Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2023-03-15-AHTBT-min RECEIVED 0 2 3 1Ip ir°, 1 5 7 Ip Affordable Housing Trust TOWN CL,ERK Meeting minutes of March 15, 2023 3:00 pm LEXINGTON Affordable Housing Trust Board Members present for the Public Meeting: Mark Sandeen, Linda Prosnitz, Tiffany Payne, William Erickson Elaine Tung was absent for the meeting. Lexington Staff present for the Public Meeting: Carol Kowalski, Assistant Town Manager for Development; Ragi Ramachandran, Administrative Assistant; Arnold Lovering, Town Treasurer Other attendees: Mina S. Makarious, Elizabeth Rust, Katherine Roy Ms. Kowalski started the meeting at 3:01pm. She suggested every participant present in the meeting to introduce themselves. Ms. Kowalski introduced herself as the Assistant Town manager for Development. She is the department head for the following portfolios - Planning, Building, Zoning, Conservation, Public Health, Economic Development, and Housing. Mr. Sandeen introduced himself as the member of the Select Board. He looks forward to this Trust being quite effective and changing how things work for housing in Lexington. Ms. Prosnitz has worked in Affordable Housing for many years. She was part of the Affordable Housing Trust Study Committee the past year. Ms. Payne is a Lexington resident for two and half years and excited to be a part of this board. Mr. Erickson is a Lexington resident for 41 years. He is a partner with an architectural firm in town and has been part of several non-affordable housing projects in the past. Presently the firm has affordable housing projects as well. Ms. Ramachandran is the administrative assistant to Ms. Kowalski in the Land Use, Health and Development department. She is a member of the Affordable Housing Trust in Westford. Mr. Lovering(a.k.a Skip) introduced himself as the Town Treasurer/Collector. Ms. Rust is the Director of the Regional housing services office and is here to assist the Trust. Ms. Roy introduced herself as the Chair of the Affordable Housing Trust Study Committee. Mr. Makarious is a lawyer at Anderson and Kreiger. He is a Lexington Town Counsel and Cambridge resident. Ms. Kowalski stated that Lexmedia is recording the meeting. She will email the members some draft biographical sketches that they could edit and return. It will be compiled and shared with Page 1 of 5 the members. It's a good way to get to know each other and the approach was very successful last year with the AHT study committee. Ms. Kowalski offered to help clarify if anyone had questions on the state's open meeting law and ethics law. Ms. Kowalski explained that the primary purpose of this meeting was to become the Trust and it will be done by taking a vote to adopt the Declaration of Trust. She gave a little background on how the Trust was formed. Last year, the Select Board in its efforts to increase the housing opportunity in Lexington asked the staff to put together an outline, of the tools required to accomplish this. The Town commissioned an AHT Study committee to research the housing opportunities further. The AHT Study committee put together a warrant article that was adopted by Town meeting. It called for the creation of the Housing Trust, "a remarkable feat" for the Town of Lexington within a span of 1 year.The select board appointed the Affordable Housing Trust Board members on Feb 271H Ms. Kowalski stated that there were three funding articles pertaining to Affordable Housing on the Town Meeting that required the Trust's consideration; hence this quick meeting. She explained how the Town Meeting works, what a warrant is, and an article, for the benefit of the new members to the Town's operations. She stated that Mark Sandeen is willing to act as the Chair Pro tem for this meeting. Linda moved that Mark Sandeen be the Pro tem Chairperson for this meeting. Bill seconded. The AHT committee voted in favor of the motion 4-0-0 (Roll call: Erickson —yes, Prosnitz— yes, Payne—yes, Sandeen—yes). Motion passed unanimously. Ms. Kowalski stated that the next item is the Declaration of Trust. She explained that the Declaration of Trust was put together, carefully reviewed and vetted last year leading up to the town meeting where the Trust was adopted. It was reviewed by the Town counsel, Ms. Rust, the AHT study committee, the Select board and the financial committees for Lexington. Mr. Sandeen invited Ms. Rust and Mr. Makarious to share their thoughts about the AHT's Declaration of Trust document and the efforts putting it together. Ms. Rust shared that the Trust is consistent with the Mass General Laws and the desires of the Town of Lexington. A lot of time was invested into putting it together, studying and comparing it with other towns. Mr. Makarious shared his wealth of experience preparing the Trust documents for other towns. He explained the process to adopt the Declaration of Trust and to record it. Once the document is adopted by a vote and signed, the AHT is officially live. They are an entity, money can be appropriated into it and they can conduct their operations. Page 2 of 5 Mr. Sandeen invited Ms. Prosnitz and Ms. Roy to share their perspective on the AHT and its operations, from their experience being part of the AHT Study committee. Ms. Prosnitz stated they looked at other committees, their goals, and what their models were, and analyzed the state's requirements for affordable housing. She felt the documented policies and guidelines rightfully conforms to what the Trust can do. Ms. Roy agreed to Ms. Prosnitz's inferences. Mr. Sandeen asked if Ms. Payne or Mr. Erickson have any questions on the Declaration of Trust document. Ms. Payne asked for clarification on what the individual role members roles are, what they are allowed to and not allowed to do and engage in. Mr. Makarious explained that the document primarily covers what they can do as a Trust, and all the powers within, acting collectively as Trustees. He explains this further in detail, in regards to accepting and using the funds, providing grants, taking initiatives for affordable housing in Lexington. He explained the State ethics law and illustrated it with examples. He also clarified and provided an overview of the public records act and open meeting law. Mr. Sandeen requested Ms. Rust