Sharon Housing Partnership Meeting August 11, 2009

Sharon Housing Partnership Meeting Approved December 15 , 2009

Meeting Minutes

In Attendance: Alan Lury, Lou Modestino, Susan Saunders, and Mary Tobin

7:30PM

Voted to approve Meeting Minutes of June 9, 2009 and September 11, 2009.

9 Glenview Road

Susan Saunders updated the group. The house is just about ready. The Town Electrical Inspector required that the electric system be brought up to current Code. The gas will be turned on to prevent the pipes from freezing. Susan Saunders sent a copy of the Deed Restriction to Caldwell Banker legal department for review. All appears in order. The Federal First Time Homebuyer Tax Credit Program has been extended till June, 2010. The sale price has been determined at $187,000. The money from the house will go into the Sharon Affordable Housing Trust and the money spent on repair will not be required to be paid back. Jane Desberg asked that the lottery advertising, information sessions and application process be deferred till after the holidays.

Mary Tobin made a Motion to defer action on this property till January 1, 2010.

Alan Lury Seconded. The vote to defer was unanimous.

Johnson Drive Update

Susan Saunders provided the group with a brief update on the status of the property. In late August an application seeking CPA funding for a survey of the property was approved by the CPC. Due to this the Finance Committee asked Susan to appear to discuss the request for CPA funding. At this meeting one of the members of Finance Committee asked several questions concerning who was responsible for collecting the rental income for this property and why the rent had not been collected. Susan explained to the Finance Committee that the SHP was not responsible for collecting the rent for this property.

Susan explained that because there are several issues that require further research including the fact that the site appears to be in a Ground Water Protection District, the application to the CPC was put on hold and did not go forward to Town Meeting.

Mary Tobin will call Peter O’Cain and Greg Meister to follow up on groundwater issue. Susan Saunders will look into the legal issues regarding the abutter’s driveway easement.

Wilber School

Lottery process for the 7 Tax Credit units began on November 5, 2009. Six of the units will have a Local Preference. Of the 66 applications, 36 had Local Preference. The applications are now being processed.

Sharon Commons

There has been no activity observed on the site. Susan Saunders will contact Michael Intoccia for an update.

Committee Discussion of Goals

The group discussed how best to move forward toward developing affordable housing. Mary Tobin suggested that the group should consider thinking about larger scale projects that address the needs of the community for elderly mixed income housing, with the involvement of B’nai B’rith. Others indicated that the goal of affordable housing for families should be the focus.

All agreed that the first step needs to be an inventory of potential Town owned properties. It was agreed that an application should be made to the CPC to hire a consultant to determine what sites have potential.

Jane Desberg will be contacted to find out when the next deadline is for CPC applications.

Old Business

Susan Saunders informed the group that since 2007, fifty-five affordable homes have become available in Sharon- 39 at Avalon, 15 at the Wilber School, and the Glenview house.