Housing Commission Minutes
November 22, 2005
Present: Rayna Caplan, George Georges, Avram Kalisky, BJ Scheff, and Bryce Wolf.
Minutes: The minutes of November 8 were approved.
Naiman Accessory Apartment: The proposed tenants for this apartment have withdrawn. The Naimans, however, intend to go forward toward renting the unit.
Affordable Housing List: Elaine Carroll currently maintains a list of persons interested in renting affordable housing. To remain on the list, applicants will be asked to reaffirm their interest Jan. 1. Caplan and Wolf will work toward developing a standard application form.
DHCD: Dissatisfaction was expressed regarding DHCS’s slowness in processing documents and requests for approval. The documents for Minueman Commons and the Green Ridge condominium have not yet been approved.
Sunnyside: Town Planner Mark Whitehead and Asst. Town Admin. Anita Scheipers joined the meeting. Disappointment was expressed that although 3 proposals were submitted for construction of the Sunnyside residence, only one was complete. And this one was for an amount approximately $230,000 over the amount budgeted. Scheipers stated that recently proposals for moderate income housing appear to be coming in way over budget. She suggested that since the project must be rebid, the architect be asked what it would cost to redesign the project for standard construction. We might also want to spend $2-3,000 for advice of an outside estimator before the project is rebid. There was some discussion regarding the possible reasons for these results. Possibilities included lack of interest in a
small contract; need for prevailing wages; contractor certifications; and unnecessary extras in the contract such as a site trailer with phone hookup, etc. Georges agreed to review the bid documents for items that might be eliminated. Whitehead will set up a meeting next week with the architects to assess the situation and explore how we might proceed.
Earl Midgely reported that he has secured excess loam from the Minuteman Commons project that can be used for finish grading at Sunnyside.
Sunnyside Accessory Apt. Sam Rappaport reported that Minuteman High School might be interested in building the apartment. They would not, however, do the septic system (already constructed), foundation, plaster or flooring. Some concern was expressed regarding Minuteman’s ability to build in a timely way due to student schedules and availability. Rappaport will invite a representative from the school to come to the next meeting.
Accessory Apartment Cap: Whitehead reported that the Planning Board may go forward with a bylaw amendment to cap the number of permitted accessory apartments unless they are restricted as affordable. Market rate accessory apartments simply increase the number of residences in town, putting the overall 10% affordable goal further out of reach.
Bills: A bill was approved for the Sunnyside lot septic as-built plan.
The meeting adjourned at 9:15 a.m.
The next meetings are scheduled for 7:30 a.m. on Tuesday, December 6 and 20, 2005.
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