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HomeMy Public PortalAbout2020-10-18 Emergency Rental AssistanceWatertown Town Council Committee on Human Services Councilor Tony Palomba, Chair; Councilor Caroline Bays, Vice Chair; Councilor John Gannon, Secretary Committee Report Monday, October 18, 2020 at 7:00pm The meeting agenda was duly posted, and noted that the meeting would take place remotely via Zoom. The agenda also noted that Watertown Community Access Television would televise the meeting. In addition, the agenda provided the public with notice on how to access the meeting online and by telephone, and that comments were invited via email. 1. Call to Order Committee Chair Palomba called the meeting to order at 7:02 PM and introduced the committee members present, Committee Vice Chair Caroline Bays and Committee Secretary John Gannon. Chair Palomba noted that the purpose of the meeting was to continue the discussion regarding the establishment of an Emergency Rental Assistance Program and creation of a permanent Rental Assistance Program. Another purpose of this meeting was to continue the discussion of affordable housing programs. Other councilors present were Anthoy Donato and Vincent Piccirilli. Other attendees included Assistant Town Manager Steve Magoon, Senior Housing Planner Larry Field, and CPC Chair Elodia Thomas and CPC member Mark Kraczkiewicz 2. Continue the Discussion Regarding Affordable Housing with Emphasis on the Town Council's Directive to the Administration to Create a Rental Assistance Program and to Consider an Emergency Rental Assistance Program Senior Housing Planner Larry Field presented an update on the Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) discussed at the last committee meeting. The Watertown Housing Partnership (WHP) launched the ERAP in September. The program initially committed $175,000 to assist Watertown residents struggling to pay rent because of economic loss related to COVED -19. The allocation was from Watertown's federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG). Eligible households were required to have incomes below 80% of area median income and were not eligible if they had another form of public rental assistance. Households could receive assistance for up to 3 months, with the amount of money varying by bedroom configuration. There was no need to conduct a lottery for the eligible applicants, as the number of qualified awardees was less than the fifty eligible awards. Metrowest Housing vetted the applicants and worked with landlords to provide local program rental assistance monies to the qualified applicants. 64% of apppicants provided all documentation they needed. Most applicants wanted the first award to be applied to October rents. 12% of the remaining applicants had not to date provided all paperwork needed to qualify. Some applicants who were determined to be ineligible for the program withdrew. There will be remaining program funds left, but it is too early to know how much. There were applicants who applied after the deadline, so a wait list was created. (It was noted that an additional source of funding for those in need of rent support was funded by the Watertown Community Foundation and implemented by Watertown's Social Service Resources Specialist. It served approximately 40 households.) Steve Magoon said that discussion is ongoing about re -visiting program administation methods, as well as finding additional revenue sources. He stated that local HOME funds were not yet being used for the program. The potential for more assistance needed due to the impacts of Covid is indicated by the unemployment assistance numbers for Watertown showing that upwards of 332 households are possibly impacted. The Governor's rental eviction moratorium is scheduled to expire in later October, so there is the potential for a greater impact. -2 - Chair Palomba thought that Watertown had a good response to the Emergency Rental Assistance Program and asked Senior Housing Planner Larry Field if the Town is going to announce a new program. Larry Field suggested waiting until we determine what the Governor's future housing assistance relief efforts look like. CPC member Mark Krackiewicz asked Mr. Field how many people applied to Watertown's ERAP initiative and about the efforts that were made to inform eligibible applicants about the program. Mr. Field stated thay they identified potential applicants through other programs and contacting people in their networks. Such sources identified included churches, social service organizations, targeted press releases, website notifications, and sending out word through elected officials. In response to an inquiry of what we learned from this ERAP effort, Steve Magoon noted that the initial lack of a housing planner presented an obstacle to early outreach. Now, with Mr. Larry Field on staff as the new senior housing planner, we can soon begin to focus on creating a permanent rental assistance program. However presently Mr. Field's efforts would focus on working with the WHP to create a housing production plan and implement the HOME program. Mr. Field stated that the housing production plan most likely would be completed by the end of the year. The plan would include housing demographics, a discussion of the Town's housing stock and the housing market, development regulations, including the