March 3, 2026 – Municipal Affordable Housing Trust – Video & Transcript
March 3, 2026 - Municipal Affordable Housing Trust
Great. I'm going to call this meeting of the Municipal Affordable Housing Trust to order. Pursuant to Chapter 2 of the Acts of 2025, this meeting will be conducted via remote access in accordance with the applicable law.
If any person wishes to attend, we can view this meeting through remote access on the Weyland Public website. In attendance, we have Mary Antes, Mike Staiti, Susan Weinstein, and Jacqueline Esparito.
I have that right. Esparito Santo. Esparito Santo. Vega. Vega. I knew there was something at the end.
The only classmate that had a longer last name than Nathan and Pamela, because she had kids in the same classes.
Yeah, I figured that much. All right, so we're going to open the meeting and review and approve the minutes from the February 24th meeting.
I just had one thing on the minutes, which was that, if I get the right one here, on the review and approve payment of balance of invoice, I thought it would just be useful for us to say regarding Hammond Way or, you know, Hammond Road, whatever, just something so that it's clear what it, what the project is.
Okay.
Okay. So the remaining balance of invoice 1722 from Connerstone Engineering for engineering work at, what are we calling it?
12 Hammond Road.
12 Hammond Road. And I realized that that wasn't the motion specifically, so if you want to put it as an extra sentence, you can, but I think it's fine.
So that would be the only thing that I thought. So I would move to adopt the meeting minutes of February 24th, 2026, as amended.
And I'll second.
Second. Okay. Roll call vote. Jackie?
Yes.
Susan?
Yes.
Mary?
This matter is not reasonably anticipated by the chair, and Susan has brought something to our attention. Yeah, so apparently there's this property, I thought you would know it, but at 17 Gleason Lane. I do.
That has been on the market, and maybe the house isn't in good shape, but it's got land, and it's being sold as land, but the price is dropping. Um, and so, uh, it was brought to my attention as something that maybe we would want to pursue. Yep. So, I'll jump in here, because I just had it under agreement, uh, for about two weeks at $1,250,000. Um, I explored different options, talked to one of the better that I know. Um, it is a beautiful piece of land, it's six acres, um, it's dry, it's got good soils. I've, I've built Rose Hill Lane, which is right next to that, two very high-end homes. Um, but you can't do anything more than one house by right. Um, you don't, you only have 30 feet of driveway access to get back there, so you don't have 50 feet that you're required for a subdivision road. Um, you do a butt Rose Hill Lane, so you don't have separation between two different roads. So, from a development standpoint, it was a non-starter for me, so we passed on it. Um, I think it's a tough sell. To pay $1,250,000 for that and build a single family house, you've got to put a house up there that's going to be worth $3.5 million or so. Um, and that's a little bit of a tough sell in Wayland. So, I don't think, um, I think it sells for closer to a million, I guess is my gut on it. Um, now, it's six acres, so you could do quite a bit of density there, under a 40 B. Um, but I will tell you that there are butters up there that are very, very deep-pocketed and will fight this. Um, so, it would be a multi-year process that, um, we would be looking at hundreds of thousands of dollars of legal fees to defend the 40 B. I'm sure we could get a 40 B approved. Um, but I, I would not be involved, um, in it. Uh, just to let everybody know it doesn't, shouldn't influence the board's decision, but I would recuse myself from anything to do with it, um, because of relationships with past customers. And also, uh, another rebutter that's not a past customer who I know that would, uh, just, it would be, um, it would be tough one to, to get done. Um, so, you know, that's the unfortunate reality of developing in Wayland. We've been doing this for a long time, um, but it is a beautiful piece of land. And I think a lot of reasons the town should be interested in it because it abuts the piece that, you know, the school committee is going to be moving on from. Um, and it would allow another six acres to be added onto that. Um, but I'm not sure it's the best move for this committee to allocate so much time and effort. We'd have to buy the land, like they're not, the gentleman that owns the land has moved to Florida. He's elderly. Um, he wants to move on from it. So we're not going to get three year years to get a permit and fight a, an appeal process. So we'd have to be in a position to put down, you know, somewhere between a million and a million two 50. Well, we'd have to get it appraised because we're not going to pay more than the value. Sure. I'm pretty confident you can get an appraisal for a million. Um, and then, and then sit on it. Uh, not sure that it's the best use of our funds, but that is what I know about the land.
Okay. Um, all right. Maybe I'll just, um, touch base with Tom Fay. Yep. Uh, there's. Town money or CPC money, uh, CPA money, um, that would be willing to sit on that land and, and future development for that site, the school site that they're thinking and developing now. I think it'd be a good move. And maybe our committee commit, you know, contributes to that. Um, but for us to tie up a million plus dollars and then go through a very long permitting and appeal process. I, I think that's a tough one for us. Um, so the, you don't imagine that the town would take responsibility for, um, litigating. Um, I could talk to Tom about it. Yeah. I don't know that, I don't know how that would work between our charter and our funds. If it's a really good prospect for affordable housing, then, you know, in terms of the lay of the land and stuff like that, then, you know, it sets up nicely because it's kind of long and rectangular and it backs up to the town cemetery on one side. Um, so there's, you know, you have quiet neighbors on one side.
