Great Barrington Affordable Housing Trust Fund Meeting - March 17, 2026

The Great Barrington Affordable Housing Trust Fund met remotely on March 17, 2026, pursuant to Governor Baker's March 12, 2020 order and Governor Healey's March 28, 2025 revised order. Members present were Joseph Method, Bill Cook, Nanda Timpain, and Fred Clark. Trustees approved February minutes, authorized up to $5,000 per ADU in administrative costs, and added advertising funds for the affordable housing RFP.

Minutes Approval

• The February 17 meeting minutes were approved 3-0-1, with Bill Cook, Joseph Method, and Fred Clark voting yes and Nanda Timpain abstaining. The minutes had been distributed late, the morning of the meeting.

Reports & Updates

• The affordable housing RFP has been issued; no applications had been received as of the meeting. Town staff member Chris is maintaining a register of interested parties, who are asked to email him for an information packet.
• An open house at Prosperity Way is scheduled for Saturday, March 21, from 1 to 3 p.m.
• Partner updates are planned for a future meeting to build relationships with aligned partners.

Discussion Items

ADU Program Vendor Selection and Administrative Costs

• Ananda reviewed the vendor-selection structure: town staff manage the selection process, and the trust budgets for it. The successful vendor would process and evaluate applications using the trust's rubric, recommend applications to the trust, and handle income verification and monitoring over the 10-year loan period, after which loans can be forgiven.
• The previous pilot paid Construct $5,000 total for the round; Chris now estimated the new vendor arrangement could cost about $5,000 per ADU. The prior round received five submissions, not all complete or viable.
• Trustees weighed whether this was reasonable given a program scale of roughly $100,000 per grant and a 5 percent overhead fee, and whether costs could be renegotiated after initial projects. A motion to approve up to $5,000 per ADU for administrative costs passed unanimously.

Affordable Housing RFP Advertising

• Bill presented a Shopper's Guide advertisement sample: 2 columns by 4 inches, about $105 per insertion. Existing allocated funds were about $150, enough for one insertion.
• Trustees discussed reducing the ad size and running at least three insertions roughly two weeks apart. Eileen, a public participant, offered to run the ad free in the newsletter.
• A motion to allocate an additional $300 for advertising costs passed unanimously.

Rising Dale Project and April Outlook

• The Rising Dale subcommittee will meet later in the week, aiming toward an April presentation.
• Chris suggested the engineer's feasibility report could run parallel to other project work. Fred Clark cautioned that some steps must remain linear because elements such as drainage and vehicle counts depend on what will be built. The trust may begin identifying a consultant, potentially one focused on marketing and project approach rather than civil engineering alone.
• Trustees plan to invite Construct's new executive director, Joey Lindwood, to the April meeting and to meet with him beforehand. Housing stabilization and rent support discussions are targeted for May or June as part of budget work.
• Trustees discussed recruiting an additional trustee and mentioning the vacancy during budget-meeting citizen speak.

Public Comments & Testimony

• Eileen asked whether the $5,000 per-ADU administrative amount was the only administrative cost and offered a free newsletter announcement for the RFP.
• During citizens speak, no public or media comments were offered.

Key Outcomes

• February 17 minutes approved 3-0-1.
• Approved up to $5,000 per ADU for ADU program administrative costs unanimously; this allows Chris to finalize the vendor arrangement and could allow the application window to open before the next meeting.
• Approved an additional $300 for RFP advertising unanimously.
• April agenda will include the Rising Dale update, advocacy issues, and an introduction from Construct's new executive director.