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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2023-05-25-AHTBT-min RECEIVED TOWN CLERK Affordable Housing Trust LEXINGTON MA Meeting Minutes of May 25, 2023 10:00 am Hybrid meeting on Zoom and attended in-person in the Parker room, Town Office Building Affordable Housing Trust Board Members present for the Public Meeting: Elaine Tung, Chair; Mark Sandeen, Linda Prosnitz, 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; Kathryn Roy, Bob Pressman Ms. Tung conducted a roll call to ensure all the members of the AHT Board and members of staff present could hear and be heard. Ms. Tung chaired the hybrid meeting and called the meeting to order at 10:03 am. The meeting was recorded by LexMedia for future on-demand viewing. 1. Approval of May 12 meeting minutes Mr. Sandeen mentioned two updates to the minutes, 1. To update 'Special Permit Residential Development' reference to 'Special Residential development' 2. To update the extremely-low income standard to 30%of AMI. Ms. Prosnitz moved to approve the meeting minutes from 5/12/23 with the two amendments. 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. 2. Update on recording of Declaration of Trust Ms. Kowalski stated that the Declaration of Trust has been recorded and shared with the Trustees. Ms. Rust suggested that the recorded Trust document be posted to the webpage. 3. Update on the AHT funding Ms. Kowalski updated that $1.5M of CPA funds were appropriated to the Trust at the Town Meeting and it will be available to the Trust soon after July 12023. She shared that the first four Brookhaven payments amounting to $439,402.27 will be available to the Trust soon after July 1St. In addition, the next Brookhaven payment of$125,969 will also be available on July 1St totaling Brookhaven funds at $565,371.27 for the Trust's use. Page 1 of 4 Ms. Kowalski shared information on the CPA fund application and that the request for CPA funds is due by Nov 111. The Community Preservation Committee requires all fund requests be submitted through an online application prior to the Nov 111 deadline. She suggested that the Trust start considering if they want to do a 'pre-funding request' or an 'actual project request'. Mr. Pressman, a CPA member, updated that the first Brookhaven payment was used by LexHAB and the Town Finance staff can confirm on that point. He shared that next year's 10%funding will be approximately$820,000 or$830,000. Currently there is $1,154,875 in the housing bucket and with the 10% CPA funding it will approach $2M. Mr. Pressman explained the fund request process and the categories for which the requests can be placed.The members discussed the CPA fund allocation process, and funding implications with LexHAB's change of status from being a municipal entity to a non-profit. Since LexHAB's change is not immediate, they decided to continue the discussion later. Ms. Kowalski shared with the Trustees that the Brookhaven payments are for a total of 15 years and the last payment is due in FY2034. 4. Discuss Goals and Objectives, timeline of Action Plan The members had a discussion on the Trust's values. They weighed in on several situations and on what their priorities were. The consensus is to prioritize those with the most need - anything below 80% but also considering the prospects of funding mixed income projects 50%-80%-100% to strike a balance. Ms. Rust shared the criterion to be on the SHI, DHCD regulations, and that the CPA funds come with a requirement that the units be eligible for SHI. The Trustees discussed how the value should be data driven, identifying from the housing inventory, the number of low-income, moderate-income occupancy and identifying the needs in the community. They considered looking at the data, identifying the gaps and setting the priorities to efficiently fill in those gaps. Ms. Kowalski clarified that the workforce units won't be included on the SHI because SHI units are usually 80% and under. Workforce units are over 100% of the AMI. Ms. Payne shared a situation where at the time of application, people may be low or moderate income and during the application process if they lose their job and become extremely low income, there be provisions to accommodate them. Ms. Rust explained that there are rental assistance programs oriented towards aiding extremely-low income families. The Trustees discussed including Diversity Equity and Inclusion as a value, with focus on building high quality sustainable units; units with better air quality that are well-ventilated. They reviewed having provisions to support elderly people and people with disabilities. The members discussed the possibility of leveraging from various sources to build the maximum number of units possible and prioritizing multi-unit housing.They considered leveraging units coming out of the MBTA community, and the recent SRD amendment adopted Page 2 of 4 in the Town meeting. The inclusionary zoning enables partnering with the developers while ensuring a required number of units are affordable. It enables deeper subsidies and the opportunity to construct more units. The Trustees discussed one of their values to be proactive creation and preservation of long-term housing.They brainstormed if they would like the Trust to be an active initiator or a passive funder operating solely as a funding source. The Trustees felt it necessary to work with other housing partners, stakeholders in town, community engagement and regional collaboration. They evaluated prioritizing on family size housing, and units that are not age restricted that enable intergenerational housing. They discussed the values around unit focused and people focused goals and the ability to offer programs to assist first time home buyers. Lexington is low on affordable ownerships and the ability to provide subsidies for ownerships. They emphasized on building the financial value of the Trust by enabling a continuous influx of funds through grants or other collaborations, and programs. Ms. Roy advised that if the Trust were considering senior housing that they should get more of the general population involved, and not just Lexington residents. S. Update on emergent opportunities Ms. Prosnitz and Ms. Kowalski are working on outlining 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 and Ms. Kowalski haven't had a chance to meet and will update further at the next meeting. 6. New Business Ms.Tung shared that there were several affordable housing initiatives supported by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. She expressed an interest to apply for the 'Community One Stop for Growth Grant' program and to utilize the grant amount for the Housing needs assessment. Another thought was to hire a consultant to do an inventory and identify potential parcels of land in Town for housing. Ms. Kowalski shared that the Housing section in the Comp plan is a resource that identifies the housing needs in Town and advised the Trustees to review this data. If there is missing data, the Trust could identify the missing data and collectively determine how to get that data if its available. Ms. Roy suggested that the Trust discuss the matter with LexHAB and Mr. Hornig in the Planning Board as they have better estimates of the properties in Town. Mr. Pressman enquired the locations where the Housing Feasibility study is being conducted. Ms. Kowalski identified the locations to be at Depot lot, Edison lot and 173 Bedford Street. Mr. Pressman also shared information on potential sites for housing in Town. Ms.Tung asked for the Trustees opinion on whether to apply for the grant—to develop a program to maximize affordable housing opportunities and best implement affordable housing in Town; the application is due by June 2nd. Page 3 of 4 Mr. Sandeen made a motion to authorize the AHT Chair and the Town staff to submit the Community One Stop for Growth Grant application, if the time permits. 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. Ms.Tung shared that the MAHP deadline for signing up for the Housing Institute is on Fri, 5/26 and encouraged the Trustees to participate. Upcoming meetings The Trustees decided to have their next meeting on June 8t" 2023, at 10:30 am. Subsequent meeting was decided to be on June 21St 2023 at 10:15 am. 7. Adjourn Mr. Sandeen made a motion to adjourn the meeting of May 25, 2023. Mr. Erickson seconded, and the Board voted in favor of the motion. The meeting was adjourned at 12:05 p.m. Page 4 of 4