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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2022-04-27-AHTSC-min RECEIVED 2022 18 I . , 12A0 pin TOWN CLERK LEXINGTON MA The Affordable Housing Trust Study Committee (ad hoc) Meeting Minutes of April 27, 2022 Affordable Housing Trust Study Committee members present for the public meeting: Kathryn Roy, Chair; Betsey Weiss, Gretchen Reisig, Jeri Foutter, Carol Marine,Tara Mizrahi. Lexington Staff present for the public meeting: Carol Kowalski, Assistant Town Manager for Development; Kiruthika Ramakrishnan, Administrative Assistant. Non-voting liaison of the Select Board: Mark Sandeen Other Attendees: Randy Johnson Architect and chair of Natick's AHT, Elizabeth Rust RHSO, Bob Pressman. Ms. Roy conducted a roll call to ensure that all the members of the Affordable Housing Trust Study Committee (ad hoc) and members of staff present could hear and be heard. Ms. Roy chaired the meeting and called the meeting to order at 4:01pm. The meeting was recorded by LexMedia for future on-demand viewing. 1. Approval of Minutes of Meeting held on 04.13.2022 The Affordable Housing Trust Study Committee reviewed the draft minutes of the meeting held on 04.13.2022. Ms. Reisig moved that the committee approve the minutes of the meeting held on 04.13.2022, as presented. Ms. Marine seconded the motion.The Affordable Housing Trust Study Committee voted in favor of the motion. MOTION PASSED. 2. Address by Guest Speaker Randy Johnson Ms. Roy introduced Mr.Johnson to the committee. He is chair of the Natick Affordable Housing Trust and an architect who works on affordable housing. Mr.Johnson gave a brief history of how the Affordable Housing Trust was formed in Natick. Mr.Johnson explained that in 2007,the Community Development Advisory Committee (CDAC)was formed in Natick, which was in charge of creating the Housing Production Plan. CDAC came up with the recommendation to form the Affordable Housing Trust. Neither the Finance committee nor the Select Board had a recommendation either way.The Affordable Housing Trust Study Committee presented their declaration of trust to the Town Meeting and an Affordable Housing Trust was established in 2008. No funding was requested and no projects identified.The only specifics were the powers of the trust. They are always marginally over the 10% of SHI units. But the Affordable Housing Trust is to create affordable housing, not to shield the town from the 10%margin on 40B. 1 Ms. Roy asked about the source of funding for the AHT. Mr.Johnson said that the Trustees were collaborating with Historic Preservation and Open Space,to secure CPA funding through Town Meeting. He believes they are going for 1%CPA. The relations between the Trust and other municipal entities have been strained at times.A planner used to coordinate with Metro West Home Consortium.That has created a void;the Trust is looking into hiring their own support in addition to basic bookkeeping and admin support,though it is hard to hire now for a part time position. Mr.Johnson added that the Town allocated an annual contribution of$80,000 to the trust every year over the last 10 years. Ms. Roy asked about the Trust's priorities in terms of who will be served through the AHT. Mr. Johnson said that the Trust had a strategic planning session and collaborated with the Select Board and Planning Board and are in the middle of arriving at a concrete plan with priorities. Jennifer Goldson,who authored the MHP handbook on Affordable Housing Trust was the consultant hired. She pulled together the Select Board and the Planning Board.That resulted in a commitment to affordable housing over the next 5 years. Mr.Johnson said that, in future, the AHT in Natick will not develop properties on their own; he based this on a previous duplex development AHT had done on their own in collaboration with Family Promise, which involved a lot of work for the volunteer trust members.They used labor for Keith Tech,their local school. And that in future,their plan is to make bigger projects and making bigger impact with the volunteer efforts. Mr.Johnson said that AHT in Natick has to work on ways to collaborate, communicate, and build consensus with the Select Board. Mr.Johnson shared details about the Veteran's Housing project initiative a couple years ago.The idea came from a citizen.The Trust devoted a lot of activity to the project,which was a subject for the Federal Reserve graduate students' competition. Article 97 (open space/conservation) issues stopped it from going forward. They never got the Parks and Recreation people engaged. He mentioned about the upcoming proposal for a veteran's housing on a portion of the land owned by Math Works,the planning board dedicated it to open space, but they are asking for a portion of it. Ms. Roy asked about who constituted the members of the AHT. Mr.Johnson said that it consists of a legal professional, a planner, historically a banker, a real estate professional, a member who is a resident of an affordable housing,the director of a non-profit development corporation, an architect, an accountant, and also has an associate member from CHAPA. Mr.Johnson said the AHT in Natick is trying to establish the ability to have more than nine members in the AHT. They engaged legal counsel to avoid having to go to the town counsel, who wasn't responsive in a timely fashion. Mr.Johnson shared a slide showing the timeline of the initiatives of Natick's Affordable Housing Trust developed by the strategic planning exercise.The initiatives were grouped under four categories namely Policy Initiatives, Program, Preliminary and Production. 