HomeMy WebLinkAboutSpecial Acts - 1983 - Chapter 521 (LEXHab)SPECIAL ACTS
Chapter 521
THE COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS
In the Year One Thousand Nine Hundred and Eighty-three
AN ACT ESTABLISHING A NONPROFIT HOUSING CORPORATION FOR THE TOWN OF
LEXINGTON.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the
authority of the same, as follows:
SECTION 1. There is hereby established a nonprofit housing corporation to be known as the
Lexington Housing Assistance Board, Inc. which shall be subject to the supervision of the board of
selectmen of the town of Lexington. Said board shall consist of not less than five members, who
shall be appointed by the board of selectmen for staggered three-year terms as designated by said
board of selectmen, such appointments to be made annually by said board of selectmen on or before
May thirty-first. Members shall serve until their successors are appointed and qualified. Continuing
members may act despite a vacancy or vacancies in said board and for this purpose be deemed to
constitute a full board. Any vacancy in said board, however occurring, may be filled by the board of
selectmen for the unexpired portion of the term.
Said board is hereby established and shall exercise its powers and perform its duties for the purpose
of investigating and implementing alternatives for the provision of and providing affordable housing
for persons of low, moderate and middle income, and others whose needs may be identified from
time to time, in the town of Lexington. The powers and duties of said board as set forth herein are
intended to be alternative and supplemental to, and not in limitation of, the powers and duties of the
Lexington Housing Authority established pursuant to chapter one hundred and twenty-one B of the
General Laws. The liability of said board and its members shall be limited to the same extent as the
liability of a public employer and public employees as provided in section two of chapter two
hundred and fifty-eight of the General Laws.
SECTION 2. Said board shall have the powers and privileges conferred by the provisions of
paragraphs (a) to (i), inclusive, and paragraph (k) of section nine of chapter one hundred and fifty-
six B of the General Laws, and the following powers, provided that no such power shall be exercised
either in a manner inconsistent with this act or any general or special law, or to carry on any activity
which is not in furtherance of the purposes set forth in this act:
(a) to adopt, amend and repeal by-laws for the regulation and conduct of its business
including but not limited to the call and conduct of its meetings, the number of members
which shall constitute a quorum and the mode of voting by proxy;
(b) to elect a chairman and vice-chairman, each of whom shall be members of said board,
and a secretary and a treasurer, who need not be members of said board, and who may
be the same person. The treasurer shall give bond for the faithful performance of his
duties in form and amount approved and fixed by the board of selectmen, the cost of
which bond shall be paid from funds of said board. The chairman and in his absence the
vice-chairman shall chair meetings of said board. The secretary shall be the custodian of
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all books, documents and papers filed with said board and of the minute book or journal
of said board;
(c) with the approval of the board of selectmen, to make and execute all contracts and all
other instruments necessary or convenient for the exercise of its power and functions,
subject to approval of the town counsel of the town of Lexington as to form;
(d) with the approval of the board of selectmen, to acquire or lease, by purchase or
otherwise, and to own, hold and use, on such terms and conditions and in such manner
as it may deem proper, and to exchange, grant options on, sell, transfer, convey, assign,
lease, pledge, mortgage, encumber, grant liens on and security interests in, or otherwise
dispose of, on such terms and conditions as it may deem proper, real, personal or mixed
real and personal property or any interest, easements or rights therein, and any assets or
revenues of said board, as may be necessary or appropriate to carry out its purposes;
(e) with the approval of the board of selectmen, to enter into agreements or other
transactions with the commonwealth or any political subdivision or public
instrumentality thereof, the United States government or any federal, state or other
governmental agency;
(f) with the approval of the board of selectmen, to borrow money and to execute notes
therefor which shall not be deemed to be debts or obligations of the town of Lexington,
to hold mortgages, and to invest any funds held in reserve funds, or any funds not
required for immediate disbursement in such investments as may be lawful for
fiduciaries in the commonwealth. Said board shall have no stock;
(g) with the approval of the board of selectmen, to enter into contracts or agreements with,
and to employ from time to time contractors, architects, engineers, consultants,
attorneys, accountants, construction, financial and other experts, superintendents,
managers and such other agents and employees as may be necessary in its judgment and
to fix their compensation;
(h) with the approval of the board of selectmen, to receive and hold funds appropriated by
the town and other funds, property, labor. and other things of value from any source,
public or private, by gift, grant, bequest, loan or otherwise, either absolutely or in trust,
and to expend or utilize the same on behalf of said board for any of its purposes or to act
