms of Housing and so I feel like there's a lot of things that trust could be doing to help facilitate you know projects without necessarily owning or getting involved in the you know the you know managing the financial piece but which which probably will speak to goal number three um all right Carol and I just want to do a Time checks 8:46 um I guess I just wanted to say that there was something that Gest said that seemed me really important to me I would like to have some way to write into the funding thing that uh there's room for thinking of other things to do even if we can't think of them right this minute so it doesn't so instead of feeling like this is what we're going to do it feels like there's room to if some of one of these if we explore any of these things we've been talking about we may discover they don't work they're hopeless forget it we may discover there's something we could do here and I would like our plan to encourage us to do that kind of exploration so you're stating um we need some language that would be that would allow for that so you know it's a placeholder and I think this probably the smaller group would probably could word Smith some of that and bring it back right I mean yeah sorry just to cut it I know the historical commission and others have all often talked about you know like a revolving Loan Fund right if you can get it moving you know how does that work but yeah I mean I don't I think there are probably other ideas out there um I just you know I was just thinking that if I don't want to spend so much time thinking how are we going to raise a lot of money if there are other things the trust can also be doing great thank you Nate okay Shelly what do you think fantastic so sorry I've taken up so much time but I think it's helpful to have some brainstorming so the small group is meeting next week so we'll dig into this a little bit more and come back again next month thank you and first of all um take as much time as you need because this is one of our most important pieces is the Cornerstone of what we're going to do uh I just wanted to make sure that people knew what time it was just do a check but it is really the Cornerstone of our next three to five years so um it is really important that we're all on the same page with this so thank you very much and more to come our subgroup will meet uh next Thursday and then we'll be back with uh the revisions and um goal number three thank you for all of your ideas nice to see you thank you thank you by thank you Shelly thank you so very much all right so our next item on the agenda I believe is the town uh updates um so the first one is just an update on house on the housing production plan sure so uh uh I'm very excited I'll just jump in here uh at long last um we had our first meeting uh with uh Barrett planning which is the consultant that will be producing our housing production plan Nate and I met with uh Judy Barrett yesterday um and that so that's you know that's all contracted and began basically yesterday um Our intention is to have a more formal um sort of overview of the whole process which is going to be between eight and 10 months um in that range uh and we'd like to bring that presentation to the trust next month in August when you know Judy's been able to dig in a little bit um and her intention is also to be out here with her team uh in August as well uh to do initial interviews uh and um you know poke around ammer a little bit take some pictures look at some sites uh so that process is underway um and I'll just say that the trust is kind of written in as the sort of Brain Trust body so to speak uh in our requisition documents for this process so um you know hopefully you know we'll you know have you know probably somewhere between three and five substantial opportunities to weigh in on different pieces of this plan um so up between now and the end of the process in about 10 months or so I'll stop there thank you Greg um the next is the inclusion inclusionary zoning language and I think there were two options um based on the conversation we had last week so I don't know if people if you want to put it up so people can look at it sh be withth I know we had a lot of conversation but I think you know it was the word smithing of it um all right here it is thank you yes so I realized that various pieces of feedback didn't quite fit in the same one one sort of superseded the other two pieces which is why I made two different versions of it any reactions I mean to me one of the biggest differences the the first one has at least four times and the other one has uh shall be between four to 10 times and I know we had a lot of conversation about that the the between four to 10 times um and I think there was also conversation about if we're not uh specific um then it becomes um more problematic for the per the permanent granting board to make a decision about what it what it actually is going to do oh go ahead Guston yeah I mean I think that you know through if you put it in an algorithm they kind of mean the same thing but I think that the it is helpful I think to indicate that higher multiple to open up the imagination and legitimate the whole range and second I think that's that the just that option A started from the you know the earlier approach and the accept that is trying to be more than an exception it's really trying to change the whole Spirit of what comes before it so for for that reason and I I think option b is is more effective in um I guess conveying what I understand to be the spirit of our of our proposal anyone else go ahead Paul unmuted thank you um so yeah I mean I was frustrated last time because people read the this as being like you said you were going to ask for four times or whatever it was and we should not deviate from that when we probably knew the developer was willing to provide more and I think there was a legit conversation about that and I think we had you know reasonably reasonable people disagreed on it so I think this we need to have this flexibility uh because market market conditions change all the time and you know and property locations have certain different values so I think having the more flexibility I um I don't I I don't really have a strong feeling on which way to go I mean um the second one gives you a sort of a range which makes people think oh it could be up to 10% as opposed to the other one which is when you say just um four times it sort of that sort of cements that in is the number so thank you I would like the flexibility to do more because I think we developers are making a lot of money on developing housing in amorist and we can leverage that and that's how a lot of other communities have leveraged funds thank you Grover I prefer option b is there anyone who uh prefers option A and wants to speak to that okay not seeing any hand hands uh and I hate to sort of snowball it's just but the um time is starting to run out and I want to make sure everyone leaves can leave on time um I I think um what I heard from uh Grover Paul and I also agree uh option b seems to be more representative of what we discussed last time so um I don't know should we just put a thumbs up if everyone's okay with that option b okay yep looks like everyone all right so we can propose option b uh Nate you'll and Greg uh I assume you will bring it forth or do you want the new do you want the chair to bring it forth um I'm not sure what the next steps are for that yeah I was gonna say um I might like [Music] a um but uh they they do kind of say the same thing the um I you know the way the charter is written the