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HousingPartnershipMinutes2003NORTHAMPTON HOUSING PARTNERSHIP Minutes January 21, 2003 Members Present: Jack Hornor, Chair, Richard Abuza, Joel Feldman, Don Bianchi, Pat Byrnes, Yvonne Freccero, George Kohout, Winton Pitcoff, Jackie Brousseau-Pereira, Nola Reinhardt. Also present, Joann Campbell and Patrick McCarthy of the Valley Community Development Corporation and Peg Keller, staff. Fran Volkmann came after the CDC presentation and discussion. Call to Order/ Chair Hornor called the meeting to order at 7:09 p.m. Go West Proposal/ 3 North Main Street Florence Chair Hornor asked members of the Implementation Committee to describe their review of the Go West proposal submitted by Valley CDC. Mr. Feldman said they had reviewed the application and members strongly support the request. Mr. Abuza added that preservation of SRO housing is a critical niche and agreed that support of this project is a compelling use of the Partnership's time, energy and resources. Mr. McCarthy was then recognized to present the project. Highlights of his comments were as follows: •The plan is to purchase the 23 unit mixed use building later this month•The project will involve acquisition and renovation, with the addition of two handicapped units on the first floor•The overall number of units may be reduced to 20 with the reconfiguration of units on the upper floors to produce the enhanced units (each unit will include its own kitchen and bathroom)•An application to the State will be submitted in February•The CDBG request is for $150,000 for acquisition and soft costs•A special permit will be needed to allow residential use on the first floor•A waiver from the Architectural Access Board will also be needed•The terms of the affordability restrictions vary according to funding source/ i.e. the Housing Stabilization Fund is 50 years, the Housing Innovation Fund is 30 yrs.•The subsidized units will be rented to households with incomes of 60% of median and below•The mission of Valley encourages affordability in perpetuity•Retail space on first floor will be retained•Tenants will be relocated to other Valley properties and/or other units during construction 1 •The application to the State will yield Section 8 vouchers attached to the units to be administered by HAP Discussion followed. Additional detail was given about the rental rates on the market units and the tenant relocation process. After all questions were answered, Mr. Pitcoff made a motion to approve the application as presented. The motion was seconded by Ms. Freccero. Chair Hornor asked for additional discussion, at which point Mr. Pitcoff called the question. The motion to call the question did not pass. Mr. Bianchi then asked about the project review process, advocating for a standardized set of review criteria. Mr. Pitcoff then made another motion to approve the project, seconded by Ms. Byrnes. The vote to approve the request for CDBG funds was approved unanimously. (Ms. Volkmann had arrived at that point but abstained from voting as she is a member of Valley's Board of Directors). Valley was thanked for embarking on this project as it has been a local priority for several years. It was also acknowledged that Valley is concluding many years of work on the Millbank project and it is exciting that they are now undertaking another much needed project in the community. Election of Chair /Vice-Chair Ms. Volkmann made a suggestion that Mr. Hornor be nominated as Chair for another year, but with the proviso that a three year term limit on the chairmanship be instituted. She said this would give the opportunity for someone new to learn the role on a rotating basis. Mr. Abuza and Chair Hornor expressed their agreement. The need for a vice-chair was also discussed. Chair Hornor said it is hard to recruit for the position without a clear notion of the duties. He asked members to email their thoughts about the role of a vice-chair, and that an election for that position could happen next month. Ms. Volkmann offered that a chair and vice-chair could continue to be elected annually, but there would be a three year maximum term. Ms. Reinhardt made a motion to adopt the three year time limit, meaning that the chair would not serve more than three consecutive years. The motion was seconded by Ms. Byrnes. There was no further discussion. The vote was unanimous in favor except that Mr. Bianchi abstained. Ms. Volkmann then made a motion to nominate Mr. Hornor as chair for the next year, seconded by Mr. Pitcoff. The vote was unanimous in favor. Chair Hornor was complimented on his leadership and willingness to attend public hearings to express the views of the Partnership. 