zoning ordinance, and a discussion of physical trends in development and existing housing plans. The new year would present a good opportunity to begin working on the permanent rental assistance program. Mr. Magoon stated that the Watertown Housing Partnership struggled with adapting a state model for a housing production plan, which relies on the G.L. c. 40B goal of having a housing inventory of 10% or more affordable units. Watertown meets the other, rarer, G.L. c. 40B safe harbor of having affordable housing cover over 1.5% of the developable area of Watertown. Having already met the c. 40B threshold, Watertown is uniquely positioned relative to other communities, as we do not have to build larger housing complexes to meet afforbability goals. Accordingly, we can focus on what Watertown wants to accompish for housing goals. Mr. Field stated that the housing plan would be developed through meetings of the WHP, seeking as much public input as possible. Councilor Piccirilli stated that the town is not necessarily adopting a housing production program, as we have reached housing affordability goals; we should be focusing on an affordable housing plan. He thinks the plan should focus on how Watertown can produce affordable housing for people who live and work in Watertown. Mr. Magoon agreed that Watertown's having reached the affordable housing threshold puts Watertown in a unique position and that it is up to us as a community to design that unique program. He will continue to address this dynamic with the WHP. Councilor Donato stated that his preference would be for the town to think less of allowing the building of larger developments and more in favor of considering diverse housing options. He encouraged the WHP to consider, for example, acquiring such housing as residential two-family properties, so that the town would be adding affordable housing options in neighborhoods, thereby making them more inclusive. Next Steps for Committee on Human Services to Consider: Chair Palomba presented a summary of two years of Committee on Human Services affordable housing discussions and asked the Committee for input on the creation of afforable housing in Watertown, including how the Committee should proceed, and a consideration of the resources needed to accompish these initiatives. We could - consider an amendment to the Watertown Zoning Ordinance to allow the creation of accessory dwelling units to existing properties, propose the creation of a Municipal Affordable Housing Trust Fund, and propose the enactment of a transfer fee, perhaps at 1.5% assessed to the seller, which would be dedicated to the creation of affordable housing. He would like to have the Town's Assessor present at a future meeting of the Committee on Human Services to discuss the impact of the transfer fee to discuss how much money such a proposal might generate for the creation of affordable housing. -3 - Councilor Bays stated her position that the key goal to creating affordable housing is money. We should explore how to acquire funds, such as through the CPA and/or the creation of a Municipal Affordable Housing Trust, that can be dedicated to the creation of new affordable housing units. She also concurred with adding an amendment to the Watertown Zoning Ordinances to facilitate more affordable housing. Councilor Gannon reiterated his support for the Town's adoption of a local option statute, G.L. c. 44, s. 55C to create a Municipal Affordable Housing Trust Fund. He noted that with the Town's adoption of the Community Preservation Act, monies for affordable housing from the CPA could be combined in a Municipal Affordable Housing Trust Fund with other affordable funds, such as Massachusetts Housing Partnership funds and CDBG program interest funds, to create one large pool of affordable housing funds. Such a combined pool of would allow the Town to proceed more quickly when affordable housing opportunities arise and would reduce redundant administration of separate funds. Mr. Magoon expressed support for the Town's adoption of G.L. c. 44, s. 55C, saying it would make sense to create a larger pool of funds for affordable housing. Councilor Piccirilli questioned whether such a Municipal Affordable Housing Trust would be making decisions on local affordable housing programs. Mr. Magoon responded that a Trust would not be making such decisions. Motion 1: Adoption of Affordable Housing Trust Fund, G.L. c. 44, s. 55C Chair Palomba made a motion to ask the Department of Community Development and Planning to prepare the documents and analyis for the adoption of a Municipal Affordable Housing Trust Fund, pursuant to G.L. c. 44, s. 55C for presentation to the full Town Council at a future date. All three members voted in the affirmative; therefore, the vote was 3 in favor, and 0 opposed. He also suggested that the Committee on Human Services discuss the adoption of an amendment to the Watertown Zoning Ordinance to allow for the creation of accessory dwelling units at its next meeting. He recommended holding the next meeting after the adoption of the WHP's housing plan. Motion 2: Motion to Adjourn Chair Palomba moved to adjourn the meeting of the Committee on Human Services. All three members voted in the affirmative; therefore, the vote was 3 in favor, and 0 opposed. The meeting adjourned at 8:45pm Respectfully submitted, John Gannon, Secretary