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COMMUNITY PRESERVATION COMMITTE&Housing Sub- Committee
Held a Regular Meeting
on Tuesday, August 14, 2018 at 7 :00 p.m.
at The Brewster Town Office Building, 2198 Main Street, Brewster, MA
MEETING MINUTES FOR August 14, 2018
Present : Chair Paul Ruchinskas, Diane Pansire, Ralph Marotti, Faythe Ellis, and Barbara Burgo
Absent :
Also Present : Vicki Goldsmith from Habitat for Humanity
Chair Paul Ruchinskas called the meeting to order at 7 :00 pm.
Recording or Taping Notification, "As required by the Open Meeting Law we are informing you that the Town
will be videotaping andlor audio taping this public meeting. In addition, if anyone else intends to either video or audio
tape this meeting they are required to inform the chair. " We request that all cell phones be turned off or to vibrate
1 . Discussion and possible vote on recommendation to the CPC of the funding request,
conditions, and liaison of Habitat for Humanity' s $200,000 community housing
request for Phase II of the Paul Hush Way affordable homeownership development.
Vicki Goldsmith said that the second house for the Phase I of Paul Hush Way was closed on today
(8/14/18) . The first house closed in October of 2017 because that was a "blitz build". By the end of
next week it is expected that four of the six Phase I homes will be occupied or at least owned with the
remaining two houses to be owned shortly after.
As noted in the application, Phase I carried the greatest portion of the cost for design, permitting, land
acquisition, road, and utility construction. The total project development consists of 14 homes : 6 in
Phase I and 8 in Phase H. For Phase II, Habitat is requesting $200, 000 which breaks down to $25 ,000
per home. Habitat also has $250,000 on account or committed from private funding sources because
they received an additional sponsorship commitment after the CPC application was submitted. CPC
funds are still critical to the project so that preparations can be done. As of now, Cape Cod Five who
is the construction lender is waiting for the Town Meeting vote before they will release the
construction funding. Vicki explained that they feel the feasibility of this project is very strong and
they were even able to move the completion of theproject up by a year earlier than the deadline
requires. The home builders have committed to another building blitz as well.
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Community Preservation Committee - Housing Minutes : August 14, 2018
Vicki stated that home applications are likely to open in either January or February 2019 . Habitat
plans to prepare the sites over the winter and early spring with more grading, septic system installs,
foundations, and capping of foundations so walls can be raised.
In Phase 11 there will be six 3 bedroom homes (a mix of 2 capes and 4 ranches) and two 2 bedroom
ranches . They will be priced at $ 133 ,750 and $ 150,000. They are planning again on having USDA
be the lender as they have had a 100% success rate with the nine homes built this year. They have
targeted a mix of maximm uincome at 60 or 65% because while they prefer to keep it a little wider
open to 65%, if they don't have the bigger percentage at 60% they cannot secure Federal Home Loan
Bank funding which is an important funding source for them.
Diane asked if there were any lessons learned or changes that will be made after Phase I and moving
on to Phase II. Vicki responded that there are not a great deal of changes and they plan to approach
Phase II the way they did Phase I because it worked out really well.
Faythe asked whether they had considered including air conditioning. Vicki explained that there are
no combustible fuels coming into the houses and that they use air to air heat exchange systems that
turn hot air to cool air in the summer and cool air to hot air in the winter. This makes the houses very
comfortable. They are also using bamboo flooring now instead of carpeting which has also helped
with air quality and has addressed kids with respiratory conditions such as asthma and allergies .
Faythe then asked in terms of the homeowners ' association whether there will be two separate
associations or if there is a plan to combine the two. Vicki responded that it will be one. Although
all the homeowners that are currently closing on their homes are putting funds into escrow for the
homeowners ' association, the homeowners' association will not actually start until the last closing (at
the end of Phase II) . So essentially, Habitat owns the common area (mainly the road) and will be
responsible for maintenance until construction is complete and the 14 family homeowners '
association takes effect.
Ralph wanted clarification about the lottery. Vicki explained that the applications open in January
and will be open for 60 days . Next, the applicants go through financial review to make sure they are
within maximum income and their debt to income ratio is acceptable and their credit history is ok.
About 50% of the applicants make it through that process and they will then go on to the interview
committee who observe an interview about housing need and talk to the families about their
willingness to partner because the traditional sweat equity, go to home buyer education requirements,
are part of the selection criteria. Almost everyone makes it through that stage and then there is a blind
drawing which will likely occur in June . The town of Brewster gets five that are employed in the
town, reside in the town, or go to public school in the town.
Ralph asked about the sources of funds regarding solar grants anticipated and Federal Home Loan
grants anticipated and whether or not they came through yet. Vicki explained that the Federal Home
Loan Bank grant was submitted at the beginning of August and they annually make their awards in
December. Habitat has had a strong success record with this grant although they cannot ever be
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Community Preservation Committee - Housing Minutes : August 14, 2018
certain. The solar grants program is changing so Habitat will provide funding if they can get grants
for it that are distinct from the usual grants that support the home. So if those program are intact,
Habitat will provide solar. Otherwise, the houses are oriented for the homeowners to do solar in the
future. Vicki further explained that if they don't get the FHLB grant the project will still go ahead
because Habitat has a portfolio of 56 mortgages and they can accelerate that asset by getting a lump
sum loan which is leveraged against 54 years of mortgage payments . This method would be a last
resort.
Ralph asked for clarification in regards to the easement agreement and whether it could be moved.
Vicki stated that the easement was drawn on the map used at closing so she didn't think it could be
moved. Paul answered that Habitat has the right to move it if something were to come up during
development where they needed the space but it cannot be wider than seven feet. It can be used by
the Habitat homeowners as long as it does not interfere with the Smithson' s, their horses, or their
successors . Vicki stated that she is comfortable with this as Habitat' s conveyance attorney is very
conservative and protective of Habitat and wouldn't have allowed them to go into this if she had any
reservations about it.
