Schools officials endorsed a proposal to work with the Island Housing Trust to develop housing in West Tisbury for school staff.
The All-Island School Committee voted Thursday night to have district Superintendent Richie Smith write a letter to towns in support of the eight-unit project.
The school district, through the Island Housing Trust, will be looking for local funding from each town, likely before town meeting season in the spring. The development is expected to cost $5 million. The trust would pursue a mortgage on the property, but a good portion of the funding would come through local Community Preservation Act funding, and other local grants.
Superintendent Smith told the committee that there’s a significant need for housing for school staff — not just teachers but support staff, transportation staff, and assistants. “I feel the need is there,” he said. “This is a great step in the right direction.”
While committee members endorsed the general idea of the project, they tabled a discussion on how the property would be managed.
Island Housing Trust executive director Philippe Jordi pitched the proposal to the school board on Thursday, after preliminary talks with Smith.
Jordi said that IHT has been working with other municipalities and organizations, including Edgartown and the Vineyard Transit Authority, to work on developing housing for workers.
Jordi said that a generous donor provided the property in West Tisbury for the school project, with the hope of it supporting the year-round community and the school system.
Jordi said the property could support eight year-round apartments with a mix of one- and two-bedroom units. He expected that construction, if towns endorse the project through permitting and funding, could wrap up in 2025.
There was some discussion over who would act as landlord of the property. Jordi said that the idea would be for the Island Housing Trust to work with the Dukes County Regional Housing Authority to manage the property. That would keep the schools out of the day-to-day operation.
But the more ownership the schools take in the project, the more flexibility they would have in whom they could rent the property to. If there was a certain position that the school needed to fill, an available apartment might give them more of a chance to hire the right candidate. An option would allow the school to buy the property from the housing trust after the development.
A third possibility would be to create a master lease. Jordi said the trust and Martha’s Vineyard Hospital use this model. The trust purchased the Hanover Inn in Vineyard Haven, and converted it to housing for hospital staff. The hospital leases the property, and decides who lives there.
With a packed school committee agenda, chair Skipper Manter decided to table that discussion for another meeting.
Other members had concerns over what would happen if a teacher or staff member renting an apartment left the district. Committee members asked if they could continue to rent the apartment, or would they be evicted?
Jordi said that the idea would be to provide one-year leases to renters. If they left the district, the manager of the property could choose not to renew the lease after a year.
Ultimately, the school unanimously supported the school superintendent drafting a letter in support of developing housing for school staff.
How about the development off of Meetinghouse where 24 houses were to be built, and in addition the builder was going to include 6 two BR and 6 one BR townhouses priced around $300k, asked the board to limit appreciation to 3% a year for at least 10 years so they could not be flipped, on these units making them affordable for teachers cops nurses etc, and the board, presented with a potential blue print for future development turned the plan down?
In addition the builder was going g to pay to run the sewer line to this development as well.as up 4 additiinal.stteets and pay for residents to tap into it, all at the developers expense, eliminating the septic issues for a large chunk of people and to benefit the island.
You have got to start thinking outside the box folks. People who own land have the right to develop it, and you cannot just say no.
Think.outside the box.
The article neglects to say where this property is located.
We need more housing, more people want to move here.
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