##VIDEO ID:h6TLIw3y3RM## okay so our attendees are guests not members let's see good evening to everyone joining we're um waiting for one more member to join uh to to kick off Greg you didn't hear anything from Paul about whether he was coming or not did yeah Paul Paul does intend to come so I I think we'll oh good okay great we shall have a quorum there he is all right welcome Paul so Greg I I um can you help me with the uh the kickoff language to open the meetings um uh sure so you I I think we can just welcome everybody to the August meeting of the the Housing Trust and uh officially call it open I guess all right okay fair enough in the we read this little Preamble about access to the meetings um yeah so welcome everyone and um does anyone have any comment before we uh jump into this evening's agenda in in the audience uh let's see who's the hands up Paul does oh yeah yeah yeah do we have a quorum one two three four five I think so we have five well I we're missing three we're missing three U members I should count myself yeah that that was that was my the question um but yes uh indeed so uh gracefully we have a quorum and uh I don't see any comment before we uh jump into our agenda so first uh order of business is to approve the minutes from July uh Greg sent them around in uh this week's packet and um I had a chance to review them earlier I don't have any um comment I wonder if anyone else has any uh correction or addition you'd like to make to our written record oh I'm Erica go ahead Erica go ahead it's very very very minor uh but I believe in uh one of the paragraphs there's a double um couple of double words and that is under the um item number five and the par third paragraph before we go to item number six it just says other than other than okay thank you otherwise no comment thank you good um Carol um I'm trying to find it which I have not exactly done and I don't I wasn't exactly completely happy with the Des with the description of my comment about our CPA proposal it says I have a concern about it and that feels kind of more like I more negative than I want to do than I was thinking or intended or think I said although maybe I said something weird I just I feel like there will be uh we we need to do a good job of presenting our very important Arguments for why yes we still need the money it's kind of my point not that it sounds like I think maybe we shouldn't get it I don't know I just didn't s like the way it sounded but whatever highlighted the significance of going that sounds good okay okay so seeing no other comments um do we have a motion to approve the minutes show moved second I second I second okay uh so uh all in favor uh let's go around um Erica yes uh algra yes Carol yes and I uh I approve I guess we don't need to do all those for for minutes but approved Let's uh move on to our next Paul you forgot Paul sorry Paul sorry yes yes I forgot about me too so don't worry about it okay we're even now okay excellent so uh our next order of business is an important vote uh we um do we have anyone from the um organization that would like to uh tell us if you have anything to add from what you presented at our last month's meeting um yeah they are present here let me let me uh um allow Jessica to talk here and uh Jessica do you want to add anything or I can Pro promote you to a panelist if that's helpful um I don't have any anything new to add for information unless you're looking for project updates I mean there's not a huge amount that's happened in the in the past month but we've had some couple of things so it's up to you I'm happy to just sit and wait for questions if that's what you'd like to do all right uh if uh anyone would like those project updates um please uh let let us know um okay so algra um would like to hear those so why don't you uh just share a brief overview of those updates uh Jessica if you might po so um we are still moving full steam ahead um I think you are all aware that the project received a a $500,000 earmark in the latest housing Bond bill so we're pretty excited about that um we continue to Value engineer with our GC kider um construction to see if we can bring the construction costs down they um we had a recent meeting with them where um they informed us that our Target uh number that we have in our budget is pretty low and we're going to need to do some some um serious uh considerations here to to get the project on budget so that's um another piece that's happening um marketing is in full swing right now in terms of the production of materials so that's great and the other item that we're talking about with kider is um utilizing the already committed CPA money and Trust money to do a little bit of fall infrastructure work basically getting out of the state highway layout and getting infrastructure onto the site so we are in conversations with kaider who's um been having conversations with different town staff to see how feasible and what we would need to do to to to at least maybe get the um Mass DOT driveway work done that's been permitted and try to at least get the water and sewer lines from the public lines onto the site so we are pushing ahead with that if we are able to do that that would save us a couple months in the spring and we'd be able to move straight into site work and vertical construction so it's kind of worth us to investigate and see whether this is is uh um we're able to do this so that's the other piece that's happening I think that's about it thank thank you Jessica anyone have any follow-up questions about that update yeah alra please so is the $500,000 earmark is that included in the sources of funds that we have or is that so the 500 the $500,000 earmark is specifically for solar so it's not represented because we don't we have value engineered solar panels out of the budget at this time um so that money would enable us to purchase panels and install them onto the homes we fully intend to wire for solar so that if that earmark for whatever reason doesn't isn't able to be uh realized fully realized then um you know homeowners would have the ability to put solar panels on um and we are aware that there's solar for all tax credits that will be coming down the pike here in a couple of years so homeowners would be able to take advantage of those tax credits but um I'm really hoping that we can get a full panel installation on each home before somebody moves in I really think it'll save them a lot of headaches I think to be able to move into a house with those panels already in place would be huge and um you know as we've sort of realized or I've been hearing at our our staff meetings is we we recently had um our home ownership Department was dealing with a client who was trying to purchase a home that had a solar install that had some debt still on it and it really complicated their sales process so that to me also kind of spurred me to really want to make sure that we can get this solar in place but as it's tied to the bond Bill we all know that you know they have to actually bond for the money and they have to put it forward so it's tied to the solar panel installation um we'd be happy to um if that money came was realized after construction was totally completed we would still be committed to putting the panels on the on the homes so and using the money for its intended purpose yeah ER Erica I just wanted to let you know that Laura had her hand up too so it seems like she also wants to make some comments but I just had a quick question um so Jessica it sounds like if you could uh you would start some of the processes a little earlier I know the ab Butters in the community is very very supportive of all of this but if you're going to do things earlier do you have a plan for letting people know just because it's a very very as you know it's a highway it's a very very busy um byway yep we are um I in constant communication with the director Butters when there is any activity happening on the site so we have we have a very robust email relationship um and so um you know absolutely we would be notifying them but we're still trying to determine the feasibility of it and what are the steps that we would need to take to actually make that happen it's the there's some questions in terms of tying into the water and sewer in my mind um and we have a number of other questions that we're trying to flush out right now but we are we are trying to get shovels in the ground a little bit earlier than we intended because we know it's going to save us money and it's going to save us time in the long run I'll defer to Laura whatever she'd like to add yeah get promote yeah great hi there can you hear me yeah you're all muted now no um so I just wanted to add Jess has been doing a bang-up job trying to raise the Gap financing that we need so in and in addition to the um housing Bond um earmark she has also submitted an application to a foundation Eastern Bank Foundation um and at least we've made it through the preliminary screening for that Foundation because they want to have a conversation with us so um you know when we when Jess presented before they were kind of multipronged approach to filling the Gap one of the ways was coming to the trust for money but we had two other ways um that look like they're going to be fruitful so I think that's good news um for for all of us so I just wanted to throw that in and you know as ammer is seeing in its own capital projects the longer you wait the more it costs so you know time is of the essence with all of our work because the sooner we're ready to go the more we can contain those construction costs it just has been a crazy escalation over the years so I would just add that we're doing everything in our power to kind of frontload and FastTrack the actual construction um as a way again to try to uh close that Gap in financing I think that's it thanks thank you thank you uh so I guess now turning to our own uh discussion we're seeking to vote on uh approving the request or not approving the request for $350,000 to uh complete the the budget as requested and uh I'd like to I guess share that at our planning meeting I invited John Hornick to share his own insights from the institutional history of this trust and get some perspective and I'll just kind of relay that his um learning over the years being on the trust was to prioritize The Bird in Hand the opportunity that is present and and available to to um support the the construction of Housing and to recognize the um the the the value of such a big project and the fact that at the margin we're talking about um around $112,000 per unit that get get unlocked through the the trust action so I just share that um and the other point that I asked about was uh what kind of due diligence should the trust be doing and um John's comment was well to remind us that the state's uh processes are extremely rigorous and difficult to get through number one and number two um Nate maybe you can speak to this uh now that the town has a standard set of commitments that go along with um the kind of grant that is being asked of of us uh here so yeah Nate I wonder if you could just share that um you know in case other members weren't aware of those details as I wasn't yeah I mean we have we enter into a grant agreement you know contract with the entity whether it's Valley or someone else and usually we have conditions about um Benchmark funding release on certain things whether it's building permits or you know they have to show a full budget we typically require also um an affordable housing restriction that is a separate document between the town and the developer sometimes we combine it with the other um the other funders sometimes it's separate so you know these are essentially some of these are public funds and they're administered through the trust so we we do you know have um some safeguards so that the money you know if something happens we could you know try to recover the money but typically we put safeguards in that the public benefit is the affordable housing and it remains that way thank you Nate so uh what comments and questions points of view to members of the trust have about the The Proposal in front of us yeah Paul please so I I've talked about this before I mean this is I think probably the one of the best and most important projects the town has you know home ownership opportunities