WELLFLEET — Bids on a master plan for housing at Maurice’s Campground were supposed to be due on June 21, and interest in the project was strong. But the committee charged with overseeing the creation of affordable housing at the 21-acre site withdrew its request for proposals on the master plan on May 24. The reason: the town lacks the staff needed to move the work forward.
Rebecca Roughley, the assistant town administrator and procurement officer for contracted projects, submitted her resignation on May 12, according to Town Administrator Rich Waldo. He said her last day will be June 30. Roughley declined a request for comment from the Independent.
Roughley’s resignation follows those of Health Agent Hillary Lemos-Greenberg and Building Commissioner James Badera. These departures, combined with the failure of a proposed housing coordinator position at the town election on May 1, leave Wellfleet without key personnel needed to proceed with the planning phase of the housing project, said Maurice’s Planning Committee and select board chair Ryan Curley.
Curley said that some 30 packages detailing the proposal requirements had been requested by contractors to date. The decision to withdraw the RFP came only a week before a planned June 1 site walk.
“We did this reluctantly,” Curley said of the planning committee’s decision. “We have a very aggressive timeline, and I want to stick to it because the need for housing is so great. Hopefully this doesn’t affect it too much.”
A funding delay had also thrown a wrench into the committee’s schedule. The $50,000 appropriated at this year’s town meeting for planning and development of the site is not enough to cover the cost of the master plan. Curley estimated that the total cost of planning will be $150,000 to $200,000, and he said the committee expects the town will receive county ARPA funds for the remaining $100,000 to $150,000.
But prospective planning consultants expressed concerns, according to a press release circulated by Curley, because of a delay in Wellfleet’s application for the ARPA funds. State law mandates that all available funds must be appropriated before a contract can be executed. Committee members worried that if the bidding process were to fail for this reason, prospective consultants would not want to bid on the project a second time.
The town applied for county funding on March 21, Waldo said. But Curley told the planning committee on May 24 that because “there were a number of things missing from the initial application,” the money would likely not come before June 21.
Waldo said, “I wouldn’t call them ‘missing.’ A few things needed clarification,” including supporting documentation for the cost of the services, proof of a vote from the select board to request the ARPA funds, and proof of the September 2022 special town meeting vote to purchase the campground.
Waldo said he had submitted a revised application with all the required documentation on May 12. He expects the town will hear back from the county within a month.
At the May 24 planning committee meeting, members proposed alternative funding solutions should the revised ARPA application not be approved. Curley suggested placing an article on the fall town meeting warrant to fund the remaining planning costs with free cash. He told the Independent that the town’s current free cash balance of $2.6 million is “in excess of the amount our financial management policies suggest having in reserve.”
Committee member Gary Sorkin suggested taking out a loan from the affordable housing trust, but member Carl Sussman countered that the bigger issue is the lack of town staff to support the process.
“The personnel issue is the one we can’t overcome in the short run,” Sussman said. Member Jan Plaue concurred, saying that “until we have a structure that engenders confidence, we ought to wait.”
Member Sharon Rule-Agger told the committee that housing advocates are discussing bringing back the housing coordinator position at this fall’s special town meeting after the position lost by 17 votes at the election. Curley said that the coordinator position “would have provided a considerable amount of staff support for consultants and the planning committee.”
Still, the absence of an assistant town administrator beginning in July could delay the project significantly, Curley said. And Health Agent Lemos-Greenberg, who left Wellfleet in April to work in Eastham as director of health and environment, was helping the committee plan for wastewater treatment, Curley said.
According to Curley’s press release, the planning committee hopes to reissue the RFP in the fall after the special town meeting, once staffing and funding issues are resolved.
The impact of the delay, he said, “remains to be seen.”
