Westport
in Brief!
EverythingWestport.com
Friday,
December 11, 2015
photos/EverythingWestport.com except as noted
Quick
Article Index . . .
Craig
Dutra will leave Community Foundation.
Christmas comes early for the Land Trust!
Westport
Federal Credit Union holding holiday food drive.
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Craig Dutra will leave
Community Foundation. Confusion on simple by-law amendment ties up town
meeting. EverythingWestport.com Wednesday,
December 9, 2015 The Community Foundation of
Southeastern Massachusetts announced that Craig Dutra, president and
CEO will leave on January 31st but will continue to serve as senior adviser
to the Board of Directors.
Inset: Craig Dutra at a recent Westport Board of Selectmen’s meeting. Garfield also
said that "during this period of transition, we will be working together
to ensure the solid footing of the organization.” Plans to hire a
replacement or an interim have not yet been announced. Dutra, 60, who
has led the foundation since 2004, said 10 years is a good amount of time to
invest in a position and he has led the foundation for more than 11. Leaving
now gives him “enough time for one more chapter” and he said he intends to
look for a new job in the interim, according to the Fall River Herald. . Under his
leadership, total assets of the New Bedford-based charity increased from $5.5
million to $33.5 million, the number of funds quadrupled to more than 225
funds, and the foundation distributed grants and scholarships worth more than
$20 million, with $3.4 million awarded in the most recent year, the
foundation said in the news release. "I think the
foundation is in a good place for the future and has the ability to continue
to grow," Dutra said. "Hardly a day goes by without an individual
or a neighborhood organization calling to partner with us in their
philanthropic efforts." Dutra formerly
headed United Way of Greater New Bedford, and from 2000 to 2004 was vice
president of marketing and development for the Massachusetts Society for the
Prevention of Cruelty to Children. Dutra is
currently chairman of the Westport Board of Selectmen and is on the board of
the New Bedford Economic Development Council. He was also the Standard-Times'
Westport Man of the Year in 2013. Dutra lives with
his wife at 65 Union Avenue, Westport, MA. The Community
Foundation of Southeastern Massachusetts is a tax-exempt charity with a
mission "to mobilize philanthropy by matching donors and resources with
community needs for the benefit of our region,” according to its website.
This is its 20th anniversary. The
funds will be used for expenses directly associated with future housing
rehabilitation projects. EverythingWestport.com Friday, December
11, 2015 The Westport
Affordable Housing Trust Fund is pleased to report that voters at the
December 1st Special Town Meeting unanimously approved the transfer of
$189,770 in Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Recaptured Funds to the
Westport Affordable Housing Trust Fund. The funds will be used to provide
loans to low income homeowners or qualified property owners to rehabilitate
homes located in Westport. The funds will be
used for expenses directly associated with future housing rehabilitation
projects. Current or future CPA funds available to the Trust will be used for
developing, providing staff and administering the program. The former CDBG
Westport Housing Rehabilitation Program ran for a number of years and as a
result 34 housing rehabbed units are still in the town's 2014 Subsidized
Housing Inventory (SHI). The program offered Deferred Payment Loans (DPL) to
finance rehabilitation of eligible projects. The owners of the
rehabbed units had agreed to repay the borrowed funds to the town when the
participant homes were transferred or sold. The recapture amount to be repaid
was calculated by multiplying the number of months remaining in the agreement
divided by 180. The loan recapture agreement runs for 15 years (180 months). Housing units
sold prior to the expiration date of the loan recapture agreement will be
removed from the SHI. Likewise, there are 15 units with DPL set to expire in
2017 and 2018. To date, the town has recaptured approximately $190,000 in
recaptured loan funds. The Westport
Affordable Housing Trust Fund took the initiative to reach out to the
Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) regarding the use of
funds recaptured from the former CDBG Westport Housing Rehabilitation
Program. Working with the town's accounting, building department, and
treasurer's offices, staffers gathered all the information associated with
the recaptured loans for DHCD to review. DHCD determined
that none of the recaptured funds qualified as program income as defined by
the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and that the town
could reuse the funds for a new housing rehabilitation program. The housing units
participating in the new rehabilitation initiative will be eligible for
inclusion in the town's SHI. The program will help to prevent blight and
improve housing stock conditions in Westport. The Trust continues to work out
the details of the new program, and will advise residents and property owners
when applications for rehab loans will be available. There are
currently 227 SHI units in Westport, representing 3.54 percent of the town's
total housing stock. The state has mandated that all communities in the
Commonwealth must strive to reach the goal of having 10 percent of its total
housing stock available to low income residents. For more
information on the planned housing rehabilitation loan program, and other
initiatives being undertaken by the Trust to create affordable housing and
home purchasing opportunities for residents, contact the Trust by calling 774.264.5126 or e-mail the Westport Housing Office at
Town Hall at: WestportHousing@outlook.com. Christmas
comes early for the Land Trust! EverythingWestport.com Friday, December
11, 2015 WESTPORT – In
what they are describing as the largest, single-parcel land gift in their 43
year history, today the Westport Land Conservation Trust announced the gift
of 66 acres of land adjacent to their Dunham’s Brook Conservation Area. The donation,
made by the Shannon Meadow Trust, Bruce & Dinny
Roberts, Trustees, expands the popular Dunham’s Brook property to a total of
159 acres.
