Pursuant to the vote of the June 3, 2019, Annual Town Meeting to accept the provisions of MGL, c. 44, § 55C, to establish a Municipal Affordable Housing Trust Fund, there is hereby established in the Town of Sturbridge a Municipal Affordable Housing Trust (the "Trust"), having seven Trustees (the "Trustees"), to be appointed by the Board of Selectmen upon nomination by the Town Administrator.
[Adopted 6-6-2022 ATM by Art. 32]
The purpose of the Sturbridge Municipal Affordable Housing Trust (Trust) shall be to provide for the creation and preservation of affordable housing in the Town of Sturbridge for the benefit of low- and moderate-income households, and to support the goals of the Town of Sturbridge Housing Production Plan (2021) as may be further amended.
A.
There shall be a Board of Trustees (the "Board") of the Trust, composed of two nonvoting members and seven voting members, the voting members hereinafter also referred to as "Trustees." The Town Administrator and Town Planner shall serve as the nonvoting members. The voting members shall include:
(1)
One member of the Board of Selectmen selected by the Board of Selectmen to serve for a term of two years;
(2)
One member of the Finance Committee nominated by the Finance Committee to serve for an initial term of one year, and thereafter for a term of two years;
(3)
One member of the Planning Board nominated by the Planning Board to serve for an initial term of one year, and thereafter for a term of two years;
(4)
One member of the CPC nominated by the CPC to serve for a term of two years;
(5)
Three members at large that shall be Town residents; one shall serve an initial term of two years and thereafter for a term of two years; two shall serve for an initial term of one year and thereafter for a term of two years;
(6)
The Town Administrator shall be a nonvoting member to serve a term of two years;
(7)
The Town Planner shall be a nonvoting member to serve a term of two years.
B.
Trustees shall serve without compensation.
C.
The Trust shall annually elect one of its members to serve as Chairperson and may elect such other officers, adopt procedural rules and regulations and establish any subcommittees as it deems appropriate.
D.
The Trustees shall consider the state of housing needs in Sturbridge and shall make recommendations to the Board of Selectmen on the options available to the Town to create new affordable housing to address those needs and to maintain existing affordable housing stock. Additionally, the Trust shall work to accomplish goals set forth in the Housing Production Plan of the Town as may from time to time be amended.
E.
The Trustees shall meet on a regular basis as needed to enact the duties of the Trustees.
F.
The Trustees shall establish an application process for projects requesting Affordable Housing Trust Funds and develop clear review requirements and procedures for all projects based on the Town's affordable housing goals.
A.
The Trust is a public employer and Trustees are public employees for the purposes of Chapter 258 of the Massachusetts General Laws.
B.
The Trust shall be deemed a municipal agency and the Trustees shall be deemed as special municipal employees for the purposes of Chapter 268A of the Massachusetts General Laws.
C.
The Trust is exempt from MGL Chapters 59 and 62, and from any other provisions concerning payment of taxes based upon or measured by property or income imposed by the commonwealth or any subdivision thereto.
D.
The Trust is a governmental body for the purposes of MGL c. 39, §§ 23A, 23B and 23C.
E.
The Trust is a Board of the Town 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 Chapter 30B of the Massachusetts General Laws.
The Trustees shall have the following powers and duties:
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 accountants, appraisers and lawyers 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.
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 provide grants or loans to assist low- or moderate-income homeowners or homebuyers to purchase or rehabilitate a dwelling unit in the Town of Sturbridge.
R.
The powers and duties enumerated above may be modified or amended by bylaw approved by Town Meeting.
Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, all moneys paid to the Trust in accordance with any zoning ordinance or 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 any fiscal year, whether or not expended by the Board within one year of the date they were appropriated into the Trust, remain Trust property.
The Town Finance Director shall be the custodian of the funds of the Trust and shall have signature authority to expend funds. The books and records of the Trust shall be audited annually by an independent auditor in accordance with accepted accounting practices for municipalities.
A majority of Trustees may exercise any or all of the powers of the Trustees hereunder 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.
Neither the Trustees nor any agent or officer of the Trust shall have the authority to bind the Town of Sturbridge, except in the manner specifically authorized herein.