Most, most evenings.
Um, like I said, I know the soils are good there. There's no wetlands. Um, yeah, I mean, you could get a lot of density in there. Um, I mean, even if we said like, we could do this, but instead we'll do this smaller amount, you know, then, yeah, I don't know. I'll talk to Tom and see. And, uh, and I'll also get like, write down what our balances are. Cause I never remember that stuff.
Um, and then if we wanted to get an appraisal, uh, I don't, I don't know appraisers, but. Well, um, I can arrange for that. I've got several that we work with. Okay. Um, the somewhere between three and $500 for an appraisal for that piece of land. Um, it's, it's a simple appraisal because it's can only be appraised as is, as a single family lot. Right. And even with that, it's still a ZBA process to get it approved because you don't have legal frontage. But I know from talking to the ZBA that there wouldn't be an issue getting a single family house permitted there. So from an appraisal standpoint, it would be pretty straightforward. Um, there's, would, if, if, if we're deciding they want to move forward and make an offer, does, do we have to have the appraisal in hand or can we make an offer contingent upon adequate appraisal? Well, we can't. The seller won't tie it up for more than probably 30 days. Would it be my guess, but we could get an appraisal in that time period. Yeah. Um, we just know we can't pay more than what the appraisal is. So we couldn't really like put in an offer for an amount without knowing. Well, if the offer was contingent upon the appraisal being adequate, I would think we could do that. Um, all right. Um, I'll touch base with Tom. Okay. Yeah. Certainly if it's still available in another month, like they may do another price drop. Mm-hmm. So, all right. And also, I mean, we'd be able to pay cash, you know. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Um, so you'll follow up on that and get back to us on the next meeting. Yep. Um, great. I don't have anything else. I, I guess I've seen the report that's coming out regarding, um, 212. 212. It doesn't really specify the number of units. And it does open, keep open the door for additional affordable units. The way I read it. Yeah. I haven't read it yet. Um, Mary, Mary, I assume you've read it. Um, I didn't hear you. I'm sorry. No, not the whole. Okay. Not the whole thing. Okay. Well, we will circle back on that. Okay. Uh, it is 6.13 PM. Oh, sorry. 6.14 PM. And I move we adjourn. Do you want to. Oh, do we want to set another date? Well, yeah, I could said before, he didn't want to set another date because we don't have anything to talk about. Right. Yeah. Or just hold off. If stuff comes up with Hammond or on these other projects, Susan, if you find out anything that you want to hold a meeting for, shoot everybody an email. Okay. All right. Sounds good. All right. All right. It's still 6.14 PM. So my motion stands. To adjourn. Great. And second. Second. Thank you, Jackie. Um, we'll call vote. Mary. Yes. Jackie. Yes. Susan. Yes. And Mike. Yes. All right, guys. Thank you so much for getting the, um, minutes done so quickly. Yeah. Thanks, Mary. Thank you. Have a good night, everybody. You too. Thank you.
This matter is not reasonably anticipated by the chair, and Susan has brought something to our attention. Yeah, so apparently there's this property, I thought you would know it, but at 17 Gleason Lane. I do.
That has been on the market, and maybe the house isn't in good shape, but it's got land, and it's being sold as land, but the price is dropping. Um, and so, uh, it was brought to my attention as something that maybe we would want to pursue. Yep. So, I'll jump in here, because I just had it under agreement, uh, for about two weeks at $1,250,000. Um, I explored different options, talked to one of the better that I know. Um, it is a beautiful piece of land, it's six acres, um, it's dry, it's got good soils. I've, I've built Rose Hill Lane, which is right next to that, two very high-end homes. Um, but you can't do anything more than one house by right. Um, you don't, you only have 30 feet of driveway access to get back there, so you don't have 50 feet that you're required for a subdivision road. Um, you do a butt Rose Hill Lane, so you don't have separation between two different roads. So, from a development standpoint, it was a non-starter for me, so we passed on it. Um, I think it's a tough sell. To pay $1,250,000 for that and build a single family house, you've got to put a house up there that's going to be worth $3.5 million or so. Um, and that's a little bit of a tough sell in Wayland. So, I don't think, um, I think it sells for closer to a million, I guess is my gut on it. Um, now, it's six acres, so you could do quite a bit of density there, under a 40 B. Um, but I will tell you that there are butters up there that are very, very deep-pocketed and will fight this. Um, so, it would be a multi-year process that, um, we would be looking at hundreds of thousands of dollars of legal fees to defend the 40 B. I'm sure we could get a 40 B approved. Um, but I, I would not be involved, um, in it. Uh, just to let everybody know it doesn't, shouldn't influence the board's decision, but I would recuse myself from anything to do with it, um, because of relationships with past customers. And also, uh, another rebutter that's not a past customer who I know that would, uh, just, it would be, um, it would be tough one to, to get done. Um, so, you know, that's the unfortunate reality of developing in Wayland. We've been doing this for a long time, um, but it is a beautiful piece of land. And I think a lot of reasons the town should be interested in it because it abuts the piece that, you know, the school committee is going to be moving on from. Um, and it would allow another six acres to be added onto that. Um, but I'm not sure it's the best move for this committee to allocate so much time and effort. We'd have to buy the land, like they're not, the gentleman that owns the land has moved to Florida. He's elderly. Um, he wants to move on from it. So we're not going to get three year years to get a permit and fight a, an appeal process. So we'd have to be in a position to put down, you know, somewhere between a million and a million two 50. Well, we'd have to get it appraised because we're not going to pay more than the value. Sure. I'm pretty confident you can get an appraisal for a million. Um, and then, and then sit on it. Uh, not sure that it's the best use of our funds, but that is what I know about the land.
