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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2013-01-24-HPB-minLexington Housing Meeting Minutes for January 24, 2013 Attendees: Wendy Manz, Betsey Weiss, Bob Pressman, Harriet Cohen, Tom Harden, Mary Haskell, Carole Marine, Chris Kluchman, Suzanne O'Neil Jones Steve Laferriere, Senior Housing Project Manager, Metro West Collaborative Development The meeting was called to order at 7:37 pm. Chris Kluchman chaired the meeting and Harriet Cohen took the minutes. 1. General Information Ms. Kluchman opened the meeting by providing an overview of a program in Sudbury that caps real estate tax at 10% of household income for qualifying seniors. This is a useful program for keeping seniors in moderately priced town housing. 2. Minutes Wendy Manz moved approval of the Dec. 20 minutes as amended. Carole Marine seconded. The motion passed unanimously. 3. Lexington Housing Partnership Organization Ms. Cohen has assumed the role of secretary. There is a vacancy in the vice chair position. The person in this position would provide backup if Ms. Kluchman is unavailable. Expected responsibilities include: acting as chair when the chair is not present, providing a second point of contact for correspondence with the Board of Selectmen (BOS), and speaking for the LHP as needed. Please contact Ms. Kluchman after the meeting if you are interested in the vice chair position or if you have thoughts on a candidate for the position. Ms. Manz will no longer be on the Planning Board as of March 4. As she is appointed by the Planning Board as the Planning Board representative, she may no longer be an ex officio member of the LHP after her term on the Planning Board ends. Ms Manz will check with Lynne Pease as to her status. 4. Report on Fairview Avenue / LexHAB With funds provided by developers to meet permitting requirements, LexHAB has purchased a property of slightly more than a half acre. The property has a small house on it. LexHAB proposed to the neighbors that they, LexHAB, would build 2 small buildings with 2 units each and would refurbish the existing house, providing 5 housing units in total. The neighbors expressed many concerns about this proposal. Lexington Housing At a follow -up meeting, LexHAB subsequently proposed 1 additional building instead of 2. The building would have 3 housing units, providing 4 housing units in total. LexHAB would provide a parking area with 6 spaces. A professional hydrologist dealt with concerns related to runoff water and subsurface water. He explained that there was a new paving surface that permitted water to penetrate the surface, and addressed other related issues. His opinion was that the proposal would not impact the current water situation. The neighbors expressed significant concerns about the revised plan. The land is zoned for a single house by right. LexHAB is considering proceeding with a 40B proposal to build the additional 3 units. They will present the plan as information to the BoS. Site eligibility for this plan requires sign -off by both the BOS and the LHP. It was suggested the LHP members attend the BOS meeting at which LexHAB is presenting its proposal. 5. Community Preservation Commission (CPC) Updates The CPC amended their allocation to LexHAB of $450K to be used with Busa and Leary. The CPC also approved funding replacement of front doors at Greeley Village in the amount of $177,000. It was suggested that the LHP invite Norman Cohen to an LHP meeting for a discussion of his position on affordable housing. 6. Letter of support for the HOME program The LHP had earlier discussed providing a letter of support for the HOME program. Melinda Walker said she would write the letter in the next two weeks. 7. Report on Town acquisition and planning for the Scottish Rite land on Marrett Road Negotiations with the Masons (owners of the land) are ongoing. There may be some more specific information next week about the terms being proposed by the Masons. There has been no response to Ms. Kluchman's letter to Deb Maugher. The letter contained suggestions for affordable housing on the property. A consultant has made a proposal on site usage. The proposal does not include affordable housing. 8. Raising Town awareness about affordable housing The LHP needs to provide a consistent flow of information to the town through multiple channels about affordable housing. The LHP believes that some of the reluctance to provide affordable housing in Lexington is due to lack of awareness on the part of town residents. The LHP needs to make the town aware of what affordable housing is, and what it isn't. Lexington Housing The Housing Production Plan is a useful leverage point for our communications, though the LHP cannot awareness effort cannot stop with that. Mr. Laferriere offered the assistance of MetroWest CD with explaining affordable housing. Ms. Kluchman suggested that we use our February meeting for planning, including the planning of a communications effort. 9. Housing Production Plan The Housing Production Plan now targeted for June 2013. Ms. Kluchman would like to bring a draft to the LHP for input on the strategy and plan. She will speak with Aaron Henry about this. 10. Update on the Governor Patrick's proposal Governor Deval Patrick is proposing radical reform of the housing authority system in Massachusetts. The Housing Authorities are state - funded and are established in almost in every community in the Commonwealth. They vary greatly in size and in organization. Gov. Patrick is proposing that the community Housing Authorities be replaced with 6 regional housing authorities. Melinda will distribute information on this proposal and its impact on the Lexington Housing Authority. 11. Adjournment Ms. O'Neil Jones moved that the meeting be adjourned. No second is required for a motion to adjourn. The motion passed unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 9:11 p.m.