Paul asked for confirmation regarding the timeline of the grading and the foundations being started
for the eight new homes. Vicki replied that they are hoping to get started with this in the fall. They
have been sifting the land and the next steps will hopefully begin in the fall within the financial
constraints before the Town Meeting vote and then Cape Cod Five will release the construction loan.
Paul asked what the source called Habitat F1exCap is that was used in Phase I. Vicki explained that
Habitat FlexCap used to be called AAR (the Accelerated Asset Recovery program) and this was used
as part of the funding for the Phase I build .
Paul clarified the overall costs of Phase I and Phase 11 . A huge portion of the cost of the road and
bringing utilities to the road was during Phase I construction. In Phase 11 the road will need a top coat
and there will be the costs of putting in the septic systems and bringing utilities to the homes.
Paul asked who manages the homeowners ' association. Vicki replied that First Property Management
takes care of the bank accounts, pays vendors, and sends out statements on a quarterly basis . Also, in
the event of an extreme rule violation, First Property is the entity that would handle the sending of
notices/fees rather than another one of the homeowners.
Barbara expressed her concern about the homeowners ' association because sometimes that can
become more expensive than the mortgage. She wanted to be sure that due diligence is done to ensure
the homeowners ' association fees do not sky rocket out of control in the future. Vicki provided
reassurance that these fees are taken into account during the financial review and people are told to
consider it as part of their affordable housing cost/mortgage cost. Vicki stated that currently no one
is paying more than $60-65 a month. Barbara' s concern was not necessarily the initial cost but what
the cost could increase to 5 - 10 years down the road .
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Community Preservation Committee - Housing Minutes : August 14, 2018
Donna Kalmick, who attended the meeting, asked a question in regards to "Public Schools" . She
asked whether or not you qualify if you are a student at Nauset Middle or Nauset High School (as
these regional schools are not located in Brewster) . Vicki clarified that to qualify, the individual
would have to either be living in Brewster or an adult in the home would have to be employed in
Brewster.
Diane asked if there is a reserve fund or an analysis made about the when the road will be replaced.
Vicki said they essentially just put a lump sum of funds away and build it up over time. Faythe
explained that you have the option of using the Town Betterment program but you have to have a
majority of people on the street agree to it which can become uncomfortable if some people are
opposed to it. Vicki said that they turn this over to First Property Management because they have
experience with this. She stated that essentially the budget is First Property Management' s to run and
they are always encouraging building a strong reserve which would apply in a situation such as this .
Paul explained to the committee that it is currently unclear how much funds CPC has available .
Faythe, Paul, Elizabeth, and Sharon of CPC met with Barbara Costa who is currently auditing the
town' s finances and she told them that she was going to need a few more weeks to sort out how much
funds CPC has . Paul stated that he is relatively confident in the preliminary numbers that they came
up with but would prefer to have official numbers and the ok from the Finance Department before
taking an actual vote . He stated that he is ok with having this Housing Committee make a
recommendation for whatever funding however it would be contingent on getting certification from
the Finance Department in regards to available funds in CPC ' s accounts . He also stated that he was
hoping the full CPC board could take a vote at the August 221d meeting on the three funding requests
CPC currently has. However, without final numbers, he thinks waiting until September 12 to meet
and take a vote would make more sense as hopefully the final numbers will be available at that point.
MOTION made to refer Habitat for Humanity's community housing request of $200,000 for Phase
H of Paul Hush way to CPC contingent upon adequate funds being available in either Community
Housing Reserve Fund and/or the 30% Fund.
MOVED by Ralph Marotti, Seconded by Diane Pausire
VOTE : 540 0
Paul explained that in terms of conditions, he recommended it be done similar to Phase I. The way
that was set up is, Town Meeting has to approve it, Habitat has to sign a regulatory agreement which
has already been done, and it must be structured as a note, a loan, and a mortgage. It would go in as
a $200,000 mortgage in a note and then 1 /8d' of the note would get forgiven once each home has been
built and sold to an eligible home buyer and the deed restriction has been recorded. Once all 8 homes
have been completed and sold, the $200, 000 will be forgiven. It acts as a grant but is structured this
way in case anything should happen as a way to recoup the funds . The other condition would be
holding back 10% of the grant funds so in this case $20,000 would be held back until the affordable
housing restrictions get recorded with the deeds. The term of the award would be according to the
original deed when our Town Counsel stated Habitat had 4 years from the acquisition of the property
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Community Preservation Committee- Housing Minutes : August 14, 2018
which happened on October 15 , 2014 to complete Phase I and seven years from that to complete
Phase II. So everything would have to be completed and deeds recorded by October 15 , 2021 .
Paul asked for a volunteer to be a liaison for the Phase Il project. Diane volunteered. Paul explained
that being the liaison involves getting the quarterly reports and invoices, site visits and sign offs for
the Finance Department, and getting copies of the deed restrictions recorded and processing the
payment requests.
MOTION made to use conditions comparable to those used for Phase I for Phase H and also to have
Diane Pansire serve as liaison.
MOVED by Faythe Ellis, Seconded by Barbara Burgo
VOTE : 5=0-0
CPC will likely hold their next meeting on September 12 , GPC-Housing Committee will then meet sometime between
September 12-26.
2 . Items the chair could not reasonably anticipate.
None .
Motion to Adjourn
MOVED by Faythe Ellis, Seconded by Diane Panstre
DOTE: 544
Respectfully submitted by,
Sarah L. Piebes, Recording Secretary
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Community Preservation Committee-Housing Minutes : August 14, 2018