2012-04-26-HPB-min - Laserfiche WebLink

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# _ Lexington Housing Partnership Meeting Minutes for April 26, 2012 Attendees: Ken Kreutziger, Chris Kluchman, Wendy Manz, Florence Baturin, Betsey Weiss, Harriet Cohen, Tom Harden Chris Kluchman chaired the meeting; Harriet Cohen took the minutes. The meeting was called to order at 7:40 pm. 1. Public Comments There were no public comments 2. Wright Property Wendy Manz reported that the Board of Selectmen had voted to bring a request for funds to the Community Preservation Committee (CPC) and subsequently to Town Meeting. The request was for $2.95M to purchase approximately 13 acres of Wright Farm, with 0.96 acres reserved to the sellers. The Selectmen specified that the land purchase was for conservation use. The Town will have the option to purchase the reserved 0.96 acre, when it is sold. The CPC approved the request on a 6 -2 -1 vote. LexHab and the Lexington Housing Partnership (LHP) had sent a letter in December to the Board of Selectmen supporting multiple uses. The Board of Selectmen declined to hear from the LHP during their deliberations on the Wright Farm purchase, stating that they had already heard from stakeholders in a previous executive session.. Members of the LHP, acting as individuals, had prepared a housing plan and presented that plan at the Wright Farm Information Session held jointly by the Board of Selectmen and the Conservation Committee. Approval for the Wright Farm purchase will be requested from Town Meeting in May. 3. Regional Housing Services Office Beth Rust, Community Housing Coordinator from the Regional Housing Services Office, joined the meeting. Ms. Rust presented a summary of the recent activities of the Regional Housing Services Office, which serves Bedford, Concord, Lexington, Lincoln, Sudbury and Weston. The RHSO had requested a grant for a Monitoring Database and Resident Portal to maintain relevant affordable housing information and to allow current and future residents to indicate interest in such housing. However, the grant application was not approved. RHSO's current focus is on monitoring. It is setting up an inventory of the approximately 3,000 units of affordable housing in the communities it serves. The first phase of the project is the rental monitoring program, with the focus on those affordable housing units that the Towns must certify compliance with the DHCD each year. These are all LIP projects. The RHSO is identifying issues that must be rectified for the certification and is pursuing resolution of those issues.