Good evening. Welcome to July's affordable housing trust meeting. We're just gathering our our quorum. Um and it looks like the two attendees I had uh good evening everybody. U the two attendees that did that two went to a zero. So maybe they went back to their
emails or um let's give it a minute here and Okay, here we go. Yeah, I'm gonna welcome uh Rob Carla as a panelist and Carla as well. Carla,
hang on. So Rob and Carl, you should both be getting um alerts on your screen, invitations to be a panelist and just say yes to that. Okay. Hi, Carla. Hi.
Good evening, Robert. Good evening everyone. All right, so we are uh still hoping to see Algra and Alex. Correct.
Um Arl, are you a wild cat? My my husband's from Kentucky, so and I lived there for five years. So where in Kentucky? Uh Paduka. So that is our that's our our college b our favorite college basketball team.
Yes. Maybe we should have a trust meeting with where everyone wears their, you know, their their colors of their favorite team, right? Yeah. And Greg, we have not heard uh we did not hear that Alex couldn't make it.
I did not know. And he is around this summer. I know. Um uh we did hear from TJ who who can't make it tonight. Yes. What's the quorum, Greg? Uh quorum is um it's a majority, right? So it's five. So we are we have a quorum.
Good. And mo most importantly, we've got um all the new members who we were expecting and uh so why don't we go ahead and and jump into it. So, um, uh,
I'll just share Paula and Algra that because we didn't have any, um, urgent business this evening, Greg and I thought that this would be a good opportunity to do in effect part one of a on boarding where we would talk about what we've actually done in the last
year. So you get a sense of what this trust is doing and where we are heading and the kind of questions that we're considering so that you can start thinking about uh where you want to put your energy and how we are functioning
as a as a group. Um so the the rough plan is for um Greg is going to kick off with reviewing our major activities. I'm going to um uh tell you about the strategy that we developed and um kind
of agreed to last year and how that structures our work in subcommittees and uh then we'll review kind of what's in the pipeline in in various ways. And you know the whole time please um uh jump in
with questions. Uh we're going to be reviewing slides. We'll send you a copy of the slides. So don't feel like you have to try to memorize anything, but just get a sense of what's going on and um so you can start to think about uh you know what kind of activities you're enthusiastic
about and um the policy issues that we already started talking about at our last meeting. So um if there's no questions at this point or if there are any, let's feel them, but otherwise um uh Greg, take it away.
Great. Um, and I just want to go ahead and and and recognize some esteemed folks in our audience tonight, uh, including, uh, Council Members Ryan, Council Member Ryan, I should say, and, uh, Representative Mindy Dome, and of course the esteemed Carol Lewis, uh, who is, uh, um, you know, we all know well.
Um, uh, so with that, um, I will go ahead and, um, share some slides here. Let's find the window. And um and actually I forgot Greg that you had noted that we could have some introductions.
Oh yeah, sure. Why don't we um why don't we start with that? Of course, you know, my name is Gaston Rees and and I'm currently chair um but I think that it would be great for especially uh for for new members to um introduce themselves.
Bob, you want to start off? Sure. Uh I'm Bob Pomemoroy and um relatively new to Amoris. Been here a little over a year now living in Amity Place. Um and um just pleased to be on the committee. Hope I can contribute.
Thank you so much Bob. Uh Robert. Yep. So I'm uh Robert Alingham. So I've been an Amherst resident for about four years now. Um and I work for the Amherst Business Improvement District. So very active in the Amherst area. Um and I'm
very excited to be a part of this uh part of this trust. Thank you, Carla. Um Carla Rash and I've lived in Ammerst since 2012 and I'm also um new to the board, but um looking forward to I've still have a lot to learn, but looking
forward to it. Great. Algra. I am Algra Clark. Um, I have been back in Ammerst since 2018 and on the board since 2021, I believe. Um, and glad that we have
some new faces. Uh, wonderful. Paul, I'm Paul Buckleman, town manager and been here since 2016, but also went to college here. Greg. Um, yeah. And I'm Greg Rashane. I am um
staff to the housing trust. I've been in this role for about uh going on two years in the fall, I guess. Um and this is my first municipal role, but um I've got a long history working on housing stuff um um as an advocate uh through board service um uh you know, as a
general rabble rouser at various city councils around the country. So um uh so yeah, that's uh that's me. Um and I'm I'm super excited uh that we have some new participants in our efforts here. So, um, with that, I will, uh, I'll go
ahead and, uh, get started with our overview here. And, um, by all means, um, interrupt or stop me or, uh, you know, I'll, I'll try to avoid acronyms, but, um, hit the brakes if I use an overwhelming one. Um, so, let me share here.
I go over to that so can folks see my my blindingly white screen there. Yep. Looks good. All right. Great. Um so, um you know, so the trust, uh you know, as an entity, um you can see our mission here. It's also on our web page. Um you know, but our uh
our work is to promote the town's affordable housing priorities as determined through the most recent uh town housing plan, uh particularly to create safe, decent, and affordable housing for our most vulnerable populations. Um uh the most recent town housing plan you'll hear about uh in a
few minutes, actually. Um so I'll get to that. Um so our um some of the highlighted um sort of capital investments that we've made uh thus far as an entity since we were born around 2018. Um the first thing uh that's been
uh formally built uh is this development called East Gables which is over on Route 9 right near Ammerst College. Uh this is built by an organization called Valley CDC. Um it's got 28 uh affordable uh deeply affordable studio apartments um and largely aimed at folks um uh
vulnerable to or coming out of homelessness. Um and that's been a real success um as far as its addition to the community so far. Uh it opened in the uh fall of 204 um I believe maybe 23.
It's a little hazy. Um, we've also made an investment uh in uh and and played a very active role beyond uh just investing um kind of uh in um a project by Wayfinders, which is another regional affordable housing developer. Um this is a rendering because it's not built yet.
Um it is permitted uh by the town and and the trust and town have made various investments in it. It is now in a queue uh to get um state permitting. Oh, I just had a little error there on my screen. Can folks still hear me? Yep. Yep, you're fine.
Okay. I don't know what happened to my P. Is the PDF? No, it's in It has decoding failed. Oh, boy. Let's close this one. Um, I'm going to share again here.
Um, oh, it's a different uh that's fine. A different reader, but okay. Um, the fun of technology. Um, so yeah, so this is uh by a regional affordable home developer called Wayfinders, formerly known as Haphousing uh some years ago.
