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HomeMy Public PortalAboutAffordable Housing Trust -- 2022-09-01 MinutesBrewster Housing Trust September 1, 2022, 5:00pm Virtual Meeting Housing Trust Members Present: Donna Kalinick, Tim Hackert, Maggie Spade -Aguilar, Madalyn Hillis -Dineen, Vanessa Greene, Paul Ruchinskas, Ned Chatelain Others Present: Jill Scalise, Housing Coordinator; Robert Tobias, Finance Committee liaison Absent: 1. Call to Order: Chair Hackert called the meeting to order at 5:00pm, read the required notice for virtual meetings, and declared a quorum. 2. Citizen's Forum: No citizens in attendance. 3. Reorganization of the Trust- Ms. Kalinick shared that it is the practice of boards and committees to reorganize on an annual basis and she described the process. Mr. Hackert offered to serve as chair for another year. No one else expressed interest in being chair. Ms. Spade -Aguilar nominated Mr. Hackert for chair. Ms. Hillis -Dineen seconded. A roll call vote was taken. Madalyn Hillis -Dineen -Yes, Paul Ruchinskas-Yes, Vanessa Greene - Yes, Maggie Spade -Aguilar - Yes, Ned Chatelain-Yes, Donna Kalinick- Yes. Tim Hackert-Yes. Mr. Hackert will be for the chair next year. Ms. Spade -Aguilar offered to remain vice chair. Ms. Hillis -Dineen nominated Ms. Spade -Aguilar for vice chair, Ms. Kalinick second. A roll call vote was taken. Madalyn Hillis -Dineen -Yes, Paul Ruchinskas-Yes, Vanessa Greene - Yes, Maggie Spade -Aguilar - Yes, Ned Chatelain-Yes, Donna Kalinick-Yes, Tim Hackert-Yes. Ms. Spade -Aguilar will be the vice chair for the next year. Ms. Hillis -Dineen offered to continue as clerk if no other members expressed interest. Ms. Spade -Aguilar nominated Ms. Hillis -Dineen for clerk, Mr. Chatelain seconded. A roll call vote was taken. Madalyn Hillis -Dineen -Yes, Paul Ruchinskas-Yes, Vanessa Greene - Yes, Maggie Spade -Aguilar - Yes, Ned Chatelain-Yes, Donna Kalinick- Yes, Tim Hackert-Yes. Ms. Hillis -Dineen will be the clerk for the next year. 4. POAH & HAC proposal for Millstone Community Housing update- Ms. Kalinick reported that the LDA has been voted on and signed by the Select Board. The fully executed LDA with Preservation of Affordable Housing and Housing Assistance Corporation (HAC) is in the meeting packet. The lease will be signed at a later date. Ms. Scalise shared that today the Town received an email from the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) which included a Project Eligibility Letter (PEL) for POAH & HAC's Millstone affordable housing proposal. The PEL will be in next month's meeting packet. This means the project is preliminarily eligible for the Low -Income Housing Tax Credit program. Ms. Kalinick and Ms. Scalise and new Town Planner, Jon Idman, met earlier today with POAH and HAC about next steps. POAH and HAC anticipate applying for a comprehensive permit in several months. In the next month or so, they expect to hold a community outreach meeting as well as an informal staff review about their proposed plans. The Town will look to get a consultant with Mass Housing Partnership for the comprehensive permit hearing as it has done with other comprehensive permit hearings. Thus far there has been good communication, coordination, and collaboration, with the steps moving forward as designed. Ms. Kalinick added that the Planning Department is the lead staff for the informal staff review and the Comprehensive Permit hearing. Mr. Idman has been a good resource for Ms. Scalise and Ms. Kalinick since he began and is very helpful as the permitting phase begins. The proposed timeline, submitted with the POAH and HAC proposal, is just proposed. It's hard to say when all the steps will happen, but we will keep the Trust informed as we move along in this process. Mr. Hackert asked if there would be coordination with the Housing Office on the Community Meeting. Ms. Scalise shared that she would assist in the outreach for the community meeting, including posting on the Town website. Ms. Kalinick noted that the Town will participate in the community meeting and also invited Housing Trust members to attend. S. 2022 Housing Production Plan Update and 2017 HPP Certification- Jill Scalise shared that the Housing Production Plan (HPP) has been approved by DHCD. They did request a small clarification. The final approved plan is in the Trust packet. The Town currently has both a certified HPP and an approved HPP. Ms. Scalise thanked the Trust for