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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2023-05-12-AHTBT-min Page 1 of 5 Affordable Housing Trust Meeting Minutes of May 12, 2023 10:30 am Affordable Housing Trust Board Members present for the Public Meeting: Mark Sandeen, Linda Prosnitz, Elaine Tung, Tiffany Payne, William Erickson Lexington Staff present for the Public Meeting: Carol Kowalski, Assistant Town Manager for Development; Ragi Ramachandran, Administrative Assistant Other attendees: Elizabeth Rust, RHSO The meeting was recorded by LexMedia for future on-demand viewing. Ms. Kowalski started the meeting at 10:30am. Mr. Sandeen was the Chair pro tem for the meeting. As the Chair pro tem he called the meeting of the Affordable Housing Trust to order at 10:35am. 1. Election of Officers Mr. Sandeen stated the first item on the agenda was the election of officers. Mr. Sandeen shared the nominations received for the various positions, Elaine Tung for Chair, Linda Prosnitz for Vice Chair and Tiffany Payne for Clerk. Mr. Sandeen made a motion that the Affordable Housing Trust approve the slate of officers as nominated, Ms. Tung as Chair, Ms. Prosnitz as Vice Chair and Ms. Payne as Clerk. Mr. Erickson seconded. The Trustees voted in favor of the motion 5-0-0 (Roll call: Erickson – yes, Payne – yes, Prosnitz – yes, Tung – yes, Sandeen – yes). Motion passed unanimously. As Chair, Ms. Tung called the meeting to order at 10:37 am. Ms. Tung conducted a roll call to ensure all the members of the Affordable Housing Trust and members of staff present could hear and be heard. Ms. Tung shared that at this meeting the Trust should set up the goals and objectives. They needn’t go into the strategies for each one yet. They should have a preliminary discussion of charge and discuss the timelines; look at the 2014 Housing goals and objectives set forth in the Town’s HPP, review the framework proposed by Ms. Rust and compare it to the Lexington Next Comprehensive Plan. She advised the Trustees should review the extensive materials that were sent out. Page 2 of 5 2. Approval of April 7 meeting minutes Mr. Sandeen moved to approve the meeting minutes from 4/7/23. Mr. Erickson seconded. The Trustees voted in favor of the motion 5-0-0 (Roll call: Erickson – yes, Prosnitz – yes, Tung – yes, Payne – yes, Sandeen – yes). Motion passed. 3. Update on Recording of Declaration and Town Meeting funding votes Ms. Tung mentioned the next item for discussion to be the update on the Recording of Declaration and Town Meeting funding votes. Ms. Kowalski apprised that the Town Meeting funding articles pertaining to the Housing Trust had passed. Article 7 was to direct future Brookhaven Payments-In-Lieu of affordable housing to the Housing Trust; she agreed to share the Brookhaven agreement that details the payments for the Trustees’ future reference. Article 10n approved $1,500,000 from the Community Preservation Act Community Housing Reserve to the Housing Trust, and can be used for the Board’s future planning. Article 19f transferred $439,402.27 from the Affordable Housing Capital Stabilization Fund to the Housing Trust. Article 19g ended the Brookhaven payments being directed to the Affordable Housing Capital stabilization fund. Ms. Kowalski updated on four other articles that were not directly related to the Trust’s work but were related to housing construction, that could affect costs and might be of interest to the Trust. Article 26 adopted the Stretch (Specialized) energy code designed to result in cost- effective construction that is more energy-efficient. Article 27 relates to the amendment to the Fossil Fuel bylaw. Article 33 makes it easier to build anything besides a single -family home and requires 10% affordable. Whenever a new proposal comes to the Planning Board, the staff will alert the Trust and it is an opportunity for the AHT to partner with the developers to build more than 10% affordable or include deeper subsidies. Article 34 pertaining to the MBTA communities zoning by law, to create districts for multi-family housing. Lexington is the first community to adopt this mandatory by- law. Ms. Payne asked for clarification on Article 33. Ms. Kowalski explained the Special Residential Development requirements, provisions and how it enables more creative housing in the Town. Ms. Kowalski clarified that the Trust will be part of the discussion on any housing opportunities in the town going forward. Mr. Sandeen asked how much of the funding was available to the Trust to-date and what amount will be available at a later date. Ms. Kowalski stated that some amounts are available now and some will be available as of July 1st. She will share the exact details in a follow-up email. Ms. Kowalski and the Trust discussed the recording of the Declaration of Trust. The Town counsel had indicated that they will record the Declaration of Trust when they record the first Page 3 of 5 deed. Ms. Tung stated that she checked online and the Declaration was not recorded. Ms. Rust advised that the Declaration be recorded now; the deed will be later when there is a real estate deal. Ms. Prosnitz asked why there was a dependency on recording the deed as the deed can be recorded under a different entity too as the situation requires. Ms. Kowalski agreed to follow up and update. Ms. Rust advised that the Trust’s financial information, reports be included as part of the agenda packet; especially once they start spending the funds. Ms. Tung asked how the funds are managed, if they are sitting in a bank account earning no interest or if they are invested. Ms. Kowalski stated that according to the Assistant Town manager for Finance, Carolyn Kosnoff, the funds are held in a safe place; interest bearing to the extent to stay liquid. The amounts that won’t be utilized in a long time will have other provisions. Mr. Sandeen asked if they were statutory requirements or Finance department guidelines. Ms. Kowalski stated they were best practices and not statutory requirements. Ms. Kowalski will share more details on the approach. 