[yrhcworking] Bar Harbor "Green Housing" issues

[Mlongreene2 at aol.com]

____________________________________
 From: katie_wegner at hotmail.com
To: mlongreene2 at aol.com
Sent: 2/4/2008  1:52:08 P.M. Eastern Standard Time
Subj: RE: [Year-Round Housing] YRHC  Meeting Agenda - Tues. Feb. 5


Hi Mark, I was looking up Bar Harbor's recent affordable  housing project and 
it's "greeness" and this is what I found. Thought you  might be interested. 
Katie
BAR HARBOR — Many of the families originally  involved in the Bar Harbor 
Housing Authority’s (BHHA) workforce housing  development have dropped out of the 
project, leaving just 12 on the waiting  list for new homes.
But it shouldn’t be a problem to recruit more, said  BHHA executive director 
Terry Kelley. The environmentally friendly  construction, energy efficient 
design, and affordable price tag should all  help to sell the homes as they are 
completed.
“We’ve got 16 to 18 months to  finish this up. In that amount of time, I 
feel pretty comfortable that people  will be able to see what we’ve tried to put 
together for a model community,”  he said.
The development is being phased in, with a goal of building 31  houses by 
spring, 2009. Eight houses are under construction now, with the  first one due to 
be finished this spring.
Of the 31 houses in the  development, six will be sold at market value, while 
the other 25 will be  offered at a base price of between $160,000 and 
$180,000. The lower-priced  houses are intended for families with at least one member 
working on Mount  Desert Island and with a gross income that falls into the 
moderate range, or  less than $70,000 per year.
Mr. Kelley said he wasn’t surprised that so  many families have opted out of 
the project since it started in 2004. He  expressed confidence that an open 
house planned for next week, along with  several other publicity initiatives in 
the works, would draw in a new crop of  interested buyers.
“When we first started this, it was a long time ago.  Sticking around and 
waiting it out has been grueling,” he said. “I think once  somebody can get in 
there and see what a house looks like, it will be a lot  easier to sell.”
The open house will be on Thursday, Jan. 17 beginning at  noon. 
The houses are being built close together on about five acres of  land off of 
Sandy Lane, which intersects with the Knox Road in Town Hill.  Approximately 
35 acres surrounding the houses, also owned by the BHHA will be  deeded as 
open space.
The stormwater and wastewater systems on the property  all employ advanced 
technology to prevent nitrogen and nitrates from polluting  the Northeast Creek 
watershed, and the houses themselves also contain a number  of environmentally 
features.
“The houses are really super, super green,”  Mr. Kelley said.
Among the green features are low VOC (volatile organic  compounds) paints and 
glues, and hardwood floors instead of carpeting to  control mold and avoid 
toxic chemicals in carpet. All of the framing products  have been harvested 
within 300 miles, and all of the kitchen finishes are  maple, birch, and oak, also 
harvested relatively locally.
“The kitchen  cabinets are made of wheat board, which is a renewable 
resource. Fly ash, a  readily available byproduct from coal power plants, has been 
incorporated into  the concrete used of the foundations. The fly ash makes the 
concrete harder  while enabling the builder to stretch the material,” Terry 
Kelley said.
One  of the most important green aspects to the home construction should 
result in  a significantly lower energy footprint than in traditional houses, 
organizers  say. The walls have been framed with two-by-sixes, 24-inches on 
center, with  two-by-four horizontal strapping. This uses less overall lumber than  
traditional framing, while creating a wider cavity for insulation.
Instead  of filling that cavity with rolled fiberglass, the builders will 
blow in  dense-pack cellulose insulation, a recycled product that is in large 
supply,  Mr. Kelley said, and should create a well-insulated home when combined 
with  some of the other features.
“It’s our goal that these homes can be heated  for $500 a year,” he said.
The basic house size is 1,200 square feet, not  including the basement or the 
attic. But design options have the potential to  raise the living area to 
3,000 square feet, Mr. Kelley said.
The houses  have been designed to easily accept an addition, which will be 
offered as an  option to the buyer, or could be built later. A finished basement 
or attic  also is an option.
Including any of the options would raise the base cost,  Mr. Kelley said. 
Solar hot water systems and pellet stoves are two other  options available to 
buyers. Standard heating will be a monitor-style propane  heater. Because the 
houses are built so tightly, they will all include an  automated air-exchange 
system.
The BHHA has not had to draw on the $1  million bond that the town approved 
for the project at town meeting in June  2007, and might not need the money at 
all, Mr. Kelley said. Even so, the  availability of the money has helped to 
keep the project moving along.
“The  bond from the town was a very appreciated gift of insurance. It gave us 
some  flexibility to do things because of timing,” Mr. Kelley said.
The property  being developed was once part of the 200-acre Pooler Farm, 
which the BHHA  bought in 2004, in a deal that conserved 150 acres bordering 
Northeast Creek  with Maine Coast Heritage Trust (MCHT). The U.S. Congress recently 
approved  money for Acadia National Park to purchase a portion of that land 
from  MCHT.
The BHHA will give the land beneath the house to the buyer to use as  a down 
payment with the bank. Once the home is resold, the value of that land  goes 
back to the BHHA, so it can be passed on to the next buyer. Any  appreciation 
in the value of the house will be kept by the owner at the time  of resale.
For directions and more information, call the BHHA at  288-4770.



 
____________________________________
From: Mlongreene2 at aol.com
Date: Sat, 2 Feb 2008 10:22:11 -0500
To:  housingcommittee at townoflongisland.us
CC:  yrhasc at townoflongisland.us
Subject: [Year-Round Housing] YRHC Meeting  Agenda - Tues. Feb. 5

Hi All,  Attached please find the minutes of last Tuesday's  meeting; green 
standards (you only need to care about the first 7 pages);  MISCA by laws (same 
- only the first 7 pages); new agenda.     A lot of homework here!    Mark



 
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