are um rare uh this is really generational change and I think so I really value this project uh the challenge I have with this is um two things one is um we just sort of are looking at this sort of haphazardly as a as a committee like we look at these things one off we don't know uh spending money on this means we're not spending it on something else we don't know what to something else is um I value John's comment I think he's right on that that you sees the day sort of the opportunity as in front of you um and you know and I I also recognize the value of this money early in the project to have a commitment to make sure the project is is can go forward and you know Valley is a terrific developer all those things being said um I guess my biggest concern is like in what I said last time I think Laura said they if if we say yes to this then they won't be coming back to the town for additional funds and if that's the case um I can support that um and I guess that's the question to Valley uh uh great so um uh Jessica or uh do you Laura do you want to address Paul's question now or uh or come back to that after we discuss a little further yeah whatever the preference of the trust is go go ahead Laura Let's uh since the point is uh is alive on the table uh this is Jessica so just sorry okay sorry I was talking I didn't know if Laura was on as well I'm oh there she is go ahead Laura you want to talk about it go ahead so um I had spoken Paul just assuming that the town could set a condition um with its commitment that says you know this is the last money we're giving from this bucket to this project and just be clear about it that way um I think that's cleaner than asking the applicant you know please will you not come back again um because that's hard for us to commit to but I think it it's a fair thing for the town at some point to say this is your third time you know it's we're this we love the project but this is the amount that we can give um and and that's what I would suggest if that's the feeling of the committee that they want to kind of that they do want to give money and that they do want to have it be the end of the end of the line for for Town resources Paul you want to follow up U yeah I just I have a question if um Nate and Greg if they have a recommendation for the for the committee well we haven't talked Greg and I haven't talked necessarily together about this um I think that you know with the the this request the cost per unit is still not a lot so you know in the past the town has funded you know units up to 80 or $100,000 or more so as a you know cost per unit is still not there um you know the trust will be getting additional funding through CPA and payment and L I do think it is a lot I I you know um the town is also putting in CPA funding um yeah you know I I I think that uh I kind of uh think that this could be recommended and then you know if they really do come back then it's a I think the trust could really scrutinize it and see whether or not it's you know an additional request after this is really warranted um you know I think Valley tried to and and often developers won't come in with what they might need right away just because it's an overwhelming number and so you know often times they might come back a few times knowing that it seems like it's an easier approach but then you know but then every time that happens people question it and so you know wayfinders did something similar with the project they're proposing in E sammer I think they originally said they would like you know $2 million and it's just like well no that's that's a lot but you know that's they're saying well that's what they think they could use locally and and it wasn't that much but you know it's kind of like if someone came out and said that you'd say well gez that's you know um so sometimes an incremental approach is better I I yeah I mean um you right now there isn't there aren't other projects I think there's um funding available if something were to arise I don't think that you know this would preclude the town or trust supporting other projects if you know if there had to be some some other funding um there is CPA and there's some other trust money available Carol I put my hand down I keep changing my mind I just think this is an incredibly important project and needs to go forward and I would be in supportive of asking Valley to at least just tell us they have no intention of coming back for this project one of the thing that impresses me about you guys is like you're already starting to plan to do something here even though you don't have all of the funding quite there yet I find that that impressive and it feels to me like you will find a way to make it happen and I think that's great and so I would like to yes give you the $350,000 and know that you really something very dramatic and horrendous and whatever would have to happen for you to come back again that's my two cents Erica I also think this is really an important project I actually live around the corner from the project uh or the development because I know how people respond to the term project even though I grew up in a project um it I think it is really very important just in terms of um the size as well as the fact that it's home ownership as well as the fact it's an opportunity to really do some um positive cultural change both for the community as well as the community that's going to be created here they'll be part of our Dona Community um and the amount of Outreach work that is so uh thoughtful that is so impressive to me that I think is just so important that we support that usually when people have cost increases they cut around okay well let's do a little less Outreach or we can just do Flyers Etc you are highly committed to really ensuring that marginalized and individual communities who have not had access to affordable housing have an opportunity to get this so I'm absolutely in favor of this and Paul I get what you're saying in terms of um not looking at the bigger picture I think we're doing that with our strategic plan and I think there's probably going to be a cut off point uh where we're now going to say is that okay now we're going to look at the plan and then we're going to make a decision about how we're going to use the money but right now this is a Bird in Hand and I think we should go for it legro would you like to share any comments or or orh questions sure I mean I think that it is a important project and I think with our conversations thus far about what our strategic plan goals will be I think it is in line with what we've talked about even if we're not quite there yet um and I do think that there's a lot of Buy in and support from other boards and committees for example I know that the um reparations assembly had mentioned this particular project in their final report I know that um the community safety and social justice Committee of which I am the co-chair is interested in having um a conversation and maybe a presentation from the person who's doing Outreach um at one of our committee meetings because again it does tie in with I think getting a you know a different idea about affordable housing and home ownership to more marginalized groups and I think that um again this is what we have in front of us right now um and we have the money there and there will still be some money in our pot um obviously there is a big project that's coming down the pipeline in East ammer and hopefully our funds will replenish by then in case there's a proposal in front of us about that but as of right now I haven't seen one right um so I I mean I think and and I agree that this is a a second big chunk of money that we're thinking about um releasing to this project which I think again is important and I think with the budget that they presented this would for what the numbers are in front of them now help fill that Gap like we would you know if everything falls into place that they have proposed the project will be fully funded as the budget stands right now so I do think that that is an important consideration as well thank you alra and I guess speaking for myself I um am also inclined to unlock this opportunity if if we're in that position and I um I I think we're all uh favorably disposed and so maybe we can take a a minute to talk about um what uh language or Proviso or um uh the spirit of our our vote to express the uh idea that we would like this to be the the actual um grant that unlocks this project and and that we aren't um in this you know in having this conversation again um uh so are there any suggestions on that front um uh I guess Nate you you had a view that um May maybe we don't have to include anything special in the vote as such no I mean I think that you know unless there is a specific request from the developer you know we would say that this would be for you know the project right so it's to Aid in the Development and Construction of housing sometimes you know they might want the funding specifically for a certain part if they need it for you know because of way the budget might work out or how they have to present it to other agencies but you know for you know to me it's just a general development requests not you know specific for something um Paul what what what what do you see a a way of trying to um you know put the the spirit of your comment into how we approve this yeah based on the sort of uh comments uh by Laura last meeting in this meeting I would I say that we would approve the um allocation of funds um for I think it's $350,000 for this project for general cost however they need to use I don't think we should specify I think they need flexibility for that um subject to the understanding that um the developer um does not come back to the um the trust for additional funds okay um so uh let Let's uh see if there are any comments on on that language um before we uh put together a motion um would anybody like to um you know refine or comment on the proposal that that Paul laid out seems like that's uh copasetic to to the group um could we have a a motion uh so phrased um um I move that we approve the funding in $350,000 um to the valley um with the provision that they will not come seeking additional funds from the trust for this particular project thank you do we have a second oh yeah uh uh before we vote let me uh let's hear from Laura just hand came up was that unintentional Laura raise your hand can you hear me yes oh sorry I didn't mean to interrupt a process that's going so well okay I just was gonna say you the language could be that we that we never darken your door again um H well so we we'll remember that uh it's in the it's in the YouTube uh and uh but we do have a motion on on the table so um uh Erica I second it okay um so uh let's uh let's uh go around to see who approves of the motion as as algra phrased it um uh start with Paul yes Carol yes algra yes yes and Erica yes and I I also vote Yes so the motion passes um Laura you have your hand up again do you want to add add something good Lord I I don't know what's going on thank you that's all thank you very much we really appreciate consideration you've given us we certainly appreciate the commitment of funds and we will definitely keep you posted as we go forward um we're super excited about this one so thanks very much guys thank you thank you everybody I kept raising your hand as a practical joke no um all right well you know that was a a big vote for my uh my first time chairing so I'm glad that went smoothly um uh all right so next up we uh get to hear about what's going on with this exciting um the community engagement plan for the housing production plan uh so who who's gonna present on that front uh for us Greg uh we have guests from Barrett Planning Group who I'm promoting to uh be panelists okay right now here's Lily and I bet this is Judy here and Tony uh shall I um promote all three of you is that hi Greg um yes that should be fine sorry okay so yeah can I just I'll just introduce briefly um uh Tony Young and Lily Kramer um and Judy Barrett of Barrett Planning Group uh who are uh uh helping us uh the town of amorist um jump into our housing production plan which you all have heard about uh a great deal uh over the months um and it's finally here um and so I was excited to um uh have the team at Barrett share a little bit about um you know just a