to address Ms. Payne's question in terms of what does a Board member do on a day to day basis. Ms. Rust stated that the members can do most of their work during the meeting. Once the Trust is official and money is appropriated to the Trust, they will be reached out with ideas on how to further affordable housing in Lexington. Some of the projects would be creating new housing, preserving existing housing for their affordability, rental assistance programs, and mortgage assistance programs. The Trust will need to use the money wisely and judiciously to improve housing and to bring value to the town. Mr. Sandeen solicits Ms. Kowalski's feedback on how the Town staff will support the Trust's operations. Ms. Kowalski stated that she will be the main contact on the staff for any technical questions and for the Trust to reach out to Ms. Rust or Mr. Lovering or Mr. Makarious. She assured that the Trust will have the support and expertise from the departments under her jurisdiction to execute their functions. Mr. Sandeen requested Ms. Kowalski or Mr. Lovering to talk about the financial support the Town provides, the fiduciary administration. Mr. Lovering stated that the Treasurer/Collector's office will act as the custodian of the funds. Once funds are available, it will be invested in accordance with Mass General Laws and they will handle all the reconciliation of the account, process expenditures, and accounts payable checks Page 3 of 5 when the Trust decides to expend money. The book keeping and the investing of the funds will be handled through the Treasurer/Collector's office. Ms. Rust added that it is a good practice for the Trust to vote any expenditure and to review reports at the meeting on what monies the Trust has, to keep everyone knowledgeable and to be transparent. Mr. Lovering stated that he can provide the reports as required by the Trust. Ms. Payne stated she is comfortable with the comprehensive explanation and thanked everyone. Mr. Erickson stated that it will be a learning experience as the request comes in. He added that he is not familiar with all the state laws and regulatory requirements. He would rely on/work with the staff on the process. Ms. Kowalski asserted that she will be at all the Board meetings. The Trust will have her support, guidance and assistance to carry out their functions. She mentioned that there is a threshold set in the Declaration that an expenditure beyond a particular limit(dollar value) will need to go through the select board approval. Mr. Makarious clarified that 'the limit' is the average price of a single-family home. To clarify Mr. Erickson's concerns, he added that the Trust will not be handling acquisitions or disposition transactions on a regular basis and even when required they have the opportunity to consult with the Town counsel and staff for guidance. Mr. Sandeen asked Ms. Prosnitz if she had any further questions and she responded in the negative. Mr. Makarious guided the Trust on how to make a motion and how to state it formally. Mr. Makarious helped the AHT board move that the Lexington Affordable Housing Trust adopt the Declaration of Trust as presented in the materials for today's meeting. Ms. Prosnitz 'so moved'. Ms. Payne seconded. The AHT committee voted in favor of the motion 4-0-0 (Roll call: Erickson —yes, Prosnitz—yes, Payne—yes, Sandeen —yes). Motion passed and the Trust was adopted unanimously. Mr. Sandeen referred to the next agenda items to be reviewed as Article 10n, 7 and 19f and g. Ms. Kowalski stated that the three articles are intended to get money into the Trust. Article 10n is the article under the Community Preservation Act warrant article. It would appropriate $1.5M from their reserve fund balance dedicated to affordable housing to be put into the Trust and made available for the Trust's use. Mr. Sandeen read the article as on the town meeting warrant. Page 4 of 5 Ms. Kowalski stated that article 7 requests town meeting to take all the fund that is in Brookhaven stabilization fund and to put it in the Trust. It also asks town meeting that for all the future Brookhaven payments, instead of having to go to the Brookhaven stabilization fund they would automatically go into the Housing Trust. Mr. Sandeen read the article as on the town meeting warrant. Ms. Kowalski stated the next article 19f and g were similar to article 7. It asked for$439,402.27 from the affordable housing capital stabilization fund be appropriated into the Lexington affordable housing trust fund. The article also enabled terminating the Brookhaven stabilization fund so that future processing will directly go into the affordable housing trust and not the stabilization fund. Mr. Sandeen read the article as on the town meeting warrant. Ms. Prosnitz asked about when the funds will be available. Ms. Kowalski answered that the CPA fund won't be available until after July 111 when the fiscal year starts. The Brookhaven fund will be available to the Trust soon after the town meeting votes. Ms. Prosnitz felt that these articles are critical and should be voted on. Mr. Makarious helped the AHT board move that the affordable housing trust recommend approval of the funding articles 10n, 7 and 19f and g to fund the trust. Mr. Erickson 'so moved'. Ms. Payne seconded. The AHT committee voted in favor of the motion 4-0-0 (Roll call: Erickson —yes, Prosnitz—yes, Payne—yes, Sandeen —yes). Motion passed unanimously. Mr. Sandeen proposed that since one of the members, Elaine Tung was absent; the regular meeting time be set at a time when everyone is in attendance and can be consulted together. For the next meeting, Ms. Kowalski stated that Ms. Ramachandran will send a doodle poll to come up with a time that works for everyone. Mr. Sandeen talked about the appointing the Chair, Vice Chair and Secretary at the next meeting. Ms. Kowalski explained the responsibilities in each position and the process. Ms. Kowalski stated that she would share the AHT material from the Study committee's work and the recording from this meeting, with the Board members for their viewing. Adjourn Mr. Sandeen made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 4:06 pm. Mr. Erickson 'so moved'. Ms. Prosnitz seconded, and the committee approved by a roll call vote. Page 5 of 5