At the urging of town officials, a group of residents has formed an independent trust to promote affordable housing in Harpswell, led by former Select Board candidate Ellen Glew.
The group, called the Harpswell Housing Trust, met this spring to approve its leadership, establish bylaws and finalize its articles of incorporation. The trust was formed with help from Town Planner Margaret McIntire and the Harpswell Housing Committee.
“Our newly formed nine-person board is energized, and several members have already stepped forward to head up important committees,” said Glew, the board’s president. “However, there is far more work to do than the nine of us can handle. So we are asking our fellow Harpswellians to get involved as volunteers and help us with various activities such as research, fundraising, programs and publicity/outreach.”
All of the trust’s meetings will be open to the public, she said. Meetings are being held on the first Wednesday of the month, with the next one scheduled for 6 p.m. on June 3 at the Orr’s Island Schoolhouse.
Proponents of the trust, who include members of the town’s Housing Committee and other local volunteers, explained its potential benefits at a public forum in January.
“We have, in town, missed serious opportunities for preserving access to affordable housing,” said Housing Committee Chair Sean Ruel, who led the January forum and is now one of the trust’s board members. “Various land opportunities or buildings that probably were available for donation … we weren’t able to access (them) because there was nobody to donate it to.”
Bob Gaudreau, a developer and vice chair of the Housing Committee, has said it would be pointless to create low-income housing in Harpswell because there is no town center or public transit to support such residents.
What Harpswell really needs, he said, is more options for people who want to start a family, maintain a local job or downsize from a larger home without having to leave the community. He suggested the group focus on serving that “missing middle.”
A housing trust can take several approaches, including selling entire properties to eligible buyers, selling homes while retaining ownership of the underlying land, or keeping properties in trust and renting out the homes.
Buyers and renters typically must meet eligibility requirements, such as being year-round residents, working locally or qualifying for a mortgage. Buyers also may be subject to covenants, including minimum ownership periods, resale price limits or profit-sharing with the trust.
At the trust’s May 6 meeting, members went over its draft bylaws in detail. The discussion was led by Carol Khalil, an environmental attorney from Aroostook County with ties to Harpswell who has volunteered to help the group get organized.
“The bylaws really are the governing document of whatever it is that we do,” Khalil told the group. “They’re the rules by which we have to operate. … They define our purpose, where we’re located, who’s on the board, what the powers of the board are, who the officers are, what (their powers) are, how to remove (them) — all of those different things are supposed to be within the bylaws.”
In the weeks ahead, the group will focus on applying for tax-exempt status as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Attaining that status would allow the group to accept tax-deductible donations and pursue grants and other funding opportunities.
The trust will need a fiscal sponsor, an existing nonprofit that agrees to receive and spend funds on its behalf while its tax-exempt status is pending. Glew mentioned two potential sponsors — the Holbrook Community Foundation and Harpswell Heritage Land Trust — while noting that neither group had yet agreed to take on that role.
The trust also plans to delegate tasks to various committees and potentially hire an accountant to handle its finances, though Glew said the latter step won’t be necessary for a while.
“Not yet — we don’t have any money,” she said. “We can’t raise any money until we’re certified and approved.”
Those interested in learning more about the trust and how to help can email Glew at eglew@comcast.net or attend an upcoming meeting.