Um, it's actually a development at two separate site sites at 31 Southeast Street and a proximate site over on Belchuretown Road. Um and uh the town actually um uh sort of rfpd this property you're looking at at 31
Southeast Street. Um uh this is surplus town property. There's an old school here. You can see in the back. Um and then we also purchased a separate um the town did a separate lot over on Belchuretown Road to make it a viable project and give it enough units. Um, so
then a third sort of major capital investment that we've made is Ammeris Community Homes which is also being built as we speak uh by Valley CDC up in North Ammerst off Ball Lane and Montigue Road. Um, and so these are in a very very exciting fashion 30 uh duplexes
sorry 15 duplexes, 30 units um aimed at home ownership uh which is hard to do in the affordable homes world. Um, so, um, you know, this is a super exciting project for Ammerst in the region in Valley CDC. Um, and that's getting built right now. Um, and, uh, should be ready
for occupancy sometime late summer, early fall next year. Um, uh, which is, uh, fantastic. Um, so then kind of going forward a little bit, kind of zooming in more recently, um, to other investments that we've made. I didn't go all the way back, so there there has been some stuff
kind of preceding my tenure, but this roughly all starts uh when I when I joined the team here. Um we made uh $180,000 investment uh um into an effort uh led by Craig's Doors um and uh sort
of leveraging uh you know about I think around three two or three times that in state funds to support a scattered site um a leased housing effort uh here in Ammerst. Um, so, uh, these are, uh, uh, sort of private market apartments that
are leased in order to support, uh, a specific target population, uh, of vulnerable folks that Craig's Doors, which is a local, uh, shelter provider, uh, is is supporting. Um, we spent $25,000 uh to support the Ammerst Community Land
Trust, which is another local um sort of uh more um earlier stage nonprofit uh affordable housing organization. Um and we kicked in $25,000 to help one of their homeowners uh get over the hump uh
and and buy a home uh in in 23. um uh the aforementioned Valley um the Amoris community homes effort by Valley Community Development. We've made two separate investments into the first one kind of at the front end of their process and then uh toward toward the
very end of their pre-development process when they had a gap, we came back and we filled that gap uh as a trust. So you can see the uh the two separate um efforts here. Um and then a smaller amount on a tenency preservation effort um uh by community action. Um
moving on from uh sort of capital investments that we've made. Uh we've also sort of made some some formal votes uh to support uh you know different initiatives and legislation including a lot of state legislation. Um our one of our ex our former co-chairs Erica Pedade
was very uh great at keeping track of key legislation for us to endorse and offer support to. um uh we more locally uh recommended use of uh something called a fee in lie of affordable units which we'll talk more about um at a
specific uh development happening over on Pleasant Street or uh South Pleasant Street um and uh the basically the developer of that property came to us and asked us to endorse their proposal. So we in turn endorsed it and then you know sent that endorsement over to the
planning board. Um we also in a formal sense uh supported uh the University Drive um housing overlay district which is a a zoning effort to facilitate uh more dense housing over on University Drive. Um and then um more recently we
recommended adjustment of the aforementioned inloo uh uh bylaw framework um and uh and that's in in process right now um and we'll share a bit more about that down the line. So, as far as who we uh you know are
welcoming here um and you know who we're talking to, you know, tonight we're a we're kind of an internal group. Um but um often we're joined by um either folks who are making formal requests for funds um but often you know other guests who can give us insights into the work that we're doing or the issues we're
concerned with. So everything from uh somebody who built a cool set of tiny homes up in New Hampshire um to u representatives of UMass both on the administrative side and you know folks in the program world who are uh doing uh building neat accessory dwellings, you
know, up uh up in right right there by campus on Olympia Drive. um you know fellow you know board members from other boards like the you know members of the planning commission um different policy analysts etc. So, uh, a lot of different folks. Um, and most recently, we've also
had a a frequent guest, uh, of the, uh, consultant that's working on our housing production plan, which is Barrett Planning. Um, they're basically wrapped up, but, uh, they were, uh, key partners, participants in these meetings. if you could pause here for a sec. Yeah, let me just kind of say that
one of the ways that the trust can make an impact is by connecting others and being uh bringing energy to initiative and and getting people to talk to each other who might not otherwise. So when we invite guests, we're not only
learning from them, but we are finding out people who may be able to become part of further initiatives. So please kind of open your mind and think about who would have a perspective that you think would help us understand what we can do better. Uh because everyone we
come to meet is somebody that we can potentially reach out to and bring together so that we can punch above our weight as as a trust. Yeah. To plant that idea in your mind. For sure, Gaston. Thank you very much. You know, and I think one of the neat things about this group is we've flexed
beyond our our very formal role as a funer and and kind of thought of ourselves as a a catalyst around different housing initiatives in town. But that takes some creativity and you know thinking outside the box. So uh so ditto Gaston's point there. Um going to
you know just you know in a similar vein some of the key partners we work with um and this is obviously not an exhaustive list just you know a few highlighted folks that you might hear about um you know in the coming months uh I've mentioned Valley CDC and wayfinders who
are affordable home developers um you know valley CDC mostly in Hampshire County Wayfinders a bit more regionally in western Massachusetts um the Ammerst Community Land Trust is a um a younger uh you know affordable housing organization based here in Ammerst
obviously um you know and they're uh you know sort of focused mostly on home ownership um and and um you know has some some neat stuff in the works which we just one of one idea we just heard about um I think two months ago. They were our our primary guest. Um
Representative Dome uh and her staff are active um participants in this uh in this effort. um and and you know you know either representative herself or one of her uh her team members is almost always on these meetings um and and she's been a key conduit uh to what's
happening in uh in Beacon Hill and you know how we can weigh in on the goings on there um especially in regard to housing stuff generally but housing trust stuff specifically um there's been various pieces of legislation over the years uh the Amoris Community
Preservation Act committee is a fellow board um and They uh thus far are where we've gotten the majority of our funding. So um we work with them on an annual basis and um perhaps a new relationship to them is built into our strategic plan which Gaston will talk
about. Um and then the last entity I'll list here is an organization called the Mass Housing Partnership which does a whole lot of things uh around housing statewide but including community assistance. Um we received some in the form of a gratis consulting uh
partnership um where uh the state's housing trust guru which is Shelley Garing uh came and and partnered with us over maybe eight nine or 10 months uh um to develop our strategic plan. Um so you know her support in that was invaluable. Um and when we have a wonky housing
