AGAWAM – After weeks of conversation, the Agawam City Council voted against a resolution that would award WayFinders Community Preservation Act (CPA) funds for an affordable housing complex planned in town.

 The subject was approached during the March 4 meeting in citizen speak time. Resident William Clark was one of five people who spoke on the topic, and began citizen speak time by stating he’d tried to research answers for some of the questions the councilors had regarding the funding during the Feb. 17 meeting.

Clark said from his research he saw that the initial asking amount from WayFinders in CPA funds was $200,000 and didn’t understand why it increased to $564,000. He added that he’d looked into other communities and how much CPA funds they had given to WayFinders for similar projects. “Northampton, when I looked into how much they gave Way Finders recently, for a project around $16, $18 million, they gave them around $300,000, so I see no problem giving them some of the money, but I just don’t understand why it went from $200,000 to $564,000,” he said.

Next resident and Vice President of the Friends of the Agawam Senior Center, Diane Stallone, approached the podium to speak out against awarding Way Finders the whole amount of CPA funds they were asking for and questioned how the project would benefit Agawam as a whole. “A number of seniors, as well as myself, are vehemently opposed to giving WayFinders the sum of $564,000. These are our tax dollars, and we feel that more negotiations should be made,” she said.

“Another question that came to mind, I understand that roughly 70 percent of Agawam residents would be entitled to purchase this affordable housing. Would that be etched in granite, are we to be assured of that? Would Springfield residents be able to come in and purchase this property based on a sliding scale of their income,” she questioned.

Next, resident Richard Treganowan gave a short statement and said while he thought affordable housing in town was a good idea, he didn't want the council to approve funds if the project wasn’t going to benefit residents. “We’re not putting our own people first, and that’s a problem. If we can’t do that and there’s no guarantee of that, don’t do it,” he told the council.

Resident Corinne Wingard spoke next, addressing “some issues raised at the last council meeting and tonight, to try to bring us more together.” She emphasized it was not legal to designate apartments solely for seniors in town, however, “20 of the 62 units at Rosewood Way, almost one third of the development, are one bedroom units, which organically tend to be for seniors.”

She added that while the local preference is decided by the state, the town showing significant financial commitment would only work in their favor. She also emphasized that WayFinders did not propose the project in town to benefit the organization, but to add affordable housing to Agawam. “The state decides and we need to show them significant financial commitment by the town when they are making that decision,” she stated. “WayFinders did not come to Agawam because we have land and they were not wanted in other towns, as has been stated. Amherst, Northampton and Easthampton all gave CPA funds to WayFinders and WayFinders wants a high quality development as much as we do.”

  In her closing thoughts, Wingard said that while there has been vocal opposition to the project, that opinion “is not representative of the community as a whole,” and urged city council members to vote “in the best interest of the entire town.”

The last resident to take the podium during citizen speak time was Henry Kozloski, who also serves as the chair of the CPA Committee. He said a lot of information being said was not accurate and there was “a lack of information.” The first point he addressed was the ways in which CPA funding could be used. Kozloski said the money cannot be given “to private homes unless they’re willing to commit it to affordable housing.”

He also addressed the affordable housing process as a whole and how the state is choosing to build such projects. “They’re doing affordable housing with private and non-profit builders,” he stated. “The state is not putting any money into the housing authority at all. I checked, called the Governor’s office. There’s nothing in the budget. Period. Be realistic of that.”

Kozloski then read directly from the CPA trust, which says in part “provide financial support for the construction of affordable housing by private developers, non-profit or for profit.” He then emphasized that the process to be approved for CPA funding “takes a lot of time.” He recognized the council had a “tough decision to make,” but challenged councilors to consider, “Can Agawam afford to build 60 units a year for 10 years?”

He said, “We’ve got to be part of the solution, whether we like it or not we have to be part. And these people I know it’s hard being poor, and that’s something you have to realize.”

When council members reached the resolution on the agenda, President Christopher Johnson reminded everyone that an amendment on the item was charter objected at the last meaning which meant there would be a vote with no discussion. The amendment, which lowered the amount of CPA funds given to Way Finders from $564,000 to $200,000, required six votes to pass. Four councilors voted in favor of the amendment while five councilors voted against it. Vice Chair Cecilia Calabrese was absent from the meeting due to a prior commitment and Councilor Mario Tedeschi abstained from voting. The amendment failed, which took the council’s discussion back to the original motion of awarding Way Finders CPA funds in the amount of $564,000.

Councilor Gina Letellier opened up the discussion on the item by apologizing “for the information that was given to the seniors to scare them.” She emphasized the amount she had proposed during the previous council meeting and the $200,000 that had been proposed by Councilor Paul Cavallo, were funds “comprised solely of Registry of Deeds surcharges.” She said, “None of the one percent Community Preservation Act surcharges that are paid by homeowners in town are included in either my amount or in Councilor Cavallo’s amount and therefore there are no taxes paid by any taxpayer in Agawam included in either of those two amounts.”

She then went on to say she felt there had been “a constant, intentional misrepresentation of where these funds are coming from.” Letellier stated that she felt the council needed to approve some money for the project and made a motion for the amount of $250,000.

Councilor Gerald Smith then emphasized his desire to use CPA funds for affordable housing for the town’s senior population and said he was in favor of hiring a professional with CPA money to “implement a plan that could best use the affordable housing money for seniors.” Councilor Dino Mercadante echoed what Letellier said about where the funds would come from and stated, “I think as long as we stay below that one percent amount that’s in the fund, I think we’re in good shape. I think we should press forward on.”

Councilor Robert Rossi said while he was not against using CPA money for affordable housing, he felt Way Finders had “circumvented our laws, our zoning areas.” He said, “If that project was in an appropriate area of town I would have supported it, but I will not ever support or encourage an unfriendly developer or an unfriendly development in this community.”

Councilor George Bitzas then began expressing the suggestions he’d seen on social media to use the money in a way to “more wisely benefit all.” While he was reading from a list, Councilor Rosemary Sandlin raised a point of order and said she believed that they should stick to what was on the agenda. “This tonight is about whether we’re going to provide funds from the CPA for the Way Finders project,” she said. Bitzas, again, emphasized that he was against the project and said, “We don’t want to waste taxpayer’s money, Agawam’s money for a private company” and that he was “totally against” giving WayFinders CPA money.

Johnson, who stepped from the chair, said, “The misinformation is absolutely incredible.” He went on to say there was more than $800,000 in the CPA fund that could not “be used for anything other than the support of affordable housing.” Johnson explained that the last affordable housing project in Agawam had taken place nearly two decades ago.

“So if you want to talk about all the alternatives, this money has been sitting there for close to 20 years and none of these alternatives have come to the table,” Johnson said to the council.

He emphasized that the project would go ahead whether they approved CPA funding or not, but state preference was at stake. “All that’s at stake is whether or not DHCD, the state Department of Housing and Community Development, honors our request and WayFinders request that 70 percent of the affordable housing units be set aside for Agawam residents,” he said.

Sandlin emphasized the lack of handicapped accessible apartments in town. “There are literally only two handicapped units in Agawam for families. Two. That means that if you have a handicapped child, you’re handicapped, you can’t afford a house, you can’t rent in Agawam,” she said. “We have an obligation to the citizens of Agawam to those people who cannot afford to stay in their homes, as an option.”

Ultimately the council voted against both the amendment to approve $200,000 in CPA funds and the original item, to approve $564,000 in CPA funds for Way Finders.