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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2025-12-17-AHTBT-min.pdf Page 1 of 3 Affordable Housing Trust Meeting Minutes of December 17, 2025 12:30 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; Mark Sandeen, Tiffany Payne, Linda Prosnitz, William Erickson Staff present: Carol Kowalski, Assistant Town Manager for Development, joined the meeting in progress during item 6; Ragi Ramachandran, Administrative Assistant Ms. Tung chaired the hybrid meeting and called the meeting to order at 12:38 pm. 1. Approve Meeting Minutes Ms. Tung requested a motion to approve the minutes of 12/1/25 AHT meeting. Ms. Prosnitz moved. Ms. Payne seconded. The Trustees voted in favor unanimously. Ms. Prosnitz had revisions to 11/17/25 meeting minutes that she will be emailing Ms. Ramachandran to update and circulate with Trustees for their review. 2. Chair, Select Board, Board/Committee Liaison and RHSO/staff report Mr. Erickson stated that LexHAB’s next meeting was at 3:30pm on the same day. LexHAB had submitted a One Stop preliminary application to the State for ADU development. LexHAB has some designs and are working on pricing at this time. Ms. Prosnitz stated that Housing Partnership Board was scheduled to meet on December 18, 2025. The HPB will be hearing from their working groups and discussing Nexus Study to make a recommendation to the Select Board. Ms. Tung shared the update from the Planning Board meeting that the Planning Board has decided not to proceed with any zoning amendments, except technical amendments for the Annual Town Meeting in 2026. 3. Lexington Woods Ms. Tung stated that the Zoning Board of Appeals has continued the hearing of Lowell Street affordable housing development to Thursday, January 8, 2026, at 7:00 pm. 4. Commercial Linkage Fee Nexus Study The Trustees discussed the Nexus Study report and what they would like to recommend to the Select Board. The Trust reviewed recommendations from town staff and the Nexus Study consultant and considered the impact on development. Bob Pressman raised questions about the applicability of the policy to projects already in the pipeline. Matt Daggett expressed concern about the town's ability to modify certain aspects of the fee structure in the long term. He felt the final decision required additional discussions as many of Karl Seidman’s recommendations were intended to essentially be prescriptive. Ms. Prosnitz agreed to draft Cambridge’s CPI adjustment methodology as reference, to include in the Select Board recommendation. Page 2 of 3 Ms. Tung will draft and submit the recommendation to the Select Board regarding the commercial linkage fee (rate, enactment, and effective dates), incorporating Ms. Prosnitz’s input on CPI. Ms. Tung requested a motion that the Affordable Housing Trust recommend the following to the Select Board; 1) Select Board to adopt $9.21 linkage fee per square foot enacted as of January 5, 2026 and effective no later than July 1, 2026; 2) Select Board to enact on the Linkage fee as of Jan 5 2026, to be effective no later than July 1, 2026. The AHT Chair is authorized to send the recommendation to the Select Board. Ms. Prosnitz moved. Mr. Erickson seconded. The motion was adopted by a 5-0 vote. 5. MHP Technical Assistance Program The Trustees discussed the submission of the application for the Massachusetts Housing Partnership’s (MHP) Technical Assistance Program, which would help the Trust develop their strategic plan over a 9–12month period. Mr. Erickson made a motion that the Affordable Housing Trust authorize the Chairperson to submit the application for the Massachusetts Housing Partnership’s Technical Assistance program grant. Ms. Prosnitz seconded. The Trustees voted in favor unanimously by a 15-0 vote. 6. Guest Speaker: Angie Liou, Executive Director, Asian Community Development Corporation Angie Liou, the Executive Director of the Asian Community Development Corporation, a private non-profit 501(c)(3) organization, presented on their affordable housing development project named Parcel R1 in Boston's Chinatown, which will include 110 affordable units and a new branch of the Boston Public Library. The $105 million project, scheduled for completion in 2027, combined various funding sources including low-income housing tax credits, State subsidies, and city resources. Ms. Liou shared strategies for municipalities to encourage affordable housing development, including identifying public assets, playing a connector role between developers and potential sites, and streamlining permitting processes. The group discussed utility expenses, construction costs, affordability restrictions, and lottery process with respect to Parcel R1 development. There was discussion on the challenges of combining rental and homeownership units. Ms. Liou responded to the questions posed by the participants. For homeownership, Ms. Liou explained that while rental projects were well- funded, homeownership projects faced limited resources, with only the Mass Housing Commonwealth Builder Program available for assistance with homeownership. 7. Rental Assistance Program The Trustees reviewed and discussed revisions to the rental assistance program RFQ, focusing on eligibility requirements and program details. Ms. Kowalski will update the RFQ based on the Trustees’ feedback and circulate it to Town Manager for review before issuance. Mr. Erickson expressed concerns with the RFQ being issued prior to Select Board approval of the rental assistance program, and the lack of a clear timeline in the document for an anticipated award date. Ms. Kowalski stated that the due dates and program start/end dates will be set for the RFQ, in coordination with Trust input and Town Manager review. Ms. Kowalski will check with Liz Mancini regarding the insurance requirements in the RFQ and update as needed. Ms. Prosnitz and Ms. Payne will review the final RFQ for the Rental Assistance Program before it is issued. Page 3 of 3 Ms. Tung moved that the Affordable Housing Trust designate Ms. Prosnitz and Ms. Payne to review the final RFQ on behalf of the Trust, before it is issued. The Trustees voted in favor of the motion 4-1-0, by a roll call vote (Payne – yes, Sandeen – yes, Prosnitz – yes, Tung – yes, Erickson – No). 8. Adjourn Mr. Sandeen moved to adjourn the Affordable Housing Trust Meeting. Mr. Erickson seconded. The Trustees voted in favor unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 3:20 pm. List of documents reviewed 1. Lexington Nexus Study Final Report 2. Guest Speaker, Angie Liou’s Presentation 3. Rental Assistance Program draft RFQ