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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2022-05-11-AHTSC-min RECEIVED 2022 01 Juin, 12A,6 Maui °m TOWN CLERK LEXINGTON MA The Affordable Housing Trust Study Committee (ad hoc) Meeting Minutes of May 11, 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, Linda Prosnitz Lexington Staff present for the public meeting: Kiruthika Ramakrishnan, Administrative Assistant. Non-voting liaison of the Select Board: Mark Sandeen Other Attendees: 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 4:03 pm. The meeting was recorded by LexMedia for future on-demand viewing. 1. Approval of Minutes of Meeting held on 04.27.2022 The Affordable Housing Trust Study Committee reviewed the draft minutes of the meeting held on 04.27.2022. Ms. Reisig moved that the committee approve the minutes of the meeting held on 04.27.2022,as presented. Ms. Marine seconded the motion.The Affordable Housing Trust Study Committee voted in favor of the motion. MOTION PASSED. 2. Review of presentation to CEC, CPC, and Select Board Ms. Roy shared the presentation prepared by the committee to be presented to the CEC, CPC and, Select Board.The presentation stressed the need for an Affordable Housing Trust in Lexington bringing out the importance of a flexible town funding entity, to act quickly on current market opportunities.The committee discussed a list of activities that can be performed by an Affordable Housing Trust and the broad range of powers the Trust can have.The committee then discussed about the funding sources of an Affordable Housing Trust. Ms. Roy shared a slide on Proposed Lexington Affordable Housing Funding.The committee discussed more on funding sources, Affordable Housing Public Funding entities in Lexington and Affordable Housing Development Entities.The committee discussed the powers and duties it will have in conjunction with CPC. 1 Ms. Roy shared a slide, listing the Checks and Balances—the appointment of Trustees,the authority and approval for payments and transactions, the administration of expenditures,the constraints on funds allocated by CPA, and the requirement of annual report to the CPC. The committee discussed the expertise and experience of the proposed Trustees. Based on her experience with Affordable Housing Trusts, Ms. Rust explained the traits of successful trustees and asked the committee to be less prescriptive. The committee discussed the steps involved in creating an Affordable Housing Trust. Ms. Roy shared a flow chart that explained the process to establish a Housing Trust. Ms. Rust walked through the slide, with the first step being to determine the ordinance or statute-as-is, followed by acceptance of the same by the legislative body and then submitting the ordinance to the AG within 30 days.The Board of Trustees will be established, followed by recording of the Declaration of Trust and setting up the trust fund account. If necessary, the housing needs analysis has to be updated and priorities have to be identified and guidelines created and then the operating approach has to be determined. Ms. Roy shared a slide listing the next steps for the committee for the next six to twelve months. The committee would compile the feedback from committee presentations, get the draft bylaw and declaration reviewed, schedule public outreach and submit bylaw and recommendations to Select Board. It would be followed by the approval of the bylaw at the Annual Town Meeting, appointment of the trustees,funding the trust and recording the Trust Documents. The committee came up with a list of questions to be discussed which included arriving at the spending limit beyond which an approval from Select Board will be required, the number and the background of trustees. 3. Review of the terms of the Declaration of Trust The committee decided to circulate the draft of the Declaration of Trust so that it can be reviewed by committee members, and will be available for the Select Board or any stake holder who wanted to look at it before approving it. 4. Upcoming Meetings The Committee briefly discussed about upcoming meetings and decided to hold their next meeting on Wednesday May 25th at 4 p.m. Adjourn Ms. Roy moved that The Affordable Housing Trust Study Committee adjourn the meeting held on May 11, 2022. Ms. Mizrahi seconded the motion. The Affordable Housing Trust Study Committee voted in favor of the motion 7-0-0 Roll Call Vote: MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY. Meeting adjourned at 5:56 pm. 2