Okay. Um, all right. Maybe I'll just, um, touch base with Tom Fay. Yep. Uh, there's. Town money or CPC money, uh, CPA money, um, that would be willing to sit on that land and, and future development for that site, the school site that they're thinking and developing now. I think it'd be a good move. And maybe our committee commit, you know, contributes to that. Um, but for us to tie up a million plus dollars and then go through a very long permitting and appeal process. I, I think that's a tough one for us. Um, so the, you don't imagine that the town would take responsibility for, um, litigating. Um, I could talk to Tom about it. Yeah. I don't know that, I don't know how that would work between our charter and our funds. If it's a really good prospect for affordable housing, then, you know, in terms of the lay of the land and stuff like that, then, you know, it sets up nicely because it's kind of long and rectangular and it backs up to the town cemetery on one side. Um, so there's, you know, you have quiet neighbors on one side.
Most, most evenings.
Um, like I said, I know the soils are good there. There's no wetlands. Um, yeah, I mean, you could get a lot of density in there. Um, I mean, even if we said like, we could do this, but instead we'll do this smaller amount, you know, then, yeah, I don't know. I'll talk to Tom and see. And, uh, and I'll also get like, write down what our balances are. Cause I never remember that stuff.
Um, and then if we wanted to get an appraisal, uh, I don't, I don't know appraisers, but. Well, um, I can arrange for that. I've got several that we work with. Okay. Um, the somewhere between three and $500 for an appraisal for that piece of land. Um, it's, it's a simple appraisal because it's can only be appraised as is, as a single family lot. Right. And even with that, it's still a ZBA process to get it approved because you don't have legal frontage. But I know from talking to the ZBA that there wouldn't be an issue getting a single family house permitted there. So from an appraisal standpoint, it would be pretty straightforward. Um, there's, would, if, if, if we're deciding they want to move forward and make an offer, does, do we have to have the appraisal in hand or can we make an offer contingent upon adequate appraisal? Well, we can't. The seller won't tie it up for more than probably 30 days. Would it be my guess, but we could get an appraisal in that time period. Yeah. Um, we just know we can't pay more than what the appraisal is. So we couldn't really like put in an offer for an amount without knowing. Well, if the offer was contingent upon the appraisal being adequate, I would think we could do that. Um, all right. Um, I'll touch base with Tom. Okay. Yeah. Certainly if it's still available in another month, like they may do another price drop. Mm-hmm. So, all right. And also, I mean, we'd be able to pay cash, you know. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Um, so you'll follow up on that and get back to us on the next meeting. Yep. Um, great. I don't have anything else. I, I guess I've seen the report that's coming out regarding, um, 212. 212. It doesn't really specify the number of units. And it does open, keep open the door for additional affordable units. The way I read it. Yeah. I haven't read it yet. Um, Mary, Mary, I assume you've read it. Um, I didn't hear you. I'm sorry. No, not the whole. Okay. Not the whole thing. Okay. Well, we will circle back on that. Okay. Uh, it is 6.13 PM. Oh, sorry. 6.14 PM. And I move we adjourn. Do you want to. Oh, do we want to set another date? Well, yeah, I could said before, he didn't want to set another date because we don't have anything to talk about. Right. Yeah. Or just hold off. If stuff comes up with Hammond or on these other projects, Susan, if you find out anything that you want to hold a meeting for, shoot everybody an email. Okay. All right. Sounds good. All right. All right. It's still 6.14 PM. So my motion stands. To adjourn. Great. And second. Second. Thank you, Jackie. Um, we'll call vote. Mary. Yes. Jackie. Yes. Susan. Yes. And Mike. Yes. All right, guys. Thank you so much for getting the, um, minutes done so quickly. Yeah. Thanks, Mary. Thank you. Have a good night, everybody. You too. Thank you.