little more detail about what this uh this process is what the outputs are and uh and what um you know what the the various opportunities for the trust and others in the community uh to participate are um so um I think uh with that I'm I'm good but gastone if you you can add something or we can hang over to Tony if you want no no I mean uh we've been looking forward to this and are excited that uh the rubber is hitting the road so um please the floor is yours so thank you we're excited to be here too Tony do you want to start the slides and then we can oh yes kind of work through those that would be great I have screen share privileges I assume yes should sorry just give me a second all right there you go how does it's coming up looks good have to go back to the first one here we are so I'm really just gonna tee this up um Tony's going to kind of go through most of the slides um I'm Judy Barrett we have three of us here this evening in addition to myself we have Tony who's going to walk you through most of the slides and ly Lily is also on uh and in a couple of weeks we're going to be descending on Amherst for a couple of days of non-stop interviews which I'm very much looking forward to um we do a lot of work in this sphere uh I was actually really happy to follow um you know our presentation following the conversation with Valley CDC um you folks are lucky uh in Amherst that you have a really competent CDC to work with um many of the Suburban communities we work with and even many of the smaller towns do not have an asset like that so uh it's a it's it's really great for us because it tells us there's going to be some capacity Partners to uh to work with um so we have we've done several housing production plans out in your area we've done a lot of them all over the state uh I've been in the field for 35 years um our firm does kind of three major things we do a lot of work in comprehensive plans we do work and zoning and and this world of affordable housing is very much uh a kind of a center piece of our efforts so we're happy to be here it's wonderful for me to be back I worked with Amherst about six years ago um on a previous housing study and um I kind of fell in love with the town so I'm really happy to be back I think with that I'm going to turn this over to Tony so he can kind of walk through the plan for the project thank you thank you Judy um hi everyone it's a pleasure to meet you all for the first time tonight um all right my name is Tony Yan and Judy Lily and I are you know very excited to be assisting the town to update the town's um housing production plan uh so far we've been working with Greg and Nate to plan out the process and schedule of this project um and we're excited to share some of the ideas that we have tonight so I'll just introduce a little bit um about what uh housing production is for those in attendance who might not be familiar um it is a state regulated plan meaning that it must follow the executive office of Housing and livable communities guidelines uh which aims to develop and preserve affordable housing and attainable housing as required by the state's affordable housing Law chapter 40b um while housing is a universal issue we intend to help find Sol Solutions um you know that benefit the community as a whole but we have to keep in mind that housing production plans are primarily focused on serving low and moderate income households um the last housing production plan was updated over 10 years ago so we're updating that plan now to reflect today's environment um and housing issues that in some ways may sound familiar but um in other ways are dramatically different and so the most important asset for this plan is the community itself um the agenda packet includes the our community engagement plan which outlines our um proposed Outreach efforts and several opportunities throughout different stages of the project uh in which members of the public can become involved and contribute um and share um you know their thoughts uh feedback and input um as they would like and you know I want to emphasize that this plan will be a product of this Collective action and input in which our engagement strategies will help us achieve and you know of course with significant guidance from the the Housing Trust and um the town of Famers so first um we want to distinguish uh stakeholders from Advocates uh in the community because both represent different groups and us you know to have face different obstacles um in their daily lives and offer you know different perspectives so our definition of stakeholders refer to those that directly face problems related to housing and are in need of housing um that they can't afford Advocates are groups that represent and serve the interests of these vulnerable populations and you know those at risk of being unable to find housing or um even at risk of losing their homes so it's important to recognize these different uh you know groups of uh the community and different viewpoints so that we can address these issues isues that um that you know may arise and that we can tackle them at different angles and then we have advisers which comprises the Housing Trust and the planning department both of whom will lead and provide guidance uh Direction and assistance um to the process along the way and you know lastly the housing production plan requires approval from the town manager Paul wman as well as as uh the planning board um for a submission to eoh LC so it is very important that they are regularly informed and kept up to date on our progress along the way um Carol did you raise your hand I I did um I'm find the list of stakeholders curious and I wonder most of the all the most of those things can see how they're related to housing but when I come to students and faith-based communities it seems like an odd take for in if student Why students yes they need housing but so do elders so do families with young children uh and faith-based associations what about hound businesses what about employees that work here and can't find housing it just all of the things that were clearly about housing I get but to include students without including those other things is just curious to me and I wondered if he could explain it sure um that's a really good point this isn't a comprehensive list of everyone that we want to um include in these different like our definitions for these different groups um these are you know including but not limited to in a sense so we do consider you know the elderly um employees that need housing in the community as a Stak holders as well okay maybe you could put that in there whatever anyway go ahead of course all right um oh yes Laura I think Laura's hand is actually stuck up Tony it's all right um so moving on uh this is our tenative schedule for uh the major components of the housing production plan um and engagement events a more detailed schedule is in the engagement plan but we uh simplified it here um for this meeting and you know so that we can focus on some key items um so the three major components are going to be the housing needs assessment the housing goals and the strategy development um so we'll want to complete the housing needs assessment by early November um and then the housing goals by sometime in December and then have a complete draft of the strategy development as well as the full draft by um end of February March so that it can be um you know submitted to the town for public review and um subsequent ly approved in April and then oops below that is our propos schedule for the series of community outreach efforts we're conducting uh I'm not going to go into each individual event so please refer to the community engagement plan for more details on them um but I do want to mention that you know as Judy had already mentioned we our first round of stakeholder interviews is coming up very soon um on aug August 20th to the 22nd and then the following week on August 26 and 27 um and then I want to focus on the two Community meetings here that are going to be uh larger in scale and they're going and we want them to be open to the entire Community uh in town so the first community meeting is um scheduled to be on October 1st at this point in the schedule we we will have most of the housing needs assessment done so we want to showcase any findings and or highlight any findings that we will have um from that as well as sharing any progress in Housing Development and um any accomplishments that had been um that in town that have been since the last housing production plan um in 2013 and uh also having um a visioning activity that will help us start thinking of housing goals that are going to be measurable and achievable in the future so following that we'll have the second round of or the second community meeting in December um we have penciled in December 3rd and um we will just to be safe we will um save the following week uh for a snow day in case that day has inclement weather um just to keep in mind um so at this meeting we'll want to report any findings from the first community meeting and then introduce um some draft goals that we'll have at that point to solicit their feedback and then brainstorm some strategies for implemen ation and so with all this said we would you know really appreciate guidance and direction from the um Housing Trust along the way um so while this is all very tentative um you know we are thinking of attending your trust meetings you know roughly once a month to know provide updates and ask for you know further ideas and feedback so you know we would think you we think it would be a good idea to attend these meetings um you know at Key stages in the schedule um so following this meeting uh we will you know maybe meet again sometime next month to you know at that point we will be deep in writing the housing needs assessment um so we'll we're going to have a lot of questions that we want to ask um you know regarding data and other findings that we have found and um see if you would have any feedback on that and what kind of information you would want us to include in this component and also that would be right before the first committee meeting so we can also discuss and plan for that as well um again this is all tenative um so please you know if you have any thoughts after this um if you know if you want to readjust some of the schedule be happy to hear that um say in November we'll will have some draft goals um some working draft goals that we'll want your feedback on as well and um it'll also be before the second community meeting so we can also um plan together on that as well and then you know meetings in January and February we'll be focusing on um strategies and implementation um I know this will be a very important piece of the plan so you know we think it would be good to meet a little bit more frequently um catch you know which help us catch any errors that um that might arise before you know as we're wrapping up the project um in March and April um and so the meetings in March and April will be you know wrapping up the final items and any revisions um of the plan right so again for this plan to work um you know not only during the process of developing it but you know for it to work once the plan is adopted uh we need Community expertise and public participation and so this is where we lean on to the Housing Trust for direction and Leadership especially when it comes time to review know housing goals and to develop strategies for implementation know your expert knowledge in know Town resources is going to be extremely helpful for us to identify you know what strategies are realistic um and what areas in town have the most potential for housing opportunities and um you know other things like that so and again this is this all should be a very transparent and honest process so we ask that trust lend us support in publicizing this work and encourage part public participation when the time comes right so again we will have our first round of community interviews coming on the 20th to 22nd those will be impers that town hall um and then the following week we will have a few sessions on the 26 and 27th and those will be over zoom and Greg has sent out um email invitation to a number of stakeholder and Community groups earlier this week so thank you for that and thank you to those who have already signed up and we are