as an agent or conduit in administering or disbursing funds or financial or other aid from
any source; provided, however, that all revenues collected or received by said board in
connection with its activities, investments or transactions shall be expended only with
the approval of the board of selectmen of the town of Lexington;
(i) to appear in its own behalf before boards, commissions, departments or other agencies
of government, municipal, state or federal;
(j) to procure insurance against any loss in connection with the property or activities of said
board, in such amounts, and from such insurers as it may deem necessary or desirable, _
and, with the approval of the board of selectmen, to indemnify its members or agents if
and to the extent specified from time to time in the by-laws of said board and subject to
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and in the manner provided in section six of chapter one hundred and eighty of the
General Laws;
(k) to fonnulate and, with the approval of the board of selectmen, carry out or monitor plans
for projects involving the acquisition or operation of housing facilities of any kind or
nature, and to construct, reconstruct, renovate, expand, extend, improve, repair, remodel,
equip, furnish, maintain, manage and operate such facilities;
(1) with the approval of the board of selectmen, to fix and revise from time to time, and to
charge and collect rates, fees, rentals and other charges and sales prices for or in
connection with the use, occupancy or other disposition of any housing facility or other
property or portion thereof under its ownership or control;
(m) with the approval of the board of selectmen, to establish, impose, grant or amend, by
deed, lease or any other means or method, and to hold the benefit of, monitor, exercise
and enforce lawful restrictions on the rental, sale, resale, use or occupancy of housing
facilities or other property under its ownership or control, or other facilities or property
designated by the selectmen of the town, or restrictions with respect to the income of
owners, tenants or occupants of such housing facilities or other property, or options and
rights of first refusal with respect to such facilities or property, and to waive, release or
discharge any such rights or restrictions;
(n) with the approval of the board of selectmen, to enter into, perform or monitor
agreements or other transactions with contractors, developers, brokers or other real
estate professionals or any other person relating to the providing of affordable housing
for persons of low and moderate income in the town;
(o) to do any and all things necessary or convenient to carry out its purposes and exercise
the powers conferred by this act.
Said board may delegate to any committee or member of the board any action which
said board is empowered to do or make. Said board may be a partner in any business enterprise
which said board would have power to conduct by itself.
SECTION 3. Notwithstanding the provisions of any general or special law to the contrary, the
income, assets and activities of said board shall be exempt from all taxes and assessments and said
board shall not be subject to any of the provisions of chapter sixty-three of the General Laws or to
any taxes based upon or measured by property or income imposed by the commonwealth or by any
political subdivision thereof. Said board is hereby authorized and empowered to enter into an
agreement or agreements with the assessor of the town of Lexington, with the approval of the board
of selectmen, wherein said board shall undertake to make to the town annual payments in lieu of
taxes, in connection with any real property acquired and owned by said board, the amounts of such
payments to be reasonable sums stipulated in such agreement or agreements or determined in
accordance with a reasonable formula so stipulated.
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SECTION 4. Without limitation of the powers of said board set forth in section two, said board is
authorized to receive and to expend and utilize for its purposes all proceeds of the sale by the town
of Lexington of the land and improvements known as the Muzzey junior high school, which
proceeds have been appropriated by the town for such purposes. In addition, the town may
appropriate other funds for the carrying out by said board of its purposes as set forth herein. Any
appropriation therefor may be raised by the town by taxation. At least annually, said board shall
cause independent audits to be made of the books and records of said board, which annual audits
shall be filed with the board of selectmen of the town.
SECTION 5. In the event that said board shall be dissolved in accordance with law at any time, all
property and interests therein, assets and rights of said board existing at such time shall be
transferred to the town of Lexington by authority of this act, and title to all such property and all
such rights shall vest in the town of Lexington automatically without the need for further action or
instrument, and the town of Lexington shall, to the maximum extent permitted by law, and acting by
and through its board of selectmen, assume, hold and exercise the powers and duties of said board
set forth herein with respect to such property and rights so transferred to said town.
SECTION 6.. The provisions of this act are severable and if any of its provisions shall be held invalid
in any circumstance, such invalidity shall not affect any other provisions or circumstances.
SECTION 7. This act shall take effect upon its passage.
House of Representatives, November 16, 1983.
In Senate, November 16, 1983.
Approved November 29, 1983.
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