Town of Sharon Sacred Heart Reuse Committee

Meeting Minutes of 1/5/11

Amended and approved on 3/29/11

Sharon Community Center

 

Committee Attendees

John Davis, Chair

Jim Michael

Valeda Britton

Ed Keenan

 

Other Attendees

Anne Bingham 78A Cedar Street

Susan Gittleman, B’nai B'rith Housing

Jane Desberg 27 Colburn Drive

Holly Grace, B’nai B'rith Housing

Alan Lury 19 Sunset Drive

Burt Gesserman 41 Aspen Road

Alice Cheyer

Susan Saunders 260 Massapoag

Warren KIrschenbaum 105 Hampton Road

Doris Gladstone 2 Bruce Street

 

Chair Report

Chair Davis opened the meeting at 7:35 PM. He began by reviewing that in response to the SHRC RFP, two submissions had been received. Over the past three meetings the Committee has met with Cornerstone, the first submission. A letter of interest was also received from B’nai B’rith Housing, the second submission. Chair Davis said he had spoken with both Ms. Gittleman and Ms. Grace from B’nai B’rith, regarding the nature of the submission and substance of their intentions of what they intend to propose and they are at the meeting this evening to present.

 

Meeting Minutes

Mr. Keenan moved to approve the meeting minutes of 12/14/10 and Mr. Michael seconded the motion. The Committee voted 4-0-0 in favor.

 

B’nai B’rith

Susan Gittleman, Executive Director of B’nai B’rith Housing, N.E. began the discussion by stating that they submitted a letter of continued interest. The RFP was clear that a pool was wanted but B’nai B’rith is not offering a pool. They are trying to be respectful of the process. She said that they are a non-profit organization affiliated with B’nai B’rith international. They are experienced developers of high quality housing available on a non sectarian basis which includes family housing, for sale housing and senior housing. They identify local needs and respond to that need. To date they have completed 3 complexes in Boston, 1 in Newton and 1 in Sudbury. She discussed the Sudbury program which would be similar to Sharon. It is of the senior type, service enriched housing. They are independent housing units partnered with residents. There are service coordination efforts to help residents live comfortably for as long as possible. They are interested in developing housing on this site in Sharon for some time. They have worked with various groups like the Housing Partnership who described the affordable housing need in Sharon. They also met with the Senior Center to see what they needed. Based on these discussions and the RFP that came out they knew what the Committee wanted but decided to put the housing plan forward as it might be helpful for the Town. It is viable both financially and the housing they propose fits the site. The existing municipal parking and wetlands would not be disturbed. The Community benefits indicate that is positive revenue for the Tow\n. They are very sensitive to take a respectful approach to be a local partner to achieve benefit to the site.

 

Holly Grace, Project Manager reviewed two plans that were presented to the Committee as a draft of what they project might look like. She said there is local support for senior housing in Sharon as housing is limited. They propose 64 units for 55 people. They are 1 and 2 bedroom units. There is a high level of design and detail. They would work with the Committee and Town with regards to design and style and would incorporate green features, and be energy efficient. They are a Leeds certified developer. They will have a meeting room for community events, and be service enriched. They propose 72 new parking spaces as well. They want to retain the recreational amenities that exist and are willing to relocate the existing basketball court. Chair Davis said the basketball court is well lit and moving it may be helpful to neighbors.

 

Ms. Grace continued by stating they will comply with septic requirements. They are not proposing a pool in the concept. As an affordable housing group, housing is the priority. They are however open to the process to discuss the pool further. They are proposing service rich housing not assisted living. There is no common dining room. They work one on one with residents for daily living. They would forge a partnership with local senior service providers. The on site employees will help find service providers for cleaning, health care, etc. The target resident would be for moderate income seniors with an income of $40,000 per year and income restrictions would apply. With reference to financing this is highly desirable. B’nai B’rith has relationships with the state, etc. Once the development is occupied, it’s financially self sustaining. It could yield about 75K in real estate taxes.  This concept retains the recreational facility with respect to natural resources. There would be no impact to schools. The affordable housing piece would contribute to the 10% affordable housing target.

 

Alan Lury of the Sharon Housing Partnership said the Partnership has been in contact with B’nai B’rith. They spent considerable time looking for suitable land to build in town. The only parcel still available is Sacred Heart. As a group, Sharon Housing Partnership supports the B’nai B’rith option because it brings senior affordable housing to the community. Within the Wilber School there are affordable units. This new building would all be affordable. Seniors could remain in the Sharon community in affordable housing. It is a perfect migration for those to be able to stay in Sharon.

 

Chair Davis asked if preference could be given to local residents and Ms. Gittleman said local preference can be defined by the community.

 

Jane Desberg of the Sharon Housing Authority suggested that a lottery could be used to make sure preference is given to local people. She would make sure the affordable units remain affordable and would be happy to work with B’nai B’rith.

 

Mr. Michael asked if B’nai; B’rith manages their own properties and Ms. Gittleman said they use a management company. A Board of Directors is committed to focus on the management of the buildings. Mr. Michael then asked how the number of units were determined and Ms; Gittleman said it was based on the septic system usage.  Mr. Michael said looking at the sketch he thinks there will be a bottleneck with only one exit and entrance. He would like to see more green around East Foxboro and Cedar Streets. He is also unsure if enough parking spots are allocated. He is concerned the overflow might flow to the municipal lots.

