Housing Committee

1 VILLAGE OF SISTER BAY HOUSING COMMITTEE (VIRTUAL) 2 MEETING MINUTES 3 TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2024 4 (APPROVED) 5 6 1. Call Meeting to Order & Roll Call 7 Chair Patrice Champeau called the meeting to order at 11:02 a.m. 8 9 Present: Chair and Trustee Patrice Champeau, Lori Allen, Lauren Aurelius, Marissa Downs, 10 Gustavo Gallardo, Kay Smith 11 Absent: Razvan Ciobanu 12 Staff: Administrator Julie Schmelzer 13 Others: Louise Howson 14 15 2. Approval of Agenda 16 Motion by Allen, second by Smith, to approve the agenda as presented. Motion carried unanimously. 17 18 3. Approve Minutes 19 Motion by Smith, second by Aurelius, to approve the minutes from the October 22, 2024, meeting as 20 presented. Motion carried unanimously. 21 22 4. Comments, Correspondence and Concerns from the Public 23 Schmelzer explained correspondence was received from Lousie Howson and it had been sent to 24 members as part of the meeting packet. There were no comments, and no other members of the 25 public spoke. 26 27 5. Discussion/Action Items 28 a. Geneva Ridge; Sturgeon Bay Affordable Housing Project 29 30 Paul Shefchik, the developer and builder of the project, participated by phone to explain how he 31 became involved in the project, the city’s role and his role, the model the city used, details about the 32 development agreement, and information about the homes and home sales. 33 34 Summary points included the homes are all three-bedroom homes with attached garages on 35 traditional lots. Homes are 1000-1300 sq. ft. and sell for $270-305,000. The city wanted a workforce 36 development project, and after several other projects that resulted in higher priced homes, they 37 entered into the agreement with Portside Builders, Paul’s company. The city worked with them to try 38 and make the project as affordable as possible, such as by reducing the lot size to fit the home design. 39 The program requires the building costs, and program costs, to be evaluated every year to ensure 40 homes remain affordable. Their lots and infrastructure cost about $38,000 per lot, and the city 41 determined the payback period to be six years. 42 43 The homes must be sold to someone who works in the county, and if they sell the home within those 44 first six years, someone else who works in the county needs to buy the house to complete the ‘term’, 45 or there has to be a payback. If held by a worker employed in the county, after six years, if the home 46 sells, they don’t have to pay back the infrastructure costs. If the home is sold after six years, the 1  Minutes – November 12, 2024 - Village Housing Committee - APPROVED 1 homeowner can also sell the home to anyone. If sold before the six years, the homeowner can only 2 sell it at a rate approved by the city, which is the consumer price index. In all sales however, there is 3 the deed restriction the home can never be a short-term rental, into perpetuity. 4 5 Shefchik said there were ways they could have made the project more affordable, namely by the city 6 being the developer to avoid developer fees and by not using realtors, which of course charge a real 7 estate fee. All buyers are approved by the city; the city is the one actually accepting the offer. He said 8 selling the lot, and having the homeowner work directly with the builder, would have saved money – 9 the real estate fee would have been based on the price of the lot, not the home. 10 11 Aurelius inquired if they had long term relationships with subcontractors and would there be 12 challenges getting contractors to Northern Door. Shefchik said the company has long standing 13 relationships with the contractors, and they don’t charge more just because of where they are working, 14 and many of them want to do these types of projects to help address the housing issue. 15 16 Smith asked if they worked with lenders on reduced rates and affordable mortgages. He said yes they 17 do, they use Nicolet and Bank of Luxemburg. Smith said we have others that want to work with us too, 18 such as Bank First. 19 20 Downs said the homes were about $1000/sq. ft. for a three-bedroom home with a two-stall attached 21 garage, noting the costs real estate fees, developer mark-ups, and builders risk insurance add to a 22 project. Schmelzer commented many of our homebuyer needs are for one- and two-bedroom homes, 23 and some may not be able to afford an attached garage and may need just a carport, or no garage, all 24 of which will help keep costs down. It was noted some people will need three bedrooms, especially as 25 more families come to Sister Bay. Members discussed having basic home designs that buyers can 26 revise based on their affordability. If people can afford amenities, like a fireplace, or marble 27 countertops, those are all items they should work on directly with the builder and be costs above and 28 beyond the price point we promote. 29 30 Champeau disagreed with the city’s homes not being kept in the workforce market after six years and 31 said she would hope Sister Bay would not follow that aspect of the model. Shefchik did clarify though, 32 the city decided that after six years, when they no longer were reliant on the city for the home to be 33 affordable, the owner should be allowed to sell to whoever they wanted. 34 35 Downs said the property was in a TIF, which must have helped a little too. She asked about what 36 happens to the working family that has an emergency and has to relocate or sell? Shefchik said the 37 city did consider that possibility, and that’s why they have options for resale built into the program. 38 Shefchik explained he knows the development side, but we might want to speak with the Community 39 Development Director from the city about the details of the program itself. 40 41 Aurelius asked about the appraised values and Shefchik said the homes have been appraising at the 42 sale price or higher. 43 44 Other comments and questions included, if the village sold the land directly, could staff handle the 45 sales? Schmelzer indicated she believed they could, primarily because the brunt of the work falls on 46 the village attorney. Oversight on the home sales was brought up, and it was noted the homes should 47 not be able to be resold as a second home, and that should be a deed restriction – the home must be 2  Minutes – November 12, 2024 - Village Housing Committee - APPROVED 1 used as the primary residence. Gallardo asked if we needed to speak with an attorney noting the 2 concern about not allowing people to build equity in the home. Schmelzer responded attorneys have 3 looked at these models, and the reality is, it’s a condition – if you want the home, at a low price, you 4 have to understand your resale will be very restricted. 5 6 The committee decided to get more information about the administrative side of the city’s program. 7 Champeau urged the members to keep thinking about resale restrictions. 8 9 6. Discussion Regarding Matters to be Placed on a Future Agenda, Referred to a Committee, Official 10 or Employee 11 Schmelzer is to try to arrange for Marty Olejniczak from the city of Sturgeon Bay to join the call; 12 Schmelzer asked the committee finalize their discussions on incentives for multi-family developers; 13 members agreed they should see if Stantec can be present; and provided she has had time to meet 14 with Shefchik about home plans and costs, Schmelzer may have that information as well. 15 16 7. Set Meeting Schedule & Topic(s); Speaker Invite List. 17 (Discussed in part under item 6.) It was the consensus that the committee should meet again soon to 18 keep the discussions moving along. The meeting date and time was set for December 3, 2024, at 11:00 19 a.m. 20 21 8. Adjournment 22 Motion by Smith, second by Allen, to adjourn. Motion carried unanimously. The meeting was 23 adjourned at 12:12 p.m. 24 25 Respectfully submitted, 26 Julie Schmelzer, Acting Recording Secretary 3