Among its other business, Town Meeting voted to fund two affordable housing proposals and two projects for land conservation and town recreation on Monday, Oct. 23.

It voted unanimously to purchase 3.5 acres at Marks Cove and to improve the Douglas S. Westgate Conservation and River Walk property. 

It voted by slimmer margins to support a development project on Chapel Lane and one to fund the Affordable Housing Trust. Dissenting voices expressed some skepticism about how that money would be spent. 

The money comes out of Wareham's Community Preservation Act Funds. The money comes from a 3% surtax on properties valued above $100,000. It can be spent on projects in four categories: affordable housing, historic preservation, open space and recreation.

An affordable housing project with six homes on Chapel Lane received $150,000 at Town Meeting. The three bedroom homes will be built and rented by developer Steven Beauchemin. It passed by a majority vote, with 106 votes in favor and 75 votes against. 

The project has a $2.1 million budget, of which the developers can support $1.4 million. Beauchemin is looking for government funding to assist in filling the gap. 

"We have had town support in permitting the project,” said Lynne Sweet of LDC Consulting, representing Beauchemin. “Unfortunately, due to the changes in the economics of financing with increases to interest rates, we are coming before you to try and close the gap on the numbers so that we can put a shovel in the ground." 

Town residents who spoke against the project opposed the idea of giving public funding to a for-profit developer — even for the purpose of building affordable housing. 

"These six affordable units are a drop in the bucket to meeting our percentage of affordable housing. I would prefer to see these funds spent elsewhere in the future where they may have a much larger impact," said Stacy Smith, who identified herself as a neighbor to the development. 

Carl Schultz, chairman of the Affordable Housing Trust, supported the application and said there are limited not-for-profit companies coming forward to build affordable developments in town. 

Resident Ervin Russell supported the project, saying Beauchemin was an impeccable neighbor and a good landlord and saying the town needed to confront its affordable housing situation.

“We’ve misplaced so many thousands of people — our residents — because of the fact of unavailable affordable housing,” said Russell. “This is a small little aspect of trying to acquire affordable housing... but every little element is worth its effort.”

The second affordable housing request — $150,000 for the Affordable Housing Trust — passed by a voice majority. 

Since Wareham voted to create its Affordable Housing Trust, the Trust has not been as active as it would have liked to be, said Schultz. 

He added the Trust has worked to cement its processes and get up and running in the past year. 

The Trust started the fiscal year with $197,000 in its budget, spent half of that on rental assistance for Woodland Cove residents and has committed the rest to two development projects. 

"Our mission of assisting development of affordable housing [and] rental assistance to residents in town needs additional funds to continue to proceed," said Schultz. The additional funding will allow the Trust to meet emerging needs without needing to wait for Town Meeting approval. 

Michelle Rose, who said she had a background in the field of affordable housing, questioned how the $150,000 would be spent — whether, for example, the Trust planned to spend half on rental assistance and half on developments. 

Schultz said the Trust did not have a specific budget, but responded to the needs that came before it. He added the Trust prepares a plan based on the funding it receives. 

The remaining two requests passed by a unanimous vote. 

The Wareham Land Trust received $250,000 in funding to purchase 3.5 acres of forested land and marsh at Mark's Cove. 

Robert Gleason, chairman of the trust's acquisition committee, said preservation will benefit the town with a publically accessible view and walking path, and the property would likely be lost to house building if not preserved.

Another $26,000 went to build an observation deck and fix a path at the Douglas S. Westgate Conservation and River Walk property.