trust question um she is normally where we we start. Uh so um they're really a key partner uh with the trust and also in much broader housing efforts um you know overall um a bit more programmatically just some of the stuff
the trust has engaged in um more actively uh in a hands-on way over the past year. Um we as we were finishing up our strategic plan went to the Amoris block party and gathered a bunch of feedback on that and the housing production plan which was also under construction. So a lot of folks had fun
there. Um uh you can see Alex, this is Alex. You all meet him soon. Um uh so that was a lot of fun. Um in a more formal sense, uh after producing our plan, uh one of the objectives we developed was some public events. Um so we did a forum with a League of Women
Voters um which is not the greatest picture of it here but we had uh between um and a relatively icy actually January night um between uh in person and online we had something like 60 people in the audience um
listening to uh you know different uh developers of affordable homes uh uh weigh in on you know some of the um you know the challenges and opportunities here in the region. Uh some of you joined us just last month for our uh for our ADU FAQ which is uh also kind of
emerged from our strategic plan. Um and uh that was also a great success. We had about 55 folks in the room. Um again didn't get the greatest pictures of it but uh you know it was neat to get out of the Zoom world and into the South Ammeris Library. Um and uh and what what's interesting about that is you
know uh we put the event together. Um we we pulled in some some great speakers and and uh you know and guests we had no idea what our turnout would be and you know we thought perhaps we'd be talking to ourselves and in fact there was 55 folks that came out which really told us
there's some interest there and FAQs here in Ammerston in the region. Um and so that's kind of a quick overview of some of the stuff we've been doing and voting on and and people we've been talking to. Um uh and I'll pause there and you know I don't know if we want to take any questions right now or before
we go on to the action plan. Yeah. Uh questions. What what are you surprised to see? What what are you curious about having heard a little bit about any um any thoughts? Uh Robert Bob
Carla um uh please uh jump in as as as you as as you're moved to do so. Um uh but we'll have plenty more time. So um perhaps I can go into the strategy that we adopted so you can see how we're
trying to make sense of our our role. Uh so fundamentally um here you know our our we crafted our strategy around three major areas of activity. The first perhaps the most fundamental uh provoking
development. And so we set ourselves a concrete target of 200 or more homes whether for rent or ownership in the next 5 years. And uh targeting u you know affordability
based on average median income. Uh so homes that are accessible to people below 100% of of average uh median income over the the next five years. So it's it's a reach target. at the same time a drop in the bucket of what of
what we really need. Uh so um critical to get motivated by that number. Um uh here is a set of the strategies that we kind of unpack from that larger goal. Um one is to identify parcels that uh could
be used for development. Um the town has a number of properties. there are some private owners with properties and so that's um B seeking a land donation and we'll have some updates about possibilities on that front. Um we have
uh historically focused more on rentals and we would like to also support uh home ownership as as we've begun to do um more recently. Um other you know development uh approaches that that that are here involve thinking about
non-conforming lots. Um this letter E is really a kind of broader goal of how can we make Amherst a place that um has a propensity to to development. What can we um what dots can we connect? What um
institutions could we ferment? And so we see the effort to uh tell people about ADUs, bring banks in as something that enhances the development ecosystem in a way that uh could at at the very minimum
um you know add add housing stock that reduces pressure on on rents. Um and finally, it's important for us to be collaborating um across town. And so um we are keen to keep our eye on the inclusionary zoning. And I'll I'll say a little more in a bit about uh our
proposal to town council on how to amend the current bylaw. You know, funding is is critical to to this development. I mean, you could think of funding as a means to the end. On the other hand, without funding, we're not even in a position to uh undertake development activities. And
so, we set it forth as its own pillar of our strategy. Um and and again, we set a target uh a reach target of $4 million. Um and uh we can look at the different strategies that we've articulated. Um
and you heard at our last meeting about B um uh the objective to have a standard uh community preservation act contribution so that we have some kind of consistency and and reliability and so um we have less uncertainty about
future funding. um and also initiatives in terms of real estate transfer fees and we're you know open to your ideas and and what imagination we can bring to ways that we can be connecting funding to to development.
Um and then you know finally it's really important for us to be uh bringing information and making people aware of opportunities. So that ADU event last month was as much about development as it is about education and um making sure
people are aware of the opportunities that are created by state law and by financing opportunities and so on. Um and so um Algra has been chairing the the education subcommittee and you know it was her group that put in the energy
to partner with the League of Women Voters and put on that that great event in January. And so we set ourselves a target in the strategy to um be engaging across the town to have, you know, at least one annual sort of community
meeting um to engage with with residents. And in effect, we've had a couple of these between the block party and um the the ADU event. Um, and we want to be in a position to pitch in to things that are being sponsored by other groups where it enhances the overall
objectives of our trust. Relationship building is absolutely fundamental to what we do. And you can think of that in terms of development or you can think of it in terms of engagement. Um, either way, it's squarely in our um in our Bailey Wick and and critical to uh
achieving our our success. Um and so this um inlue fee um all I'll all not too complicated but in effect if you are a developer and you're building a certain number of units or more the
bylaw requires you to include a certain number of affordable units. Developers then have the option to request a waiver of that requirement based on contributing a payment. And so we are looking forward to receiving a
substantial payment over a million dollars um uh later this year. Um and our recommendation based on uh the experience of that request and and the the position that the town took was that it shouldn't be a fixed amount. Why?
Because there are different kinds of properties and markets are changing and there should be we thought some flexibility. So we uh proposed to the town council that u the bylaw be amended to provide a range so that the planning
board could choose an amount between you know x and y mult uh amounts. Again I'll save you the details for later but our proposal is that there be some flexibility in what that in new payment should be based on um the variety of circumstances that you can never kind of
fully codify in advance. and we're, you know, due for our annual application for funding in in a couple months. Great. Thanks, Gastone. Um, so, uh, I will, um, keep moving here. Uh, as far
as, you know, we we often have a practice of just doing general town updates on matters related to housing, uh, in these meetings. Uh and some of this relates back to our core work. Some of it's a bit more peripheral, but in any case, um uh there uh is a lot going
on with ADUs right now. And so the town um is in the process of updating our bylaw to um to sort of sync with um the recent state legislation that passed uh and and do a couple other things. That's actually along with a descriptive memo.
