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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2022-06-22-AHTSC-minThe Affordable Housing Trust Study Committee (ad hoc) Meeting Minutes of June 22, 2022 Affordable Housing Trust Study Committee members present for the public meeting: Gretchen Reisig, Chair; Betsey Weiss, 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: Elizabeth Rust RHSO. Ms. Reisig 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. Reisig chaired the meeting and called the meeting to order at 4:0 1 pm. The meeting was recorded by LexMedia for future on-demand viewing. 1. Review Carolyn Kosnoff’s June 10 comment/question document, and input on it from RHSO Director Liz Rust Ms. Kowalski shared a list of questions and statements from Ms. Carolyn Kosnoff, the Assistant Town Manager for Finance, Town of Lexington. Ms. Kowalski thanked Ms. Rust, who helped with answering all the questions, which in turn helped frame the FAQs and answers for subsequent meetings and helped prepare for the presentation to the Select Board. 2. Final review of slides and FAQs: prepare presentation for June 27 SB meeting Ms. Reisig shared the slide deck of the committee’s presentation to the Select Board . Ms. Reisig said that based on the feedback from committee members and the previous audience, there was a general feeling that the question of the need for an Affordable Housing Trust in Lexington has to be addressed strongly. The committee discussed the data presented in the slide and analyzed and made changes. The committee also stressed the fact that with an Affordable Housing Trust, the affordable housing funds can be consolidated into a unified municipal structure. Examples of what an AHT can do were discussed based on the facts provided by Ms. Rust. The committee discussed why pre-funding is essential to an AHT and the funding details from other communities with pre-funded trusts were analyzed. Ms. Rust provided clarification to questions regarding pre-funding history. Checks and Balances were reviewed. Ms. Rust addressed the question regarding the limitation on borrowing over the predetermined limits and gave examples from other communities. The timeline for the entire process was discussed. Ms. Reisig shared a list of the FAQs and answers to them, that were prepared to enable a better understanding of the working of the Affordable Housing Trust. The committee discussed the questions and answers and made necessary edits. 3. Questions about LexHAB’s existing assets Ms. Mizrahi gave a brief description of LexHAB’s current activities, which included taskforces which will plan for the next five years. Ms. Mizrahi explained about LexHAB’s unique structure and revenue stream where each unit has a separate operating subsidy. 4. Upcoming meetings The Committee briefly discussed about upcoming meetings and decided to hold their next meeting on Wednesday July 13th at 4 p.m. Adjourn Ms. Marine moved that The Affordable Housing Trust Study Committee adjourn the meeting held on June 22, 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 5:58 pm.