HomeMy WebLinkAbout2009-10-08-HPB.min
Lexington Housing Partnership
Meeting Minutes for October 8, 2009
Attendees:
Ken Kreutziger, Bob Bicknell, Carol Marine, Winifred McGowan, Melinda Walker, Chris Kluchman,
Florence Baturin, Wendy Manz, Jeri Foutter, Julie Duncan
Bob Bicknell chaired the meeting and took the minutes. The meeting was called to order at 7:40 pm.
1. Approval of Minutes
The September minutes were approved with the addition of a sentence to recognize that the
Lexington Housing Foundation had distributed financial reports.
2. Sub-Committee Reports
Consortium of Local Towns – Bob Bicknell
Status has been briefed to Norm Cohen, Selectmen Chair
Plan has Lexington contributing $10K of H.O.M.E. funds each year
The plan will be forwarded to Partnership Members
Business plan has been defined for a four town consortium
Lexington has identified benefits:
A consortium could provide:
1.Access to skilled staff outside our areas of expertise
2.Contact with other communities and knowledge of their affordable housing initiatives and
concepts that work for them
3.Support for development site planning and alternatives
4.Support for homebuyer education
5.Capacity to support development opportunities – probably around 10-12 units
6.A conduit for application of H.O.M.E. funds
7.Community education support
8.A source of program advocacy ideas and community organization concepts
9.Support to acquire and resell scattered site units for affordable homeownership subsidized
by CPA funds.
Busa Farm- Bob Bicknell
Land not yet owned by town
Committee to be formed to define uses
Opportunity exists for pro-bono work from Sasaki Assoc. to better define housing options
Norm Cohen and Bill Hays want to wait until land is owned and committee is established
I am determining if the pro-bono work has a time constraint
The partnership discussed the possibility of applying the pro-bono work to the Leary land which is now
owned by the town and which has not yet defined how the housing option will be realized. Bob will
query the Town Manager and LexHAB on whether this idea has merit and if so, coordinate it with Sasaki
Assoc.
A discussion on the value of conducting a campaign to promote the need for affordable housing on the
land was held. Other interest areas are being promoted aggressively. Melinda Walker with support from
Florence Baturin and drawing on others will form an informal discussion group to seek ways that housing
Lexington Housing Partnership
can be promoted effectively for the Busa property. Melinda will also contact the Recreation Department
to see if our housing interests can be complementary to the recreation uses.
Affordable Housing Assistance Program – Bob Bicknell
Summary of activities to be coordinated with LexHAB and reported to CPC.
For the past year the Lexington Housing Partnership has been involved in a process to determine the most
appropriate course to take with respect to introducing a first-time homeowner assistance program in
Lexington. We hired a consultant, Karen Sunnarborg, and with her technical support have accomplished
the following:
Conducted in-depth comparative research on more than a dozen homeownership programs in the
state and prepared a summary report. This work was completed by October 2008.
Drafted a statement of key program objectives with accompanying general programmatic
responses based on what we learned in the survey of other programs, identifying program
elements that might be most responsive to Lexington’s needs and priorities. This Statement of
Objectives was completed by the end of 2008.
Held a meeting on February 26, 2009, to present the Statement of Objectives and obtain feedback
from local leaders on preliminary program development.
Prepared a preliminary Program Design, with an accompanying Executive Summary, which was
shared on a very general introductory level at a Board of Selectmen meeting on June 22, 2009.
Coordinated our efforts with LexHAB, keeping them apprised of program development activities
and requesting their participation in program implementation, which they are currently
considering in light of possible organizational constraints.
A subcommittee of the Housing Partnership has met frequently over the past couple years to specifically
discuss this initiative and guide its development.
The Community Preservation Committee provided $15,487.50 in funding to support this program
planning process, of which $10,450.00 has been committed to date. The remaining funding will enable us
to continue our work, fine-tuning the program design and presenting it to residents and local leaders for
input prior to submitting a specific funding request to the Community Preservation Committee.
Affordable Condos at Lexington Place – Bob Bicknell
Applications must be submitted by October 12.
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The Lottery is scheduled for October 28 in Cary Hall at 6pm
Town Employees have a preference for 2 of the units
Town Web Site notifies them of unit availability and lottery process
We placed info on our web site home page.
Lottery Winners will be informed of local banks with interest and how to apply for down payment
assistance. (I have been working with Aaron on the down payment assistance info and hope to
obtain bank interest) Jeri Foutter was given applicant info and the deed rider to coordinate with
Cambridge Savings Bank.
3. Other Business
In this week’s Minuteman tax title lands were identified. A discussion followed on
whether such lands could become affordable housing opportunities.
Lexington Housing Partnership
th
Jeri and Bob discussed the 175 Anniversary Celebration for Cambridge Savings
Bank and the plan for the Cambridge Savings Charitable Foundation to make grants
totaling $175,000. The Lexington Housing Partnership through our foundation will
receive $5,000 with a possibility of up to $20,000 based on votes collected on-line at
www.cambridgesavings.com. We discussed the need to seek wide spread involvement
by the community to maximize our award.
The next meeting will be held on Thursday, November 19, 2009 in the Ellen Stone Room at 7:30pm
The meeting was concluded at 9:10 pm.
Respectfully submitted, Bob Bicknell