plan the trust can bring forward a zoning Amendment so you could sponsor this and vote to recommend this to counil I had some questions about that just because Master General law is prescriptive in terms of what body and how it has to be mentioned in a charter um the other option is you would recommend this to the planning board that they you know move it forward there a planning board is one of the named bodies locally that can you know change the um change the zoning by a law so you know I I think that if the trust is comfortable with one of these options it would be nice to have a vote tonight uh you know and it could just be that the trust votes option b to be you know um proposed as a zoning Amendment or you know move forward and then Greg and I can figure out which which path it should take but at least we'd have that vote okay I put forth that the trust uh votes to put forth option b as a zoning Amendment because I think we just voted that option b was the best one um any discussion before we take the vote okay um Grover we're just gonna do a vote I or nay I Paul Gaston hi algra hi Alex I Rob yes Carol I perfect thank you um thanks uh so Nate you and Greg will then inform us what the next steps are perfect okay um we've got about three minutes um unless there's something new about um the um in uh the overlay the University Drive overlay I think the last time what was stated was is that um the planning board was looking at it was going to submit their recommendations to the Town Council the Town Council was going to look at it make recommendations and then bring it back to the planning board and then once once it goes back to the planning board we were going to weigh in it anything more about that yeah I'll just say quickly that the board um recommended you know voted to move it along as a zoning amendment to T to Town Council and then so now you know the council will see it as a as a zoning um proposal and likely recommend it back you know for public hearing to the planning board and community resource committee resources committee uh the overlay language we I could send out you know it's six stories on University Drive with a percent of mixed use on the first floor uh it has you know pretty flexible parking and dimensional standards and so um yeah I mean that's that's kind of that's it once you see the language you know maybe there's questions I do think that I mean the planning board had some questions with it with it but they realized that once the council refers it back it it opens up the door for even more discussion so you know I think that's where we are right I think when it gets to the planning board will'll be a good time for the trust to weigh in on it and provide recommendations perfect so you're going to let um us know when it goes back to the planning board and you're going to give us the language so we can then be ready to to um participate in public comment great great thank you all right um now we're the next item is item number eight uh we're going to vote on chair so um Guston um uh had stated that he is interested in being the chair uh we had no one else we reached out to everyone else and we had no one else who wanted to step forward um I believe we should have a vote even though we only have one person um I am very excited about gone um taking this uh and leading us forward especially in the next three to five years after we do our action plan um G I don't know if you want to say a few words before we vote but I would assume that it might be nice for you to say a few words sure thank you uh well I had a chance to meet with Carol and Erica earlier this week and talk about process and things that are more behind the scenes and as I mentioned I think at the last meeting I've been serving in the town since I moved here back here in 2018 and I'm enthusiastic about the opport to to chair a committee and this Committee in particular I'm excited for actually turning this strategy document into action and kind of dividing and conquering Among Us and and um getting some things done thank you gone um so I'm going to uh put forth that we go ahead and vote and I will ask each one of you uh to vote um so I have uh start with algra yes Rob yes Grover yes Paul yes Carol yes Alex yes well I want to congratulate you Guston you are going to be as of August so August 1 he's going to be meeting um at the monthly meeting with the town um and uh Carol will um be joining him for that particular meeting uh that's the planning meeting and then as of August 8th he will be facilitating you'll be facilitating our meetings so uh Carol Nia very excited to pass on um the leadership to you uh and I think one of the things that we said to Guston is that one Carol I are available for you know any information or any support we can provide but two that um the trust um has always been sort of a a group of people who are um up and willing to share leadership share the work um share ideas uh I don't think anyone's shy here in sharing their ideas um or stepping forward in helping the chair um so please um always be willing to call in any of us uh for help for support uh if something comes up and um you know you think we can be supportive in that then please do so thank you so very very much and uh yeah we're excited for the new year to come kind yeah thank you both for your amazing leadership and collaboration and just really pushing it forward all these years it's been our pleasure uh Carol I don't know say but yeah it's been a real pleasure to work with this group because it's such a strong group and it's a pleasure for the two of us to work together also so it's been a win-win as I said to Carol Carol is very very good at making sure at the end of our conversation there's action steps and I'm such a process oriented person I love working with Carol who is a product oriented person so we really complimented each other great okay um it is 9:02 so uh are there any items not anticipating 48 Hours not hearing any uh I'm going to move forth to saying that our next meeting is August a August 8th um and you can always find uh the meeting web link on agenda or on the website and I want to thank all of you for um the constant wonderful work that we're doing together and the commitment that we're all showing collectively to make sure that unhoused individuals and those who have um unsafe housing and non-sustainable housing um have Advocates here who are going to make sure that we can increase as much as possible affordable safe sustainable housing in Amis so thank you good night hi everyone thanks good night everybody thank you thanks all um good night night thank you night thank you all right great work yeah this is tough passing on the Baton hey you know what like you're I'm I'm sure you'll find plenty of productive stuff to do you know yeah well I told you know what I told Guston i' really really like to put um you know structural documents together process documents together things that you know when we pass on the Baton you know things like you know that that a chair knows you can't have a meeting unless it's been posted 48 Hours beforehand just take it for granted because you do it and Nate used to do it um but you know things that are written so someone knows you know so yeah anyways it's a great idea all right stay in tou I'll probably be in touch with you but enjoy your trip if if we don't cross paths uh all right I'm leaving Sunday yeah okay I probably won't then all right okay have fun thank you byee may you may you find only fair seas oh please thank you because I get seing so quickly yes please okay all right thank you bye bye