THETFORD — A plan for workforce housing in Post Mills was dealt a blow last week when the Thetford Senior and Affordable Housing Committee voted to recommend it be killed following opposition from village residents.
The proposal would build no more than 16 housing units on a nearly 8-acre parcel on Route 244 near Lake Fairlee in Post Mills. During a series of public forums, residents had voiced concerns about water quality, building on prime agricultural land, locating the project too far from town and defying the wishes of past owners to limit subdivisions.
“I believe that there was enough information and concerns and trepidation on the part of neighbors and other community members that would have made it incredibly difficult to move the process forward,” Mark McMahon, chairman of the committee said at the Thursday meeting. “I feel if we would have tried to move forward this, it would be an insult to our neighbors.”
Three members of the committee abstained, while five others voted in favor of the recommendation to the Selectboard. More than 30 people attended the meeting, which took place over Zoom teleconferencing software.
“I basically agree with Mark, your conclusion that this is not a project that could fly in Post Mills. On the other hand, I would like to go on the record to say it’s deeply disappointing … that a valiant effort to get something going in affordable workforce housing was shut down in such a hostile manner,” committee member Heinz Trebitz said before abstaining from the vote. “I think we’re not really looking to the future of our town.”
The committee has been working for more than 15 years to find a site in town that is suitable for workforce housing. They initially concentrated their efforts on East Thetford, in part due to its proximity to services and the Interstate 91 corridor, but couldn’t find a property at the right price. The town purchased the Post Mills property for $120,000 earlier this year.
Selectboard chairman Nick Clark previously said that if the property was not going to be used for workforce housing, the town would put it back on the market and put the covenant back in place.
During Thursday night’s meeting, Post Mills resident Alissa Southworth said she was part of a group of people who are exploring how to best conserve the land.
Committee members also spoke about the importance of involving town government and community members for a future project to be successful.
“If everyone is serious about making this happen and the majority of people that I’ve spoken with feel that we should be looking at establishing some means of affordable housing in our community, whether it’s seniors, workforce, that’s something that we’re going to have to have a town plan,” McMahon said. “We’re going to really have to take advantage of not only our Selectboard and our Planning Commission, but you as members of the community.”
David Forbes, chairman on the Planning Commission, spoke about exploring different options including cluster-housing neighborhoods or establishing a housing trust similar to one in Woodstock that identifies properties in town to convert to affordable housing. The town is currently in the process of updating its town plan, which after completion could open them up to sources of project funding.
“I really think we should not ignore the greater picture, and the greater picture is that the Senior and Affordable Housing Committee for the last 15 years has been doing the work basically alone and without support, or without active support from the town, from the Selectboard, or from the Planning Commission,” Trebitz said. “We got lip service, but that was all we got.”
Funding continues to be a challenge, McMahon said. It could be helpful, for example, to ask residents at Town Meeting to put some money into the budget so that the town has money to draw on if an opportunity presents itself.
“As a small town that doesn’t fit into that niche funding, we’re going to have to get creative and have to figure out a way that we can do it as a community, and I’m hoping that we can all put our heads together and figure it out and move it forward,” McMahon said.
Liz Sauchelli can be reached at esauchelli@vnews.com or 603-727-3221.