their participation in the housing plan update process over the past 7 months. Now that the plan has been approved, it would be appropriate to have a joint meeting with the Community Preservation Committee (CPC). Ms. Kalinick asked Mr. Ruchinskas about the timing of a meeting with the CPC and requested the CPC proposed bylaw change be placed on next month's Trust agenda. Mr. Ruchinskas suggested checking with the CPC Chair about either a meeting late October or in November. He also shared that the CPC is holding a Public Hearing on Wednesday September 14th at 4PM for organizations planning to make CPC requests over the next 1-2 years to share possible requests with the CPC. Ms. Kalinick stated that she and Ms. Scalise have participated in CPC public forums representing the Town's Housing Program. A request for the Millstone property is expected over the next 2 years. Mr. Ruchinskas also suggested an item on a Trust Agenda about the possibility of a CPC direct funding appropriation for the Housing Trust. This would be a discussion to have prior to the meeting with the CPC as well as the needs and asks over the next year or two. Chair Hackert asked about the requests to be presented to the public hearing. Mr. Ruchinskas also mentioned the funding and administration of the buy down program. Ms. Kalinick noted that she would mention the Millstone funding request, a desire for a joint meeting with the CPC, the potential funding and oversight of the buy down program, a discussion of possible allocation - which would also be based on the financial plan, and the potential to continue funding the rental assistance program. Ms. Spade -Aguilar asked about the Housing Partnership's oversight of the buy down program. Ms. Scalise replied that the buy down program is run by the CPC with the Housing Coordinator staffing the program. Prior to the Town having a housing coordinator, the Partnership was more involved in the process. While the Coordinator oversees the application process, all buy -down funding requests require CPC approval. The plan is to share these housing items at CPC public meeting: rental 2 assistance, buy -down program, Millstone, possible annual request, and Housing Coordinator funding. Chair Hackert thanked Ms. Scalise for her work on the HPP. 6. Housing Trust Goals and Priorities - Financial Plan Update: Ms. Kalinick said there is no update from last month. Trust Guidelines Update: Ms. Scalise noted that the packet includes the updated Trust Guidelines and guidance from legal counsel. Ms. Scalise shared her screen and went through the latest version of the guidelines. The Trust kept the phrasing of the previously adopted Trust goals. In Section II, the Trust agreed with the clarifications and ministerial changes made by legal counsel. In Section III, the Trust's Priority Initiatives, the previously adopted language of the Trust was retained. In Section IV, Eligible Activities, several clarifying edits were noted. Last month the Trust had requested more information regarding the Emergency Assistance Administrative Fund on page 7. Ms. Scalise contacted Chatham about their Emergency Assistance Fund and received a response that it appears that fund has not been used. Mr. Chatelain asked why Chatham's program has not been used, Ms. Scalise did not know the reason. Mr. Ruchinskas noted that the Brewster program was created for a unique situation with a SHI homeowner and suggested removing the fund. Ms. Kalinick requested that if the fund is removed, the Trust monitor any requests the Trust receives and, if needed, consider potentially revisiting this fund. Mr. Hackert noted that the Trust can revise the guidelines. The Trust agreed to delete this fund. The Trust is willing to look at revisiting an emergency assistance fund if circumstances arise. Ms. Scalise returned to screen sharing; small clarifications were noted under Support Programs. In Section V, Funding, clarification included that expenditures, not allocations, of over $50,000 require Select Board approval. Ms. Kalinick asked about the difference between allocation and expenditure. She agrees with the change in the word but would like to follow up with legal counsel about how this will work operationally. Mr. Hackert stated that if the Trust approves something over $50,000, it will still need Select Board approval to happen. Mr. Ruchinskas also asked about the ability of the Trust to fund programs outside of Brewster. Ms. Scalise