2 Ms. Byrnes suggested that one of the roles of the vice-chair could be to work directly with the sub-committees. Ms. Volkmann then made a motion to exercise the option of having a Vice-Chair of the Partnership, to think about the duties and come prepared to elect a vice-chair at next month's meeting. The motion was seconded by Ms. Freccero. Mr. Kohout asked that a type of job description be disseminated prior to the next meeting. The vote was unanimous in favor of the motion. Planning Sub-Committee Ms. Freccero reported that the meeting had been spent reviewing the proposed zoning ordinance revisions in preparation for the upcoming public hearings. Future action taken on one of the sections will determine the committee's future plans for inclusionary zoning language. Members reviewed proposed changes to Sections 10.5 and 10.6. All determined that some of the proposed language is unclear and Mr. Abuza agreed to try to clarify it. Ms. Reinhardt made a motion to have Mr. Abuza rework the language as discussed. Mr. Abuza seconded the motion and Ms. Pereira added that the in lieu of fee should be made to the Housing Trust Fund. Mr. Kohout said that the most helpful part of a presentation is the offering of specific scenarios, and asked that Mr. Feiden include them at the public hearings. The vote in favor of the motion was unanimous, with Mr. Kohout abstaining. Mr. Abuza agreed to go to the hearing to present the new language, once he had circulated it to the Partnership for review. Westhampton Road Comprehensive Permit Peg Keller presented the plans for the comp permit application being but forward by the Planning Department. After some discussion, Mr. Abuza made a motion to strongly support the concept and design for this project application and to send a letter to that effect to the Zoning Board of Appeals. The vote was unanimous in favor. Adjourn/ The meeting concluded at 9:08 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Peg Keller 3 NORTHAMPTON HOUSING PARTNERSHIP Minutes March 18, 2003 Members Present: Jack Hornor, Chair, Pat Byrnes, Fran Volkmann, Don Bianchi, Winton Pitcoff, George Kohout, Richard Abuza, Jackie Brousseau-Pereira, Joel Feldman, Nola Reinhardt. Also present, Michael Owens, CDBG Administrator and Peg Keller, staff. Call to Order/ Chair Hornor called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m. No one was present for the public comment period. The Chair introduced Mr. Owens to review the Draft Action Plan for the next fiscal year and the status of the CDBG drawdown expenditures. CDBG Draft Action Plan It was noted that an application for public services had not been received by the Housing Discrimination Project. If the agency is not available to conduct fair housing services for the City, an alternate plan must be devised. Member Feldman asked that this be put on a future agenda for discussion. He said that the Board of Directors and a Legal Director position has remained intact after the loss of Federal funding and the departure of the Executive Director. Mr. Owens said that the Mayor had intended to fund the organization, but an application for funds needs to be received. The items on the Draft Action Plan slated for funding with CDBG funds were reviewed. Members commented on the fact that few of the projects had come before them for review. Member Bianchi said he had no problem with City leaders making decisions, but it would be better if there were a protocol for what comes before the Partnership and what does not. Member Abuza said the precedent has been sent for not all projects to come before the membership. Member Byrnes said she thought the process should be that everyone interested in CDBG housing funds should come before the Partnership. The verbage in the Ordinance establishing the duties of the Partnership was read. Member Volkmann informed the group that the committees of the City Council were being reorganized and there is a proposal to create a Housing, Economic Development and Land Use Committee. This reflects the inter-relationship of these issues. Members agreed that they would like to see a protocol (re) established, and that they would like to advocate for a drawdown (uncommitted pool of funds available on a rolling basis for affordable housing projects) next year if some of the projects listed do not come to fruition. Member Feldman reiterated that in 1 order to fulfill the stated charge in the Ordinance, all housing related proposals requesting CDBG funding must come before the Partnership. Member Reinhardt summarized that the input to provide at this time should include advocacy for the total amount of funds that are proposed ( as opposed to a lesser amount, as the percentage of total expenditures going towards housing activities is satisfactory), and to reserve the right to approve the individual projects listed until they can be reviewed by the Partnership. Member Brousseau-Pereira suggested that the Valley CDC Housing Rehab Program, the Council on Aging's Home Repair Program and Valley's First Time Homebuyer Program could be considered set-asides. She said that information about these programs could be ascertained from annual reports, as opposed to having the Partnership do a more comprehensive review. Chair