HomeMy WebLinkAbout2024-01-31-AHTBT-min
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Affordable Housing Trust
Meeting Minutes of January 31, 2024 10:00 am
Hybrid meeting on Zoom and attended in-person in the Hudson Room, Cary Hall
Affordable Housing Trust Board Members present: Elaine Tung, Chair; Mark Sandeen, William
Erickson, Tiffany Payne, Linda Prosnitz
Staff present: Carol Kowalski, Assistant Town Manager for Development; Elizabeth Rust, RHSO
Director; Ragi Ramachandran, Administrative Assistant
Other attendees: Margaret Heitz, Bob Pressman, Kathryn Roy, Rick Jette, Mariana Mariscal
Ms. Tung chaired the hybrid meeting and called the meeting to order at 10:05am.
1. Approve Meeting Minutes
The meeting minutes approval was postponed to next meeting.
2. Finance Report
Ms. Tung requested a consolidated report detailing the revenue and expense line items
specified on the Housing Trust Fund Balance summary report from Finance department. The
Staff agreed to provide this report at the next meeting.
3. Chair, Select Board, Board/Committee Liaison and RHSO/staff report
Mr. Sandeen updated that the Select Board has approved Article 10i for pre -funding the
Affordable Housing Trust and Article 33 for Lowell St to be included in the Annual Town
Meeting Warrant.
Ms. Tung updated that she and Mr. Erikson attended a Planning Board meeting. The Planning
Board will be voting on support of Article 33 at a future meeting. Ms. Tung and Ms. Prosnitz will
be meeting with the Capital Expenditures Committee and Appropriation Committee.
Ms. Payne provided an update from the Lexington Lyceum Affordable Housing event that she
and Ms. Tung presented at on Jan. 30. It was well attended and informative to hear the
perspectives and feedback from the community.
4. Affordable Housing Trust Work Session
The Trustees had a work session and reviewed in detail the outline of questions to be included
in the FAQ’s and the responses. There was discussion on the goals for parcel 68-44, the zoning
process, the process for development on the parcel, the RFP process, opportunities for
community input, and addressing public concerns.
Ms. Rust shared inputs on the zoning process, and the timeline for 40B permitting. Ms. Kowalski
explained the process from the issuance of RFP to housing development. Mr. Erickson agreed to
help with a flowchart to illustrate the process.
Mr. Sandeen suggested minimizing FAQ content as the present draft is too long. Ms. Tung felt it
should be comprehensive with as much information as possible for the community, but shorter.
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Ms. Payne, Mr. Sandeen and Mr. Erickson agreed to send their comments for the initial FAQ
draft to Ms. Ramachandran by Fri, Feb. 2. Ms. Ramachandran will consolidate the responses
and share it for the Trust’s review. Ms. Tung and Ms. Prosnitz will work on the FAQ responses
and comments. The revised FAQ will be reviewed at the next meeting.
The meeting with Precinct 5 and 6 members and neighbors will be on Feb. 15 at 4pm by zoom.
5. New Business
Mr. Erickson will continue discussions with Greater Boston Interfaith Organization for the letter
of support for Article 33. Ms. Ramachandran updated that Ms. Payne is registered for the Mel
King Institute affordable housing training program in March.
6. Confirm future meeting dates
The next meeting will be on Feb. 7 at 11:30 am.
7. Adjourn
The meeting adjourned at 12:02 pm by a roll call vote (Erickson – yes, Prosnitz – yes, Sandeen –
yes, Tung – yes, Payne – yes).
List of documents reviewed:
Article 33 FAQ's Outline