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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2024-12-04-AHTBT-min Page 1 of 3 Affordable Housing Trust Meeting Minutes of December 4, 2024 9:30 am Hybrid meeting on Zoom and attended in-person in Ellen Stone Room, Cary Hall Affordable Housing Trust Board Members present: Elaine Tung, Chair; William Erickson, Mark Sandeen, Tiffany Payne, Linda Prosnitz Staff present: Carol Kowalski, Assistant Town Manager for Development; Ragi Ramachandran, Administrative Assistant Other attendees: Dana Bickelman, Director of Human Services; Penny Tsiounis, Youth & Family Services Manager Ms. Tung chaired the hybrid meeting and called the meeting to order at 9:33 am. 1. Approve Meeting Minutes Ms. Tung requested a motion to approve the minutes of 11/7/24 meeting. Mr. Erickson moved. Ms. Prosnitz seconded. The Trustees voted in favor of the motion 5-0-0, by a roll call vote (Erickson – yes, Tung – yes, Payne – yes, Prosnitz – yes, Sandeen – yes). Meeting minutes approved. 2. Chair, Select Board, Board/Committee Liaison and RHSO/staff report Ms. Payne reported that the Housing Needs Assessment meeting is scheduled for next week. Ms. Tung shared the update from the LexHAB meeting on November 26. LexHAB did not send a letter to the State Legislature for the support of the two home rule petitions (H.2740 and H.2741) because the Board did not have consensus. A couple of individual Board members will be sending a letter of support. LexHAB discussed the development of the Vine Street parcel. The Town, not LexHAB, owns Vine Street. The Board discussed the process for developing the parcel including that a Warrant Article at Town Meeting will be needed to be passed for an RFP to issue developing affordable housing on Vine Street. Ms. Tung shared the update from her meeting with Rep. Michelle Ciccolo along with members of the Housing Partnership Board. The Home Rule petition for the commercial linkage fees was likely to pass in the Senate but the residential linkage fees was still tied up in the House with pushback that the Affordable Homes Act already covered this. Ms. Tung requested the Trustees to complete the Acknowledgement Receipt of Conflict of Interest Law training for 2024. The Trustees congratulated Mr. Sandeen for his efforts on getting the Massachusetts Climate Bill passed. 3. Resident Support Program Ms. Tung gave a brief introduction of Affordable Housing Trust to Ms. Bickelman and Ms. Tsiounis. The group reviewed the Trust Values. Ms. Tung shared that the Trust is trying to determine what programs that the Trust could establish that would be administered by other entities, such as Human Services or RHSO, that are not already existing In addition to getting people housed, the Trust members expressed that it was important to help affordable housing residents successfully remain in their homes. The Trust is exploring options in Page 2 of 3 terms of assistance with first and last month’s rent, security deposits, down payments for ownership units, fuel assistance, or other kinds of rental assistance. Ms. Tsiounis and Ms. Bickelman explained the various assistance and subsidy programs offered by the State and Town. There was discussion on the Residents and Families in Transition (RAFT) program that is supported by State, and the programs offered by the Town such as Lexington Emergency Financial Assistance Fund program (LEAF), Senior property work off program, CPA surcharge exemption, and various benefits for veterans. In general, there are more programs geared towards seniors. As part of the subsidy programs, the Town has helped with fuel assistance, utility arrears, and paying overdue rent in certain situations. The decisions were made on a case by case basis depending on the applicant’s circumstances and the availability of resources. There were grocery gift cards given out with ARPA money. There was discussion on programs for renters versus homeowners. The Trustees brainstormed whether there were any specific areas that the Trust could help with. The Trustees felt a more holistic approach was required to prevent financial crisis and to reduce the need for emergency assistance. Ms. Bickelman agreed to share information with Trustees on programs for affordable homeowners. Ms. Tung concluded that the Trustees will be reaching out to Ms. Bickelman and Ms. Tsiounis to discuss further, in their efforts to develop a program that Affordable Housing Trust could support. Fuel Assistance – Ms. Payne and Mr. Erickson walked through the memo they had put together on fuel assistance and energy costs support to help renters, homeowners and landlords. The Trustees deliberated on what would be the Trust’s role in enabling the programs, the most efficient ways to guide and implement the proposed ideas. The Trustees emphasized the need for structural changes to reduce energy costs, and suggested focusing on long-term benefits rather than temporary solutions. There were suggestions for integrating any new program with existing housing support. They also discussed the potential benefits for landlords if energy costs were reduced, as it would reduce the likelihood of tenant eviction. The next steps are to research existing programs and to identify potential partners for implementation. 4. MBTA buydown The Trustees reviewed the Trust’s Values with respect to the MBTA multi-family units, focusing on the importance of providing affordable housing to lower -income households. Ms. Kowalski shared the Affordable Housing Trust Buy Down program adopted by the Trust in September 2023. The Trustees considered the importance of location in determining the accessibility of affordable housing. There were questions around LexHAB’s inventory in terms of the demand expressed for 1-bedroom, 2-bedroom and 3-bedroom units. There was detailed discussion and the group felt it was important to consider the creation of housing opportunities for lower income households (below 80% AMI), enabling more ownership opportunities, as well as the conversion of one-bedroom units to two-bedroom units. 5. Any other business that may properly come before the Trustees which could not be reasonably anticipated Ms. Tung updated that CPC is discussing all the applications, they have more requests than they have funds for, and that there has been pushback on where the Affordable Housing Trust gets its funds from. Ms. Tung has stressed to the CPC that the Trust’s primary funding source is CPA funds, and she is continuing the discussions with CPC. Ms. Tung will attend the December 5 meeting as well as any future December CPC meetings. Page 3 of 3 The Trust did not have the Executive session, and the Lowell Street Parcel 68-44 agenda item was tabled for future discussion. 6. Adjourn Mr. Sandeen moved to adjourn the Affordable Housing Trust meeting. M r. Erickson seconded. The Trustees voted in favor of the motion 5-0-0, by a roll call vote (Tung – yes, Prosnitz – yes, Payne – yes, Erickson – yes, Sandeen – yes). The meeting adjourned at 11:43 am. List of documents reviewed: 1. AHT Values adopted 8-9-23 2. Memo on Fuel Assistance and Energy Cost Support Policy 3. Affordable Housing Trust Buy Down program