The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink About2021-05-06-CEC-min JS�®pN�N Minutes of the �3 Lexington Capital Expenditures Committee (CEC) Meeting May 6, 2021 \ V APAIL 19 \..GEXI NGTQ Location and Time: Remote Meeting; 8:00 A.M. CEC Members Present (remote participation): Charles Lamb, Chair; David Kanter, Vice-Chair & Clerk; Sandy Beebee; Rod Cole; Wendy Manz (arrived 8:15 A.M.); and Frank Smith (departed 9:01 A.M.) CEC Members Absent: None Others Present (remote participation): Other Lexington Committees: Sara Cuthbertson and Scott Bokun, School Committee liaisons; Glenn Parker, Chair, Appropriation Committee (AC) liaison; Eric Michelson, AC; Marilyn Fenollosa, Chair, Community Preservation Committee (CPC); Lexington Town Meeting Members: Andy Friedlich; Taylor Singh; Lexington Staff: Land Use. Health & Development: Carol Kowalski, Assistant Town Manager for Development; Finance Department. Carolyn Kosnoff, Assistant Town Manager for Finance; Jennifer Hewitt, Budget Officer; Elizabeth Mancini, Purchasing Director; Gina Federico, CPC Administrative Assistant; Sara Arnold, Recording Secretary; Other: Liz Rust, Director, Regional Housing Services Office Documents Presented: • Notice of Public Meeting/Agenda CEC Meeting, May 6, 2021 • An Act Establishing a Nonprofit Housing Corporation for the Town of Lexington, Chapter 521, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 1983 • Affordable Housing Trusts & Housing Development Corporations; Options for Lexington; Slides prepared by Ms. Kowalski • Ms. Kowalski's Memo to Jim Malloy, Town Manager, January 26, 2021, Re: Affordable Housing Trusts, Housing Development Corporations Call to Order Mr. Lamb called this Remote (Virtual) Meeting, which had been posted as such, to order at 8:00 A.M. As all those present had been previously advised of the special conditions of this meeting, he passed on repeating them (i.e., The requirement to have a physical presence of a quorum had been suspended in an Executive Order by Massachusetts Governor Charles D. Baker, on March 12, 2020, after having proclaimed, on March 10, 2020, a STATE OF EMERGENCY in the Commonwealth due to the outbreak of the 2019 novel coronavirus, known as "COVID-19.). Mr. Lamb further reported that the documents for this meeting, which had been provided electronically to the Committee and would be available upon request, were those listed as Documents Presented. Any votes during this meeting would be taken by a roll call. This meeting is being recorded to assist in preparing Minutes, and the recording would be deleted once the Minutes were approved. Mr. Lamb took a roll-call vote and initially confirmed that five Committee members were remotely participating. (This was updated to six Committee members at 8:15 A.M. when Ms. Manz joined the meeting and was reduced to five Committee members when Mr. Smith departed at 9:01 A.M.) Page 1 of 3 Minutes of the Lexington Capital Expenditures Committee (CEC) Meeting May 6, 2021 Review of a Potential Model for Managing Lexington's Affordable Housing by establishing an Affordable Housing Trust and/or a Housing Development Corporation Ms. Kowalski explained that in response to a Select Board (SB) request to the Town Manager, she had prepared a memo that was presented to the Housing Partnership Board and the SB in January describing the use of Housing Development Corporations and Affordable Housing Trusts. In her review of this material during this CEC meeting, she noted that it is best to use these mechanisms in tandem rather than individually. The SB has scheduled an Affordable Housing Summit this May 17th to introduce these concepts to stakeholders and to provide an opportunity for Lexington to begin exploring the advisability of pursuing either or both of these options. Ms. Kowalski explained that Town Meeting could replace the Specified Affordable Housing Capital Stabilization Fund with a municipal Affordable Housing Trust that would be administered by the Finance Department performing an accounting/bookkeeping function only. This would improve liquidity of the funds, but projects would still be subject to the State procurement laws for all expenditures. If the Town also reconstituted the Lexington Housing Assistance Board (LexHAB) as a Housing Development Corporation, that Corporation would manage the construction and maintenance of affordable housing in a manner comparable to LexHAB's current role, while the application of the procurement laws would be based on the source of the revenue. She added that the Housing Development Corporation members would be appointed by the SB, and one SB member would serve as a member. Ms. Kowalski noted the following advantages to having an Affordable Housing Trust and a Housing Development Corporation: • Improved financial liquidity and efficiencies. • Potential to reduce construction costs. • The ability for the Town to adopt controls that would be consistent with the Town's current philosophical approach to supporting affordable housing, including the determination of which tasks would be assigned to the two entities, if both were created. • The ability for the Town to decide whether that Corporation would be a 501c3 entity and could therefore accept donations. Ms. Manz arrived at 8:15 A.M. Ms. Kowalski asked for input and concerns to help her identify the questions that can be expected as she prepares for the May 17th Summit. Ms. Manz specifically noted that these mechanisms sounded like a positive step toward addressing problems that Lexington had encountered in the past when purchasing property for affordable housing. Several other CEC members acknowledged the advantages that might be gained, but also asked questions and/or expressed significant reservations. Ms. Fenollosa provided background information of prior, alternate, fundings for affordable housing. Page 2 of 3 Minutes of the Lexington Capital Expenditures Committee (CEC) Meeting May 6, 2021 Concerns based on a current understanding of the two mechanisms included, but not necessarily only, the following: • All Town-funded projects are now subject to approval by a Town Meeting, which would be lost with these changes as they result in delegated authority to a Board from one or both of the new entities. (It was not clear which of those would have the delegated authority.) • Unlike cities, our Town, through our fully representative Town Meeting, has more often than not, retained approval authority at the project level. The loss of that role needs to be fully addressed with Town Meeting. This sounds like a major philosophical change—especially in the light of frequent residential concerns about placement and nature of affordable housing. • CPC, under the Community Preservation Act (CPA), has always taken project-driven positions to recommend to Town Meeting for its approval—both which could change with the proposed new entities and their processes. Instead, both the CPC and Town Meeting would be deciding whether or not to approve appropriating lump sums for affordable-housing use. • It is not clear how all the funds currently coming to Lexington which could be applied for affordable housing would be handled. As noted, the current Affordable Housing Stabilization Fund would likely be dissolved after its funds were transferred to the Affordable Housing Trust. Any Town Meeting approved CPC-recommended, lump- sum funds would be similarly transferred to that Trust. The processing of other funds (e.g., from Brookhaven at Lexington) or others already approved for transfers without Town-Meeting approval were not described. • It is not clear how it would be assured that the new Boards and the needed staff— whether paid or voluntary—would be qualified to manage the new entities and not be a significant expense that would seriously affect the available funds. Besides responding to those concerns, suggestions included the following: • Identify the funding sources that are subject to the procurement laws. • Create a flow chart to demonstrate the process and identify the pros and cons at each stage. • Because of the expected significance to any new affordable-housing process of funds received under the CPA, invite at least representation of the CPC to meetings that are discussing these mechanisms. Ms. Kowalski asked that additional questions and concerns be forwarded to her. Mr. Smith departed at 9:01 A.M. Adjourn A Motion was made and seconded at 9:06 A.M. to adjourn. Roll-Call Vote:5-0 This Minutes was approved by the CEC at its meeting on June 9, 2021 Page 3 of 3