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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2024-01-22-AHTBT-min Page 1 of 2 Affordable Housing Trust Meeting Minutes of January 22, 2024 9:00 am Hybrid meeting on Zoom and attended in-person in the Parker Room, Town Office Building Affordable Housing Trust Board Members present: Elaine Tung, Chair; William Erickson, Tiffany Payne were present. Mark Sandeen joined in during the review of meeting minutes. Linda Prosnitz was absent. Staff present: Carol Kowalski, Assistant Town Manager for Development; Liz Rust, RHSO Director; Ragi Ramachandran, Administrative Assistant Other attendees: Bob Pressman, Kathryn Roy, Margaret Heitz, Nico Gallinelli, Daniela Lang Ms. Tung chaired the hybrid meeting and called the meeting to order at 9:02 am. 1. Approve Meeting Minutes of October 23 and December 7 meetings. Ms. Tung provided amendments to the December 7 meeting minutes. Mr. Erickson moved approval, Ms. Payne seconded. Roll call vote: Mr. Erickson, yes; Ms. Payne, yes; Mr. Sandeen, yes; Ms. Tung, yes. 2. Finance Report was reviewed and discussed. The Trust asked for more detail. Mr. Gallinelli asked about the $550,000 land acquisition, which Ms. Tung explained was for the LexHAB 2 - family home purchase in December. Ms. Tung reported that the financial committees expect the Trust to submit a financial report to Town Meeting each year. 3. Chair, Select Board, Board/Committee Liaison and RHSO/staff report s. Ms. Tung mentioned the Lexington Lyceum event entitled How Much Affordable Housing is Enough? at which she and Ms. Payne would present. Ms. Tung would also be attending the Community Preservation Committee Article 10 presentation at the Select Board meeting that night. 4. Lowell Street. Ms. Tung reviewed that Mr. Erickson had previously agreed to prepare a draft Abbreviated Notice of Resource Area Delineation (ANRAD) application to the Conservation Commission. Mr. Erickson described the purpose of the ANRAD, and that the approved delineation would then be established for two years. 5. Preparation of a draft of Frequently Asked Questions was discussed, including an outline of categories of FAQs. Ms. Kowalski, Ms. Payne and Ms. Prosnitz would continue to work on the FAQs. 6. Housing Needs Assessment. Ms. Rust explained that the approach would be to establish a small working group of possibly 5 people, a member from each of the constituent groups to guide, review, and provide local input on the work, including one person from the Trust, meeting once per month. Ms. Rust presented the Lexington Needs Assessment Project Introduction, including a work plan. Mr. Sandeen asked who would decide who would be on the working group. Ms. Rust said the Assistant Town Manager for Development. Mr. Sandeen suggested that a member from the Lexington Housing Authority be on the working group, to which everyone agreed. Ms. Payne was recommended by Ms. Tung to represent the Housing Trust, to which Ms. Payne agreed. CPC representation was discussed, as well, and left to Ms. Kowalski. Page 2 of 2 7. RFP and developer selection process. Ms. Kowalski requested that the Trust should determine the scope and scale of the RFP and to start thinking about developing an outline and goals. 8. Outreach. Ms. Tung reported that the she and Mr. Erikson attended a Recreation Committee meeting. The Recreation Committee voted unanimously to support Article 33. Ms. Payne reported that she and Ms. Tung attended the Association of Black Citizens of Lexington (ABCL) meeting. ABCL seeks Black representation in new businesses, and would like to participate in the RFP and process, and to seek Black and Brown developers. Ms. Tung added that there should be more outreach to minority owned and women owned business, which should be borne in mind during the RFP process. Ms. Tung said she forwarded the presentation to them. Mr. Pressman asked if the Town’s Equity officer can address ABCL concerns which Mr. Sandeen said they could. Upcoming meeting dates with other boards and committees were outlined. Mr. Erickson also reported on outreach to seek support from othe rs, such as the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization. Additional outreach plans were made. The Trustees discussed upcoming neighbor outreach. Ms. Roy recommended zoom-only rather than hybrid outreach, to avoid speaking out of turn, and have more order. Mr. Gallinelli agreed with having two additional outreach sessions for Precinct 5 and 6 and the neighbors so that neighbors can feel heard. The Trust discussed the 40B permitting process, and whether Special Residential Development (SRD) could be used. Ms. Kowalski explained why SRD could not be used in this case. New business: Ms. Payne raised the subject of disparities of housing in Lexington, which will be good to address in the Housing Needs Assessment, from 2020, a report Mapping Inequality. Ms. Tung asked Ms. Kowalski to share that report with the Housing Trust. Mr. Sandeen commented that the Lexington Housing Authority has updated its waiting list. The waiting list now includes 686 applicants or about 1,000 people waiting 7 years for 1-bedroom apartments, just for the Lexington Housing Authority. 9. Adjourn Mr. Erickson moved to adjourn, which was seconded by Mr. Sandeen, and on a roll call vote: Mr. Erickson, yes; Mr. Sandeen, yes; Ms. Payne, yes, Ms. Tung yes. List of documents reviewed: Financial Report Lexington Needs Assessment Project Introduction