The Marblehead Housing Authority held talks about having a feasibility study done on the duplexes located on Broughton Road during its monthly meeting Tuesday afternoon.
MHA Executive Director Cathy Hoog said that she had applied for a grant through Mass Housing Partnership to receive funds that would go toward a study to see what the authority’s options would be in terms of redeveloping the properties.
Mass Housing Partnership took a tour of the properties recently and Hoog said that its members were pleased with the ideas that the MHA had for Broughton Road, though they were not able to award a grant as Mass Housing was at the end of the budget cycle.
However, Hoog noted that she was encouraged to pursue a request for proposal, which solicits a proposal, usually through a bidding process, to potential suppliers to submit business proposals.
“Because of the fact that this site has so much potential in the opinion of Mass Housing Partnership, we would have no problem whatsoever finding an interested party,” Hoog said, referencing what she was told.
By submitting an RFP, Hoog said, there would hopefully be interested parties willing to front money for a feasibility study, or file for additional grants in conjunction with the MHA. Because it is currently in between budget cycles, Hoog said, it would be a fairly long amount of time before the MHA is able to request another grant to put toward a feasibility study. MHA Board Chair Jenn Schaeffner said that she thought a study should still be done despite missing the grant window.
“I would think we would still want a feasibility study,” Schaeffner said. “From my understanding, a feasibility study just tells you what is possible on this site.”
Hoog, as well as several other board members, seemed to be in agreement with Mass Housing Partnership’s suggestion, though member William Kuker had concerns about private contracting and neighborhood pushback.
Both Hoog and Schaeffner noted that they are currently in the earliest stages of this project and assured Kuker that there will be long discussions about those topics as they get further into the process.
“There’s a lot to consider in this process,” Hoog said. “A lot of things, some of which Bill (Kuker) has raised. But, in the very beginning it’s just about do we want to do something? Do we want to explore it, and how do we want to go about that?”
Board member Terri Tauro expressed her interest in the study, but said that the MHA should act fast if it wants to get an RFP out for bidding.
“With the money that’s opening up in the state, these things go away quickly,” Tauro said. “I think that it’s a great idea to get the RFP out there, get the feasibility study done, and see what the potential is because before you know it, everyone else is going to jump ahead of you, and then the money will be gone.”
Schaeffner expressed one concern regarding how much control the contractor would have over what is being built at the site. Hoog said in response that it would be crucial to insert a memorandum of understanding in the RFP in order to have control over the situation.
Hoog mentioned that she would begin working on an RFP that would be reviewed by an attorney before being sent out. She also said that it would be a great time to get information out to the public that the MHA is looking into options at the properties and that holding question-and-answer forums when more information becomes available would be beneficial.