all looking forward to that thank you so if I could just add you know I I think um the most important thing to us is to be able to give you a plan that amher can Implement there are housing plans that um we've worked on where the community wasn't really too engaged and just sort of wanted to check a box which was to say they had a housing production plan for chapter 40b purposes and those are plans that generally don't get implemented so we can bring a lot of technical expertise but we can't bring the community knowledge um and the leadership um and the direction that you folks can so it will be really important to us to work with you um and to get direct C from you uh all the way through this so that in the end you have a plan you can actually do something with that's what planners want you know we want you to end up having housing built where you want it to be and where it's realistic so that your developer Partners actually have opportunities to increase the supply of affordable housing in your community thank you so much I um I guess maybe we can go into some questions now and and uh maybe I'll I'll jump in with my first question which is just can you um I don't know if this is for more for Greg or for Barrett um who are the stakeholders that have been invited uh for later this month sure I can speak to that um thanks gestone um and and maybe just insert too you know I think you know we Tony shared this a little bit but I want to emphasize to and Judy as well U you know the deliver here to me that are really exciting you know you know as far as implementation you know are things like we will have concrete strategies you know there will be um you know a site list you know we'll have some great images of different housing typologies we might want to pursue you know sort of concrete things that can both serve as goals for the town but then also um you know ideally help us um both as the trust but certainly as the broader Town imagine uh you know where we can go a little bit and then go there um as to the stakeholders um so those invites went out uh you all were invited um and I uh uh I certainly encourage you to RSVP for one of those meetings uh or focus groups um sorry I'm forget what we're calling this set of of meetings actually but in any case the email you got from me click on that link and sign up um uh so so yourselves other Town boards Community stakeholders from social service agencies folks from the development worlds of both uh nonprofit developers like Valley um who are building uh you know projects like um you know like the Amis community homes we just heard about um and also some folks from the for-profit development Community both those who are involved in inclusion Area Housing um and also uh perhaps even folks who are doing smaller developments but who are going to have insights on our development process uh here in town um which will be helpful uh to um you know to be as they develop this plan um you know and then uh sort of various you know kind of other folks from the nonprofit World um but who are kind of serving folks uh who are um affected by a lack of affordable homes um um and then and then sort of public boards as well so the trusts we we also invited council members planning board members members of the disability access committee um you know sort of sets like that that's kind of the quick thumbnail thank you thank you Greg uh Erica thank you um so I do want to go back to what Carol mentioned uh I think Community engagement is so critical for this process um and it's probably I think one of the more challenging in terms of inclusion um and Al algra and oops Nate can uh speak a little bit to this as well when we did um our community Forum we try to find as many um emails um people who could actually talk to other people because there are a lot of people who are not on email um but by Word of Mouth uh and we also wanted to make sure that we had the capacity to have people uh be able to speak in their own language so we had um the capacity of having interpreters there at the same time um and we we were able to get 60 people to come in person which was pretty I think pretty significant but I think we want a pretty huge and we had I think about 20 eight uh online um respondents um I know that I walked through the town and went to a lot of cafes and restaurants to try to get employees um to participate and I know a lot of people that I spoke to said um they gave up on Amherst and unless we had uh rentals or or home ownership available right now they weren't interested in responding so I mean I think it's challenging but I think some of the people who probably have uh really important things to say are probably the more more challenging to try to get to participate in this and so we have to be very Innovative and I think we have to use our context and our influencers um to try to get people to to uh you know to participate in this so that was just one the other question I I have that was really not a question was more a comment but uh the other question I had was though um the townwide events uh in the document says the Consulting team will provide materials to town staff or members of boards and committees um to then do education and Outreach so when would that happen for us to have enough information to actually be able to do that um I'm sorry can you repeat that last part sure it says townwide events the Consulting team will provide materials to town staff or members of boards and committees who plan to attend in-person events as they happen throughout the year these events May provide additional opportunities for the town to share information and updates regarding the HPP with the public and solicit participation so wondering if that is sort of staged and stepped um and then when would that start happening uh and what the expectations would be of us to do that yeah that's actually a fair question I don't think we have a specific date in there I'm going to turn the question back to you if you know you're going to a meeting and you're expected to have briefed some materials beforehand how much in advance do you need that content because every boort I work with kind of has a different answer it depends on how busy people people are um you know how many boards and committees they're on what's I mean is a week ahead of time enough what works for you folks I'm not trying to feed an answer to you I'm just trying to get a sense of what would work because we do need to get that detail straightened out and I don't think I don't sure we have that plugged in yet yeah I can speak for myself a week would be very good because I'd want to see it and if there were any edits that I needed to make or if I didn't understand whatever is I'm presenting I would need time back and forth before so minimally a week would be really good anybody else have thoughts on that sure um so I think these townwide events it can there's no sad date because we um we don't know exactly what or when these are going to take place um they can be you know as informal as um you know a festival that you know that that that the town of Amber has you know annually and that um you might have a table there or Booth um if you know know that's totally voluntarily but um if you were to you know table a booth at you know one of these festivals do you want to publicize this uh housing production plan and um you know if it's and it really depends like at which stage we are in this process you know if it's at the end where we have the complete draft um or we have a a very fully written draft out and um ready to be approved um then there's not really that much room for public input at that point and and so at you know at that time maybe you know we would want to advertise here as a you know a full draft of the the plan please take a take a look whereas if it's in the middle of the process if this Festival was happens to take place in the middle of a you know while we're writing out um you know housing goals or before the second community meeting happens um and maybe we want to advertise you know we have a community meeting coming up um you know please attend if you can and at that point we will um be creating Flyers to advertise this event and then we'll share that with you to distribute so that's just one example well there there is a big annual party called the amers block party and I believe it's September 19th you you you have that on your agenda already okay good so that's an example of a event where at least some other committees I've worked with um they might have a booth or something and we would provide a couple of display boards with questions make it make just the engagement very simple for people we might have a question on a board or we may have a couple of questions we can you know provide a set of colored dots and people can pick or choose or they can put Post-it notes up depending upon what the board is um but that's a very kind of low te but easy way to say we're working on a housing production plan um you know give us your thoughts and we would have some a few questions so people aren't just Flying Blind but we've done that kind of thing before and it's and it's frankly fun and and you get to talk to people who may never show up at a public meeting whose name never shows up on an interview list but by God you've got their attention thank you Carol well I was just going to say that for something like the two uh the two big meetings that you are hoping to do I think it would be helpful to have something that we could use to put out in the world longer than one week in advance we're going to actually try to do something with it to get the word out then yeah a week doesn't seem like enough that's all yeah I mean for for outreach you need more than a week if there's something that we wanted you folks as the Steering group here to be able to read before the meeting so you would kind of know what we're coming in with I'm that might we might give you that a week ahead but certainly Outreach oh my gosh no a week is nowhere near enough I mean you really want to start a month can be too long some of this depends on the town but certainly at least three weeks ahead you want to have some serious Outreach going on and so we would provide you're G have to tell us what you want but typically Flyers um we might have a flyer with a QR code that takes people who have um smartphones to a site where there's more information we can kind of build this with you as we go along I I can't say there's kind of one way to do this it's part of why we want to get to know you so we know what's going to work for you thank you Paul yeah so when the energy and climate action committee was doing their um climate action plan they did they were at the black part block party and a lot of other places as well doing the same kind of thing very interactive um we could talk with that with um Stephanie chorell who's our sustainability director about some of the techniques they use but it was really the committee members were there that were engaging it was early staff um so it's like people from the community saying we want your feedback help us uh collect information but I think you're right that you do connect with lots of that's a very popular event in town is that a day long event or is it all day or afternoon or when it's like it's like 4 4 to 8 typically okay I think you're on mute that's no do any members have have have any comments I guess my my question is what concrete questions do you have for us right now um that that how can we help you right now um uh team Barrett um you know I don't I mean I don't have anything concrete for you tonight we will have concrete for you this was mainly us to come and see you and say we're here um we're working on the plan this is kind of the overall framework for the project um but I didn't come with a quiz for you but I can at the next meeting so I really I think this is really informational for us um so you folks meet every month is that what your schedule is okay so by next month we'll have more content for you good well I I guess I just do want to since it's only a few weeks away September 19th I want to underscore that that that that does really seem to be a worthwhile event for you all and um does anyone have any comment or words of wisdom you want to share with uh with our Consulting team uh before we we uh wrap up this agenda item