[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town of Medfield ATM 4-24-2017 by Art. 16. Amendments noted where applicable.]
Pursuant to the authority of MGL c. 44, § 55C, there
is hereby created a local municipal affordable housing Trust fund
to be known as the "Medfield Affordable Housing Trust Fund" (hereinafter
"the Trust").
The purpose of the Trust shall be to provide for the preservation
and creation of affordable and community housing in the Town of Medfield
for the benefit of low and moderate income households.
[Amended 4-29-2019 ATM by Art. 27]
There shall be a Board of Trustees of the Medfield Affordable
Housing Trust Fund, composed of one ex officio non-voting member and
seven voting members. The Town Administrator or the Town Administrator's
designee shall serve as the ex officio member. The voting members
shall include: a member of the Board of Selectmen (chosen by the Board
of Selectmen) and six members appointed by the Board of Selectmen.
The Board of Selectmen shall request nominations from the Planning
Board and the Warrant Committee and shall consider any such nominations.
The at large members shall be residents who would bring to the Trust
relevant experience in the fields of real estate, housing, banking,
finance, law, architecture, social services, or other applicable areas
of professional expertise. The Board of Selectmen shall appoint the
Trustees for terms not to exceed two years, except that three of the
initial Trustee appointments shall be for a term of one year, so as
to allow staggered terms. Said Trustees may be re-appointed at the
discretion of the Board of Selectmen. Vacancies shall be filled by
the Board of Selectmen for the remainder of the unexpired term. Any
member of the Board of Trustees may be removed by the Board of Selectmen
for cause after the opportunity of a hearing.
The Trustees are hereby authorized to execute a Declaration
of Trust and Certificate of Trust for the Medfield Affordable Housing
Trust Fund, to be recorded with the Norfolk County Registry of Deeds
and filed with the Norfolk Registry District of the Land Court.
The powers of the Board of Trustees, all of which shall be carried
on in furtherance of the purposes set forth in MGL c. 44, § 55C,
and inclusive of any future amendments to that section, and shall
include the following:
A.
To accept and receive real property, personal property or money,
by gift, grant, contribution, devise or transfer from any person,
firm, corporation or other public or private entity, including but
not limited to money, grants of funds or other property tendered to
the Trust in connection with any ordinance or Bylaw or any general
or special law or any other source, including money from MGL c. 44B;
provided, however, that any such money received from MGL c. 44B shall
be used exclusively for community housing and shall remain subject
to all the rules, regulations and limitations of that chapter when
expended by the Trust, and such funds shall be accounted for separately
by the Trust; and provided further, that at the end of each fiscal
year, the Trust shall ensure that all expenditures of funds received
from said MGL c. 44B are reported to the community preservation committee
of the city or town for inclusion in the community preservation initiatives
report, form CP-3, to the department of revenue;
B.
To purchase and retain real or personal property, including, without
restriction, investments that yield a high rate of income or no income;
C.
To sell, lease, exchange, transfer or convey any personal, mixed,
or real property at public auction or by private contract for such
consideration and on such terms as to credit or otherwise, and to
make such contracts and enter into such undertaking relative to Trust
property as the Board deems advisable notwithstanding the length of
any such lease or contract;
D.
To execute, acknowledge and deliver deeds, assignments, transfers,
pledges, leases, covenants, contracts, promissory notes, releases,
grant agreements, and other instruments sealed or unsealed, necessary,
proper or incident to any transaction in which the Board engages for
the accomplishment of the purposes of the Trust;
E.
To employ advisors and agents, such as consultants, accountants,
appraisers and lawyers, full-time or part-time staff, and to contract
for administrative and support goods and services, as the Board deems
necessary;
F.
To pay reasonable compensation and expenses to all advisors and agents
and to apportion such compensation between income and principal as
the Board deems advisable;
G.
To apportion receipts and charges between incomes and principal as
the Board deems advisable, to amortize premiums and establish sinking
funds for such purpose, and to create reserves for depreciation, depletion
or otherwise;
H.
To participate in any reorganization, recapitalization, merger or
similar transactions; and to give proxies or powers of attorney with
or without power of substitution to vote any securities or certificates
of interest; and to consent to any contract, lease, mortgage, purchase
or sale of property, by or between any corporation and any other corporation
or person;
I.
To deposit any security with any protective reorganization committee,
and to delegate to such committee such powers and authority with relation
thereto as the Board may deem proper and to pay, out of Trust property,
such portion of expenses and compensation of such committee as the
Board may deem necessary and appropriate;
J.
To carry property for accounting purposes other than acquisition
date values;
K.