Above: On the property
are from left, property owners Bruce and Dinny Robertts, and Westport Land Conservation Trust’s Mark McEathron, Executive Director Ryan Mann and Brendan
Buckless. “We are thrilled
by this wonderful gift of the Roberts family” said Ryan Mann, Executive
Director of WLCT. “Their generosity will enable current and future
generations of Westport residents to enjoy a beautiful recreation experience.” The forested
property, located north of the existing preserve, is primarily upland
hardwoods, with the Dunham’s Brook on the western edge and forested wetlands
on a portion of the eastern flank. Access to the Dunham’s Brook
Conservation Area is via a parking lot on the east side of Main Road, two and
a half miles south of Central Village. “My mother loved
this land from the time she bought it,” said Dinny
Roberts. “She instilled in us a love for this land, and it has always been a
shared family desire to conserve it.” The Dunham’s
Brook Conservation Area currently hosts a little over a mile of hiking trails
which pass through a variety of wetland and upland natural communities.
One of the trails bisects the thirteen acre farm field on the preserve,
providing a unique experience in the summer when the corn on both sides of
the trail is over the heads’ of walkers. After some minor
clearing and maintenance, the new parcel will immediately add over a half
mile of trails on two old roadways that traverse the property. Future
extensions will bring the preserve total to two miles of trails. “For my family,
conserving land that you love seems like a logical conclusion to your
ownership” Roberts added. Dunham’s Brook is
one of ten properties where the land trust encourages recreational use.
Referred to as “Destination Properties”, these properties are located
throughout Westport, and are premier properties for recreational use.
Maps and directions for these properties are all contained in the land
trust’s new “Trail Guide”, which the land trust mailed to all its members
earlier this fall. Free copies are also available at Town Hall, various
businesses in town and by contacting the WLCT office. “The wonderful
lands that have been conserved in Westport have only been possible because
people care about their land and the landscape of our community” said
Mann. “I encourage any landowner who wants to leave a lasting legacy to
give our office a call. We’re selective about the lands that we
protect, but there are still many properties in Westport worthy of
protecting.” Westport
Federal Credit Union holding holiday food drive. EverythingWestport.com December 11, 2015 For the 2015
holiday season, Westport Federal Credit Union is holding a month and a half
long food drive at their three locations. All
non-perishable food items collected are being donated to Citizens for
Citizens in Fall River. Currently; an average of 600
families use the CFC Food Pantry monthly. The pantry is open to
residents of any age in Fall River, Somerset, Swansea, Seekonk, Westport and
Berkley. WFCU will be
collecting donations leading up until Christmas. If you’d like to help, visit
www.westport.org to find your
closest branch. Westport Credit
Union is also pleased to announce their hat and mittens drive, also in
partnership with CFC. The Fall River Branch has a giving tree set up with
ornaments requesting hats and mittens for ages
newborn to 12. Donations may be
dropped off at any of their three locations by Tuesday, December 15th. For more
information, visit http://www.westport.org,
email kgreene@westport.org,
or call 508.679.0197. A few points regarding Kevin
Sinclair’s letter about Selectmen Vieira and Spirlet. Editor’s
note: According to town records, Mr. Kevin Sinclair (see letter below) is not
a Westport property owner, is not registered as a voter, and is not listed in
the recent town census. EverythingWestport.com Sunday, December
13, 2015 To the editor, A few points
regarding Kevin Sinclair’s letter about Selectmen Vieira and Spirlet: 1. I have seldom
known a “politician” who has served more than one term who didn’t want to be
re-elected. 2. The Select
Board can not by itself abandon any portion of a
public road. This requires the approval of the voters at Town Meeting. 3. Democracy is
what we live under fortunately. People, including Mr. Sinclair, have a
right to express their view on any subject; they have a right to put up signs
and urge people to vote one way or another. Again, it is democracy. 4. It is
unfortunate to have issues that are divisive but it would appear there are
some who are divisive on both sides of many issues, including this one. 5. If the
abandonment had come to a vote on December 1, the debate would have been even
more divisive. With Mr. Vieira’s motion to pass over Beach Avenue, there was
in fact no rancor and the motion passed handily. I doubt the outcome would
have been so peaceful if a selectman on the other side of the Beach Avenue
abandonment had made the motion. The Select Board had voted unanimously to
pass over Beach Avenue. 6. The headline
for Mr. Sinclair’s letter seems more inflammatory than necessary. 7. Full
disclosure. I have lunch with a group that includes Mr. Vieira and
occasionally Mr. Spirlet and others who have been active in town affairs. I
don’t agree with them on every issue by a long shot. I am a member of WLCT,
serve on its board and am chair of its Stewardship Committee. This letter
does not represent the views of the Land Trust, which takes no position on
the Beach Avenue controversy to my knowledge; although it does seek to
protect the integrity of the property it owns abutting Beach Avenue and
elsewhere in Westport. It has not been reviewed by any member of the
Land Trust Board or the executive director Henry Swan Westport Editor’s
note: Mr. Swan is an attorney,
lives on Westport Point and is a Westport Land Conservation Trust board member. EverythingWestport.com Sunday, December
13, 2015 To the editor:
Kevin Sinclair Editor’s
note: Mr. Kevin Sinclair,
according to town records, is not a Westport property owner, is not registered
as a voter, and is not listed in the recent town census. © 2015 Community Events of Westport. All rights
reserved. EverythingWestport.com |