er uh it's it's not a words of wisdom I was just looking at um some of your um sort of methods of communications and I do remember that you know when we did the Outreach um uh people kept on saying the schools are really a great opportunity to connect with families and that they have their own bulletins and so maybe creating you know blurbs um for you know the the school bulletins uh in terms of how families can you know be connected to this how they can participate why it's so important Etc would be really important to do so I just want to make sure yeah that we do that that would be really helpful so sometimes when in towns we work with school committees have a policy that they won't let anything go in the kids bags to go home at night that's not related to the schools so if your school department has a more liberal policy it's a great idea you know parents just have to be ready to look at the bottom of the bag but I mean I agree with you the schools can be a great method of Outreach the the high school um parent Guardian organization has their act together with announcements digitally so um they have a monthly email at least that that that might be a good venue um GRE okay um yeah I just want to uh just reemphasize um one concrete way you know initial step you all did receive invites to those um focus groups coming up in a couple weeks um and we love your participation in one of those um that that's kind of the initial concrete way uh to jump into this um and if anybody wants to you know get a little extra bonus points um I might want some help doing some follow-up Outreach you know and and you know there might there might be um Community stakeholders that have responded to an invite um that um some of you might know so I I you know I you know maybe I'll send an email to the trust if I'm trying to track some of those folks down um and and ask for volunteers so look out for that as well thank you and I guess to our members if you're searching your email and you search for Greg and Barrett you'll you'll probably get to the right email so thank you so much for joining us this evening and and look forward to with you over this project y we're really looking forward to it as well thank you so much for your time pleasure yes thank you Nate yeah for trust members the um you know we do have a housing production plan from 2013 and you know I guess we could send that out there's an executive summary but it you know it's a lengthy document but if you did a quick read or you looked at sections it'll give you a sense for what you know what a plan could include and if you think there's any gaps or things um that we' want to see in this one but you know we we did have one from 10 years ago a little over 10 years ago so you know if you're if you're curious it's available and um you know could give you a sense for what kind of what it could look like Erica I just have a quick process question um I know that they will come to the trust meetings and provide updates but I'm just wondering or maybe assuming that Gusto and you might be um also meeting with them I mean I think it's hard for them to maybe um have you know it might be helpful to synthesize some of the information context so I really think you I would love for you to be Del lead on no thank you yes indeed so um uh will communicate with Greg to find the best uh Cadence but uh one produ way to Mo move forward would be for you to join our planning meetings which are um you know in the middle of the day on a Monday or Thursday I can't remember but in any case that might be a meeting where then I can give a report to the trust for that month we can you know alternate as as as fits the case that month it's fine that works okay very good thank you uh good suggestion Erica um all right thank you um and so I guess we shall proceed to our our next agenda item which is picking up on our strategy I'm welcoming Shelly into the space now uh if the thing works like it should and thanks to uh Folks at Barrett very much y I'm gonna and Tony and Judy and Lil I'm gonna put you back as as as group attendees here if that's okay totally fine sh's great you're working with a real Pro so oh I know Joy yep thanks y bye hello shell there you are okay yes hi so are we are we ready to jump into the The Next Step okay great so um Greg are you able to share the document yes give me one moment great so it's in your packet that Carol sent out at the very very end and tonight we're wanting to go through the modifications that we've made to two of the strategies under funding um based on the conversation that we had last month and then we wanted to talk through the third goal of education and public engagement and the different strategies and to get some feedback from you on those strategies so first with the funding we had um based on our discussion last time we had made some modifications to strategy B and strategy D and we wanted to to see if this um reflects the conversation that we had last time if you're comfortable with these changes so B um was modified to seek a yearly CPA contribution from the town working toward an automatic minimum 15% recommended transfer with the option to request additional funds as needed so we had talked about the 15% and also adding the phrase of the option to request additional funds to make sure that that that it's clear that that um the trust would expect that in your relationship with the CPC and then D we modified um so now it says research creative ways to develop additional funding sources to support Trust goals and then just some examples based on some of the conversation we had but not pigeon toing you into any particular strategy and I just want to point out that the language is to support trust goals because there was some conversation that it wouldn't necessarily be funding that came directly to the trust necessarily but that it would be resources that did support some of your goals um even if it didn't come directly to the trust so I want to see how how you're feeling about those changes if that feels like it reflects the conversation last time who wants to jump in I mean just speaking for myself the um I I I'm comfortable subject to what uh what my colleagues here say Paul please I guess I'm not sure what automatic minimum means I mean that they we you know CPA committee and the council can't commit future CPA committees or councils so I I think it can be um I I just I'm not sure if that if it just means it's the word automatic and that's got me not sure what that really means so the hope is to move towards the CPC automatically recommending a 15% transfer each year without the trust having to apply necessarily so that's the goal is to move in that direction where the C BC just has the trust as a recommendation do other communities do that yes like which which which get to that um there a variety of communities um Grafton has been a community not necessarily 15% but where not every Community requires the trust to actually um fill out an application every time they don't always require it to be for a specific purpose so it depends on the community and the relationship between the trust and the CPC if you could just send me some examples of those communities that' be helpful I believe Cambridge does it as well um because I had researched it when it's been a few years so hopefully hasn't changed but I believe the uh city of Cambridge does it as well and Somerville as well oh Somerville huh yeah I wonder if uh would would the word default rather than automatic would that does does does that make any difference for anyone I wonder or what about dropping automatic and just toward a minimum 15% recommended transfer yeah I think that that's easier for me okay there you go uh any um everyone else all right with that deletion okay I'm sorry have one more question 15% of what of the annual um income that the CPC brings in so it's you know there's the 10% that must go towards community housing so this is 15% would request that 15% would actually come to the trust got it thank you yeah any other comments or questions um before we proceed to number three any any comment feedback on D or that seems okay to folks yep okay excuse me okay so the third goal your third goal is education and public engagement so we've talked about this in the past that the goal that we've um settled on is to develop a minimum of three Outreach efforts a year to educate the community about local housing needs and build support for more affordable housing to further the goals of the trust so there are five different strategies that we're going to go through tonight to get your feedback on how you feel about these um the first one a is to hold an annual meeting among Municipal boards to keep members AB breast of local housing needs and build the partnership between boards so we intentionally didn't list which boards these would be because that might change from year to year but wanting to put out there um that the trust will actively work to stay in communication with boards and to make sure that boards are kept a breast about any potential changes in housing needs and um for the trust to be intentionally creating Partnerships with different pertinent local boards should I pause after each one and have conversation or should we go through all five how do you what do you think well if I can just ask a question here I'm just curious what's what's our track record doing this Erica um I don't think we this year we actually met with the CRC which I think was wonderful um and it was the beginning but I don't I can't say if John met with other boards because I don't remember that and I know he was very active but as far as I remember being on the trust um we haven't really had had meetings with other boards um except for going to um you know the CPA and asking for funding um we worked with you know with with algra's um committee and with the Board of Health to do a community outreach event but to really sort of present ourselves share our action plan and talk about how we can work together um and we had the reparations group come but I I don't I don't really feel it was very um planful and um thoughtful in in terms of an action plan in doing that so I think this is a great opportunity to be more um judicious about how we we reach out and work together especially with the planning board the zoning board um the Town Council thank you uh alra um I was just kind of gonna say I don't think we necessarily had an annual meeting but we did collaborate with like Erica said the community safety social justice committee the Human Rights Commission and the Board of Health to present a community meeting so I think that that could be another area looking ahead at be where maybe we're working in collaboration with other um other groups I believe that during you know the height of covid there was a we did some sort of collaboration with the um energy committee maybe or put on some sort of more housing and energy focused um like presentation but that again might not be exactly the same level that this is talking about I think it's a good idea we've got precedents um of of sorts Carol I mean I've looked at this before with a little grp committee but I realize that my hope here is to encourage cross fertilization ferti ation and collaboration more than necessary having having an annual meeting so I don't even know if I feel like that at this moment is the best way to say what at least I was hoping to get to and I don't immediately have a better way to say it either but it seems like it's not really just having a meeting it's like how do we inter how do we collaborate better with other committee me committees in town and groups in town that we ought maybe to know what's going on and would work better if we knew what each other were doing okay what um maybe we we should go forward and then we can let the verb that we want to use marinate uh a minute okay and a sorry you just put up your hand yeah I was going to say that um you know it sounds good but you know there's so many boards and committees and so you know it's like you know the trust could say okay well you know July one every year we're going to invite every board in committee otherwise it's going to take us months just to get to Every Other Board in committee right it's just it that would become you know there there are so many between the you know the subcommittees of the