that's in the packets that were sent out. Um, and there's some neat stuff uh in that proposed um town bylaw. Um, that'll actually be at the planning board, I believe, in the same day as the inclusionary matter um on the 6th of August. Um, and both matters should also
soon be at uh the council community resources committee probably in August as well. Um, but you know, one one thing I'll just note about the accessory dwelling unit bylaw, the update of it, is that um along with sort of complying with state law, um, they're also doing some cool things where they're, um,
creating a a sort of what they're calling alongside the quote unquote protected use AD accessory dwelling unit, which is mandated by the state law, they're also creating a more generous um, uh, local ADU, um, which,
uh, among other things probably, as it's written now, could be larger in size. It's as it's written now that local ADU would maintain the requirement of owner occupancy. Um but I think with the the local with the with the protected use
ADU along with it, um I think it's a pretty neat compromise. And so for some homeowners who do plan to live in one of the two homes, um giving them the option to do something a little bit bigger than the protected use version, um is a neat thing. It could open up some other doors, too, which you know, I can can talk more about if folks are interested
in that. um in the spirit of sort of collaboration uh and just awareness of market rate development um which often you know as Gaston mentioned includes affordable units as part of our inclusionary bylaw. Um there is a
current um proposed uh market rate development down near Atkins um in South Ammeris area kind of south of of Hampshire College. um uh that um I believe has as it currently stands proposed has about 17 affordable units
roughly. I forget the exact number. Um uh and that is currently um they're working with the conservation commission uh and and so that's kind of still in the weeds uh in in that process. Um but they continue to be working with public boards to try and get that development
approved. Um and that's just a market rate development which we have the inclusionary units. we don't have a formal relationship to that development as the trust. Um um something that uh certainly we care more about as the trust and hopefully will have a formal investment to
eventually um but is is you know still something we're we're trying to bring into fruition um is the redevelopment of the former VFW site uh into a shelter plus supportive housing u which is a sort of emergent statewide model of of
how to approach shelter. Um, so the town with ARPA money, which is the federal relief program of a few years back, um, the town used some of our ARPA money to purchase the former VFW site. Um, and the goal is to redevelop it into shelter and housing. Um, there is a, um, neat
overview of that project and and a sort of a visioning effort of how it might work, which you can find on the trust web page. Um we engaged an architect last year to uh sort of help us do some visioning around that and come up with some concepts and they did that. So where we are now is uh on hopefully the
verge uh within uh I'd like to say within a month um uh we have a a very close to complete RFP um just have a couple uh eyes to dot and tees to cross before that goes out. But the hope is to release that very soon um and attract a
partner who can develop that uh uh for the town. Uh and then um uh then finally there's also an effort underway with the Southeast Street uh school which is a um an older school property uh down in the on the South Amoris Common. Um we've
actually, as it turns out, are working with with the same architecture firm to do a visioning effort around what might be possible down there. Um, and some of you may have joined us for a visioning event which happened I think the night before the uh the ADU event in the same
space. Um, and we got great turnout for that event. Um, and um, uh, you know, a mix of opinions. Um, but um, certainly plenty of of folks um, uh, interested in in seeing some housing there. Also some folks as you might expect with concern about what might go there. Um but on the
whole I think a a mixed response is a absolutely a positive outcome for us in you know at that stage of a project. So there will be a more formal presentation on that um once the the architect kind of comes up with some different concepts uh in the fall. So look out for that.
Um, and then the biggie right now, uh, that is kind of where we're trying to land the plane, um, is the housing production plan, uh, that the town has been working on, or I should say I, in conjunction with a consultant, have been working on pretty actively for just about a year now. Um, so that is a uh, a
big, you know, pretty significant uh, you know, 100 plus page document. Uh but basically what it is it's an assessment of our town demographics, our housing assets, um our housing needs and barriers to those needs. Um it looks at you know different specific problems uh
and related goals um related to housing choice related to affordability. Um sort of our our financial capacity as a town and and a community. Um and then also looking you know creating some goals around demographics um which uh are
quite unique in Ammerst um related to the statewide picture. So uh you know it's a um you know that was a pretty comprehensive piece. Um and then also a number of strategies and then some development opportunities um which we'll talk about. Um there's a bunch of I
think there's probably 30 some strategies in there overall. Um I just pull out a few of them here um to um you know some of those that certainly came from conversations with the trust um or you know perhaps relate closely to our work. Um one of the key strategies is
going to be to do some upzoning or a revised zoning to better facilitate what we call missing middle housing. Um which tends to be things kind of between uh you know a triple decker all the way to a you know a 12unit apartment building say in that range. um um and they call
it missing middle because what has happened in recent years nationally is we've we can build big huge apartment buildings and we can build single family houses but um we've lost the things between those and it's been identified as a best practice to really recover um that kind of product and so we're
working on that. Um kind of wonky but you know you know allowing uh apartments um that are more than 24 units and not mixed use as one named strategy in there. um creating the capacity to do um
small cottage style development uh you know is one parking requirements uh are a huge huge challenge in the world of housing. So we've got some strategies in there around that. Um, a neat thing we might be able to work on is the trust uh
are uh is some is a a pre-approved ADU, which is something that uh that homeowners uh could potentially use plans off the shelf that would already be approved by the relevant planning bodies um and then um have a much uh clearer path toward toward building
them. Um perhaps a related loan program uh is something we might be able to look into as the trust later on. Um, and then looking at some demographic stuff, you know, trying to think more creatively about, you know, how we can look at both student and senior housing challenges in town and see if we can uh make some
matches there and and uh, you know, and do some creative stuff. Um, and there's a lot more to it as well. I just wanted to highlight some of the things there. Um, and I should note too about these strategies. So, the uh these are all basic this is basically a a game plan
for the town. No, none of these are uh are are formalized until the town addresses each one of them individually and takes them through the various approval processes. So, uh first the planning board and then has already approved this and hopefully the council will soon as well. Um but their approval
of the housing production plan does not imply any of these things are law. It implies that these bodies are saying yes, this is this is a game plan for all of us to delve into over the next few years. Um and so um you know their approval will be kind of the first step
but more work to do. Um back to development opportunities. Uh so the the the housing reduction plan also uh lists some um specific properties which might be viable for specifically for affordable development. Um we took a
different route with this than a lot of towns do. Often these site lists are just somebody pointing at a map and and making a list out of it without ever talking to owners. We chose to not do that and actually talk to the owners. So we have some fewer sites on here than some of these documents might see, but
we actually have a at least certainly no signed deals or anything, but um a statement of of of strong interest from any from these two folks here or entities here. So um one is Ammerst College. Um they have agreed to um put a
site over kind of above Stanley Street between uh South Pleasant Street and Route 9 um or Beltertown Road. Uh and it's there's a map in the housing production plan. You can see it more closely, but it's kind of above Stanley Street and Tamarak
Drive there. Um and uh that's a you know about a 25 acre site. Um remains to be seen how much of it is actually buildable. we need to do uh some feasibility work on that, but it's exciting that Ammerst College has uh has offered that up as the a potential site uh for affordable development. Um you
know, and and we're, you know, really hoping to be able to partner with them on that. Um and then uh another entity um that certainly one of our members here will be familiar with uh um the Emanuel Lutheran Church um already um houses Craig's Doors um and uh um you
know and has also expressed an openness to to consideration of perhaps future development on their site. um presence on this list doesn't imply uh like anything's going to happen, you know, next week or, you know, and and ultimately both of these entities would need to likely partner with private
developers and and sort of choose to bring something forward themselves. Um we would obviously help facilitate it, but um but it's good that both entities have offered openness to this, which is very exciting. Both are very very compelling sites. Um and then some town owned sites, which some of you already
know about. We talked about the VFW that's up on Main Street. Um we talked about the uh the Southeast Street School um which is the you know the former school property that's getting reviewed right now. Um also um Hickory Ridge um has been in discussion a lot. That's the
former golf course uh which um a bunch of it got turned into some solar and then uh uh and some trails. That that was kind of the deal as far as the town gaining access to part of it as I recall. Um and there is uh a relatively modestly buildable property in the
greater Hickory Ridge landscape. Much of that property is um you know is is wetlands or you know not really appropriate for building. Um but the road frontage is about 5 acres um and um you know so that's in the the HPP list
as well. And then there's also a parcel over on Strong Street. There's actually three separate parcels. Um, which acreage wise is interesting, but it is a challenging one in that it's pretty inaccessible physically. Uh, doesn't have utilities and so it's a bit more of a head scratcher as far as how we might
deploy that for affordable housing. But, um, you know, if somebody if we think we can find a way, you know, we put it in there. Um, so that's a bit about the development opportunities uh both that we're thinking about and they're also listed in the uh the plan. Um, and then,
uh, the timing on this, the planning board, uh, has approved it, uh, which is great. They voted unanimously for it, um, which we're excited about. The council is scheduled it is scheduled tentatively right now. Um, I don't think that's formal yet, um, but to consider it on the 21st of this month. So, um,
uh, with that, I think I'm good. Um, Thank you so much, Greg, for for uh putting it all in one place. It's very helpful to um to get that review for me.
