Canton, Massachusetts · Saved source text

20220301T162224

Housing Trust · Date not identified · Record 81479

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CANTON AFFORDABLE HOUSING TRUST 
Members Present: Charles Aspinwall, Lisa Lopez, Michael Loughran, David McCarthy, John 
McSweeney, William Scollins, Laura Smead 
MINUTES 
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 02, 2022 
Salah Meeting Room — Canton Town Hall 
801 Washington Street, Canton, MA 02021 
10:30 — 1 1:30 am 
1. Acceptance of minutes from January I I t�. 2022: Minutes were accepted 5-0-1 with Michael 
Loughran abstaining. Charlie Aspinwall joining after the vote was taken. 
2. Update on Housing Production Plan progress and schedule; 
• Regular bi-weekly check -in Zoom meetings have been scheduled between JM Goldson and 
Laura Smead — Thursdays at I I am; Lisa Lopez will also try to join in on those. 
• Focus Groups are in the process of being scheduled scheduled between February 7h and 
February I Sth, 2022. An invitation went out 1/25/21. A reminder will be sent out this week 
(January 31 n to February 4w). Laura will send the stakeholder invitation list to the Trust to 
see if there are any additional people to include for focus groups or interviews. 
• One-on-one interview people have been identified, but interviews not scheduled yet 
(between Feb 7 and 25); Housing Trust members were all identified as potentials for 
interviews. 
• Housing needs survey being developed (no draft available yet) (between Feb 7 and 25) 
• Background data being collected (information will be presented at a future Housing Trust 
meeting) (Between Jan 3 and Feb 24) 
• JM Goldson will meet again with the Housing Trust — potential dates/times include Monday 
2/28 at 2pm, or Tuesday 3/1 at 2pm. Finalizing the next meeting date will happen later in the 
agenda. 
• Housing Production Plan Public forum potential dates are March 21, March 22, March 30, or 
March 31 — which works for JM Goldson and avoids all other municipal and school events 
currently listed. 
3. Update on 47 Turtle Brook Road 40B condo foreclosure — affordable unit preservation 
4 The Trust would get a loan from the Town to purchase the unit.

• The Town has been in touch with the owner; They have scheduled a site visit and visual 
inspection for Saturday, February 5th. Charlie Aspinwall will bring either Ed Walsh or 
Steve Choiniere. 
• The closing is proposed for March 10th, 2022. 
• After the closing there would be a six -week marketing period for the unit (done by 
CHAPA). The unit could be occupied sometime after the end of April (approximately). 
• The sales price ($217,000) is determined by a formula the state (DHCD) prescribes for 
the resale value. 
• The next steps are for the Trustees to execute the Declaration of Trust and file it with 
the Registry of Deeds and the Land Court in order to formally establish the Canton 
Affordable Housing Trust as a legal entity, and then to request that the Select Board 
vote to approve a loan to the Trust to purchase the property 
• As proposed by Mr. Scollins, the funds would come from an inter -fund transfer of 
existing Town funds that would be recouped by the end of the year when the resale of 
the property to an eligible household results in payment to the Trust and subsequent 
repayment of the loan from the Town, so no outside financing is expected to be 
necessary. 
• A permanent restriction would be applied to the unit before it goes onto the market. 
This restriction would be in perpetuity and ideally eliminate the carve out that allows 
the bank to sell the unit at market rate if the unit were in foreclosure. 
• Local preference (of up to 75% of a project's units) is only legally allowed for the first 
round of deed -restricted unit marketing, not on a resale. However, the Trust can go 
above and beyond the prescribed marketing provided by CHAPA to really get the word 
out to those who live or work in Canton about the availability of this unit. 
• Laura has a list of organizations and individuals she usually reaches out to — to spread 
the word about affordable housing opportunities nearby. She will send the list to the 
Trust for any edits or additional ideas. 
• If the site visit to the unit is unfavorable, and there are a lot of repairs needed — then 
the bank may take a loss or the cost could come out of the owner's equity. The Town 
Administrator will raise these questions with Carole Marine. The condo is about 14 
years old. 
4. Declaration of Trust discussion and signature

• The Select Board voted to close the Town Meeting warrant with a placeholder article 
included to modify the language of the Declaration of Trust pertaining to the Trustees' 
authority. 
• The Town Administrator still feels that all Housing Trust contracts should require 
Select Board approval and that the Declaration of Trust should not be executed and 
filed until that matter is resolved. 
• Others on the Housing Trust felt that Town Counsel has already provided a legal 
opinion that the language of the warrant article approved by Town Meeting does not 
require Select Board approval of all contracts, and it is important to move forward at 
this time to file the Trust document to not lose the opportunity to purchase and 
preserve 47 Turtle Brook property as an affordable housing unit. 
• David McCarthy made the motion to execute and file the Declaration of Trust, Lisa 
Lopez seconded, and the motion passed 6-1-0 (Charlie Aspinwall voting in the 
negative). 
• The majority of the Trustees must sign the Declaration of Trust in front of a notary. 
• The majority of the Trust will sign the document today, and Michael Loughran will 
follow up the following day in person to sign the Declaration of Trust. 
• Charlie Aspinwall will provide the signed Declaration of Trust to Town Counsel to file. 
5. Next steps and next meeting date 
• Lisa Lopez reported that the Community Preservation Committee had voted in favor of 
recommending to Town Meeting the proposed project to fund the Housing 
Coordinator position. In order for this position to move forward 2022 Town meeting 
needs to vote in favor of the CCPC recommendation and the Select Board would 
ultimately have to approve the employment of a particular candidate. 
• The job description will need to be carefully drafted to accurately reflect this new 
position, and to attract the caliber of candidate necessary to do the work. 
• According to Mr. Aspinwall, there may be an issue with the CCPC vote recommending 
the Housing Coordinator position be funded, resulting from the fact that the CPA 
project proposal is to provide funding for the Housing Coordinator position for two 
years. 
Lisa Lopez will follow up with Town Counsel and John McSweeney and Lisa Lopez will 
follow up with Stuart Saginor (Executive Director of the Community Preservation

Coalition) and the Canton Community Preservation Committee to determine if changes 
are needed in the CCPC vote and recommendation to Town Meeting. 
• For the next Trust meeting with JM Goldson LLC, Laura will offer Jenn any morning of 
the week of 2/28-3/4 to meet with the Trust, to accommodate Mike Loughran's 
schedule. If that isn't possible then either 2/28 at 2pm or 3/ 1 at 2pm would work for 
other Trustees, but Mike Loughran may not be able to join. 
• The Housing Trust will recommend either the evening of March 21, March 22 or March 
31,E for the public forum — at the discretion of JM Goldson. 
• David McCarthy and Charlie Aspinwall will provide Laura Smead with their project 
clarifier worksheets at their earliest convenience. 
• Motion to adjourn voted in favor 7-0-0.