Low and Moderate
Income Housing Development Task Force
Monday, January
30, 2023 - 11:00 am
Jim Monty - Chairman
Chairman Monty called
this task force to order at 11:20 am with the following in attendance: Clayton
Barber, Derek Doty, Ken Hughes, Jim Monty, Matt Stanley, Meg Wood, Mark Wright,
Jim Dougan, Mike Mascarenas, Nicole Justice-Green Bruce Misarski, Terri Morse, and
Carol Calabrese. Mike Diskin, Krissy Leerkes, Bill Tansey, and Alan Jones were
absent.
Also present: - Megan
Murphy and Dina Garvey.
MONTY: Thank you all for
coming, again I’m very pleased with the direction that we’re moving with the
Land Bank. As you know, we handed out the draft version of the application and
I’m really excited that we’re moving forward in that regard. Our plan is to
have Supervisors all review that application and everyone on the Task Force
review that to make sure that our I’s are dotted and our T’s are crossed and
we’ve got everything that we need to have in it. To clarify what happened with
the land bank application for Franklin County, the submitted it and did not
hear anything back. They were fortunate enough to send it, return receipt
requested, and they had their signed receipt from the Department of State that
they had received it. Well, after a month they hadn’t heard anything from them,
come to find out, the Department of State lost their application. Two days
after they received it, the second application, it got approved. So, and
they’re excited and in talking with Lindy Ellis, who is a legislator in
Franklin County, they’re very interested in working with us, separately,
obviously, because they wanted to join our land bank, but we wanted to have our
own and their thoughts are, they haven’t really done much, as far as their
bylaws, policies, stuff of that nature. They’re working on it now and she
wanted to know what we were doing. If we had done them. I said, well we have
some we’re working on now, tentatively. I think, really, that should be our
focus, if there’s nothing glaring with our application, is to make sure, now,
that we’re looking at our bylaws, you know and everything so that when we’re
approved, because there’s no doubt we’re going to be approved. I truly believe
that. I think we have, you have done a great job creating a stuff application.
So, I’m really excited about that. I think it’s going a long way to help in our
situation. Is it going to solve the problem overnight? Absolutely not. This
problem will be here, I think for many, many years, but by at least taking our
head out of the sane, recognizing the issue, we’re moving forward on it and I
feel we have some great partners and I think this is something that’s going to
really, really help Essex County.
On the same note, I had a
conversation with a local contractor who is very much interested in putting a
project together with us, down the road pertaining to affordable housing.
They’ve got a tract of land that’s within a hamlet of a community that they
own. They’ve actually been permitted for 42 units in it, but they’re not,
obviously, they can’t afford to do all 24 at the same time. But, this maybe
something that we can look into and help them in getting that up. So, I think
things are coming together and I’m pretty excited about that.
That’s all I have, does
the Task Force?
DOTY: Jim, I have a hypothetical
situation, I guess for Nicole. As I mentioned earlier about the lot that we
identified in Saranac Lake, it was actually found by Susan Waterson from
Franklin County, which I am sure that you probably work with Susan, who in turn
works with Emily, who will be working with you quite often. Is there a way
collaborate between counties to do a joint project? I mean could funds cross a
line to make it more doable?
JUSTICE-GREEN:
Hypothetically, yes. The main determinate of whether we can do that is going to
be the pooled funding. So, if we apply for a specific grant and it’s only
limited to Essex County, we potentially wouldn’t be able to use that pool
funding. Now, the seed funding that we’re going to be receiving, hopefully,
from the County, the ARPA funds, yes. I mean that has less restrictions on it.
Also, the funding that we’re receiving back when we’re selling the homes, that
goes back into the general operating fund of the land bank. So, again, we’ll
have multiple pots of money, so long as there’s not eligibility of location
restrictions in the grant funding. If it’s within the mission of the land bank
and I mean, gosh, even in Ticonderoga, we’re got Warren and Washington County,
just throw a rock and you’re there. So, there’s plenty of opportunities for
collaboration, I think that only strengthens us.
DOTY: Right now, the
thing is everyone shares the same excitement. So, rather than to say to your next-door
neighbor, no, we’re going to, we want the headlines. I think working together
will prove the area stronger for everyone.
JUSTICE-GREEN: And it’s
not lost on me, the profound amount of work that needs to be done for this. So,
there’s plenty of work to go around and it’s many hand make light work.
MONTY: That property is
in Franklin County?
DOTY: No, but you know
the Village of Saranac Lake sits in two counties and three townships. So, when
something comes up and show interest, we show interest, as well and if we can
do something together and I say go for it.
