By John Schwing

WESTPORT — Members of a new town committee to oversee an affordable housing fund bankrolled by fees — imposed last February — on local construction permits are expected to be formally appointed this week.

The Representative Town Meeting on Tuesday is slated to confirm appointment of the Affordable Housing Committee’s five members, recommended by First Selectwoman Jennifer Tooker. The RTM session starts at 7:30 p.m. in Town Hall.

The fund derives revenue from an “inclusionary zoning fee” — $5 for every $1,000 on construction project costs — that won final approval Feb. 6 from the RTM. The fee had been recommended by the Planning and Zoning Commission a month earlier.

The Affordable Housing Trust Fund was established to help the town comply with goals outlined in its state-mandated “Affordable Housing Plan,” adopted by the P&Z in 2022.

The money, under terms of the ordinance, can be spent only on affordable housing initiatives, which could include acquiring land or facilitating construction and/or maintenance of new or existing affordable housing units in town.

When the fund was created, officials estimated the fee could generate as much as $1 million annually.

The concept emerged after several months of review by the P&Z’s Affordable Housing Subcommittee and various RTM committees. Its primary sponsors were RTM members Matthew Mandell, District 1, and Seth Braunstein, District 6.

Westport was an outlier in establishing an affordable housing fund, which several other area suburbs set up years earlier. New Canaan, for instance, was one of the first towns in the state to institute such a fund in 2007, while Fairfield followed suit in 2018.

Although the names of Tooker’s five recommended appointees were not announced publicly prior to Tuesday’s RTM session, they are identified in documents shared last week with the legislative body’s committees.

They are:

Ralph Yearwood, a retired finance executive, who now is treasurer of Homes with Hope, the local nonprofit focused on issues of homelessness and hunger. He also serves on the Finance Committee of the Episcopal Church in Connecticut; is a board member of St. John Family Center in Bridgeport, which runs a food pantry and after-school learning program, and is a mentor in Norwalk public schools.

Kate Weber, who worked in investment banking at S.G. Warburg and Lehman Brothers, is a founder and co-owner of Cambridge International Securities, based in Westport since 1995. She also has taught anatomy and physiology at Connecticut Center for Massage Therapy in Westport, and is a Homes with Hope board member.

James Foster, a former Board of Finance member, established his JF Consulting business in Westport in 2011, and also held executive posts with DeLonghi, Philips Consumer Lifestyle/North America, Harman International/Consumer and General Electric/NBC Universal.

Gail Kelly previously served as Westport’s assistant town attorney and was an associate in the Berchem, Moses law firm. She is a board member and former board president of the Positive Directions counseling agency in Westport; served as the town’s fair housing officer from 2019-23, and has volunteered with organizations that include Christ & Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, Westport Library and Bedford Middle School PTA.

Jon Olefson, a former Planning and Zoning Commission member, has been general counsel and corporate secretary at Syneos Health since 2018.