council you know finance committee CRC and then the other ones we've mentioned and so you know I do like this I mean sometimes you know we had talked about doing a a newsletter a quarterly newsletter or something and so to me it's like is there a mechanism that we could send to other boards or committees and maybe we make it interactive somehow as opposed to having a static annual meeting I mean I think an annual meeting I I do like the idea of having something we've talked about this of trying to get a more consistent meeting with the planning board and CRC as it relates to housing goals and policies and and you know regulations um but you know to Carol's point it's like is there you know could there be a you know something that is you know more frequent and say I don't know when I hear annual meeting I just think like okay this is like you know the the big one once a year but is there something that's a little bit more kind of like a working meeting or something that could happen more frequently so I'm wondering if just changing if maybe it's instead of annual meetings getting away from that if it's something like hold strategic meetings among Municipal boards so what I was what I'm was kind of imagining is to be strategic around um these kind of meetings with an eye towards your goals so for example you're working on the housing production plan updating that and we don't want to assume that different board members of keyboards um necessarily are participating in that and the CPC is particularly important because you're wanting funding from the CPC so there could be a meeting um when the housing production plan is being developed to pre be presenting that uh a meeting at the CPC so instead of just going to the CPC when you want money go to them to make sure that they are understanding the housing needs in the community and to build a relationship that so it could be get let's get away from the annual meeting idea and maybe we rephrase that a little bit I I I think everyone likes that and it's not just meeting but it's disseminating information and collaborating um so I uh I I I susp ECT that we're we would like a more kind of all of the above type of language here okay okay great feedback okay so B host there it was annual again host annual community meeting to Engrade residents in the work of the trust relay current housing needs seek feedback and disseminate information about housing resources I mean partly why we're doing annuals because the goal is to have at least three three events so we're trying to make it so that we have at least that so this kind of builds off of uh at least in the past I don't know if you've done it more recent years but at least in the past the it seems like the ammer trust would would have some sort of annual um community meeting where there were different years where you would present something you're working on and seek feedback from the community and so it's kind of building off that idea that you've done in the past and then adding on um disseminating information about housing resources yeah I mean before the trust the you know fair housing um there's a few different there's the housing and Sh Comm and before that I was Housing Partnership fair housing committee but we would meet in April um you know for fair housing month and then you it did happen pretty regularly in April there was the expectation we'd have a bigger community meeting uh you know whether it was just informational or things and it hasn't been say as frequent or consistent but I mean in this instance I think having you know something that the trust could could highlight itself and engage the community uh you know it does take take a while to plan this so you know if you want to have different people speak and have tables and things I mean so you know like wow we could do this twice twice a year but you know you realize that it might take three months two months to get everything together and so but I do like having kind of this you know calling this an annual community meeting and trying to make it something that people can expect right so it's like you know do we invite other local agencies organizations um do we VAR topics uh just yeah so I will just say that the small group The Planning Group did go back and forth about do we call it a meeting do we call it something else and so we just decided to call it a meeting at this point any other thoughts on this one at this point Greg um yeah I just want to query folks [Music] um appetite for the idea of layering this a little bit so for example we are doing very much this with the housing production plan right and like does it make sense to do a totally separate thing or should I should we jump on the opportunity to layer you know and um you know and you know if a staff level if I'm GNA be whipping Outreach for a community meeting and we know we have to do these with the housing production plan does it you know can we look for strategic opportunities to to sync these things up or or do folks prefer to see this specific thing exclusively to the trust's work um I'm not sure what you mean by layering but uh in terms of taking opportunities um so for example last year we did the introduction to wayfinder when they uh wanted to do a community engagement with regards to the um Bel toown Road and East Street so we actually presented on what the needs were of um of Amhurst and you know what are some of the you know what's the data U what does it look like why do we need this so it was an opportunity for the trust to um co-facilitate with them but to also then present from a larger perspective things that we've accomplished things that we have done and things that we still need to do according to the data that was presented so I I like using opportunity I mean I think it's also important to I mean I heard what you said Nate in terms of people knowing this time of the month this is when we do something and so we all get everybody together but I think it's also important to use opportunities um and to collaborate uh on significant events such as this housing production plan if we have opportunities to be out there and talk about what the needs are and what the trust is doing what you know the CRC is doing and here's an opportunity for you to have feedback because the town is creating this huge plan and you know your feedback is important around that so yeah um absolutely I don't think we should just limit it to what we consider sort of a traditional Forum I I wonder if by actually removing annual and just saying host Community meetings we're closer to the spirit of what we're talking about because that would include the meetings that Greg is talking about um I what what do you think sh of that suggestion I want to put it out to you and Carol do you want to add to that because it it this really needs to be reflect what you yeah your group feels it's appropriate um I really thought that number c says a lot about what both Greg and Erica are talking about review upcoming town events and identify opportunities for the trust to participate I mean we ought to be doing that all the time and the good thing about I think the good thing about an annual meeting is what Nate suggested is that if it actually if it happens at a regular time each year then it maybe becomes something that people know to look forward to and the question to me though is will we actually come up with separate from all the other things that are going on just separately with nothing else to hang it on will we come up with being able to do some kind of a good way to engage residents if it's not hooked to some particular project or some particular activity and I don't know so I I'm not sure I'm not sure about that the one that seems really crucially important to me is the one that's in SE yeah I mean I think that's the question is it important do we feel it's important to commit to doing a um an annual meeting and creating that tradition Erica sorry I would advocate for leaving B and C and maybe with b instead of um ho just host Community meetings to engage residents minimally once a year um and so instead of just annual because it sounds annual sounds sort of you know really fixed um but I mean I I believe what we did with our community meeting and our community outreach was really important um and so I think you know having something like that uh is important and I know Nate you said April but I remember when John was on board we did a community Forum community housing Forum in September it seemed like it was always September um in terms of when I was here so um I would leave it there it's a goal and if we have enough members who can start planning for it and is interested we we'll make sure it happens Nate yeah right yeah yeah John right I think was John it was September October I was going to say well even during covid we had done you know Zoom series you know one was about um you know fair housing one was you know housing discrimination or Energy Efficiency in housing uh renting to voucher holders and they were really uh well attended and so you know I felt like it actually encouraged um especially the one after renting uh to voucher holders or affordable tenants we actually had you know you know a few Property Owners call the town to follow up to to do that and so I you know having whether it's you know having a series of a few meetings I feel like having those and say three meetings over four months or five months it really helped to me get people more aware of the trust and so you know even if you know that goes back to some of these other ones C or B but having a few meetings in succession was to me really effective at you know and there are different topics at getting different people involved so the one with the rental piece we actually emailed all the property owners and managers associated with the rental registration and so you know we Tred to you know we contacted you know 700 different entities uh and you know let them know about what we were doing and so then for the next one there were other ways of Outreach so to me those are really really helpful Community engagement efforts and so you know they could fall into a few few of these but I I think those work really well and it wasn't you know like this big annual meeting but Erica sorry that was a ghost okay um so what to to Erica's suggestion What If instead of annual meeting because that can seem really formal nonprofits have to have an annual meeting so if we just say host community meeting at least once a year to engage residents in the work of the trust so it's perhaps a bit more flexible yeah me I guess I'm hearing everyone uh subscribes to that goal okay so we'll just restructure that a little bit see how that feels okay and then so C Carol kind of jumped into C is review upcoming town events and identify opportunities for the trust to participate so it's it's a little bit squishy where it's not measurable so much but you could potentially have a subcommittee of a couple of you that keep an eye on the calendar and what's coming up and then make proposals to the full board about what you engage in I have a question about a a form of Engagement that occurred to me which would be like the trust sending a letter to the editor of The ammer Gazette um as a kind of communication Outreach type of um activity advocacy and I guess I'm not sure where it would fit here if if it's important to try to have one of these goals Encompass that sort of activity I could imagine kind of uh revising C to try to capture that possibly um but maybe maybe it's not really that related um but none none of the others seem to get to um advocacy outside the town what do others think Carol it's a good point and the other thing that's left out here is any of our attempts to Advocate with the state to you know write letters to legislators and things in order to try to advocate for the that we want to see the state of Massachusetts do that would help us out um somehow that and the kind of advocacy that would be what Gaston is talking about aren't here and yeah it's something that we have done at least to some extent and it feels kind of missing to me so we did talk about it with a smaller group and because this specific goal is about um educating the community about local housing needs and building support for affordable housing locally that there was some discussion of does does