Canton, Massachusetts · Saved source text
Final CANTON AFFORDABLE HOUSING TRUST minutes 092221
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1 of 2 CANTON AFFORDABLE HOUSING TRUST Present Members: Charles Aspinwall, Lisa Lopez, Michael Loughran, David McCarthy, John McSweeney, William Scollins, Laura Smead MINUTES WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22ND 2021 Salah Meeting Room – Canton Town Hall 801 Washington Street, Canton, MA 02021 9:00 – 10:00 AM AGENDA ITEMS: 1. Declaration of Trust a. We have 90 days after the Attorney General’s office approves the Trust article to file a declaration of trust with the Norfolk County Registry of Deeds. b. Charlie Aspinwall will direct Paul DeRensis, Town Counsel, to draft the declaration. c. Voted in favor 6-0-0 (Mike Loughran arrived shortly after this vote) 2. Voting in officers a. Lisa Lopez was voted in as Chair b. Mike Loughran was voted in as Vice-Chair c. Laura Smead was voted in as Clerk d. Randy Scollins was voted in as Treasurer e. All votes were 7-0-0 in favor 3. Member terms a. Members will be staggered terms of either 1 or 2 years, per the trust article. b. Staff members will stay on the trust as long as they are current staff c. Lisa will confirm what everyone’s terms are and circulate to the group 4. Setting up a trust fund account a. Housing Trust $50k CPA grant account b. Randy Scollins requested in addition, a separate general trust fund account be established c. The group had a lengthy discussion about whether it made sense to set up a trust fund account now, or whether it is premature. d. The group discussed that any CCPC funds not spent on the designated project (housing plan update) would need to return back to CCPC, per the grant rules e. Any funds the Trust receives would also need follow any grant agreements or terms that come with money received
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2 of 2 f. In the end, the group voted 7-0-0 to set up a general trust fund account as well keep the $50k in a separate CPA project account for now. A separate general account allows for any additional grants or funds received this fiscal year. 5. Applicable laws and duties (Open Meeting law, Procurement Laws, Fair Housing laws) a. Laura Smead reminded the group to review the MassHousing Partnership Housing Trust Operations manual on applicable laws and duties of the Trust b. Laws the Trust must follow include i. Open Meeting Law ii. Procurement Laws iii. Fair Housing Laws iv. Public Records Law v. Conflict of Interest laws vi. MA Anti-Aid Amendment (we briefly discussed what this means) vii. Local housing trust bylaw 6. Schedule, transparency and communication (website, social media) a. The group will generally meet monthly; however, the next meeting will be in 2 weeks to get started b. The group will meet on October 12th at 10:00am to discuss the scope of work to update our housing plan and the process to send it out for quotes c. The group will also meet on November 1st at 11:00am d. The group agreed that transparency and communication were important. e. The Trust is required to report to the CCPC on how the grant funds were spent f. It would be best practice to annually report to the Select Board and/or be included in the Annual Report g. The group agreed that setting up a website was a priority, and the use of social media would come later. 7. General goals, tasks, and funding opportunities for the first year a. The group agreed that the Housing Trust is Canton’s logical entity for both housing policy as well as implementing projects. b. The group would think about best practices and policies, and share that information with each other c. Other goals and tasks include looking toward additional staffing (Housing Coordinator) and funding sources, as well as updating the housing plan