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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2025-08-06-AHTBT-min.pdf Page 1 of 3 Affordable Housing Trust Meeting Minutes of August 6, 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; Mark Sandeen, Linda Prosnitz, Tiffany Payne, William Erickson (joined at 10:19 am) Staff present: Carol Kowalski, Assistant Town Manager for Development; Elizabeth Rust, RHSO Director; Ragi Ramachandran, Administrative Assistant; Kristen Guichard, RHSO Ms. Tung chaired the hybrid meeting and called the meeting to order at 10:06 am. 1. Chair, Select Board, Board/Committee Liaison and RHSO/staff report Ms. Rust introduced Kristen Guichard who is transitioning in her new role as the RHSO Director. Ms. Rust stated that she and Ms. Guichard will be co-directing for this year. Ms. Rust will be the point person for the Trust’s activities for FY26. Ms. Prosnitz shared that the Housing Partnership Boar d was scheduled to meet in-person the following week. Ms. Payne reported that Lexington Housing Authority was scheduled to meet on Thurs, Aug. 14 2025. Ms. Rust reported that RHSO has started marketing the affordable homeownership opportunity at Edgewood and Meriam Street. She mentioned the other Lexington properties that will be coming up for marketing later this year. Ms. Rust explained the lottery process for affordable housing opportunities. The applications are required to be submitted individually for each property and selected through a random lottery drawing. She stated that eligible applicants are entered into the lottery and given lottery numbers, and are picked randomly. They are ranked by household size to fill the bedrooms, per the State guidelines. For ownership lotteries, the mortgage preapproval must accompany the application. To locate affordable opportunities, Ms. Rust mentioned www.mymasshome.org for ownership units, and Housing Navigator, https://housingnavigatorma.org/ for rental units. Ms. Kowalski agreed to share documentation on the lottery application process with the Trustees. Ms. Tung asked how the real estate tax were assessed and set for rental inclusionary units. Ms. Rust stated that RHSO is involved only with the real estate tax for ownership properties. RHSO works with the Town Assessors office, and the assessment is done on an annual basis for the ownership units as a standard part of the RHSO services. 2. Approve Meeting Minutes Ms. Tung moved to approve the Executive session minutes of 5/1/25, 5/21/25, 5/29/25, and regular session minutes of 3/14/25, 3/25/25, 5/29/25, 6/12/25, 6/26/25, 7/8/25 and 7/15/25 AHT meetings. Ms. Prosnitz 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). Meeting minutes approved. Page 2 of 3 3. Lowell Street Parcel 68-44 Update Ms. Kowalski shared that the Select Board has sent the comment letter to EOHLC following EOHLC’s extension of the comment period on the project eligibility letter application. The Town expects the developer will hear soon on their project eligibility. Ms. Kowalski stated that two members of EOHLC attended the site visit on Aug. 1, 2025, along with Ms. Kowalski and Mr. Sandeen and two developers from Causeway Development. The developer demonstrated balanced considerations to EOHLC during the site visit. Mr. Sandeen mentioned the general comments made by EOHLC about the timing issues for such projects in applying for low income housing tax credits. Mr. Sandeen mentioned that the group walked from Middlesex Commons parking lot up the Lowell Street sidewalk to the property and back so they could experience the walk from Middlesex Commons. Ms. Tung asked Ms. Kowalski for an update on the intersection improvements. Ms. Kowalski explained that new signal light mast arms were being installed, and the existing pedestrian lights were being updated. Bob Pressman asked a question about the traffic lights to create breaks in the traffic. He will email the question to Ms. Kowalski and it will be posed to the Town Engineer. Mr. Pressman mentioned a shrub on the town property that blocked the view up towards I-95, and requested that it needs to be addressed for safety. 4. Tenant Support Programs Ms. Payne presented the Rental Assistance program on which the working group comprising of Ms. Prosnitz, Ms. Rust and Ms. Payne has collaborated. Ms. Payne stated that the program was designed to assist Lexington residents earning between 50-80% of the area median income who were struggling with rent. The program will cap eligible rents at the highest limit from fair market rent numbers, aiming to reduce housing costs to 30% of income with a minimum benefit of $50 per month for up to 6 months. The program will use a lottery system for the first round of applications, with the RHSO handling administration and payments going directly to landlords. Ms. Rust outlined the application process, which includes a one -month open period followed by a lottery ranking system, with a proposed program target launch date of January. The Trustees discussed the details of the rental assistance program. They noted the need to coordinate with Human Services regarding utility costs and income calculations, to understand how their methods differ from the proposed program. Ms. Tung mentioned that utility arrears cannot be paid out of CPA funds. Ms. Tung recommended the working group seek feedback from Melinda Walker on the rental assistance program, and Human Services department to review the proposed program against their existing programs, and to clarify differences. The working group agreed to look further into the resident support program framework, application process, and determine the launch date. The Trustees will decide on the amount of funds to allocate for the pilot resident support program. 5. FY26 Goal Assignments The Trustees reviewed the Affordable Housing Trust’s draft goals and strategies document. Mr. Sandeen recommended preparing a presentation before going to the Select Board for their approval of the Trust goals. Page 3 of 3 There was discussion on the draft goals, and the goal assignments among the Trustees. Executive Session Ms. Tung moved to go into Executive session under Exemption 6 to consider the purchase or lease of real property regarding the MBTA Multi-Family Development Buy-downs. The Affordable Housing Trust Chair stated that in her opinion, an open session would have a detrimental effect on the negotiating position of the Town and Affordable Housing Trust. Ms. Tung stated that the Trust will not reconvene in an open session after the Executive session. Ms. Prosnitz 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 11:40 am. List of documents reviewed 1. Draft Lexington Rental Assistance Program LRAP – Pilot 2. Draft AHT Housing Goals and Strategies