With Town Meeting approval, to borrow money on such terms and conditions
and from such sources as the Board deems advisable, to mortgage and
pledge Trust assets as collateral;
L.
To make distributions or divisions of principal in kind;
M.
To comprise, attribute, defend, enforce, release, settle or otherwise
adjust claims in favor or against the Trust, including claims for
taxes, and to accept any property, either in total or partial satisfaction
of any indebtedness or other obligation, and subject to the provisions
of this act, to continue to hold the same for such period of time
as the Board may deem appropriate;
N.
To manage or improve real property; and to abandon any property which
the Board determined not to be worth retaining;
O.
To hold all or part of the Trust property uninvested for such purposes
and for such time as the Board may deem appropriate; and
P.
To extend the time for payment of any obligation to the Trust.
Q.
To take any other action relative thereto.
A majority of Trustees may exercise any or all of the powers
of the Trustees hereunder, unless otherwise provided, and may execute
on behalf of the Trustees any and all instruments with the same effect
as though executed by all the Trustees. No Trustee shall be required
to give bond. No license of court shall be required to confirm the
validity of any transaction entered into by the Trustees with respect
to the Trust Estate. Any borrowing by the Trust shall require the
prior approval of the Medfield Town Meeting.
Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary,
all monies paid to the Trust in accordance with any zoning Bylaw,
exaction fee, or private contributions shall be paid directly into
the Trust and need not be appropriated or accepted and approved into
the Trust. General revenues appropriated into the Trust become Trust
property and to be expended these funds need not be further appropriated.
All moneys remaining in the Trust at the end of the fiscal year, whether
or not expended by the Board within one year of the date they were
appropriated into the Trust, remain Trust property.
Meetings of the Board shall be held on a regular basis. Special
meetings may be called by the Chairperson or two Trustees. A Trust
is a governmental body for purposes of MGL c. 30A, §§ 18
through 25, the Open Meeting Law; notice of any meeting of the Trust
Fund shall be filed with the Town Clerk and posted in accordance with
the Open Meeting Law. A majority of the number of authorized Trustees
shall constitute a quorum and shall also be required to approve any
motion.
The Treasurer/Collector shall be the custodian of the Trust
Fund's funds and shall maintain separate accounts and records
for such funds. Any income or proceeds received from the investment
of funds shall be credited to and become part of the Trust Fund. In
accordance with MGL c. 44, § 55C, the books and records
of the Trust shall be audited annually by an independent auditor in
accordance with accepted accounting practices or take any other action
relative thereto. Upon receipt of the audit by the Board of Trustees,
a copy shall be provided forthwith to the Board of Selectmen.
Neither the Trustees nor any agent or officer of the Trust shall
have the authority to bind the Town, except in the manner specifically
authorized herein. The Trust is a public employer and the members
of the Board are public employees for the purposes of MGL c. 268A.
The Trust shall be deemed a municipal agency and the Trustees special
municipal employees for purposes of MGL c. 268A.
The Trust is exempt from MGL c. 59 and c. 62, and from any other
provisions concerning payment of taxes based upon or measured by property
or income imposed by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts or any political
subdivision thereof.
The Trust is a governmental body for purposes of the Open Meeting
Law, MGL c.30A, § 18-25.
The Trust is a board of the Town of Medfield for the purposes
of MGL c. 30B and MGL c. 40, § 15A, but agreements and conveyances
between the Trust and agencies, boards, commissions, authorities,
departments and public instrumentalities of the Town shall be exempt
from said MGL c. 30B.
Trustees shall not receive a salary, stipend, bonus or other
means of compensation for their service as a Trustee, nor shall they
be eligible for any benefits from the Town of Medfield. Trustees may
be compensated for reasonable out-of-pocket expenses for travel and
other Trust-related expenses. All such out-of-pocket expenses shall
be fully documented with receipts for expenses prior to payment by
the Trust.
The provisions of this Trust can only be amended by a vote of
the Medfield Town Meeting.
This Trust shall be of indefinite duration until terminated
by a vote of the Medfield Town Meeting. Upon termination of the Trust,
subject to the payment of or making provisions for the payment of
all obligations and liabilities of the Trust and the Trustees, the
net assets of the Trust shall be transferred to the Town of Medfield
and held by the Board of Selectmen for affordable housing purposes.
In making any such distribution, the Trustees may, subject to the
approval of the Board of Selectmen, sell all or any portion of the
Trust property and distribute the net proceeds thereof to the Town
of Medfield. The powers of the Trustees shall continue until the affairs
of the Trust are concluded. Once the Medfield Town Meeting has voted
to terminate the Trust, the Board of Selectmen shall have the power
to approve all financial transactions made on behalf of the Trust.
