HomeMy WebLinkAbout2025-05-21-AHTBT-minAffordable Housing Trust
Meeting Minutes of May 21, 2025 10:00 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, Mark
Sandeen, Tiffany Payne, Linda Prosnitz (joined at 10:37 am)
Staff present: Carol Kowalski, Assistant Town Manager for Development; Elizabeth Rust, RHSO
Director; 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 1/9/25 Executive session, and 2/20/25,
2/27/25, 3/10/25, 4/10/25, 4/24/25 and 5/1/25 AHT 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,
Payne — yes, Sandeen —yes, Tung — yes). Meeting minutes approved.
2. Chair, Select Board, Board/Committee Liaison and RHSO/staff report
Ms. Payne reported from Lexington Housing Authority meeting that they reviewed their budget
for fiscal year ending June 30, 2025. There were discussions on maintenance of their existing
units.
Ms. Payne shared the update from the CHAPA Rental Assistance Committee meeting that there
were growing concerns over reduced federal funding for rental assistance and budget cuts for
HUD programs. Ms. Payne stated that at the State level, there were changes made to the
Massachusetts Housing Choice Voucher to end security deposit payments, reducing payment
standards, and eliminating certain rent deductions for working families. Ms. Payne reported that
these steps were taken to avoid losing vouchers altogether but they also meant less support for
tenants who were struggling already. Ms. Payne referred to changes made to the Massachusetts
Rental Voucher Program (MRVP), its impact and recommendations as reported by Boston
Foundation.
Mr. Sandeen mentioned the Boston Globe article that reported a 17% jump in the number of
elder citizens who are residents, and who are homeless in Massachusetts. Mr. Sandeen stated
that it was a huge number increase from 2023 to 2024, and that sometimes just a small amount
of money to help pay a late utility fee or a tax bill could help prevent homelessness.
3. Housing Summit Planning
Caileen Foley, Executive Director of the Lexington Housing Authority, Wendy Manz, Chair and
Betsey Weiss, Vice -Chair of the Housing Partnership Board, Michael Schanbacher, Chair of the
Planning Board, and Sarah Morrison, Executive Director of LexHAB, attended the meeting for the
housing summit planning discussion.
Mr. Sandeen updated that the Town Manager was planning a housing summit aiming to discuss
the roles and responsibilities, and objectives of the housing entities.
There was discussion regarding people's thoughts, goals, and strategies for the proposed
affordable housing summit.
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The group emphasized the need for a comprehensive playbook to clearly define Lexington's
affordable housing strategies and roles of different entities, to ensure alignment and effective
communication during community forums. They felt the need to understand the current housing
conditions and advocate for a strategic plan to prioritize goals based on identified gaps.
There were discussions on whether there should be separate housing summit meetings, one
coordinated by the Town Manager and the other housing summit facilitated by the housing
entities.
The group expressed concerns about federal funding cuts and uncertainty in the current housing
environment. They emphasized the need to educate town committees and the broader
community about the housing crisis and current initiatives. There was discussion on the
importance of clarifying each organization's role and capabilities in achieving the overall goal of
increasing affordable housing.
The group's consensus was to form a smaller unit comprising of representatives from all housing
entities to plan the next steps for the Housing summit.
4. Board Officer Election
Mr. Sandeen moved for the Affordable Housing Trust to nominate the current officers to serve
on the Affordable Housing Trust Board for another year, Elaine Tung as Chair, Linda Prosnitz as
Vice Chair, and Tiffany Payne as Clerk. Mr. Erickson seconded. The Trustees voted in favor of
the motion 5-0-0, by a roll call vote (Sandeen — yes, Erickson — yes, Payne — yes, Prosnitz — yes,
Tung — yes).
5. MBTA Buydown
Ms. Tung stated that the Trust has decided to pair up with the 3 — 5 Militia Drive developer, and
submit the application for the HousingWorks Infrastructure Grant with EOHLC. The Trustees
discussed the details to complete the grant application.
Mr. Erickson and Mr. Sandeen will work on creating a document summarizing how the grant
application meets the scoring criteria.
Ms. Tung will follow up with the developer to get construction cost estimates and other required
information for the grant application.
Mr. Erickson will update the grant application narrative based on the feedback received during
the meeting.
Ms. Tung will meet with the Housing Partnership Board on May 29th to get a support letter for
the grant application. Ms. Tung will also try to get a support letter from the Select Board for the
grant application.
Ms. Kowalski will start inputting the grant application details into the IGX platform. Ms. Kowalski
will check if there are other staff members who can help complete the grant application input
before the deadline.
Executive Session
Ms. Tung moved to go into Executive session under Exemption 6 to consider the purchase or
lease of real property regarding MBTA Multi -Family Development Buy -downs. The Affordable
Housing Trust Chair stated that an open session might have a detrimental effect on the
negotiating position of the Affordable Housing Trust. Ms. Tung stated that the Trust will not
reconvene in an open session after the Executive session. Mr. Erickson seconded. The Trustees
voted in favor of the motion 5-0-0, by a roll call vote (Erickson — yes, Payne — yes, Sandeen —
yes, Prosnitz — yes, Tung — yes).
The Trust exited the open session at 12:08 pm.
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