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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2025-01-30-AHTBT-min Page 1 of 2 Affordable Housing Trust Meeting Minutes January 30, 2025 11:00 am Hybrid meeting on Zoom and attended in-person in the Select Board Meeting Room, Town Office Building Affordable Housing Trust Board Members present: Elaine Tung, Chair; William Erickson, Mark Sandeen, Linda Prosnitz, Tiffany Payne Staff present: Carol Kowalski, Assistant Town Manager for Development; Liz Rust, RHSO Director; Ragi Ramachandran, Administrative Assistant. Ms. Tung chaired the hybrid meeting and called the meeting to order at 11:10 am. 1. Approve Meeting Minutes Ms. Tung requested a motion to approve the minutes of the12/20/24 Affordable Housing Trust meeting and the minutes of the Executive sessions held on 5/8/24 and 5/15/24. Mr. Sandeen moved. Ms. Prosnitz seconded. The Trustees voted in favor of the motion 5-0-0, by a roll call vote (Erickson – yes, Tung – yes, Sandeen – yes, Prosnitz- yes, Payne – yes). Meeting minutes approved. 2. Chair, Select Board, Board/Committee Liaison and RHSO/staff report Ms. Payne shared an update regarding the Housing Needs Assessment report. She stated that steps were taken to make sure that everything aligned with the Trust’s housing goals. Ms. Rust shared that RHSO has been working with three affordable housing, affirmative, fair marketing, fair housing marketing plans for developments in Lexington and provided the locations and the procedure that will be followed and shared the timeline of the lottery. Ms. Rust explained that the Needs Assessment is not an action plan but the report would help the community understand the current data. Ms. Tung reported that on January 27, 2025, the Select Board unanimously approved the Land Disposition Agreement to develop the 100% affordable housing development on Lowell Street Parcel 68-44. Ms. Tung added that Causeway Development is planning to hold a community meeting in February/March. 3. Budget Projection The Affordable Housing Trust’s Budget was shared and Ms. Tung reminded the Trustees about their earlier discussions on the requests to be made to Community Preservation Committee factoring in the requests received from Lexington Housing Authority and LexHAB and also considering the MBTA Multi-family and Special Residential Development buydowns. Ms. Tung asked the opinion of the Trustees regarding the original allocation for MBTA/ SRD buy- downs. Ms. Tung said that the Trust has expressed their interest to developers to buy down multiple units in each development. Mr. Sandeen recommended informing the community that the budget was created during the early stages of MBTA Communities Act zoning. Since the Trust has been engaging with the developers, the Trust has realized that there is an opportunity to create more affordable housing units with the MBTA buydown program than originally Page 2 of 2 anticipated. Mr. Erickson wanted clarification of what exactly would be achieved by increasing the budget. Ms. Kowalski reminded Mr. Erickson about the buy down policy and Mr. Erickson stated that he favored additional units at a lower area median income. Ms. Prosnitz provided details of the rental subsidies to create permanently affordable units in perpetuity. They agreed that one of the primary goals of the Trust is to leverage Trust funds to get the maximum returns and to create more affordable housing. In addition, the Trust wants to ensure a healthy percentage of subsidized housing inventory. The Trustees also discussed the proposed budget for Resident Support. Public Comments Bob Pressman expressed his opinion that buying units at 60 -70% AMI will never help the people who are in most need of housing and added that instead, rent supplement programs would help people at very low income to have housing. Ms. Tung shared a spreadsheet of the Affordable Housing Trust’s Fund History and made the changes that were agreed upon by the Trustees. Ms. Prosnitz expressed her opinion that she would prefer that the Trust focus its efforts on doing more projects like Lowell Street . Mr. Sandeen pointed out to Ms. Prosnitz that the Town provided the land for Lowell Street, which was of a substantial value and that another parcel would not be available in the near future to create a similar project. In his opinion, the Trust should be taking advantage of the MBTA housing to create more affordable units. For FY 2026, the Trustees discussed and came to a consensus that the Trust would like to add units at 60% AMI and agreed to increase the budget for MBTA/ SRD buy-downs to leverage funds when an opportunity arises. The Trustees also decided to increase the Administrative Expenses line item. The Trustees discussed and made changes to the FY 2027 to FY 2030 budgets. 4. Special Town Meeting Warrant Article Ms. Prosnitz shared the discussion in the meeting of the Housing Partnership Board the previous night regarding amending the by-law for MBTA Communities Act zoning. The Trustees agreed that the Trust should discuss and take a position after the Planning Board takes its position. 5. Adjourn Ms. Tung requested a motion to adjourn the Affordable Housing Trust meeting. Mr. Sandeen moved. Ms. Prosnitz seconded. The Trustees voted in favor of the motion 5-0-0, by a roll call vote (Sandeen – yes, Prosnitz – yes, Payne – yes, Erickson – yes, Tung – yes). The meeting adjourned at 1:30 pm. List of documents reviewed: 1. Affordable Housing Trust Fund History 2. Affordable Housing Trust- Projected Budget Spreadsheet