HomeMy WebLinkAbout2024-09-05-AHTBT-min-copy
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Affordable Housing Trust
Meeting Minutes of September 5, 2024 12:30 pm
Hybrid meeting on Zoom and attended in-person in Parker room, Town office
building
Affordable Housing Trust Board Members present: Elaine Tung, Chair; Mark Sandeen, William
Erickson, Tiffany Payne, Linda Prosnitz (joined at 10:12am)
Staff present: Carol Kowalski, Assistant Town Manager for Development; Ragi Ramachandran,
Administrative Assistant
Ms. Tung chaired the hybrid meeting and called the meeting to order at 10:06 am.
1. Approve Meeting Minutes
Ms. Tung requested a motion to approve the minutes of 7/31/24 and 8/19/24 meetings. Mr.
Sandeen moved. Mr. Erickson seconded. The Trustees voted in favor of the motion 4-0-0, by a
roll call vote (Erickson – yes, Tung – yes, Sandeen – yes, Payne – yes). Meeting minutes approved.
2. Chair, Select Board, Board/Committee Liaison and RHSO/staff report
Ms. Tung shared an update on the two Home Rule petitions, H2740 and H2741. A letter was sent
to the House Speaker and Rep. Walsh requesting they prioritize the two petitions in the informal
session. LexHAB and Housing Partnership Board will be voting at their next meeting on the letter
to the House Speaker requesting for the petitions to be prioritized.
Mr. Erickson reported that LexHAB’s Home Rule petition to become a 501(c)(3) was approved
and scheduled for Governor’s signature. Ms. Kowalski stated that there is a core group working
very diligently on LexHAB’s LDA, and transfer of the town’s LexHAB assets to the nonprofit
LexHAB, and most prepared with restrictions, to set forth a mutually agreed upon
recommendation on which properties will have what kind of restrictions and the ones that will
not have the same restrictions.
Ms. Kowalski updated that the Housing Needs Assessment team is meeting ever y month, and
they are on schedule.
Mr. Sandeen stated the Select Board’s preference to hold interviews for the shortlisted
developers for Lowell St parcel was on Sept. 16.
3. FY 2026 CPC Application
The Trustees reviewed the five-year budget projection plan. They had a discussion on FY26
funding and brainstormed on the updates required to the chart.
Ms. Tung will verify funding amounts with LexHAB and Lexington Housing Authority for CPC
application.
Ms. Tung suggested including a “Reserve” line item to allocate funds for future anticipated needs.
Ms. Kowalski recommended looking at whether it is a best practice followed by the Housing
Trusts in other towns, and if it was outlined in Mass Housing Partnership’s Trust manual. Ms.
Tung will check with Assistant Town Manager for Finance, Carolyn Kosnoff on whether “Reserve”
funds are allowed and required.
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Ms. Kowalski agreed to share Liz Rust’s memo she had prepared for the town couple of years ago
about Katahdin Woods.
Ms. Kowalski shared the idea that several towns and cities were considering the possibility of
incorporating affordable housing above town-owned facilities, such as libraries.
Ms. Tung will rework the five-year plan chart for future review by the Trustees.
4. MBTA buydown
Tabled for future consideration.
5. Lowell Street Parcel 68-44
The Trustees discussed the Affordable Housing Trust's evaluation process for the Lowell Street
proposals, emphasizing the need for fair and applicable questions for all proposals . They
considered if there is anything the Trust want to convey the evaluation team in their review of
the proposals.
The Trustees reviewed the RFP evaluation team’s compiled list of questions for developers. Mr.
Sandeen walked through each line item. Ms. Payne felt the need for more detailed information
on the contractors and property management companies involved in the proposals.
The questions will be sent to the shortlisted developers before the interviews. Their responses
will be considered as the Trust make their decision on the developer to recommend to the Select
Board. The consensus was to give each proposal 15 to 20 minutes for a presentation and a total
of 45 minutes for the interview.
The Trustees discussed the need for developers to demonstrate strong financial capacity,
including sufficient network and access to finance, and the ability to secure pre-development
funding. Ms. Tung will identify people to review developers' financial statements.
The Trustees considered visiting the proponents’ existing projects to evaluate the quality of their
designs. Ms. Tung will look into scheduling site visits for shortlisted developers’ properties. The
Trustees agreed to share their availability with Ms. Ramachandran for site visits in the next couple
of weeks.
The Trustees reviewed the process to check on the developers’ references. They discussed the
possibility of dividing the reference checking task among different people or assigning it to the
same two people. They reviewed the list of questions for the references. Ms. Kowalski offered to
assist with reference checks for developers. Ms. Tung agreed to consolidate the questions for the
development team’s references, based on the discussions.
6. Adjourn
Ms. Tung requested a motion to adjourn the Affordable Housing Trust meeting. Mr. Sandeen
moved. Mr. Erickson seconded. The Trustees voted in favor of the motion 5-0-0, by a roll call vote
(Erickson – yes, Sandeen – yes, Payne – yes, Tung – yes, Prosnitz – yes).
The meeting adjourned at 11:59 am.
List of documents reviewed:
1. FY26 CPC Anticipated Requests
2. Parcel 68-44 RFP Evaluation Team’s Questions
3. List of questions for Development Team's references