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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2023-07-26-AHTBT-min Page 1 of 4 Affordable Housing Trust Meeting Minutes of July 26, 2023 10:06 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, William Erickson, Tiffany Payne Lexington Staff present for the Public Meeting: Carol Kowalski, Assistant Town Manager for Development; Ragi Ramachandran, Administrative Assistant Other attendees: Elizabeth Rust, RHSO 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 10:07 am. The meeting was recorded by LexMedia for future on-demand viewing. 1. Approval of July 13 meeting minutes The AHT Board reviewed the draft minutes of the meeting held on 7/13/23. Ms. Tung and Mr. Sandeen shared their edits to the meeting minutes. Mr. Sandeen moved to approve the meeting minutes of 7/13/23 as amended. Ms. Prosnitz seconded. The Trustees voted in favor of the motion 5-0-0. Motion passed unanimously. 2. Chair, Select Board Liaison and other liaison report, RHSO/staff report Ms. Tung shared that as a follow up to the Trustee compensation decision from the past meeting, she has emailed the Trust’s request to Joe Pato, the Select Board Chair , to recommend that the Select Board approve a stipend for any low or moderate income Lexington resident trustee currently serving on the AHT to receive a $3000 annual stipend to be paid on a monthly pro rata basis, out of AHT non-CPA funds to assist the Trustee with childcare, transportation, and time away from work. Ms. Tung will follow up with Mr. Pato for an update. Mr. Erickson shared the update from his meeting with the Lexington Housing Authority Executive Director, Caitlin Foley. LHA has 3 large projects with 40 – 70 units in them; primarily senior living with mostly one-bedroom houses. They also have 17 individual houses that are mostly pre-fab houses and have several maintenance needs. The LHA is focusing on repositioning with HUD and setting up as an LLC. LHA might try to double or triple the housing. Page 2 of 4 They see the repositioning as an opportunity to create housing, and they are interested in redeveloping the 17 lots. Ms. Tung asked if this is something to consider for the Trust’s future agenda as an item that the Trust could possibly assist with. Ms. Rust advised that while it is good to be aware of such initiatives, the agencies like LHA may not solicit local funding for such projects hence it needn’t be delved into in detail. Ms. Rust shared that RHSO is doing the FY24 Planning. She wanted to know whether the Trust had any new programs or initiatives that RHSO needs to slot into their Planning. She said that there was no set deadline and she can be informed of the programs as they come up. 3. H 2747/S 1771, real estate transfer tax and H 2740/H2741 linkage fees Ms. Tung proposed that AHT recommends the Select Board support the Real estate transfer fee tax legislation and Linkage fee tax legislation. Mr. Sandeen ‘so moved’. Ms. Payne seconded. The Trustees voted in favor of the motion 5-0-0. Motion passed unanimously. Ms. Tung agreed to email Joe Pato about the motion and the AHT’s support of the fees. 4. Executive Session – potential real estate acquisition Ms. Tung stated that there was nothing to discuss at the moment and if anything imminent comes up it will be reviewed at another meeting. 5. Three-month Action Plan Ms. Tung shared her three-month action plan as follows, to get the AHT’s application to the CPC, to finalize the emergent opportunities criteria, to establish the bridges to the other boards and committees in town, and to identify any opportunities in the Town owned land. The Trustees will go back to discussing goals and strategies once the action plan items have been completed. Ms. Tung asked if there is a list of Town owned properties. Mr. Sandeen shared that there was a list provided at the time a site was being identified for the Hosmer house. Ms. Prosnitz expressed her interest to view this list. Ms. Kowalski agreed to share the list of Town owned properties with the Trustees. Ms. Tung requested for the report from Carolyn Kosnoff she had done on Dec 12 2022 with the current state of CPA funds at that time. Ms. Kowalski agreed to get this report. Ms. Tung walked through the CPC fund balances based on information from Bob Pressman. Ms. Tung referenced the 2022 Housing Needs Assessment document and felt that the Trust should include the goals and recommendations from the document in their application to the CPC. The Trust reviewed the CPC application process and considered requesting