Um uh I guess I'm cur Algra, you know, you you've been um uh the the you're the long-standing member now um in in the group. Uh what what are your reactions hearing uh Greg tell the story here? I
feel like I'm old. I feel like I've been here for a long long time and we've done some cool stuff. So, that's that was nice. Um, and I also feel like we've been talking about Strong Street since I started. So, it crept back onto the
agenda. I see. Um, but I think there's some really exciting prospects on the list. So, I'm hopeful for that. Especially I mean I think that the the possibility of something on Southeast Street would be good and especially in
that area it seems like it kind of would potentially blend into some of the housing that's already over there. Um yes, thank you. So, love to uh get reactions and
thoughts from uh you know, Bob, Robert, Carla, um uh and and Paul. I als I'm also curious like I asked Algro, what um what reactions you have to seeing the the kind of the the the brief history of the trust uh reviewed.
Yeah. No, it's it's it's impressive. Um, and I think I mean I think one of the big things that you didn't really talk about is having Greg here is a real game changer because um co coordinating all this stuff it was a planner's part-time you
know part of their job but now Greg is doing this um exclusively and just his wealth of knowledge and his sort of organization of energy really has made a difference I think and helped the trust be much more productive. Um I think the the lessons we've learned from John
Hornick who is it's always who's our sort of the godfather of affordable housing is you always need to be um filling the pipeline. So you have to have things being built. You have to have things in development. You have to having uh some pre-development worked on things. You also need to have some
projects that you're trying to put into the pipeline to see do they work. So having activity on all on the entire spectrum I think is really important which is what we're doing. So I think a town deserves a lot of credit for the what it's achieved and uh it's just pretty remarkable when you actually look
at it in a number of projects and we're just really looking at the public sector you know there's a lot of development happening in other ways but um that generate other units as well you know um I think from the governor talking to the governor and lieutenant governor their mission is more units uh more units
matter uh in terms of driving down housing prices and I think that you know there's always a um you know it's not just what can be subsidized but it also has to be the market that responds in a certain way as well. Thank you Paul. Uh and indeed I became
chair once Greg had all was already you know had hit the ground and was running um and so I want to give a shout out to Carol in in the audience and to Erica Podady for um being the co-chairs who brought Greg on board. So that was
really indeed transformational. Um, so, uh, uh, yeah, Bob, Carla, Robert, I'd love to just, uh, you know, question that caught your attention, idea, something that puzzled you. Um, uh,
would love to hear from from you. I can I can start. Um, uh, it's realize how much how many questions I have and how much to learn. So, it was huge amount. I think in particular just knowing there's so much going on within
the town, different different parts of the town doing different things and I think it's just going to take time to sort of get an understanding about who's doing what and what our role is. Um the HPP um is really impressive document. I
you know I haven't read it cover to cover but I've looked looked through it a lot. Yeah, you had mentioned earlier that one of the things the trust does is to support you know uh um sort of letter of support for other initiatives and so
on. Has has the trust endorsed the HPP or so that's already done? Yeah. Yeah. Greg, you're muted if you want to. That's a great question. I I was quick call a vote. Um um no in the so in the
formal sense no although we were kind of the um the initial sort of mind brain trust behind it Bob um and the reason that the planning board and council play a role and I probably should have contextualized this the HPP uh is a
meets a specific state framework um and the state in order to approve the HPP requires approval from the planning board and then the council um so they don't require prior approval from us. So, we haven't we haven't run it through, although I think um a lot of the ideas that you see in there um come,
you know, from this group. Um so so certainly in spirit I'd say in a grassroots way we've uh we've I don't know obviously it's county council town council that's going to make the decisions but if you know sort of a expression of support is worthwhile
I don't um I guess the other questions that will you know over time that I'll have um is sort of understanding the funding mechanism a little bit more the CPA and how they're funded and then how that trickles down and um then also just
sort of really the relationships that's a big enough and you question that I think we can we we should feel um right right away for for everyone's benefit the and and um and Paul will will help us out here. The um the
community preservation act is an instrument that the state uses to basically give towns some self direction about how to allocate money coming from the state. And what is distinctive about the trust is that we are empowered to
receive funds without saying we need money for this specific thing. So, we're empowered to receive funds to be ready when a project comes our way. So, I guess that's the that's the short answer that I have to give you. Um, but I would
welcome additions from uh Paul or Greg. Go ahead, Greg. No. Yeah, I think I think that's a good summary. Oh, so yeah, I think the one difference though is that so the town voted to tax it the taxpayers tax themselves more. Um, if you look at your
tax bill, you'll see a CPA line item. So the town has is an optin by towns. So, and then the state is supposed to match the amount that that we tax and then and then that comes into the community preservation act fund and there's a separate committee called CPAC community
preservation act committee and they can out they can dedicate those funds to um open space recreation affordable housing and historic preservation and there's certain requirements that they had divided up accordingly in certain um
quantums for each group um but really is mostly taxpayer money um people are the taxpayers are doing which was a very generous thing by the taxpayers of Ammeris to opt into that but it's an incredible resource um and the trust has been very u organized about seeking
funds for it and it's been really important to all these projects you heard without the CPA money they wouldn't have been happening that's right you know and I'll I'll add too and I think it's you know it's relevant and and you know frankly a re part of the reason I took this job you
know is If you look at communities around the state, there is a 10% minimum uh that um that towns must spend on affordable homes uh out of their CPA funds. Um Ammerst I haven't looked at the rankings, but but has to be well in the,
you know, close to the lead of the percentage of CPA funds they're spending on housing overall on the trust and on other initiatives. um you know and so you know Amoris you know uh the CPA really has you know committed strongly to affordable housing which is you know really encouraging that and a reflection
of you know of I think the mindset here in town. Um they've also bonded to do some big projects too around affordable housing including um some really vital preservation that I think happened some years maybe nine years ago now something like that but there was a a large development built in
the 60s or 70s uh that had uh expiring affordability and the CPA um bonded in order to preserve the affordability of some of those units uh which which was a really admirable thing. So, um, I'm glad you asked, Bob, because I I learned something, uh, important from
from Paul's, uh, answer. Uh, but I also interrupted your train of thought. Do you remember your next question? No, I just more long-term wondering what the conversations have been with the colleges on a variety of fronts, particularly UMass and and um given the
impact of student housing and and so on, it's it's a deeper question, but um over time it'll be interesting to hear what's been sort of discussed up till now, what things you're thinking of in terms of other ways of cooperation And
um anyway, just out of curiosity in in indeed I'll just say in short that it that the relationships as you would imagine are manifold and and complicated. What uh one piece and why
we have that Amherst College property in the housing production plan is because there's someone at Amherst College who is a very proactive um uh kind of representative of the college's interest in promoting housing in particular for staff their own staff.
