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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2025-03-25-AHTBT-minAffordable Housing Trust Meeting Minutes of March 25, 2025 2:00 pm 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, Tiffany Payne, Linda Prosnitz, Mark Sandeen Staff present: Liz Rust, RHSO Director; Kiruthika Ramakrishnan, Office Manager Ms. Tung chaired the hybrid meeting and called the meeting to order at 2:01 pm. Executive Session Ms. Tung moved to go into Executive session under Exemption 6 to consider the purchase of real property. The Affordable Housing Trust Chair stated that, in her opinion, an open session would have a detrimental effect on the negotiating position of the Affordable Housing Trust. Ms. Tung stated that the Trust will 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, Prosnitz — yes, Sandeen — yes, Tung — yes). The Trust exited the open session at 2:04 pm, and reconvened in open session at 3:26 pm. 1. Approve Meeting Minutes Ms. Tung requested a motion to approve the AHT minutes of 1/16/25 open session, and Executive sessions of 11/7/24, 11/14/24, 11/21/24, 12/20/24 and 1/16/25. Mr. Sandeen moved. Mr. Erickson seconded. The Trustees voted in favor of the motion 4-0-1, by a roll call vote (Erickson —yes, Payne—yes, Sandeen —yes, Tung—yes). Ms. Prosnitz abstained. Meeting minutes approved. 2. Chair, Select Board, Board/Committee Liaison and RHSO/staff report Ms. Payne shared the update from Lexington Housing Authority's meeting on March 12th. The Trustees expressed concern with the future of HUD being uncertain and they discussed its potential impact on the Housing Authority. There was discussion on the reduction in Section 8 vouchers. Mr. Erickson reported that LexHAB's meeting was scheduled for March 26th. Ms. Prosnitz reported that the Housing Partnership Board was scheduled to meet that evening. They have been having lot of discussions on Article 2. Mr. Sandeen mentioned that the Vine Street article will be reviewed at Town meeting on April 7th. Ms. Tung shared the update from the Lowell Street community meeting on March 6th. The next step is the support letter for the project eligibility application that Causeway requested from the Trust. Ms. Tung shared that the Article 2 passed Town Meeting. The Town Center amendment failed to pass. The Trust will need to continue their efforts for affordable housing in Town Center. Page 1 of 2 3. Housing Needs Assessment Ms. Rust gave an overview of the Housing Needs Assessment status and the draft report. Ms. Rust stated that RHSO were way over budget with the project. The Trustees thanked Ms. Rust and the Housing Needs Assessment working group for their efforts. The Trustees shared their feedback from the review of the draft report. They expressed concern with the quality of work delivered, the Executive Summary and some repetition in the report. They felt the Needs Assessment did not address project scope that was applied, outlined and requested as part of the grant application and funding such as identifying the type of housing that were needed the most in Lexington, the number of units to create, the lack of an action plan to address the housing crisis, and the lack of guidance on the steps forward to address the identified needs. There were also opinions expressed regarding the order of components in the document and the conclusion. Ms. Tung will rewrite the description of Affordable Housing Trust in the report. Ms. Tung requested that the report be modified to the extent possible to address the Trust's objectives for the Needs Assessment. She emphasized that the report needs to advocate for affordable housing. Ms. Rust requested a consolidated list of the Trust's written comments on the Needs Assessment draft report. The Trustees agreed to send their individual comments to Ms. Tung by March 26. Ms. Tung will consolidate the Trustees comments and send it to Ms. Rust. 4. Resident Support The Trustees discussed the resident support utility assistance worked on by Mr. Erickson and Ms. Payne. It had two portions, sustainability and rental utility assistance. Ms. Payne presented the rental utility assistance section and Mr. Erickson presented the sustainability portion. The Trustees applauded Ms. Payne and Mr. Erickson for their efforts. There was discussion on the demand in the community for these programs, how the programs will function, its funding, timeline, and administration. The Trustees shared their feedback on the programs with the first program on 'Emergency Fuel Assistance' being the most preferred out of the three programs presented. They felt the other two programs needed further investigation. Maggie Peard, Town's Sustainability and Resiliency Officer, provided clarification on the Low - Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) and LEAN programs. Mr. Erickson and Ms. Payne will draft the detailed proposal for the utility assistance program including eligibility criteria and process flow. They will coordinate with Human Services Department for further information. The Trust considered presenting the utility assistance program proposal to Select Board for their review and feedback. 5. Adjourn Mr. Sandeen moved to adjourn the Affordable Housing Trust Meeting. Mr. Erickson seconded. The Trustees voted in favor of the motion 5-0-0, by roll call vote (Payne — yes, Sandeen-yes, Prosnitz- yes, Erickson- yes, Tung- yes) The meeting adjourned at 5:41 pm. List of documents reviewed: Draft Resident Support Program Presentation Page 2 of 2