MASCARENAS: Yeah, just to
further add to the conversation and anytime you have something like that you
would have one person, one agency, one group that had the fiscal
responsibility, but what it doesn’t stop is those counties and townships for
giving letters of support, those kinds of things. Speaking about how they’re
going to collaborate and work together, but the fiscal responsibility would
typically fall to one agency or another. That way there’s not a confusion in
terms of who’s going to pay what, who’s going to do what.
DOTY: Sure
MASCARENAS: But, it can
happen.
JUSTICE-GREEN: And we can
also keep in mind when we’re applying for funding that clearly delineating
those sorts of situations where there are certain townships and areas within
Essex County that sits in multiple counties.
MONTY: Anything else? Any
other questions? I know it was short and quick. I thank you all for coming. I
know you took time out of our day to be here. But, please review that draft
application and see if there’s something you don’t like in it and get back to
us, because we want the strongest application possible. I know, Bill is still
working on bylaws and things. Do you have anything, Bill that seen in our application
that might warrant concern?
TANSEY: No, I think the
application looks strong. I think it has all the information we need to set up
a land bank with the bylaw issue, Nicole and I are working on the bylaws. I
think the important part here is that, to use her words, symbiotic with Pride,
but I think the land bank needs to be its own separate item. It needs to have
some political ties to the Board. We need to be able to focus on a strict
policy if we’ve ever questioned of how properties get into the land bank and
how they get out of the land bank and then the ownership of the property, so
that gets into the land bank and then as Dan Manning mentioned, it comes out
clean. We have to launder these properties so there are legal liabilities, debt
liabilities.
MONTY: I think and
correct me, if I’m wrong from a legal standpoint, Bill. Supervisors sitting on
that Board would that qualify and take care of the governmental aspect of what
you’re saying?
TANSEY: I think it would,
yes.
MONTY: Because that is what
the plan is all along, is that two supervisors will be placed on that Board as
members.
TANSEY: I think what it
comes down to is when the property comes in to the land bank; there’s going an
ownership issue. Is Essex County going to own that property or is the land bank
going to own the property?
HUGHES: The land bank.
TANSEY: I don’t see us
transferring ownership to Pride. So, there’s going to have to be some
contractual relationship there for Pride to the work and then transfer the
contract over.
MONTY: I don’t think the
intent was to ever transfer the property to Pride. It was going over to the
land bank. They’re going to handle the administrative dues. HAPEC is going to
partner with us to do the first time homebuyer vetting of that nature. When
you’re talking about the bylaws and you’re working with Nicole, because include
Megan at HAPEC on those, too, as well, if you would.
TANSEY: Yes, so I think
that having the two supervisors on the Board of the land bank satisfies that
political control.
MONTY: I think so, too.
TANSEY: The Board of
Supervisors can pull out at any time.
MONTY: Right
HUGHES: Just to be clear,
this relationship that we are establishing is actually a relationship that
already exists in Tioga County. I don’t know if I shared that with you or not.
So, I think from a legal perspective, and they’ve been active for a couple of
years, if there’s questions about how that relationship exists, Tioga County
attorneys are probably going to be able to probably answer that and save you
some time.
TANSEY: Thank you
HUGHES: Thank you. I do
want to say real quickly, I haven’t said too much today, and this is mostly for
Megan and HAPEC. I did a fine toothcomb review of this today, and I just want
to be clean, because we haven’t talked. That on question 5, page 7, I believe
that there was some language that HAPEC did put in there, they’re on Step 7, it
wasn’t identified as HAPEC, it relates to the housing trust and I just want to get
in the record to say that there is a slight medication to the language that was
presented and recommended and so, if you guys could take a look at that. If you
don’t have the current version, I can get you a copy of the current version or
you can just take a look online.
MURPHY: On the link?
HUGHES: It’s on the link,
yup. Just, I would like to, just take peek at it and I just want to make sure
you’re good with it, but it was a slight modification. I think it stills
answers what you guys were requesting, but it’s not the exact language. I just
wanted to be transparent, thanks.
MURPHY: I will look at it
this afternoon.
HUGHES: Yeah, at your
convenience, appreciate it.
MONTY: And if there’s
nothing else, I’m going to give my one last plug for United Way. Pride of Ti
received a need grant, last week, from United Way. It doesn’t compare anywhere
near the $10 million dollars they got the State, but United Way gave them
$2,500.00 to go to their Neighbors Helping Neighbors, which is a phenomenal
program. Read up on that, it’s a great program. It’s something we may want to
consider elsewhere in the county. So, by all means, you know United Way has a
presence in Essex County and I’m working on getting them an application so that
they will become a partner agency, so that we can donate directly to Pride of
Ti. Thank you and thank you all for coming and be safe.
AS THERE WAS NO FURTHER BUSINESS TO COME
BEFORE THIS TASK FORCE WAS ADJOURNED AT 11:32 AM.
Respectively Submitted,
Dina Garvey, Deputy Clerk
Board of Supervisors