directed Trust members to legal guidance included in the packet stating that if the Trust chose to provide funds to a regional program outside of Brewster, it could use Community Preservation Act (CPA) funds. Trust designated funds, not originating from CPA, should only be used for projects within Brewster. Ms. Kalinick noted that, at this point, all Trust CPC funds are designated for specific programs. This funding guidance would be applicable if the Trust received a set allocation from the CPC. No changes are needed in the guidelines to address this funding guidance. Legal counsel suggested considering changing the unanimous vote requirement to modify the funding guidelines. Mr. Chatelain and Chair Hackert both expressed that a majority vote was consistent with the rest of the guidelines. Trust members agreed that the guidelines may be modified with a majority vote. Ms. Scalise continued through the guidelines, sharing slight modifications, and clarifying phrasing from legal counsel, but no substantial changes. No changes were made to the application. Chair Hackert stated that the issues previously identified had been addressed. Ms. Kalinick moved that the Trust accept the guidelines as revised at the meeting. Second by Ms. Hillis -Dineen. A roll call vote was taken. Madalyn Hillis -Dineen -Yes, Paul Ruchinskas-Yes, Vanessa Greene - Yes, Maggie Spade -Aguilar - Yes, Ned Chatelain-Yes, Donna Kalinick-Yes, Tim Hackert- Yes. The guidelines as revised were approved. Chair Hackert expressed thanks to legal counsel, Shirin Everett, for her work on the guidelines. Ms. Kalinick shared next steps. Ms. Scalise will make the final changes to the document, the final copy will be in the next meeting packet, the document will be provided to the Select Board as an FYI, and then the guidelines will be posted on the Trust webpage. The Trust will need to discuss whether to make an announcement about the guidelines. Ms. Kalinick thanked the working group of Ms. Spade -Aguilar, Ms. Scalise and Mr. Hackert for their work on the guidelines. 7. Housing Forum Update: Ms. Spade- Aguilar shared that Jillian Douglas & Ralph Marotti from the Housing Partnership are also on the working group. The Partnership requested a date of October 27th 5-6:30PM for the forum. The working group held a meeting which discussed the goal of the forum/fair and brainstormed about outreach and organizations to invite. Another meeting is planned with Ms. Scalise on Tuesday. Ms. Kalinick said it sounded like a good opportunity to talk about the adoption of the new Trust Funding Guidelines. Ms. Hillis -Dineen said they thought something hands-on, interactive, getting people to know what is available to them would be helpful and then hold a larger fair in the spring. Ms. Spade -Aguilar noted that the spring event would hopefully coincide with the Local Comprehensive Plan. Ms. Kalinick suggested having a one-page handout about available resources. 8. 212 Yankee Drive update, discussion, and possible vote- Ms. Kalinick shared that she and Ms. Scalise had internal discussions with additional staff and shifted on how to proceed with 212 Yankee Dr. They put together a Request for Quotes for someone to oversee writing the scope of work, supervising the construction work, and conducting the affordable housing lottery. The qualifications would include having a rehabilitation specialist and someone certified to run an affordable housing lottery. Overseeing construction is out of the skill set we have available in town. It would not be appropriate for the Building Commissioner who would approve the work to oversee the work and it is beyond the role of our facilities manager. Ms. Kalinick would still act as the Procurement Officer and issue the Invitation for Bid (IFB) and Ms. Scalise would assist with the outreach for the lottery. We do not know the cost associated with this work, but several agencies have the required skill set. There would still be a goal of having everything completed by June 2023. Ms. Scalise added that after going through 4 the property with the Building Commissioner, meeting with DPW, and walking through the required process, this appeared to be the most efficient way to facilitate the rehabilitation of the home. Ms. Spade -Aguilar asked if it was two separate RFQs. Ms. Kalinick said it is one RFQ for someone who does both the oversight and the lottery. Subsequent there will be an IFB for someone to do the actual