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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2018-04-17-HPB-min Lexington Housing Partnership Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, April 17, 2018 Attendees: Harriet Cohen, Nancy Corcoran-Ronchetti, Mary Haskell, Paul Linton,Wendy Manz, Rich McDonough,Joe Pato, Bob Pressman, Melinda Walker, Betsey Weiss Absent: Mary Haskell,Jeri Foutter Guest: Melanie Thompson The meeting was chaired by Melinda Walker and minutes were taken by Harriet Cohen.The meeting was called to order at 7:38 pm. 1. Approval of minutes of February 20,2018 The PARTNERSHIP agreed on several minor changes to the minutes. Ms. Weiss moved approval of the minutes; Mr. Pressman seconded.The minutes, as amended, were approved unanimously. 2. Approval of minutes of March 20, 2018 The PARTNERSHIP agreed on several minor changes to the minutes. Mr. Pressman moved approval of the minutes; Ms. Weiss seconded.The minutes, as amended, were approved with 8 votes in favor and one abstention by Ms. Corcoran-Ronchetti. 3. Endorsement of the Local Initiative Program (LIP)for the LexHAB project at Wright Farm Ms. Walker is a signatory to the LIP application which she received from Liz Rust at the Regional Housing Services Office (RHSO). Ms.Walker reviewed key aspects of the application.This review brought to light several items in the LIP application that need further discussion. Mr. Pressman moved that the Chair be authorized to discuss with Ms. Rust at RHSO various aspects of the 4- bedroom LIP application for the Wright Farm House and be authorized to sign the application upon being satisfied with the results of the discussion. Ms. Corcoran-Ronchetti seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. 4. Discussion of LexHAB Business and Projects/Mr. Pressman Mr. Pressman: • Based on a LexHAB analysis, 42 of 70 LexHAB units are on the Subsidized Housing Inventory (SHI). 28 are not. Whether the units are on the SHI depends on the manner in which the tenants are selected. • The Lowell Street project will be assessed for value engineering and then will be rebid. • Bill Kennedy said that he met with Carl Valente and Carol Kowalski about a month ago to talk about moving onto work to develop the Leary property housing. Mr. Valente and Ms. Kowalski said that the Lowell Street needs to be underway prior to starting work on the Leary property. S. Update on Pine Grove/Ms.Walker The association is beginning the process of getting bids for some of the 'common area and building' envelope repairs which will be financed, in part,from loans from MassHousing.The Lexington Housing Authority is also beginning to prioritize improvements in the interior of the five units owned Lexington Housing Partnership by the authority. Ms. Walker mentioned that there was an article in the March 5, 2018 edition of Banker and Tradesman about efforts to preserve affordable housing units in the commonwealth, and referenced the Pine Grove conversion as an 'exemplar' example of the successful preservation of low and moderate income units. 6. New Business Mr. Pressman mentioned that Gov. Baker has proposed a $1.813 S. housing bond bill (5.2368 bill "An Act financing the production and preservation of housing for low and moderate income residents"). He suggested that the PARTNERSHIP members contact their state house representatives to understand the status of the bill. 7. Recap:Article 42 The PARTNERSHIP held a meeting on April 9 at which Matt Daggett was a guest.At this meeting, Mr. Daggett presented a persuasive case for the Partnership to support Article 42.As such,the Partnership issued a statement in support of Article 42. Ms. Walker read the statement at the Board of Selectmen (BOS) meeting on April 9.At Town Meeting, Dawn McKenna made a motion to refer the Article back to the BOS. Further action by the BOS is pending based on the final results of Town Meeting. Motion: We support the referral of Article 42 to the BOS.The Partnership requests that the BOS invite a member of the Partnership to participate in the BOS process. (Ms. Cohen moved the motion and Ms. Weiss seconded the motion.The motion was approved with 8 in favor and 1 abstention by Ms. Corcoran-Ronchetti.) 8. Set next meeting date The next meeting will be on Thursday, May 17. 9. Meeting adjournment Mr. Linton moved adjournment of the meeting. Ms. Cohen seconded the motion.The motion passed unanimously.The meeting was adjourned at 9:20 pm.