2 Mr.Johnson walked through the slide and gave details about a few projects and discussed the approaches taken by AHT, collaborations made to facilitate projects, models of production and, source of funding.The Trust was deeded a parcel that was sold and the result boosted their reserves by$300k in cash. It doesn't show the cash that comes through the HOME consortium, which contributed to several programs, including the down payment assistance program.The Trust did a rental assistance program over the last couple of years due to Covid issues.The town has an inclusionary zoning law that could result in $800k. But the Trust is looking for CPA for reliable ongoing funding. There was a close relationship between the Housing Authority and the Trust with ideas going back and forth.The Cedar Gardens 2 accessible units (out of 200) were a result of this.Another vacant duplex the Housing Authority had was developed with HOME funds. Another vacant congregate property of the Housing Authority(shared bathrooms)was redone with HOME funds and 10 units were rented out for a budget of$1.2M with DHDC funding. There's a surplus school in South Natick where the Trust is trying run the RFP process for 24-25 senior housing. Ms. Mizrahi wanted to know if Natick AHT hires consultants to do RFPs and also when trust money is being granted for larger projects, if they had the benefit of leveraging funds from the consortium HOME funding or from the State. Mr.Johnson said that the HOME funding has been very effective in leveraging projects with the Housing Authority; and added that they usually hire consultants to facilitate production of the RFP and the administration of selection process. Mr. Sandeen asked the typical size of the project and the number of units produced and what sort of leveraging they have been able to achieve through the trust in terms of funding percentage. Mr. Johnson said that currently the total production is limited—2, rehab of units is 10—12, modified units is 2. And as a Trust they have been able to leverage 15 to 20%of HOME funds towards the total project cost and the rest would be covered by either public housing or DHCD funding. Ms. Roy wanted to know if they were able to get the HOME funds without proposing any specific project. Mr.Johnson said that currently it is project specific, whereas historically it was not project specific. Ms. Rust added that the HOME funds are always used on a specific project; communities have funds allocated to them for exclusive use period and the funds can only be spent on specific projects for approvable expenses. Mr. Pressman asked if, in the statute governing the Trust, any of the powers of the trustees are subject to review by the Select Board. Mr.Johnson replied that for activities that are not connected to any Municipal property,the trust is autonomous. Mr. Pressman also asked if Natick AHT had any available Town land that could be used to put an RFO for. Mr. Johnson mentioned about the surplus school in South Natick. 3. Go Over Draft Declaration of Trust Ms. Kowalski shared a draft of the Declaration of Trust that was drafted with the help of the Town Counsel. Ms. Kowalski went over the powers of the trustees in detail. In the draft Declaration of Trust,there was a mention of requirement of prior approval from the select Board for any activity 3 over$750,000.The members talked about the necessity of this limitation and the possible restrictions placed by this provision. Ms. Weiss needed clarification on one of the powers which mentioned that to borrow greater than the extent of the Trust's assets, approval or authorization from Special Town Meeting was required. Ms. Kowalski explained the purpose of the clause. Ms. Weiss also wanted the number of members of the Trust to be set at a maximum,to include representation from a lot of committees. Ms. Rust gave her thoughts on having a limited membership to have focused and engaged members. Mr. Sandeen reminded the committee about the requirement of the Select Board to have a representation that would focus on racial equity, accessibility and, sustainability. Ms. Kowalski said that since the appointment of trustees will be made by the Select Board, she was certain that it will be catered to.The topic was tabled for further discussion at the next meeting. 4. Review presentation and draft graphics Ms. Roy shared a presentation on the committee's Public Listening Session. Ms. Roy explained the funding options that are currently available for Affordable Housing and compared it with the options that would be available in future. Mr. Sandeen wanted the objective of the presentation to be clearly specified in the beginning, so the general public will have a better understanding of the need and goals of the committee. Discussion ensued. Adjourn Ms. Reisig moved that The Affordable Housing Trust Study Committee adjourn the meeting held on April 27, 2022. Ms. Mizrahi seconded the motion.The Affordable Housing Trust Study Committee voted in favor of the motion 5-0-0 Roll Call Vote: MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY. Meeting adjourned at 5:50 pm. 4