everything that you do necessarily need to be captured in these goals and strategies or can there be um an understanding that there are other things that won't completely be captured in these so we did decide to to not try to broaden the goal um but it's a it's a decision that you make because it it I don't think it really fits into this goal so it either be modifying the goal or be creating a whole another goal or just understanding that there are other things that you do that don't fit into these Erica do you want to piggyback on that yeah uh we did have that conversation and I think you kept on reminding us do you want to have an advocacy goal uh because that's what it would be it was a would be a goal that focused on advocacy trying to sort of push policy so it's it's something that the group has to make a decision on um but I I think you know what you said is it's either we have a a fourth goal which we're going beyond what we committed to in terms of three um uh or we you know there are things that we do do um that not going to be under this so are we looking for giving ourselves credit for all that we're doing or these are the priorities GRE yeah I I think you know what I Ed the term layering before but I think some of these goals could be stacked you know and and I think in terms of you know Nate mentioned some previous forums that the trust you know so we've already gone this route you know has done forums about I think I guess it was fair housing or I know there's some um some some housing and climate change related um panels that happened in the past um you know some policy stuff that's kind of outside the formal purview of the trust but frankly also is um useful uh useful thing to hang an engagement effort on so if we want to be more connected to community and we're going to have an annual event we're going to need content beyond what the trust is doing to bring people in the door so for example I could imagine that as um come and hear a presentation about why ammer you know needs a home rule for a housing transfer fee for example you know um you know and then so it would serve the engagement goal here and then speak to some of the advocacy stuff uh you know so we we could use those advocacy items to kind of push through these these goals here specifically or whatever's hot in a given moment um the I I appreciate now the distinction with the advocacy um and the activity I was thinking of writing a letter to the editor even if it's for communication locally I think it it's encompassed here and it doesn't need its own um letter or anything so I I'm I'm personally okay to keep moving to D if is everyone comfortable with um with c yeah okay the last thing I would just say is that this process of goals and strategies isn't supposed to completely contain you like things will come up and it's it won't be in and it doesn't mean that you don't do those things um this is just to help kind of focus you and um help the community understand the things that you're you're focused on but but not to restrict you from doing anything else outside of this so D says and this came out of the conversation last time of identify targeted constituency group or groups based on housing cost burden data in the housing production plan to build relationships awareness and participation so it was suggested last time this idea of potentially every year or every couple of years identifying a a a constituency group in town that has been highlighted in the housing production plan that the trust would intentionally try to build a relationship with to um better understand the needs of those folks to bring them into the community and invite them into the work that you're doing um but that there would be real intentionality in this not just a blanket come to our meetings but really intentionally trying to build Rel relationship with whatever con constituency group or groups are identified in in any given Year my my only comment here would be to replace the word to with and so that the building is is the is the activity is the goal because the plan's going to identify the groups right so our work would be the building then again which which what what word would you replace before to build replace two with and so that and build and build so what you know our part of it is the building other reactions from anyone or thoughts car I like I like what it says and and Gaston's change of to to and helps but it still doesn't seem it still seems kind of like a clunky sentence or way to say it it's getting having to have it be based on the housing based on blah blah blah in the middle of it makes it I don't know I mean the point is to build relationships with some targeted groups and the way they get identified thrown in the middle of the I just feel like it's clunky and awkward but it's sort of all right I guess so I mean maybe maybe starting the sentence from build relationships with you know the T maybe just flipping the order that might help okay so we can consider restructuring the sentence a bit okay I'll set to move to e yeah yeah okay okay and then e is this is the one that had been under funding and it was modified and then we're trying here under goal three and I will I think I will start out and say that the subc commmittee is still uncertain if this is appropriate in this space here but we're we're going to put it out there for conversation so e is collaborate with the permitting board in reviewing inclusionary zoning developments to provide affordable housing Insight well so I don't think this is where it should go but I think this is one of the more important things that we should be doing and allocating some funds into seeing if the I uh is actually working um and I'm not sure if it's something the trust should be doing or the planning board but um I think it's a it's an important conversation for the town to have because um I know there's a lot of challenges I mean we're it seems like we're creating units um and then we're hoping hopefully we don't know what the um how are we doing kind of question is what I wondering this but I'm not sure if it's fits in this particular section or if it's really the trust role necessarily so some of the conversation and I I don't remember exactly which meetings you were at Paul or maybe that you weren not all of them but some of the conversation was that um the trust doesn't necessarily isn't necess doesn't NE isn't necessarily engaged in all inclusionary zoning development conversations but perhaps just when in Lee of payment is on the table and the interest is just that the trust would be more actively engaged in all of the inclusionary zoning developments just to offer um some affordable housing Insight in that and so there was some interest in just trying to build the relationship with the permitting board to make to make sure that the trust is included um so that's it started more like um inl of payments to to try to increase like inl of payments to the board but then there was discomfort of well we don't want to have in L of instead of affordable units like we want affordable units too so then it became less of a funding and more of a um that the that the trust just be included in the conversations yeah okay I get that I think that makes sense actually then to say we care about this issue we want to be part of the conversation that's what this is saying yeah and so then the the thing is like does it go under education and public engagement is that a stretch do we do we just have this as something that you work on but it's not necessarily squeezed into one of these goals so we went back and forth on this Erica I'm sorry I'm sorry G no no please um so I think it is sort of important because it seems that um the permiting board has a lot of Sway and power um and I think the other conversation that I was part of was um you know sometimes we sign off and we didn't even know that um there was a project uh being developed that there were Apartments being developed so I mean I really think it's important for us to do this but my thing is is that does it fit actually under a and is that where it belongs um it's just that it seems that this one's just so important it comes up so often that's why we might have put it separately and it came actually out of the funding one that we moved it into the educ ation piece but I'm just wondering if maybe we just put it you know like a little ghost next to the end of a or maybe we put it as fund development like you were saying GRE yeah I I'm kind of with Erica in that since we noting the adjustment we just made to a which is we went from an annual meeting to sort of strategic engagement with other boards including permanent boards right they would be inclusive of that so if we're talking about wanting to weigh in when there's a proposal before a permanating board for market rate development that would include inclusionary housing then we could strategically engage with that board as we've written in a now you know now that a is no longer that annual Dynamic but sort of acting strategically when there's a pertinent issue to jump on this would certainly be an example of that so it might be redundant to the current version of a now with the update that we made to it tonight or what about what about moving it to development can I talk yeah yeah of course I that I like the idea of moving it to development it's actually about making sure that we get the units and that once they're gotten we know what that we know what's going on that we help with that aspect of development which is how do you use inclusionary Z inclusionary zoning to get more development it really I didn't think about it before but I feel like it fits really well under development ER that's where it originally was I think it was our feeling yes it was that's where it was and then we started feeling uh well maybe it has to do with language but we started feeling a little torn that we didn't want to seem as if we were saying you know we want the money don't have the apartments but I think what we're saying is we want to be part of the decision-making process and exploring the best alternatives for the town of Amherst I think that's what we want we we we're not pushing one or the other we just want to make make sure we're getting um the best uh solution for affordable housing for Amherst does anyone have concerns about moving this up in the strategy would we need to Revis would we want to revise the wording if we move it up to a different section Nate yeah I mean I was I was going to say that um a lot of projects now are um you know required to provide affordable units U because of inclusionary zoning and so you know for instance uh the planning board continued a hearing last night without taking testimony to the end of August for 422 Amity street it's the um project by Barry Roberts that received a variance earli or so you know it's um say 90 units there'll be you know um you know 12% of those will be affordable and so you know the planning board in that instance will just say well you know you have to you know you will take the 12 units the developer is proposing it and there really isn't much of a discussion uh with the planning board right they just there's a we kind of have a standard set of conditions in terms of how they need to be um you know have a regulatory agreement and marketed I think we might add a condition or two to kind of have post occupancy followup to Paul's point because you know we hear that inclusion rate units then aren't being filled readily or quickly um and so you know it's just one of those things where it could be that like you know once a month or you know that the the zba or planning board is actually reviewing a project that will provide some inclusionary units and so I I guess you know the question for me would be how you know how does the trust uh interact with that you know is it do we come up with a statement or some ideas there because otherwise essentially it's like we know I don't think the board necessarily will will hold its review to then have the trust to review the project as well right I mean it's it's kind of like how do you synthesiz that information and synchronize it and so um you know and sometimes the planning board will seek trust uh opinion and help but say for this one the developer was GNA you know provide the units and then typically we wouldn't seek the trust