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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2023-10-17-HPB-min Lexington Housing Partnership Board (HPB) Meeting Minutes for October 17, 2023 Attendees: Cindy Arens (Sustainable Lexington liaison), Nanette Byrnes, Harriet Cohen (Clerk), Margaret Heitz, Charles Hornig (Planning Board), Paul Linton, Wendy Manz (Chair), Sarah Morrison (LexHAB), Bob Pressman, Melanie Thompson, Betsey Weiss (Vice Chair), John Zhao (COA). Absent: Jill Hai (Select Board liaison) Guests: Charlie Wyman (Conservation Commission) The Housing Partnership Board (HPB) meeting was chaired by Wendy Manz and minutes were taken by Harriet Cohen. The meeting was held remotely via Zoom teleconference. 1. Call to Order: Housing Partnership Board Meeting Ms. Weiss called the meeting to order at 7:08. The roll was called. 2. Nominations of liaisons to Affordable Housing Trust (AHT) and Community Preservation Committee (CPC) Ms. Manz moved to appoint Ms. Heitz as the liaison to the AHT. Ms. Weiss seconded. In favor: Mr. Linton, Mr. Pressman, Mr. Hornig, Ms. Cohen, Ms. Byrnes, Ms. Thompson, Ms. Heitz, Mr. Zhao, Ms. Manz, Ms. Weiss, Ms. Morrison Against: none Abstaining: none Ms. Manz reminded the HPB that Mr. Pressman is the HPB appointee to the CPC. 3. Report on testimony to legislature re Real Estate Transfer Fee Ms. Heitz testified to the legislature re the RETF on Oct. 11. Ms. Heitz testified as herself and as a Lexington resident who has studied housing issues. Ms. Heitz had two minutes to speak. She said that the AHT has been created and is working on housing-related issues. Ms. Heitz responded to a previous commenter to the legislative committee who had said that affordable housing trusts are not very transparent. Ms. Heitz point out that the Lexington AHT is very transparent and there have been no problems related to lack of transparency. Ms. Heitz urged the Joint Committee on Revenue to report the bill out of committee. She continues to monitor progress on the bills. Ms. Manz thanked Ms. Heitz for taking the initiative to testify to the legislature. 4. Review and approve letter to Select Board supporting RETF Ms. Manz reminded the HPB that it had passed two motions regarding a recommendation re the RETF. The HPB reviewed a letter to the Select Board with its recommendations and discussed the content. Mr. Hornig moved to send the letter as agreed by the HPB to the Select Board. Ms. Heitz seconded the motion. In favor: Mr. Linton, Mr. Hornig, Ms. Cohen, Ms. Byrnes, Ms. Thompson, Ms. Heitz, Mr. Zhao, Ms. Manz, Ms. Weiss, Ms. Morrison Abstaining: Mr. Pressman Against: none Ms. Cohen clarified that, per Joe Pato, it was not of interest to the Select Board as to how the RETF relates to the two Lexington home rule petitions regarding a housing surcharge. Mr. Pressman expressed his concern that the letter was not sufficiently informative for the Select Board. Ms. Manz will send the letter to the Select Board and copy the Housing Partnership Board. 5. Discussion of advocacy for Housing Resources Officer Position Ms. Manz reminded the HPB that the HPB has consistently advocated for a Housing Resources Officer. Ms. Manz spoke with Ms. McCabe, the Lexington Planning Director, who thought a Housing Resources Officer was not needed at this time. Given the current workload, the Planning Office is not able to integrate a Housing Resources Officer at this time. Ms. Kowalski, Assistant Town Manager, also felt that this was not an appropriate time to hire a Housing Resources Officer. Ms. Heitz recommended that we ask Ms. McCabe to ensure that the tasks to be identified for a Housing Resources Officer can be accommodated by current Planning Office staff. Ms. Heitz also recommended that we ask for a contact from the Planning Office to respond to questions from the HPB. To this point, questions from the HPB to the Planning Office staff frequently have gone unanswered because the staff is so busy. Mr. Hornig asked whether it would be appropriate for the AHT to employ a Housing Resources Officer rather than the Planning Office. He noted that if there are housing tasks that need to be done by the Town and the Town isn’t doing them, it would be helpful to have a list of those tasks. Mr. Pressman noted that the Amherst AHT employed a half-time consultant for four years. He also noted that he and Mr. Hornig where present at the Select Board meeting when Maggie Peard, the Town Sustainability and Resilience Officer, presented. He said that this demonstrated what a person with a dedicated housing portfolio could do. There are still good reasons to have a housing officer. The HPB agreed that the HPB would create a list of tasks and then ask the Planning Director if that work is covered. Ms. Weiss and Ms. Heitz agreed to draft the list of tasks, using the Housing Resource Officer position description previously written by the relevant working group. 