4. Discuss draft Goals and Objectives; timeline of Action Plan The Trustees assessed the 2014 Housing goals set forth in the Housing Production Plan. As a committee they discussed the timelines; whether the goals should be identified for a 5-year period or for a 3-year period. They agreed on a 3-year timeline with multiple checkpoints to track progress; as that would be more action oriented and can produce results faster. Ms. Tung initiated that the Trustees look at what their housing priorities are; whether it was low income or moderate income. The extremely low income was 30% of AMI, very low was 50%, and low was 80% of AMI. She asked what the percentage was for moderate income. Ms. Rust clarified that moderate income is over 80%. 80-120% or even going to 150% in adherence to zoning requirements. Ms. Rust stated that it would be hard to prioritize which type of housing is required as the need for housing is greater across the board. Ms. Prosnitz agreed with Ms. Rust’s comments. She believes it will be best to go below 80% but there will also be needs and opportunities to go up to 100%; CPA goes up to 100% of AMI. She thinks it is important to be inclusive of CPA and allow flexibility, depending on the project and funding source. On goal #1, Ms. Payne asked if the housing options are only for Lexington’s low -income households or if they are for residents from nearby towns/cities as well. Ms. Kowalski stated that the Town is always planning for and accommodative of those who don’t live in Lexington already. And that the options are available to anyone who qualifies and wants to live in Lexington. Mr. Sandeen asked if the goal #2 should be to provide more housing or more housing options; and that the goal be tied to something more measurable. Ms. Prosnitz felt some of the goals Page 4 of 5 may be hard to quantify; for instance, they could be offering rental assistance programs and not creating new affordable housing at a given time. The Trustees brainstormed on the various nuances associated with writing goals and strategies, in terms of, the scale of housing, establishing partnership with developers, supporting rental assistance programs, zoning for MBTA communities. Ms. Rust advised that for a newly formed committee as AHT, the creation of units would be a more realistic and measurable initial goal within the 3-year timeline. The scale will be constrained by the Trust’s abilities and the amount of money they have. Ms. Kowalski felt that given Ms. Rust and Ms. Prosnitz’s expertise, if they can provide a summary of activities based on their housing work in Cambridge and Sudbury it can be used as a reference point for the Trust as an illustration of the work done and approach taken by other towns and cities. Mr. Sandeen concurred with Carol and felt maybe they should consider people focused goals (the number of people/families they are serving) in addition to unit focused goals. Ms. Rust explained about the ‘expiring use’ units and how the Trust can be involved in the preservation of the restrictions on these units. Mr. Sandeen and Ms. Tung felt a goal should be included addressing this. Mr. Sandeen mentioned that there should be a goal on how to best leverage the funds. Mr. Erickson mentioned that outreach into the private sector will help provide guidance on the practical aspects and implications of zoning regulations and the best ways to leverage it. He felt it will be beneficial to meet with strategic partners who will help identify strategies to accomplish the goals. Ms. Rust shared the framework of goals and strategies she had put together as an outline. She agreed to revise it further for the next meeting based on the inputs from the Trustees. She advised and shared an initial timeline on how the goals can be structured, on how the budget needs to be allocated for the goals, and the steps that need to take place to adopt the goals by October. Mr. Sandeen stated that the third goal on Ms. Rust’s document be rephrased to Build public support for affordable housing initiatives. The Trustees agreed that they need to move through the planning process quickly. Ms. Prosnitz stated that they need to start preparing for how the Trust will respond to an opportunity. Ms. Kowalski volunteered to work with Ms. Prosnitz on some tactical procedures to recommend to the Trust to be prepared if something emergent arises. This will help assure how to deploy the funds when there is a need. Ms. Prosnitz expressed her willingness to collaborate on this initiative. Page 5 of 5 Mr. Sandeen stated that they need to consider identifying their values as AHT. It will serve as the principles to guide on how to use the funds. The Trustees agreed to meet twice a month until the end of June. Ms. Tung shared the list of upcoming seminars that the Trustees could participate in. Ms. Tung expressed that they need to work with the various Housing stakeholder groups in Town to make an informed decision on the goals and objectives. Upcoming meetings The Trustees decided to have their next meeting on May 25th 2023, at 10 am. Subsequent meetings were decided to be on June 8th and June 22nd at 10:30 am. 5. Adjourn Mr. Sandeen made a motion to adjourn the meeting of May 12, 2023 Mr. Erickson seconded, and the committee voted in favor of the motion. The meeting was adjourned at 12.17 p.m. List of Documents 1. Lexington 2014 Housing Production Plan – Goals and Objectives 2. Lexington MAHT Action Plan