Um so maybe you could say more about that that relationship. Yeah, I can jump in on that because I I think the need for housing is identified um by the by Ammeris College and the university as a high priority for them primarily for faculty because they're
losing faculty because of the housing affordability challenges here and they want to create more housing uh but also for their workers and so they're they want to create more workforce housing. Um it may not be defined as affordable housing, but the what the university and
the colleges both colleges have is they're landriich and they can dedicate space to build um we're we're encouraging them to do that. The all five colleges are recognizing housing as a major impediment to their success. Um
I think that um so I I think that with the uh big bad bill that just passed it sort of uh the Ammeris College uh sidestep some of the uh incredible taxes that were going to be imposed on their endowment. So I think they're feeling a
little bit better about things. Um, so I, you know, I think they're they're really are very dedicated towards or they say they have identified land that they would like to develop for housing and it's a high priority for them. Thanks.
Those are great questions uh for for all of us to hear answers to um thoughts or ideas. Um I'm just curious also just to know what caught your attention if if anything. Uh, Robert or Carla, I think. Um, I don't really have any
particular questions because I'm I'm still kind of in learning mode here cuz it's I'm just trying to still get a you know, kind of like a global sense of but I mean, this was very helpful today in terms of how we get funding and, you know, what where kind of projects um,
you know, our monies go towards. But it's, you know, just always important to me too just to hear not only are there different projects in terms of like, you know, there's ideas of projects, there's projects in the works, there's projects reaching completion, but also just diversification of the kind of um, you
know, people who are seeking or that we're, you know, seeking to help out in addition, not just students, not just seniors, but also just making in terms of families, you know, cuz I think that's and I don't know if it's any ever int if there's any intentionality or if that's just assume, you know, the houses are big enough for just I mean I think
everyone knows that there's been you know in terms of student population and families there's you know a lot of them are being priced out of Ammer so that's always just on the forefront of my mind so like I said I don't have a particular question but just it's important to me to know that these projects are you know
some of them are apartments for people you know newly out of um being on a house and then there's people you know and then there's you know seniors who have a fixed income but also just yeah it's it's good to hear about these kind duplexes and places like that that might make home ownership available to people
with families and just um anyway so that's just I guess to give a little bit more transparency to my own personal agenda you know no that's exactly what I was excited to to hear about and I'll just very briefly uh say Carla that with that Atkins
project that Greg mentioned ahead of a planning board meeting after a conversation here we didn't have time to really get together a vote but I shared The theme that had come up is, you know, it's important for those affordable units that get built to be ac good, you know, for families to have the right uh
bedroom mix and that the facility should be supportive of families occupying those units. So, that's absolutely something that that is on our mind and that's an example of how we might kind of act on that um commitment. Yeah, Greg.
Yeah. And Carla, that's a really um astute observation. And the thing I just wanted to reflect back is that um um that that balance doesn't necessarily get easier, you know, like we struggle with at a staff level, you know. I mean, one of the things I like I I don't like to say it, but it's the metaphor that I
use is that many of the lights in the dashboard are blinking red here. um you know and so um there's one way to look at that which says we're not going to go wrong if we build something you know but the other way to look is it's hard sometimes to know what to prioritize and that's an ongoing
effort um at you know both among you know community leaders like yourself at the staff level you know so it's um you know uh so you're you're sort of weighing that um you know is is not uh misguided at
So Carly, if if you'd be open, I'd love for you to share what we talked about during the interview because you're coming at it from a your professional and so your work what you work who you people you work with on a daily basis and I thought that perspective was really important for the trust. Um, and
I think it's something actually we hope that you I hope that you'll weigh in on because I think that's something we don't often uh consider as deeply as we might otherwise. Yeah. And I think after cuz I I talked a little bit about it at our uh when we
met last month and it sort of sounded too like Algra has a lot of similar clients to you know my the people I work with as well. But just because I work with um I mean I work on an inpatient psychiatric unit but um I think more and more even just in recent years uh so
many of our patients come in not having permanent housing and so that's always at the forefront of our mind. So yeah, in addition to my thoughts about I was thinking as I was talking about um you know thinking about housing for families, it's also the kind of thing like the um the project that's right
there next to the Amoris College track you know like you said for people that are like vulnerable or extremely low income because there's a lot of people that just you know I mean I have a patient who's he's been on house for 17 years and not all that is economic you know but it's just just seeing the
impact of that on on people, you know, to know that there's even and and I know that, like I said, there's there's a lot of things that go into that, but supply and having those kind of, you know, not just having um in addition to having places that are reasonable for families,
just having these kind of single efficiency kind of places or small apartments um that and have I know there's a lot of people on the board and, you know, and and people in town who are supportive of that kind of um pipeline, you know, or making the
transition from um being, you know, from homelessness. So, that's that's really important to me as well. So, thanks so much, Carla. Yep. Well, also would love uh welcome uh comments from the audience um based on
the review that you heard and and what's uh kind of currently going on. Um, uh, you know, Robert, what uh what what caught your attention or or intrigued you as a as a way we might, you know, uh, direct our energy?