involvement uh you know and and do we need to but I just think that becomes something that might happen more frequently than you know the trust could weigh in on easily in the permitting process Erica you want to respon then or is your hand up from before there must be a ghost in my computer okay did not have a hand up um but well I you know what in thinking about it um it sounds to me that the process could take you know the specifics of the process could take place a little bit afterwards I still think this might be a good one to put back under uh number one Carol and I I mean it's even if the okay the developer comes to the planning board or whoever it is and says we're going to put in the 12 units that we're supposed to put in and here's the rest of the plan and that's all there has to talk about I would still like to know about that and the way it is now we don't even know that happen and so if the collaboration is that we sort of have a way of finding out when those things are going on and decide if we want to just go to the meeting or something or other even just being able to be aware of what's happening and then if we have something to say well then we'll say it but then maybe we won't but knowing it's happening we won't ever know if we have anything to say if we don't even know that they're happening well based on Nate's comments and and your comments just now Carol I wonder if what we want to do is beef up C to be you know to to to be clear that the town events include you know permitting board meetings and and the like that that's what we want to be staying attuned to is is is that how others are seeing it Erica if we're going to leave it in education and awareness I would say we it fits better under a I mean I don't personally feel too strongly about where this is it's clear that it's important for us to be aware of what's going on in the other boards and and China in when we should and that it's going to take being pretty proactive to do so um so what where where would people like to record this kind of commitment algra um I kind of feel like an AE merge of sorts might help like maybe not specifying an annual meeting but talking about collaborating with other Municipal boards um where issues of affordable housing are relevant I mean so um if picking up on your comments alra maybe it's maybe we want to keep the the words inclusionary zoning developments that phrase in the in a modified a to to highlight that that's a particular area that we want to be collaborating on yeah I mean I think that could make sense shell what do you think from uh the pieces fitting together right I think that those are to me it's really different because the inclusionary zoning is such a specific policy and to Carol's point so I wanted I wanted to ask Nate like what is the best way for the trust to know when developments are coming before the permitting board because if if that's and maybe the language is modified to provide affordable housing Insight when appropriate or something because it it you wouldn't to Carol's point you wouldn't necessarily comment on every single one but just to know to have familiarity about what what is going on in the community where affordable units are being proposed yeah what is the best way I just emailed Greg and said we need to add him to uh the transmittal when there's planning board and zba projects so I think you know staff has done that um you know for all those projects typically like police fire Health you know certain board and committee Representatives um and so I think we could specifically you know um you know add Greg and then I don't think we can filter out you know the inclusionary zoning um projects but it could you know at least there's you know we do those um at the beginning of every project before they get to the board and so I think you know getting it at that stage um in the permitting would be helpful and so I think that's probably what's missing is having some kind of um you know formalized you know transmittal or some kind of some some kind of feedback there so I think we can work with that um and then Greg so Greg would be notified of the different proposals that are coming before the board and then Greg could notify the trust and the trust could decide whether they wanted to participate in the process or comment right and then perhaps that's enough to start building a relationship that the permitting board knows that the trust is engaged interested and wants to participate maybe Carol have your hand that maybe that's enough to drop e because we'll have this other way of addressing this concern maybe I think it's I think that you've figured out a way to let us help possibly implement this but I don't think it should not be here because we thought of a way to implement it do you what do you think about the is it similar enough to a to include it or do you think it should be a separate personally I think it should still be separate I think it's there's so much in a that there's almost ends up to be nothing left in it I think that this on its own is because of the inclusion area own thing I think it's really important enough that it should stand by itself as my two cents I guess if if no one objects to the language as such um now that we have so much clarity about it maybe just putting it as B so it's right after so the two that are similar back to back was there disagreement of putting it in development um I I I mean I yeah I mean the the that this is where development and and this Comm communicating with other committees and Boards intersects right I mean so um to me I guess it's more natural to highlight the activity of it which is about this relationship and communicating with other committees but I I don't really I don't I don't have a it doesn't really matter to me um where we include the sentence um does anyone else have a a strong preference about where we put the the the commitment Erica um I just want to give you a time check it's 856 um but I do actually have a I I do feel very strongly that it belongs in number one and that's where it was before and the reason being is that um having it in number one and then um having it affirmed as number threea in terms of strategically meeting with other municipalities makes gives it more ump um for us to keep track of and to actually do it so that's my opinion but um maybe this small subgroup needs to put it in a and bring it back and see how people feel well I mean does anyone here object to moving it up to development uh as an activity of development um then you know I I I would defer to the people who feel strongly about it I think the commitment is clear we've all now understood what it why we have it here and um so I I don't I would defer to um to Erica's view here myself okay okay so we will um the our the small group meets next I think it's next week and we'll go through this again and bring back um hopefully maybe a final um proposal to the full board for next month and hopefully we'll be able to wrap this up thanks so much for your feedback tonight I really appreciate it absolutely good good night night thank you shy as always thank you uh given the fact that we're missing a few members tonight three of our group I I suggest we postpone the um the vice chair election till next month and um are there any critical Town updates to to to hear about tonight then what I would like to just uh sound out briefly for for the group is this um uh it occurred to me you know I have some interest in seeing how we can creatively try to promote the adus we now have state law facilitating it further and there's an opportunity it seems to try to ride the wave of that state law and um so one idea I had was to invite backyard adus which is doing a lot of good work trying to promote adus to come to the block party and and maybe even come talk to us at some point I wanted to see if if members um are okay with that idea or like that idea and then um Greg pointed out that part of the Adu issue in Amherst may go back to difficulties that um a a previous project had and and times have changed and so it occurred to me there's an opportunity to do a little education and this was my idea of a letter to the editor telling the community about the change in law and telling them about backyard adus coming to the block party if if that comes together uh Paul please so Town staff are now looking at the state law that recently passed and comparing it to our current bylaw so I think we need to do a little bit of analysis to understand and understand if we need to change our bylaw to bring it into compliance there's you know we require residency the state law does not there's a discrepancy in the square footage so I think before we start promoting something when they if someone comes into the building department right now they're going to say well we have two different things on the books okay I think the planning or the building department has to get its act in order and Gear to to say and go to the council say we need to change the bylaw to bring get into compliance so I think we're it's a low premature I think it's but it's but I there's a lot of attention on it and I know the Building Commissioner was looking at that comparing that doing the work on that this week actually okay um uh Greg yeah and I guess it's law in six months is when that policy comes to in fact six months from yesterday I think it was when she signed okay good okay um uh well I guess uh if Nate and Greg if you guys can keep me posted and and see if um maybe the there's enough Clarity that we might still try to get backyard adus out here for the block party Nate yeah sure Greg has mentioned this um you know UMass is also doing um kind of a pilot uh Adu build um you know they're building an Amorous and then they're um transporting them to Holio I believe so you know they're also one uh there is a workshop at the end of the month for um Municipal officials on the new law so I know some staff is attending that I think there are a lot of questions and so Judy Barrett actually is uh helping to host that um that workshop and so you know on on on list serve there's been a lot of questions asked you know Paul mentioned some but you know the you know there's so many nuances uh that and intricacies of what you know a simple regulation may miss or not so I think there's a lot of questions right now in terms of you know for instance can you have five adus on a property um and that might you know can you you know what does it look like what happens and so the way we've been saying it is you know it's an Adu and yeah so anyways I think there's a lot to work out I think the intention is you know in the states always you know programs have said this that adus are lowercase a affordable so they're not necessarily on the subsidized housing inventory they're not you know deed restricted they're not you know capital A but due to their size and you know relatively lower cost that they're affordable for that reason and so they see it as like a really nice housing Production Tool and so you know I think Amis does as well it's just now like Paul mentioned there's you know we have to make sure that we're compliant with with the legislation so okay okay so well uh conversation's open um we'll we'll we'll wait till that advances Greg no okay Carol um I'm just wondering Nate you said there is a thing coming up for municipal people to understand the law and is that something that we might attend and if so would somebody let us know when it is and how to do it okay great Erica mine's really quick um if we're going to wait it might be a great form for us to um or organized and I'd be willing to work with somebody to do it wonderful um well then I think we're we're just three minutes past the hour um uh we have a motion to adjourn I don't know if maybe you guys don't use that formality here um so uh so we have a motion Carol well first I wanted to say I think we let's REM let's notice what Greg sent us about uh wayfinders coming to the zba so there might be some of us that want to be there or something or other and I think that's before our next meeting so that's just an announcement and yes I move that we adjourn okay second second okay everyone in all in favor I yeah I okay thank you everyone have a good night good night thanks great meeting gon thank you thank you gon thank you my pleasure thank you bye-bye good night