2011-10-13-HPB-min - Laserfiche WebLink

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Lexington Housing Partnership members of the Partnership meet with Bill Hayes of LexHAB prior to the meeting with the BOS and confirm LexHAB’s support for the Partnership plan. A motion was made for members of the Partnership to meet with members of LexHAB to affirm joint goals for affordable housing on the Busa property. Motion passed 9-0. Ms. Weiss introduced a copy of an unsigned post card that has been received by some residents asking people to support both the CSA proposal for the site as well as an online petition in favor of farming. Additionally, a petition was sent to the Town listserve stating that Lexington’s housing policy should be limited to only scattered sites and never more than one or two units. There was significant concern about the misinformation communicated in the post card and online. After further discussion, the Partnership moved to refute the petition and postcard, correct the misstatements and restate our position for affordable housing on the site by way of letter to editor of the Lexington Minuteman, Colonial Times, Lexington Patch and Town Meeting. The motion passed 9-0. Housing Forum We continued our discussion of how to best educate the community on the need for more affordable housing. It was agreed that we need to bring in other voices: tenants, civic groups such as the League of Women Voters, municipal workers, downtown committee and more. We will also want to use census data and facts connecting affordable housing to economic growth. Ms. Baturin indicated that in the past we had a housing information forum with four communities and focused on the “faces” of affordable housing. Carlisle and Bedford are communities we may want to consider inviting to join in hosting a forum this time. A subcommittee was formed to research hosting a forum. The subcommittee members are Florence Baturin, Wendy Manz and Melinda Walker. Composition of the Partnership Ms. Kluchman reported that we have reduced the number of members of the Partnership. The BOS approved a roster of 17 voting members and 3 liaisons although the intent was to have 15 voting members. Of our voting members, Ms. Walker is designated from the Lexington Housing Authority, Bill Kennedy from LexHAB and Ms. Manz from the Planning Department. Non voting liaisons to the Partnership will be Norm Cohen of the BOS, Elizabeth Borghenszni of the Council on Aging, Richard Wolk of the Conservation Commission and Miss Rust to the Town. There are several points that need to be clarified with the BOS on composition and Ms. Rust will seek a letter of clarification. Next Meetings: The meeting calendar for the 2011-2012 was set as follows: thth2012 November 17, December 15, January 19, , February 16, 2012, March 15, 2012, April 26, 2012, May 17, 2012 and June 21, 2012. The meeting was concluded at approximately 9:39 pm. Respectfully submitted: 2