Cape Cod Chronicle
by William F. Galvin
HARWICH – It took more than two years, but four parcels of land owned by the town have been deeded to the Harwich Ecumenical Council for the Homeless to provide affordable home ownership through the American Dream Program.
The timing of the deed transfer was important to funding aspects for the four homes to be constructed on the lots, HECH President Robert Murray said. The building permits for the structures were about to expire and new permits would have been subjected to new code regulations increasing the cost of construction. Murray said all they have to do now is clear the lots and stake the layout of the structures to activate the building permits.
The deeds were passed on Wednesday, Murray said. Selectmen met with town counsel in executive session last Monday to put the finishing touches on legal issues to assist with resolving roadblocks for funding the project.
On Thursday, Murray said they began clearing the lots located at Haromar Heath, Sisson and Old Campground roads and Depot Street. Three of the parcels will be developed with three bedroom, two bath homes, and the fourth will be a one bedroom, one bath structure.
Based on requests for proposals put out more than two years ago, town officials selected McShane Construction of Marstons Mills to manage the project and construct the housing, but there were difficulties obtaining bank financing and financial issues arose with the contractor.
“The board of selectmen did not feel comfortable transferring the deeds because of concerns they’d get mixed in with (the contractor’s) other issues,” Selectman Ed McManus said on Thursday.
There were additional problems along the way, including a claim by one neighbor adjacent to the Old Campground property seeking ownership of a portion of the property through adverse possession. A suit was finally resolved allowing that parcel to be included in the American Dream Program.
Funding was another issue. McManus cited issues with provisions of the federal housing program administered through the Cape Cod Commission’s Barnstable County HOME Consortium program. None of the local banks would issue loans based on certain provisions, McManus said.
An agreement was struck and McShane Construction relinquished control of the project. Selectmen then agreed to turn the project over to HECH. McShane remains as the builder.
“It took me a while to get comfortable with it,” Murray said on Thursday of the whole financing issue. “The first-time buyer market is tough.”
Murray said they are now looking at a combination of state and local funding. Both Murray and McManus said local banks will lend on those terms.
Over the past few months town officials, legal counsel and HECH representatives have met in executive session to work out provisions designed to satisfy local bank funding criteria. Selectmen have agreed to use $95,000 from the town’s affordable housing reserve fund. An addition $45,000 has come through Community Pres
ervation Act funding and HECH has agreed to reduce its project management fee by $5,000. McShane Construction also got its subcontractors to reduce their costs by $20,000.
“We’ll quickly run to the bank,” Murray said of seeking funding. He added if they have to build one house at a time, they will do that.
Murray praised the persistence of Housing Committee Chairman Gerry Loftus and the committee membership in pursuing the parcels for the American Dream program.
“I thought it was a a slam dunk coming out of the gate,” Loftus said on Tuesday. “If I knew then what I know now we would have done it differently.”
It’s been almost three years, Loftus said, citing delays with the initial developer and then the adverse possession case. Loftus said then they got into issues related to universal deed riders. He said the Home Consortium wanted one for the federal funding and the state also wanted one for its funding.
“The banks said absolutely not,” Loftus said on providing funds for the project. “Then they went back and forth.”
The federal funding through the Home Consortium program was dropped.
The three, three-bedroom homes will be sold for $140,000, Murray said and the one-bedroom home for $129,000. They will be sold to first-time home buyers and the criteria requires candidates to make no more than 80 percent of the county median salary. That scale ranges from $43,800 for one person to $72,600 for six persons. There is also an asset limit of $75,000. The homes carry a permanent affordable housing restriction.
There were several eligible candidates for the homes earlier in the process, but McManus said “they got tired of waiting and have moved on.” The application process is once again open for eligible candidates. Applications can be obtained at Harwich Town Hall, the Harwich Community Center, the Harwich Housing Authority and at the www.HECH.org website.