SUMMER RESIDENTS ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Chatham, Massachusetts
Minutes of Meeting of August 17, 2007
Present: Bob Champlin, Alix Driscoll, Don Edge, Kay Flynn, Dean Hamilton, Jill MacDonald, William McGagh, Hugh Moulton, Nell Pinckert, Roy Sheldon, Peter Tarrant, and Arnold Trebach. (A full house of the twelve current members).
Also present: The Honorable Douglas Bohman.
Chair Don Edge started the meeting at 9:00 AM.
1. The committee approved the minutes of the meeting of August 3.
2. Our two guests made presentations on the major subject of the meeting: affordable housing in Chatham. The guests were Bill Bystrom, Chairman, Chatham Affordable Housing Committee, and Valerie Foster, Executive Director, Chatham Housing Authority. Among the matters discussed were the following:
A. Because of the high average cost of housing in Chatham, providing for affordable housing is a great challenge. Currently, 4.87 percent of the year round housing stock is considered affordable. Thus the town still has a shortfall in meeting its goal of ten percent affordable housing, hopefully by 2015. This would appear to mean that there would be 350 affordable units in Chatham.
B. An action plan containing a list of projects was presented by our guests as approaches that are under consideration to meet the goals. These projects covered an extensive variety of methods. The plan will be put before a Town Meeting in September.
C. Some concern was expressed by several committee members to the effect that the critical path for development was not made clear. There was also discussion as to which was better: proceeding along the current line of a variety of projects or waiting until a more coordinated approach had been developed.
D. The need for affordable housing and public housing in Chatham is real and it is likely that this need will require continued attention in the years ahead. There are no readily apparent solutions, at least none that would gain approval by voters across the political spectrum.
3. The chair then led a discussion of committee size and organization. A motion was made and carried to the effect that the maximum size of the committee would be eleven in the future. Another motion was made and carried to the effect that the dates of appointments of members would be June 1 to May 30.
4. The group thanked the chair for his excellent leadership in organizing the Summer Town Meeting on August 7, which was rated by consensus as the best in recent history. There was also a discussion of the written and oral comments made by those who attended that meeting.
5. The date of the Summer Residents Town Meeting for next year was set at August 5, 2008.
6. The chair reported on an opinion given by Thomas G. Shack, III, Assistant District Attorney, Cape & Islands District Attorney’s Office, which opinion stated: “A participant who is on the telephone or ‘speakerphone’ may not participate materially in an Open Meeting.” Accordingly, it was generally agreed that this committee would not use such devices.
The meeting adjourned at 11:30 AM.
The next and final regular meeting of the committee for this summer will be held on Friday, August 31 starting at 9 AM.
Respectfully submitted,
Arnold Trebach
Recording Secretary
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