HomeMy WebLinkAbout2017-06-22 Metro North Regional Housing Advisory Committee Minutes Town of Reading - -
i Meeting Minutes
Board - Committee - Commission - Council: all OCT -9 PM 6: 39
Metro North Regional Housing Services
Committee
Date: 2017-06-22 Time: 9:00 AM
Building: Reading Town Hall Location: Berger Room
Address: 16 Lowell Street Session:
Purpose: Bi-Monthly Meeting Version:
Attendees: Members - Present:
Julie Mercier, Laurie Stanton, Danielle McKnight, Valerie Gingrich, Krista
Leahy
Members - Not Present:
Others Present:
Liz Rust
Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Laurie Stanton
Topics of Discussion:
The Committee called to order at 9:00 AM.
Minutes
The minutes for January 19,2017 were amended and accepted,and the minutes for March 23,2017
were approved as is.
Status Update
Children and families are protected under Fair Housing Law. It is against the law to say you don't want
school age children in yourtown.There is a need to educate both Zoning and Planning Boards.There is
case law on this. Liz has a nice presentation on Fair Housing Compliance on the RHSO website.The
towns could sponsor a session on this topic for about$1500.
North Reading:
CHAPA monitoring reports—Danielle had questions about the CHAPA monitoring.Some projects went
bankrupt,and there was no profit. Laurie will reach out to CHAPA(Carol Marine)to make sure that no
units are at risk,and ask if there is anything North Reading needs to do.
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Reading:
Sober House at Reading Woods—Recovering addicts are covered under Fair Housing,but they can't be
using.Affordable units are required to be the owners primary residence. One way to solve the problem
is with the State Sanitary Code—but it can be hard to prove there are too many people living in the unit.
Asking the police to prove a public nuisance is also tricky.The Town should reach out to the monitoring
agent,Jill Onderdonk,again,and indicate a willingness to partner in escalating the situation. DHCD has
been unresponsive;the Trustees and the property management company don't want to get involved.
There was a fire at the Schoolhouse Condominiums on Sanborn Street. 60 people were displaced.
Senior Center Presentation—There was a good turnout(40 to 50),and the presentation was a huge
success.The presentation Is on both the MNRHSO website and the Senior Center website.There was
talk of doing the presentation on the local access station.Assets are not looked at during income
qualification for rental units(only 0.6%)
The Town asked Liz for a scope of services to update the Reading HPP,which was last updated in 2013.
Julie will send Liz a copy of the HPP in Word format.
Saugus:
Laurie has been getting calls about the affordable units at Avalon (10%, no 3-BR units). It is unclear what
will happen if the state requires 3 BR units in order to count the project on the SHI. Krista is not sure
whether the inclusionary zoning bylaw requires the units to count on the SHI but she doesn't think it
does.
The Town doesn't seem to understand the benefits of affordable housing.
Neither Avalon nor Essex Landing will count totally on the SHI (10%,not 25%)—Saugus's numbers are
going to slip. It is going to be hard to petition the state to allow 535 new units,with no 3 bedroom units.
An interagency exemption is allowed on a case-by-case basis.
Wilmington:
The Town wants a local preference for the Spruce Farm development.There are 3 affordable
homeownership units.Valerie is going to email Laurie the information.
The Town has a revised affordable housing strategy.Valerie will be meeting with the BOS to discuss the
strategy;she will prepare an easy to read handout that covers the basics.
Time Tracking and Fee Schedule—The Town's BOS is asking about how the MNRHSO money is being
spent.The Town originally paid more because there are more affordable units in Wilmington. It made
sense during the setup period, but may not make sense anymore.Valerie would like to reconsider the
breakdown of hours pertown.Julie and Danielle agree this is reasonable.There are ways for Laurie to
increase hours in the other towns to rectify the past deficiency:The Senior Center Presentation,office
hours(needs to be well publicized), monthly status meetings.The budget is set for FY 18, but the
percentages can change in FY39,with a new IMA.Valerie likes the office hours idea,which was also
mentioned by her BOS.Valerie has projects for Laurie to work on,and an upcoming RFP, but she does
not want to pad the hours to make it seem like the Town needs 43%if it really does not.There should be
a follow-up meeting with Jean,Julie, Laurie and Valerie.
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New IMA for FY19—will need to begin the process this fall before budget season. Danielle will reach out
to Stoneham and Lyn nfield about joining the MNRHSO. How many towns do we want?Liz's RHSO has 7,
with 9 as a maximum, but she has more staff support.
Next Meeting: August 24,2017 at 9 AM in the Berger Room at Town Hall.
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