pre-funding Page 3 of 4 from the CPC. Ms. Tung would like any application for pre-funding to be a joint application with the Select Board, if possible. Mr. Sandeen requested if Ms. Prosnitz could put together a couple of slides on how other communities are availing the CPA money for affordable housing. Ms. Prosnitz agreed. Ms. Rust advised that the Trust be as specific as possible on the CPC application and have a list of projects/initiatives for which the funding is being sought. Ms. Kowalski advised that on the application, the Trust request for pre -funding should include a tangible project request. Mr. Erickson walked through his presentation of housing proposals for North St and Lowell St. He walked through his plans/ideas for 1 bedroom, 2 bedrooms and 3 bedrooms, and various types of housing such as single family, double decker, townhouses with garages, and two-story apartments. The Trust discussed the housing potential on the site, the zoning changes required, the housing mix, the ability to conduct a pro forma analysis for the site, presenting the proposal to the Planning Board, and the process to introduce the idea of housing at this location to the Select Board. Ms. Kowalski and Ms. Tung and Mr. Erickson on behalf of the Trust decided to meet with the Planning Director, Planning Board member, and other Town Staff for a Development Review Meeting to discuss the North St/Lowell St project proposal. The meeting date to be determined. Ms. Rust agreed to suggest some ideas of projects that might be appropriate for the Trust to consider to request the CPA funding. 6. Update on emergent/urgent opportunities guidelines The Trust reviewed the guidelines for timely decision on Housing Trust funds. They proposed a few amendments to the draft guidelines document. Mr. Sandeen made a motion to approve the urgent criteria for decision on Housing Trust funds, as amended. Ms. Payne seconded. The Trustees voted in favor of the motion 5-0-0. Motion passed unanimously. 7. Draft Values The Trust decided to discuss the Values at the next meeting. 8. Committee Assignments The Trustees discussed and agreed to serve as the AHT liaison with the following committees in Town that deals with housing. The purpose of the liaison is to reach out to the various Boards and Committees in order to collaborate and coordinate efforts, find out the various needs, and to be a direct conduit for support and communication. Page 4 of 4 Community Preservation Committee – Mr. Sandeen Housing Partnership Board – Ms. Prosnitz LexHAB – Mr. Erickson Lexington Housing Authority – Ms. Payne Ms. Tung will reach out to the Planning Board. 9. Confirm next meeting dates The Trustees decided the next meeting dates to be on Aug 9th and Aug 30th from 10am – 12pm. 10. Adjourn Mr. Sandeen made a motion to adjourn the meeting of July 26, 2023. Mr. Erickson seconded, and the Trust voted in favor of the motion. The meeting was adjourned at 11:57 am. List of documents reviewed 1. Community Preservation Fund Balances, CPA Project Summary for FY23 Post TM.pdf 2. 2022 Needs Assessment-FINAL-Lexington CPA funds.pdf 3. CPC Application, CPC Fillable PDF-FY24.pdf 4. 7-26-2023 Lowell and North Presentation.pdf 5. Criteria for timely decision on Housing Trust funds.doc Guidelines for timely decision on Housing Trust funds – AHT voted and approved on 7/26/23 Any of the following, except where “and” or “or” is stated. 1. AHT funds would make a critical difference in securing real estate to create or preserve one or more units of subsidized affordable housing. 2. LexHAB and/or the Lexington Housing Authority or another affordable housing developer is committed to developing or rehabbing the property and has prepared an Offer to Purchase Real Estate, for review by the LHT. 3. The affordable housing developer has provided draft Pro-forma, for review by the LHT, demonstrating anticipated purchase, development costs, and all anticipated sources of funding. 4. The loss of the real estate for affordable housing to the private market would a. Measurably set back the Housing Trust’s annual goals/Action plan, or b. lead to a loss of units on Lexington’s SHI, or c. present an obstacle to completing a pending development site that includes affordable housing 5. The real estate could feasibly be developed for subsidized affordable housing in the opinion of building code or architecture professional 6. Commitment to recording a long-term affordable housing deed restriction or preserve/rehab existing affordable housing on a long-term basis, conditional on recording a housing restriction.