The Affordable Housing Committee reported that a contract with consultant Amanda Emma has been signed to analyze three town-owned parking lots for their potential to support future housing development. The committee said Amanda Emma will assess Lumberyard, Locust and Richmond Hill sites and return findings that the committee will distill into a recommendation for elected officials.

Committee members said the consultant team walked all three sites with department heads last week to gather background information and review prior plans. "The contract with Amanda Emma has finally been signed. I'm happy to circulate that to this group," a committee member said. The consultant team was described as reviewing past studies and meeting with technical staff to identify strengths, weaknesses and carrying capacity for each lot.

The committee plans a public subcommittee meeting with Amanda Emma to introduce the consultants and collect initial feedback before the firm develops detailed designs. "I suggested that we could do it on Zoom just because I think he's based out of Hartford," the committee member said when proposing a Nov. 10 date for the subcommittee meeting. Members discussed holding that subcommittee session even if the full committee does not meet that night, and agreed a short Zoom meeting would avoid unnecessary travel and expense for the consultant.

Committee members said the consultant will return with drawings and proposals after completing the site analyses. One member explained a likely timeline: an introductory subcommittee meeting in November, then time over the holidays for the consultant to develop proposals, with Amanda Emma returning to the committee with draft designs in January for further review and public consideration.

Committee members noted this work will inform where the town should focus planning for future housing. They discussed whether the final recommendation will be a single preferred site or a multi-site recommendation, depending on the firms' findings. No final site recommendation was made at the meeting.

The committee also discussed logistics for the subcommittee meeting and outreach procedures for circulating the contract to members. No formal committee vote or formal direction to staff regarding final recommendations was recorded during the meeting.

Proposals and next steps: the committee suggested a public subcommittee meeting with Amanda Emma on Nov. 10 (proposed) and expected the consultant to return with proposals in January. Details on project budget and any specific funding allocations for design work were not specified at the meeting.