Yeah, it was uh, similar to um, everyone else. It's really great to sort of see more of the details behind a lot of the the questions that people will generally have and a lot of that information is really great to be in the know of. And
again, um, I think a lot of people, including Paul, touched upon it is that it's great to see that there's so many different projects that are at different stages along the pipeline. There's a lot of things that seem as though, you know, they've just been voted on and we're looking to, you know, long-term work on
and there's things that are getting close to the finishing point. So, um, understanding that a lot. Something that I'm really keen on learning more about and, um, trying to work towards is the the education and public engagement
part. Um, I think that there's a lot that we can do there. Um and I think with that comes I guess a I guess a question of to be able to um effectively have an
initiative on education and you know public engagement is understanding kind of what is the target demographic for what who we're looking to build affordable housing for. Um, so I guess that would be a question. Is that a topic of conversation that has happened
in the past? Is there um, you know, a group that we're looking to educate to then ideally move into housing or um or not? I guess that's just a a question I have. Uh, it's it's a great question and I I'm
curious to hear what what others say. I think that when Greg talked about the flashing red lights, the metaphor speaks to the fact that there are many audiences whom we might, you know, focus a message to because of the need. So,
uh, we know that there are a lot of seniors who would like to stay in Amherst but don't know exactly how they could do it outside of the house they've been in 20 years, um, for example. So uh we there are unhoused folks uh f folks
with um disabilities uh uh working families. So there there are many uh ranges and the education piece is would be a great uh one to have you uh you know uh contribute your
energy to Robert and your comments. remind me to uh share Carla and Bob and and he when you watch the recording uh to you know think about whi which of our current we've constituted the committees based
on the strategic plan maybe we should have a different way of structuring subcommittees but for the time being we have this development funding and education piece and so um uh I'm hearing Robert that the education piece is particular of interest to you it aligns
with what your your your day job um in many ways. And so uh yeah, I'm I'm excited to hear about what you may wish to be uh putting time in outside of our monthly meeting um through through our subcommittee work. Yeah. No, absolutely. Like I said, it's
one of those things that as soon as you start to hear more and more and learn more and more, the ideas start to flow. Um which is which is great and I'm looking forward to kind of seeing what we can what we can implement. Fabulous. Uh uh Greg, we we do have a
hand in in the audience. Hi. Hi. Could you just tell us your name and then your comment, please? Uh this is more keen and I think that most of the older well not older the former continuing members of the housing trust
know about the Ammerst community land trust but I thought I would talk about it for the newer members since it wasn't mentioned in your presentation and the Ammeris community land trust is about 10 years old and it is based on the land
trust model which has been around for over a hundred years where the organization owns owns the land and the and then the homeowner owns the rest. So it reduces the h cost of housing and um
we have now seven homes mostly for families around Ammerst. They're affordable um in perpetuity because when the that owner sells they have to sell it to another person at an
affordable rate. And we also have about four projects that we're working on right now, including a larger one in the center of Ammerst on Amity Street where the family would like to sell their large home
um for a discounted price to the land trust or they want it to become family housing. And there's enough room there for about five units if we can raise the money. So, I'm hoping that you'll all get involved. We send you messages when
we're having events like a potluck that we're having in August and we have a walk in the fall and we have a an annual meeting in December. Um Rob Crowner who is the treasur of the land trust used to be on the housing trust but his term
expired. So, um, hopefully we'll be keeping, well, I will be coming to your meetings to keep in touch and keep you in touch with what we're doing. Thank you so much, Mora. Um, yeah, we're Amoris is lucky to have your initiative
and and the acquisitions you've already made and um, as as Greg noted, uh, we we see you as one of our key partners. Uh, Greg, you're muted. Mora, do you have a date for your potluck?
Um, yeah, it is August 9th. I believe it's a Saturday and it's going to be at Clo Tier and Ruth Hazard's house, which is um in North Ammerst. It's on the North Ammeris community farm property.
They bought a lot there, but I'll be send when we get the invitation done, we'll I'll send it out to everybody. Great. Thanks. Thank you so much. And um more more audience engagement.
Go ahead, Linda. Let's see. Yes, I think my audio is live, but yeah, we got you. Okay, thank you. Well, I just want to um back up Mora. Thank you, Mora, for that summary. Um, I also work with the Amoris
Community Land Trust and um, maybe it wasn't the best timing in the world, but you very kindly hosted a presentation that we gave sort of right before this whole set of new people came on board. Um and I would be happy if uh it is
useful either for the newcomers without taking up everybody's time or for everybody um to share the details of the 174 Amity Street project and also our recent history. Um just just so you know, we're happy to come back and do
that. Thank you so much, Linda. Yeah, and that's recorded as well um uh on the playlist. Oh yeah. Uh by by all means let us know the the updates and um and absolutely uh
explaining how the community land trust works is now a critical part of on boarding to the to the housing trust uh because of your work. Uh yeah, Greg. And I've got uh Grace uh from
Representative Odam's office uh as well. if I could. Yeah, go ahead, Grace. Welcome. Hi all. How's it going? Great to see everyone. Uh, just wanted to take a second to introduce myself to the new members. My name is Grace Simmons. Um, I use they them pronouns and I'm the
legislative director to Representative Mindy Dom. Um, it's a pleasure to always attend these meetings and see all of the wonderful things that the trust has done and continues to do. And if you know, as always, any questions about what's going
on at the state level or any ways we can support you all, always here to help. Thank you so much, Grace. Yeah, we've we've appreciated understanding what's going on through your your uh contributions to our meetings. So, thank
you for your presence and and commitment to the trust. Well, so you know, we're I guess fortunate given the the focus of our our meeting in in getting us all up to speed together and on the same page that we don't have um a lot that we need to
cover in our agenda beyond what we've already done. One important piece that I think we need our our shared bandwidth to figure out is when we should do a part two of this on boarding. Um, and it
looks like the August date for our regular meeting is is a date that is not going to work for everyone. And so I guess I wanted to see if we could field some ideas and begin to triangulate what
might be a date that could work for everyone. And and I think there would be um the main priority I think would be to build uh build connection as a group so that we you know can put put in some work together and and uh make a
difference. And um so I'm wondering given the way the summer flows um whether we think we can find a date and time in August that isn't the regular uh Thursday or whether we should
be um looking ahead into um September. Um can can we get some reactions based on your personal schedule? A quick one from me. I'm I'm out of the country in September. Okay.
So, uh August would be best, but Okay. Yeah, that's a that's a good argument for for for August. And in August, Bob, um uh uh you you're you uh you're generally relatively open right now.
Okay. All right. Um uh how about others? Um Algra, do you have visibility? I'm gone two weeks in August, but I also am less worried about being onboarded. But, right. Yes. No, no doubt.
