Affordable Housing Trust

1. To accept and receive property, whether real or personal, by gift, grant, devise, or transfer from any person, firm, corporation or other public or private entity, including without limitation grants of funds or other property tendered to the trust in connection with provisions of any zoning ordinance or by-law or any other ordinance or by-law;
2. To purchase and retain real or personal property, including without restriction investments that yield a high rate of income or no income;
3. To sell, lease, exchange, transfer or convey any personal, mixed, or real property at public auction or by private contract for such consideration and on such terms as to credit or otherwise, and to make such contracts and enter into such undertaking relative to trust property as the board deems advisable notwithstanding the length of any such lease or contract;
4. To execute, acknowledge and deliver deeds, ass\ignments, transfers, pledges, leases, covenants, contracts, promissory notes, releases and other instruments sealed or unsealed, necessary, proper or incident to any transaction in which the board engages for the accomplishment of the purposes of the trust;
5. To employ advisors and agents, such as accountants, appraisers and lawyers as the board deems necessary;
6. To pay reasonable compensation and expenses to all advisors and agents and to apportion such compensation between income and principal as the board deems advisable;
7. To apportion receipts and charges between incomes and principal as the board deems advisable, to amortize premiums and establish sinking funds for such purpose, and to create reserves for depreciation depletion or otherwise;
8. To participate in any reorganization, recapitalization, merger or similar transactions; and to give proxies or powers of attorney with or without power of substitution to vote any securities or certificates of interest; and to consent to any contract, lease, mortgage, purchase or sale of property, by or between any corporation and any other corporation or person;
9. To deposit any security with any protective reorganization committee, and to delegate to such committee such powers and authority with relation thereto as the board may deem proper and to pay, out of trust property, such portion of expenses and compensation of such committee as the board may deem necessary and appropriate;
10. To carry property for accounting purposes other than acquisition date values;
11. To borrow money on such terms and conditions and from such sources as the board deems advisable, to mortgage and pledge trust assets as collateral;
12. To make distributions or divisions of principal in kind;
13. To compromise, attribute, defend, enforce, release, settle or otherwise adjust claims in favor or against the trust, including claims for taxes, and to accept any property, either in total or partial satisfaction of any indebtedness or other obligation, and subject to the provisions of this act, to continue to hold the same for such period of time as the board may deem appropriate;
14. To manage or improve real property; and to abandon any property which the board determined not to be worth retaining;
15. To hold all or part of the trust property uninvested for such purposes and for such time as the board may deem appropriate; and
16. To extend the time for payment of any obligation to the trust.
17. The Board of Selectmen may require a financial audit in any fiscal year if deemed appropriate.

The Affordable Housing Trust shall report to the Board of Selectmen at least once in each year. Said report shall include but is not limited to, financial transaction, property acquisitions and policy decision.

By-Law Adopted by Annual Town Meeting- May 5, 2008.

The Eastham Affordable Housing Trust was created with the approval of Town Meeting May 5th, 2008, and a Declaration of Trust was signed by the original five appointed members of the Trust: Dr. Andrew Cederbaum, S. Kyle Hinkle, William Burt, Carol Martin and the Rev. Matthew Wissell in October 2009. The second article of that Declaration of Trust defined the purpose of the Trust: 

The purpose of the Trust shall be to provide for the creation and preservation of affordable housing in the Town of Eastham for the benefit of low and moderate income households.

Recognizing this purpose, and the Housing Needs Assessment/Housing Production Plan prepared for the Board of Selectmen in February 2010, the Eastham Affordable Housing Trust adopted a formal vision statement for the direction of future Trust activities on August 2, 2011. 

The Affordable Housing Trust’s efforts and projects will include but are not limited to:  Engage the community in discussions which will build support for affordable housing and dispel myths and negative attitudes about such projects. 

• Seek out existing market housing which can be modified into affordable home units with long-term affordable housing restrictions. 
• Foster development of affordable housing, on available municipal property and appropriate infill lots, that is both in context with the surrounding neighborhood and sensitive to the environment. 
• Encourage the increase of affordable units in private development that meet local housing goals.  Support the Eastham Housing Authority efforts to secure and provide more rental housing opportunities. 
• Work with the Eastham Board of Selectmen, Planning Board and the Local Comprehensive Planning Committee to insure inclusion of future long term affordable housing needs. 
• Work with the Eastham Business Community to identify needs for Workforce Housing 
• Continue to seek out available Commonwealth, Federal or other funding sources which will provide capital for projects related to affordable housing. 
• Create innovative programs and make use of existing methods in an effort to financially assist low and moderate income homebuyers, homeowners and renters.