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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2025-09-10 Affordable Housing Trust Fund Committee MinutesTown of Reading Meeting Minutes Board - Committee - Commission - Council: A dousing Trust Fund Date: 2025-09-10 Building: Town Hall Address: 16 Lowell Street Purpose: Hybrid Meeting Time: 7:00 PM Location: Berger Room Session: Open Session Version: Draft Attendees: Members In person: Pat Egan; Karen Rose Gillis, Select Board Liason Members Present on Zoom: Sherilla Lestrade; Jayna Stafford Members Not Present: Margaret Donnelly -Moran Others Present in person: Andrew MacNichol, Community Development Director; Olivia Knightly, Senior Planner Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Olivia Knightly Topics of Discussion: Reading Housing Production Plan and Existing Housing Stock Summary; Metro North Regional Housing Services Office (MNRHSO) Update MEETING HELD IN THE BERGER ROOM Mr. MacNichol called the meeting to order at 7:00 PM. • Mr. MacNichol reviewed local affordable housing stock statistics with the board and there was a brief discussion about staff providing additional data and information to the board related to the Subsidized Housing Inventory (SHI) and number of affordable units in Reading. • Mr. MacNichol Informed the group that the Metro North Regional Housing Services Office (MNRHSO) is beginning to kick off again and will work to inventory Reading's current affordable units as well as provide administrative needs and monitoring related to affordable housing. • The board discussed the local challenges of creating housing that qualifies as affordable, requiring 80% AMI or higher levels of affordability. Additional thoughts were provided on the challenges of the State RAFT program, and the board discussed the potential to create a local financial assistance program for renters in need, or other look to structure other beneficial programs. • Pat Egan proposed utilizing housing trust funds and asked how the trust can use the funds for meaningful local impact in a way that won't expend all funds quickly. The board discussed creating a list of local priorities and potential actions, as well as the need to expand local advocacy and awareness about the trust fund. Karen Rose Gillis stated that the board should explore other funding opportunities through the Community Preservation Act or other funding sources. • Mr. MacNichol provided an overview of the process of monitoring affordable units and the role of MNRHSO. 4.. Town of Reading Meeting Minutes • The board discussed the local need to expand diverse housing typologies for families that are not just apartment buildings. Mr. MacNichol informed the board that affordable units are posted online and detailed through the Affirmative Fair Housing Market Plan (AFHMP) created by developers. The board discussed resources that are available to find out about affordable housing lotteries and available units and how this information can be made more readily available for the public. • Ms. Lestrade stated that the Housing Authority should be involved with the trust and Mr. MacNichol said that they typically serve those in need of housing with deeper affordability requirements, but that there may be opportunities to work together. He added that there is a lack of town -owned land to build on, and the Housing Authority lacks funding to purchase more units, but that the trust can help facilitate Housing Authority needs where possible. • The board discussed plans to identify long term priorities and how to build out future programs and administer funds. At the next meeting they plan to further address how programming should operate and then discuss funding revenues that could be implemented going forward. Mr. MacNichol stated that they should plan to nominate a chair and secretary at next meeting. Adiournment The meeting adjourned at 8:05 PM.