Want to be cohesive. So, but I've gone the 11th through the 22nd. Okay. All right. Okay. Um Uh Okay, we've got uh that noted. Um, how about uh
Robert Carla? Uh, I'm gone the 8th through the like that second week of August basically. Um, I mean I could do something virtually but um, but yeah, I'm out of town. Other than that, I'll be around.
Okay. And and how about you, Robert? Yeah, I'm kind of on the weekend travel a little bit, but most weekdays Okay. I'm I'm very open. Um, and then again with enough advanced notice, if it is sort of like a a weekend time, I'd be
able to sort something out, but weekdays tend to work best for me. Okay. So, um, uh, Greg, I don't know your um, uh, schedule um or or or Paul, but it sounds like the week of August 25th has potential. That does everyone
concur? Let's see. I forgot to list myself in this. Yes. I wonder if we should tentatively just shift our August meeting to Thursday the 28th.
Okay with me. that. Yeah. What do you think, Greg? Um Um Yeah, I could I I could do that. Um I want to note that I think it's viable.
Well, actually, I need to double check. It's tentative. Sorry. Well, it doesn't have to be that day. Okay. Um, I think maybe we've collected the information we can collect in the setting and so we'll we'll run with this
and and follow up. Does that sound good, Greg? Sure, that sounds great. Um uh but I guess if um we're we're targeting the week of the 25th and and it seems like we may have business that
potentially requires vote or at least you know are listening to a third party and and so we can maybe do allin one uh and on during that week of the 25th. Um uh good. So I'm glad we we were able
to uh get so much clarity without too much time. Um so is there we we do we have anyone else in the audience at this point? Um Linda and Moore have spoken. Um is anything that we did not anticipate for the
agenda that um someone wants to bring to the conversation? Um, okay. Well, I I think we should just think about this as uh I think I think Algra is trying to unmute. Go ahead, Algra. I pressed the wrong button and
everything went away and it scared me and then I made a face. Sorry about that. Um, I was wondering about subcommittees. I was wondering about subcommittees. I am sorry my brain is not fully turned on right now. um
because I think Robert did bring up a great point which was that there are subcommittees and wouldn't it be great um to just maybe give a little intro to what we where when we have been meeting so
far and then I will say with the caveat that I think I dropped the ball and forgot to respond to Greg's email about rescheduling our meeting from July 4th. So we this is there's a jubilee um we're we're rebooting. So um leave leave all
that in the past. But do you want to make a a little pitch for what you've been doing in in the education subcommittee? And indeed, this is something that will be more of a focus of our of our next meeting because we we want to um have these these
groupings so that we can, you know, move the ball forward and be reporting on what we've done at at our monthly meetings. Um so, go ahead. Um so, Alex and I are currently the education and outreach subcommittee. Um
and when we kind of broke into subcommittees, we had some interest from John Hornick who is the prior um trust chair and he connected me with the League of Women Voters and we put on
the event that happened in January and I think it was it kind of goes along with well who's the target audience because I don't think that would be necessarily an event that somebody who's looking for affordable housing would necessarily have gotten much from in terms of what was presented. But, you know, I think in
our conversations in the subcommittee, we have had the thought of, well, who are we going to target some of these towards? Um, because we did have a conversation with the community land trust members who are here tonight and
we're thinking about having perhaps a home ownership focused um resource type fair. Um, and that is something that I need to circle back on with people. But it is, again, it was kind, we were in the conversation of, well, is this geared more towards like a
current homeowner who might be interested in donating their property or is this geared more towards somebody who's interested in home ownership opportunities at at affordable um levels. So, I think that does kind of change who you might bring into the room
for those conversations. But I think widening again the net of people who we're interacting with is important. And you know, I think it's great to have um representation from the bid here because I think that's maybe not the people looking for affordable housing or maybe it is or maybe you know, people working
in some of the businesses are those and maybe people owning some of the businesses want to give some money. I don't know. Um but so one other thing that we've been kind of going through is looking at other boards and committees in town to see who
we could partner with in terms of um what work is already being done or might overlap. So, we've had conversations with the Human Rights Commission um working on putting together kind of a tenants rights information packet um and
because I think the human rights commission did a really good job on some of the immigrants rights work that they've put out. Um so, we kind of modeled after that. Um and then thinking about kind of the energy committee and if there was a way
to further um those you know maybe it's people who are already in homes who can't afford to maintain them or keep up with what's going on with the um you know utilities and things like that. So that's another
brainchild of perhaps down the road we could have a forum about that. Um, so those are some of the things we've done and then we're working on kind of I guess marketing materials for what the trusted like an elevator speech that
we've come up with and kind of can we put together like a one-page or trifold whatever it looks like um where if we were at an event like the block party or if we went to something like the fireworks or you know something like that where a lot of community members
are going to be there um we had something you know quick easy to pass out or you know a really brief statement that we can kind of describe our work in which I clearly can't do on my own. So
um that's kind of what we've been up to and and um we would love to have more support from the trust members. Thank you so much Algrah for for for that and for your work. the um I'm the last man standing in the development
committee. So definitely would uh would looking forward to uh uh you know one or more of you joining and the funding committee has evaporated. So we um if if we agree that that makes sense as a subcommittee then we we we need new uh
new blood in that front at for for sure. So, just let this simmer in the back of your mind. You know, um you don't need to decide anything now. If you want to talk to Greg or me between now and our next meeting, absolutely feel free to reach out um to to talk about this. If
you think, you know what, this is actually what I'm interested in putting energy into and I'm not sure it fits into any of the existing subcommittees, just let us know. The main priority is actually to create a space where your natural passion has room to act. Uh we
don't want any of this to be uh duty bound or choreful, but rather just um taking advantage of our shared caring and excitement to uh do some good work together. Um so I think in the spirit of uh what
we're doing here, consider this like an intermission until part two of uh of our our on on boarding. Um I uh does anyone have any anything else to to add, Greg? Yeah, just that um I want to note that
the um two outgoing members of the trust who were on the funding committee um I know are both available um uh you know to offer any insights and uh you know as far as that work and where it stands and then also to just name that I think um
though I think there's onboarding to do and you know in our next meeting I think it's also we can also have a sort of discussion worthy of all trust members participation you know I think Um uh and there may be business to attend to as well. We don't know between now and then
what might come up. So um uh so certainly I'll keep folks in the loop on that. Indeed. Because I think the key for me in the part two of this onboarding is actually kind of um building our our group as a whole. Um those of us who uh
have been serving and and and new members, all of us. Um so u yeah I look forward to that. Um, all right. Well, uh, do we have a motion to adjurnn? So moved. So moved. A second.
Second. Okay. All in favor? I. All right. Great to see you all. Thank you for being here and uh have a great rest of your July. Thanks. Thank you. Thanks everyone. Bye bye.