Housing Committee Minutes
NOTES
Housing Committee Meeting
Wednesday, December 16, 2020
Zoom Meeting at 7:00 PM
Committee Members Attending:
Barbara Freeman (Chair), Richard Wright (Planning Board), Christopher Hernick (Planning Board), Tom Krebs, Joanne Lord(Planning Board), Christopher Millette, Denise Mitchell, Alicia Zanderigo, and Kristen Schultz, Russ Smith (Select Board and Planning Board),
Donna Long - Recording Secretary
Public Attending
Bruce Healey and Darren Finneal (Planning Board), Peter Stanley(consultant to the Planning Board).
Also Attending
Steve Whitman, Resilience Planning and Design, Consultant to the Committee
The meeting convened at 7:05 p.m.
1. Approval of Meeting Notes from 11/18/20
There were no changes.
2. Housing Needs Assessment
Committee interviews: What are our findings?
• Mount Sunapee – Denise Mitchell spoke to the mountain and they will get back to her.
• Yacht Club – Chris Millette said the yacht club shuts down in the winter and they have housing onsite, which consists of a cabin and dorm housing for instructors. If they don’t have enough room, they sometimes rent rooms from Colby-Sawyer College.
• Baker Hill Golf Course – Alicia Morse said they agree that there is no affordable seasonal housing in the area. He usually commits to a 12=- month lease for his employees.
• Mountain Edge Resort & Best Western Hotel – Due to a technology issue, Matt Mynczywor was not in attendance to give his report. However, following the meeting he responded by email: As far as my assignment with checking on our 3rd largest employer, Mountain Edge Resort, which also owns the hotel next to the Shanty and the main lodge across the street. They currently have about 30 employees, with most making $10 to $11 per hour. Most of the workers live in Newport and Claremont, a few in Unity/Goshen, and one or two in Newbury. The comment from management was that the employee's salaries are not high enough for folks to afford housing in Newbury.
• The Town of Newbury and contracting/landscape businesses- Barbara Freeman said that the area has an interesting employment and labor profile. She said if you look through the Kearsarge Shopper, there are many, many businesses. The majority of businesses seem to be family owned and/or small businesses. Small businesses run by families that have no staff are not going to have issues with finding workers who might need housing. However, might these businesses grow if there were workers available? She spoke to an architecture firm, a landscape firm and a contractor as well as the UVLSVNA. They either had problems finding staff or they had heard other businesses say that there were problems finding staff due to housing constraints. Some workers don't have a problem because they also have a spouse working and can afford local housing. Younger workers sometimes solve the problem by living with parents. The town administrator said that the fire department and the road department have a problem finding new, young people to work partly because the housing is too expensive for them.
3. Presentation by Steve Whitman of Potential Housing Initiatives for Newbury and discussion of housing needs
Ms. Freeman had asked the Committee to review Steve Whitman's presentation document prior to the meeting(attached). Discussion ensued regarding accessory dwellings and whether they satisfy the State's requirement for Work Force Housing (they don't), the median salary in Newbury (which is high), seasonal employment housing needs and what the community is looking for in the future to house working people, retirees and others. The committee noted that, yes, the median income for Newbury is high and that these residents can afford the cost of housing. The fact that the median income is high reflects who can afford to live in the community. This does notmean that work force housing is not needed. A wider range of families and individuals with lower incomes might be living in Newbury if there was housing that they could afford. The need is for housing that Newbury does not provide.
4. January Public Meeting
Ms. Freeman said the Committee will begin meeting on the fourth Tuesday of every month.
The January 26, 2021 meeting will be a public meeting to engage the Town and get their input.
Mr. Whitman suggested that the Committee have a short meeting in January to let people know what the Committee is working on and where the work is going. He suggested doing break out groups so that individuals could express their ideas. This would provide the Committee with more insight.
5. Adjournment
The meeting adjourned at 8:18 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Donna Long
Recording Secretary