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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2024-03-20-AHTBT-min Page 1 of 2 Affordable Housing Trust Meeting Minutes of March 20, 2024 10:00 am Hybrid meeting on Zoom and attended in-person in Ellen Stone room, Cary Hall Affordable Housing Trust Board Members present: Elaine Tung, Chair; Mark Sandeen, Tiffany Payne, Linda Prosnitz (joined at 10:20 am), William Erickson Staff present: Carol Kowalski, Assistant Town Manager for Development; Ragi Ramachandran, Administrative Assistant Other attendees: Bob Pressman Ms. Tung chaired the hybrid meeting and called the meeting to order at 10:02 am. 1. Approve Meeting Minutes The meeting minutes approval was postponed to next meeting. 2. Chair, Select Board, Board/Committee Liaison and RHSO/staff report For the liaison report, Mr. Erickson shared that LexHAB was working with the State Legislature to address the challenges with becoming a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Mr. Sandeen shared that on March 11, 2024, the Select Board discussed the Affordable Housing Trust’s recommendations regarding the criteria that would be included in an RFP, in terms of requirements and preferences. There was support from the Select Board for the recommended preferences and requirements in the RFP. There were some modifications to the recommendations and preferences regarding height and number of units . Mr. Erickson asked if the Select Board’s report will be posted online so Town Meeting Members can better understand the Select Board’s intent. Mr. Sandeen responded that an official Select Board report will be published with a quick summary of the Select Board’s conclusions. It will include the Select Board’s recommendations. Mr. Pressman shared that one faction of Town meeting was conce rned about the open- endedness of the motion. Mr. Pressman suggested that the way to mitigate this concern was by sharing the Select Board’s report showing support and approval of the Affordable Housing Trust’s proposed RFP content. Mr. Sandeen updated that Sustainable Lexington Committee unanimously voted to support Article 33. Ms. Prosnitz shared that the Commission on Disability preferred ‘universal design’, and they were interested in having 10% of the units to be accessible. Ms. Prosnitz conveyed to them that it is not always easy to fill up accessible units. Ms. Tung updated that the Tree committee has unanimously and enthusiastically supported Article 33. Their letter will be posted on the website once it is available. Mr. Erickson and Ms. Tung will be attending a preliminary property acquisition working group meeting set up by the member of Conservation Commission, Charlie Wyman. Page 2 of 2 For the Housing needs Assessment, Ms. Kowalski updated that three of the working group bodies were yet to make their appointments. A meeting will be scheduled as soon as the working group is designated. Ms. Kowalski attended the Fair Housing Marketing training put together by Massachusetts Housing Partnership and CHAPA and shared that it was very helpful. 3. Lowell Street and North Street Ms. Tung, Mr. Erickson and Mr. Sandeen went on the 3/17/24 Town Meeting bus tour with the Town Meeting Members on two different buses, and drove by parcel 68-44. They addressed the Town Meeting Member’s questions, and felt there was fair amount of support for the Article. Mr. Sandeen will be making the motion on behalf of the Select Board at the Town Meeting for Article 33. The Trustees agreed to update the FAQs, to include additional FAQs regarding distance to town center, and to add the process flow chart to the website. 4. Buydown of future units The Trustees discussed the buydown process, and what the Affordable Housing Trust should be doing in terms of approaching developers to buydown units to make them affordable. Ms. Kowalski advised the Trust should contact the developers in the early stages of a project’s development, preferably before the site plan review hearing. Th e early engagement would enable developers to factor in the buydown costs into their pro forma, thereby facilitating m ore integrated affordable housing plans. Mr. Sandeen suggested developing guidelines on how the Affordable Housing Trust would fund buydowns, to help the Trustees and the staff members in discussions with developers. Ms. Prosnitz explained the difference between ownership and rental, and suggested the Trust should weigh in between the cost of buying down the AMI or creating an additional affordable unit. She stated that buying down another unit would be very expensive. The Trustees discussed buying down a unit versus payment in lieu and reviewed other scenarios including buying down the AMI for a particular unit. Mr. Pressman asked if there are any rent subsidy programs that can give a certain amount of money for the annual rent of a market rate unit , to an eligible person. Ms. Prosnitz responded that the subsidies are short term, and they need to consider what would happen after the subsidies end. The Trustees also discussed the number of potential developments and that they would have to be judicious in their decision making since the Trust funds are limited. Ms. Tung suggested forming a working group with Ms. Prosnitz, Ms. Kowalski, and Ms. Rust to discuss the ideas further. 5. Adjourn Mr. Sandeen moved to adjourn, which was seconded by M s. Prosnitz, and on a roll call vote: (Erickson – yes, Prosnitz – yes, Sandeen – yes, Tung – yes, Payne – yes), the meeting adjourned at 11:03am.