6. Review and approve final Draft Property (formerly Land Acquisition) Policy Recommendation for Select Board Ms. Manz presented the draft Property Policy Recommendation. It incorporates suggestions from the stakeholder groups. The draft also incorporates suggestions from Mr. Hornig and others on the HPB. Mr. Zhao recommended that the phrase “stakeholder group” be changed to “stakeholders”. He also recommended that if a stakeholder withdraws from discussion of a property that the stakeholder be required to notify the Town Manager in writing of their withdrawal so there is a record of same. After a long discussion, Ms. Weiss moved to approve the policy with Mr. Zhao’s point about written notification added and minus the last paragraph. Mr. Hornig seconded the motion. In favor: Ms. Weiss, Mr. Hornig, Ms. Byrnes, Mr. Zhao, Mr. Linton, Mr. Pressman, Ms. Cohen, Ms. Heitz, Ms. Thompson, Ms. Morrison, Ms. Manz Against: none Abstaining: none 7. Review STM Warrant re: HPB positions In the 2023 Town Meeting, Article 7 “Appropriate Housing Resale and Rental Monitoring Fees” is relevant to the HPB’s advisory role. Ms. Weiss moved to recommend that the Select Board support Article 7, “Appropriate Housing Resale and Rental Monitoring Fees”. Mr. Linton seconded the motion. In favor: Mr. Linton, Ms. Weiss, Mr. Hornig, Mr. Pressman, Ms. Cohen, Ms. Heitz, Ms Thompson, Ms. Byrnes, Ms. Morrison, Ms. Manz Against: none Abstaining: Mr. Zhao 8. Discussion of new vacancy on HPB and suggestions for candidates As Jeri Foutter has resigned from the HPB, there is a new vacancy. Please seek volunteers. Ms. Cohen noted that the HPB has received an application for the HPB open position. She will forward the link which was sent to the HPB email address at lexingtonma.gov. 9. Updates Ms. Manz proposed that, in the future, HPB members and liaisons providing updates send them to the HPB via email prior to the meeting. This will save time in the meeting and ensure that we focus on the critical issues. Mr. Hornig noted that the updates should go directly to the chair who should remove all opinions from the updates and then resend them. The updates must be factual to stay within the bounds of the Open Meeting Law. Community Preservation Committee: Based on his attendance at CPC meetings, Mr. Pressman understands that the following applications will be made to the CPC: ▪ Affordable Housing Trust: $3.2M ▪ (No request from the Lexington Housing Authority) ▪ LexHAB: approximately $300,000 for preservation and rehabilitation projects plus a lesser amount for the type of support that helps an organization providing affordable housing be economically viable. This year, the CPC housing bucket will have about $1.8M. For accounts outside of the three 10% buckets $4.6M will be available. The chart provided by Recreation last year indicated that they might request $2M this year. The intended request for the lower floor of the library is $4.6M. This means that already known requests will exceed the available funds. There is an important CPC meeting at 4:00 on Thursday. The CPC chair has written 6 questions to be asked of the AHT, LexHAB, and the Lexington Housing Authority regarding their priorities and plans re CPC requests. Planning Board: Mr. Hornig said that the Planning Board had not met since the last HPB meeting. LexHAB: Ms. Morrison: LexHAB has been dealing with the tragic shooting at Keeler Farm. There are a lot of repercussions moving forward. She asked us to consider that family violence happens at all income levels. Family violence is tragic, but it happens and is not related to income. LexHAB has the following upcoming events: ▪ Oct. 20: Voices on the Green: home storytelling with artwork. LexHAB will have a table at the event. ▪ Oct. 25: LexHAB, METCO, and other organizations have worked together to have an affordable housing resource fair. ▪ Oct. 28: Opening reception for a juried art exhibit with LexArt at the Nye Gallery. The exhibit is entitled “Home”. Great opportunity to bring together housing advocates and folks who aren’t conversant with housing issues but are more into the arts. ▪ Nov. 2: Housing round table policy discussion at the Nye Gallery discussing the past, present, and future of affordable housing. Ms. Morrison requested representation from the HPB at the round table. ▪ Nov. 16: Fundraiser at the Nye Gallery and another way to bring different groups of people together. Council on Aging (COA): At their last meeting, the COA invited the Senior Services clinician to talk about the services he is leading. The feedback from the COA indicated that there is an increased need for seniors who are aging at home. The clinician has is aware of that need. During the first week of November, the clinician will visit the three housing villages that are managed by the Lexington Housing Authority. There will be COVID-19 and flu clinics at the villages. Finally, the Human Services Director, Melissa Interess, left for another position. The COA had a farewell ceremony for her. Sustainable Lexington Committee: Ms. Arens had to leave the meeting early, so no update at this meeting. Affordable Housing Trust (AHT): Ms. Heitz is the liaison to the AHT. She did not have an update at this meeting. 10. Discuss plans Nov. 15th Thank You Party for Melinda Walker, Mary Haskell, Maureen Ryn, and Jeri Foutter Ms. Weiss confirmed that the party will be at Fiorella’s on Nov. 15. She is planning to get a cake and also a plant for Melinda (who was previously the HPB chair) and Jeri. She would appreciate a $10 or $15 donation for the cake and plants. 11. Set November meeting The next meeting date is Nov. 30 at 7:00 pm on Zoom. 12. New Business There was no new business. 13. Minutes Sept. 28, 2023 Ms. Weiss moved to approve the minutes of Sept 28. Ms. Byrnes seconded the motion. In favor: Linton, Weiss, Byrnes, Hornig, Pressman, Heitz, Thompson, Zhao, Manz Against: Morrison Abstaining: none 14. Adjournment Ms. Weiss moved to adjourn; Ms. Zhao seconded the motion. In favor: Linton, Hornig, Pressman, Thompson, Morrison, Zhao, Manz, Weiss, Byrnes Against: none Abstaining: none The meeting adjourned at 8:52 pm.