construction work. Chair Hackert noted this makes sense as we do not have the resources available in the Town to act as construction manager and lottery person. This gives us access to expertise and moves the process along in a productive way. Mr. Ruchinskas asked about considering having the lottery as a separate RFQ. Ms. Kalinick replied that there are agencies that have capacity to do both the construction oversight and lottery. Mr. Chatelain made a motion to approve the request for quotes and move forward. Second by Mr. Ruchinskas. A roll call vote was taken. Madalyn Hillis -Dineen -Yes, Paul Ruchinskas-Yes, Vanessa Greene - Yes, Maggie Spade -Aguilar - Yes, Ned Chatelain-Yes, Donna Kalinick-Yes, Tim Hackert-Yes. 9. Rental Program Update and Evaluation- Ms. Scalise said that the amended packet has the Rental Assistance Report for June- August. The Brewster Rental Assistance Program (B -RAP) is currently helping two households with rental assistance funds. Housing Assistance Corporation (HAC) assisted 6 Brewster households for a total of $26,678 assistance. On top of this assistance, two Brewster households are receiving B -RAP of $500 a month. HAC anticipates seeing increased need in the community as federal and state funds diminish. Two additional Brewster households are in the application/ enrollment process. Ms. Scalise had a meeting with Heidi Archibald from HAC about several tweaks in the program. I. Making clear that households can be eligible for B -RAP without being in arrears. 2. HAC is checking applications received weekly for the Possibility of eligible Brewster residents. HAC expects to see need and enrollment increasing. Ms. Archibald also noted that Housing Voucher (Section 8) waitlist is currently pulling applications from May 2019. HAC is helping folks apply for housing vouchers when they enter the B -RAP program. Thus, hoping that folks would be able to attain vouchers within the three-year time frame of the B -RAP program. Over the past year, HAC has assisted Brewster residents with over $200,000 in rental and mortgage assistance. There is good coordination with HAC helping residents to obtain assistance. MS. Kalinick suggested locally promoting the B -RAP program. The Housing Forum will be an opportunity to provide information on B -RAP and housing vouchers. Mr. Tobias suggested a Town of Brewster email post. Ms. Hillis -Dineen asked about posting the forum and information on Brewster Community Facebook page. Ms. Kalinick noted that the Town has its own social media feeds and tends to not go beyond those Town feeds. 10. Housing Coordinator Update including Serenity at Brewster and Brewster Woods- July report is in the packet. Ms. Scalise mentioned that Serenity Brewster has leased up most of the affordable units. In August, Ms. Scalise presented to the Bay Parcel Group about 5 the Housing Production Plan, the Housing Program, and housing possibilities on the Bay Parcel. 11. Cape Cod Sea Camps updates- Ms. Kalinick said the Town is in the process to obtain consulting assistance with the planning oversight. Mr. Ruchinskas said the Pond Parcel had presentations on planning documents, including a report on the Vision Plan and a spectacular job by Ms. Kalinick on the Housing Production Plan. Ms. Spade -Aguilar reported on the Bay Parcel, noting Ms. Scalise's presentation on the housing front. Mr. Chatelain is looking forward to the consultant being announced for further progress. 12. For Your Information: Ms. Kalinick mentioned that November Special Town Meeting has been set for November 14th at 613M. 13. Any other business not anticipated: None 14. Approval of Minutes from August 4, 2022: Paul Ruchinskas moved to approve the minutes of August 4, 2022, with technical comments reviewed & approved by Donna Kalinick. Ned Chatelain second. A roll call vote was taken. Madalyn Hillis -Dineen -Yes, Paul Ruchinskas-Yes, Vanessa Greene - Yes, Maggie Spade -Aguilar - Yes, Ned Chatelain- Yes, Donna Kalinick-Yes, Tim Hackert-Yes. 15. Next Meeting: October 61h, 2022 virtual 16. Adjournment: Ned Chatelain moved adjournment at 6:39pm, Madalyn Hillis -Dineen second. A roll call vote was taken. Madalyn Hillis -Dineen -Yes, Paul Ruchinskas-Yes, Vanessa Greene - Yes, Maggie Spade -Aguilar - Yes, Ned Chatelain-Yes, Donna Kalinick- Yes, Tim Hackert-Yes. Respectfully Submitted, Jill Scalise Housing Coordinator Meeting Packet: 09.01.22 BAHT packet Amended laserfiche.com Approved: October 6, 2022 R