 

Mr. Davis asked what the maximum number of units they can accommodate is and Ms. Gittleman said that 66 is the maximum. This sizing is optimal and will include space for a resident service coordinator and management office. They would be looking for a 40 year minimum ground lease. Chair Davis said that any lease over 20 years needs to be approved by Town Meeting and asked if they contemplated the amount of rent they would be paying to the Town for annual rent. Ms. Grace said that the minimum mentioned in the RFP is 10K per year and they would need to have a dialogue with the Town. Mr. Davis said that in their submission they mentioned they were interested in incorporating a pool but said it would be difficult. Did you think how the pool could be incorporated? Ms. Gittleman said where the pool would be located as well as how to support it regarding the septic is one aspect. She wants to understand the active uses. She understand there needs to be a pool but thinks it does not fit in that location. B’nai B’rith as a mission, is just housing.

 

Anne Bingham of 78A Cedar Street finds this as a concept more viable for land and would challenge this would meet Title V. There is a bylaw in the area that limits septic that can be emitted. She sees the back of the buildings as a buffer zone. Cedar Street is a gem and suggests careful thought needs to be given before changing the street.  Mr. Davis said there is special regulation regarding the Sharon resource protection district and asked if this was taken into account.

 

Chair Davis said there would have to be a Town Meeting vote regarding the restrictions on the parcel and the Selectmen would need to ask the legislature to enact special legislature to use the site for residential purposes. The RFP does not look for residential submissions. If that is a common need and what the Town wants to address we ought to craft a new RFP to request a housing option.

 

Mr. Michael said if we change the RFP to allow residential use then it could open pandora’s box.

 

Chair Davis said they need to test the waters to determine the right path. They have to craft an RFP to solicit uses with more proposals.

 

Ms. Britton thinks they should go back to the Selectmen because neither submission is responsive to the RFP. THE mission was clear. The Selectmen need to be asked where we go from here.

 

Chair Davis said before going to the Board of Selectmen he wants to be able to provide then with a recommendation. He suggested that both submissions were viable and the interest is genuine. Having heard from people and the community we ought to be in a position if we modify the RFP, can we get additional submissions, what criteria would need to be changed to get the submissions we are looking for. If residential direction is where we are going but the property is restricted from residential use right now a Town Meeting vote is needed to change the zoning. With respect to Cornerstone, a lot of work and effort went in to the submission. Chair Davis said he appreciated Mr. Rosen, Mr. Russell and the NE Village Director. It was a very valuable concept and there is a genuine need. NE Village sounded successful. His concern is that Cornerstone is a start up group and Chair Davis is also concerned with their financials. It would be 16 million dollars for construction and 8.8 million dollars for annual costs. He appreciated the start up but thinks they have a way to go. Also in the RFP highly advantage means the project would be complete in 12 -18 months. He did not get the sense that Cornerstone would be ready to start before the end of 2011 or 2012. He expressed concerns regarding the projects viability He wants to have a long term tenant we can count on.

 

Mr. Michael said B’nai B’rith can build the building and fill it up. Chair Davis asked Ms. Gittleman the timeframe for their proposal and she said construction would take 12 -15 months and it would be occupied within 4-6 months following and it would be completed with a lottery system.

 

Chair Davis asked Ms. Desberg to describe the lottery system and she said first you receive applications, ensure the income requirement is fulfilled, credit checks are done, landlord checks are done and then Sharon residents would be put in the lottery and the general population added afterwards.

 

Ms. Grace said Sharon is at 6.4% and needs 200 units to get to 10%. 64 additional units would help. All of the apartments would be counted as affordable units.

 

Chair Davis said that he wants to offer the suggestion/recommendation that the Board of Selectmen need to go through the RFP, revisit the criteria and get a better handle on whom to target for submissions. He thinks the RFP restrictions need to change because it is not fair to the submitters. He said that Mr. Russell from the YMCA said they would operate the pool for Cornerstone but he is not sure if the Y has interest separate and apart from Cornerstone. If a new RFP is issued we are not starting from ground zero. We have heard from the community and their needs. We took from what was heard about a facility of this nature and what is desired by the community needs to go through the RFP to articulate what we are looking for. It may take another 6 months to redo the RFP.

 

Ms. Britton said how do we target the RFP differently? What makes you think if the RFP is refigured you will get different responses? It seems to be more of a residential component to what we are seeing, not sure we will get new responses.

 

Mr. Michael suggested maybe direct calls to perhaps Reebok or YMCA’s could be useful.

 

Chair Davis said the alternative is to abandon indoor recreational uses until there is a general interest. The structure still needs to come down which could cost 200K – 250K. It is not a cheap alternative. B’nai B’rith is talking about generating income for the Town, if the Town wants to generate income. 

 

Mr. Keenan said the current restrictions need to be changed and we need the support and guidance of the Board of Selectmen.

 

Mr. Scott Brody of 239 Moose Hill said he heard someone mention that the Horizons for Youth property might be another place for a pool. He said he is the lessee for this property and if he built the pool it would be a pool different than what is used for the camp. He wanted to suggest this potential and would have a conversation with the Board of Selectmen. But it is certainly a possibility as Camp Everwood would consider this. It would need to be an economically viable plan.

 

Mr. Keenan made a motion that the SHRC meet with the Board of Selectmen to update them on the process, review the submissions received in response to the current RFP and if it has to be changed to residential they would have to go to Town Meeting to change the restriction. Mr. Michael seconded the motion and the Committee voted 4-0-0 in favor.

 

Next Meeting

TBD.

 

Adjournment

Ms. Britton moved to adjourn at 9:07 PM and Mr. Michael seconded the motion. The Committee voted 4-0-0 in favor.

 

Attachments

None