HomeMy WebLinkAbout2011-11-17-HPB-min
Lexington Housing Partnership
Housing Partnership Board
Meeting Minutes for November 17, 2011
Attendees:
Florence Baturin, Harriet Cohen, Ken Kreutziger, Carol Marine, Wendy Manz, Tom Hardin, Julie
Duncan, Betsey Weiss
Ken Kreutziger chaired the meeting; Carol Marine took the minutes. The meeting was called to order
at 7:45 pm, with a quorum in place at 8:30.
1. Old Business - Reports
Leary Property
No update
Busa Farm
Wendy Manz, Betsey Weiss, Chris Kluchman and Ken Kreutziger and three LexHAB members met
th
on Oct. 25 in preparation for meeting with the BOS to discuss the use of the Busa property. At the
th
BOS meeting on Oct. 26, LexHAB and the Partnership made a joint presentation regarding the Busa
land use to the BOS. The LexHAB and LHP consortia was chaired by Bill Hayes and the discussion
included siting eight units of affordable housing. The BOS asked the consortia to report back with an
analysis of eight units on Lowell St at the south end of property, or four units south of Lowell St. and
an additional four units situated similarlty to the outstanding Partnership proposal. The BOS is
interested in resources and a time line to proceed with the eight unit model. Bill Hayes was asked to
report back to the BOS on behalf of the Partnership and LexHAB at the next BOS meeting. In
preparation, Ken Kreutziger will share his site analysis with Bill Hayes, Dave Eagle and Les Savage.
st
The BOS meeting will be held on Nov. 21.
Goal Setting:
The committee made a presentation to the Partnership. Julie Duncan will investigate the proposal and
any comments from this committee. Florence Baturin suggests that we consider scaling back our
goals to match the number of active members in the Partnership.
Composition of the Partnership
No update as Beth Rust was unable to attend.
Housing Forum:
This committee will meet after Thanksgiving to follow up on dates and format for a first Friday
forum in the spring. We will discuss ideas about the forum at next Partnership meeting.
2. New Business
Annual Report:
Chris Kluchman will send the Annual Report to members for comments. We will arrange to have a
photo of our members in December.
1
Lexington Housing Partnership
Wright Farm
A BOS meeting in executive session with committee chairs from committees interested in the
purchase of the Wright Farm on Grove Street was held. The Wright Family has recently indicated its
intent to sell the property. The committees present included finance, community preservation,
conservation, recreation housing, the Partnership and LexHAB. The13+ acre site off Grove Street on
the Bedford, Burlington and Lexington line is now on the market. The site has wetlands and other
constraints but could potentially accommodate twelve homes as well. Two plans have been prepared
for the owner, both showing twelve lots, one being a cluster arrangement with significant open space.
Conservation is very interested in owning the property. It is Chapter 61A property and the Town has
right of first refusal on the property. By statute, market value needs to be established. The Wright
family may be interested in deeding the property to the Town and retaining a life estate. At the end of
the meeting, BOS asked for two appraisals to establish value. CPC has administrative funds and will
allocate funds for the two appraisals. BOS wishes to have the use specified when they take the
purchase to Town Meeting.
The Partnership then discussed what kind of housing could be situated on the site. Both farm house
and small cottage (1 and 2 BD) homes are possible in cluster formation to preserve open space.
Financing would have to be investigated. Julie Duncan thinks it is an excellent site for larger homes
that are deemed “sustainable” because of the setting. The Partnership will look at the density
calculation based on ‘site sensitive” development.
The “cottage” concept is one that the Partnership wishes to explore further focusing on a cluster
arrangement with a paddock or other open space. The second aspect we will explore is the reuse of
the farmhouse and barn. Both the farmhouse and barn are in good condition.
A motion was made to establish a subcommittee of the Partnership and LexHAB to jointly develop a
plan for affordable housing on the Wright site. The motion passed 8-0. A subcommittee will be
formed to evaluate the site. Tom Harden, Betsey Weiss, Ken Kreutziger and Carol Marine participate
on behalf of the Partnership. Ken Kreutziger will contact LexHAB and ask them to appoint some
members to a joint committee.
3. Approval of Minutes
Minutes, with corrections, were approved for October 13, 2011.
The meeting was concluded at approximately 9:12 pm.
Respectfully submitted:
Carol Marine
2