Hornor and Member Byrnes said they would still like to hear presentations on those programs. Member Brousseau-Pereira said she sees the acute issue to be that the Partnership needs to comment on what is in the Action Plan, the chronic issue being determining who comes for review. Chair Hornor suggested sending a letter stating that the Partnership is pleased with the overall amount, the need for a review protocol and the desire to retain some of the funding for drawdown purposes. He will email that letter to members for review. Member Pitcoff wondered if all the proposals could be circulated for review prior to the April meeting. He noted that project review protocol would need to be revised if a large number of projects need to be examined. It was agreed that Mr. Owens would be asked to email the Draft Action Plan with additional detail to the members. CDBG proposals will be made available to members and Planning Director Feiden will be asked to make a presentation about some of the projects planned. Vice-Chair Election Various duties for the position, as well as having two vice-chairs were discussed. Member Byrnes suggested the person should track projects, monitor the Partnership's goals and the work of the sub-committees. The need for communication between the Chair and sub-committees was added. It was decided to continue the discussion at the next meeting, due to the lateness of the hour. Adjourn/ The meeting concluded at 9:05 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Peg Keller 2 NORTHAMPTON HOUSING PARTNERSHIP Minutes April 15, 2003 Members Present: Jack Hornor, Chair, Pat Byrnes, Fran Volkmann, Jackie Brousseau-Pereira, Richard Abuza, Yvonne Freccero, Don Bianchi, George Kohout, Martha Acklesberg, Joel Feldman, Nola Reinhardt, Peg Murray. Also present, Wayne Feiden, Planning Director, Micheal Owens, CDBG Administrator, Peg Keller, staff. Call to Order Executive Session Chair Hornor called the meeting to order at 7:08 p.m. The first item on the agenda was a discussion of a potential housing project that involved negotiations on a land purchase. Member Abuza made a motion for the Partnership to conduct an Executive Session, seconded by Member Volkmann. A roll call vote was taken, all voted in the affirmative to go into Executive Session. Minutes from the Session were recorded separately. Public Session The public session resumed at 7:40 p.m. Discussion followed with regard to the Community Development Block Grant draft action plan and the public review process for those expenditures. Peg K. described the differences between housing program contracts, public services contracts and what has been known as the "housing drawdown". Mr. Owens reviewed the proposed expenditures. Mr. Feiden noted that HUD is increasing the pressure on local grantees not to carry funds from year to year. Therefore this year, all funds will be consolidated into year twenty funding. Member Abuza expressed his opinion that although the Partnership Ordinance says that all CDBG housing funds should be reviewed by the Partnership, he is not sure all of them should be brought to them. At a minimum, however, materials could be circulated ahead of time to allow members time to determine if they would like to request/require a review. Member Byrnes asked about the Mayor's response to the letter Chair Hornor had sent regarding this issue. Chair Hornor has not heard back yet, although he assumes their request to be more involved in the decision making will be honored. Mr. Feiden replied that there are ways to have the Partnership be more involved, but there will continue to be decisions made without the Partnership's input. Chair Hornor said he recognizes the need for timeliness. Member 1 Reinhardt said she is not sure the Partnership should micro-manage all the requests, such as the public services. Member Volkmann said she thought it was the Partnership's role to review the drawdown requests, bring in new projects and advocate for affordable housing. Now that the drawdown does not exist, what does that mean for the Partnership's mandate? Member Byrnes agreed that the role should not be to talk to staff about allocations that have been made, but to people interested in using the funds/ get involved before the staff does, not manage the staff. She said she wants to review projects and programs (Valley's Housing Rehab Program, First Time Homebuyer Program and the COA Elderly Home Repair Program). She said the information program staff have about needs is relevant to policies the Partnership should be formulating to translate into development scenarios. Mr. Feiden suggested going back to the goals stated in the Consolidated Plan. Member Reinhardt agreed that it made sense, for example to support the need for housing search activities, but not to review each and every proposal. Mr. Owens said the Partnership might want to consider having a position on the Human Services Ad Hoc Committee that reviews all the public services proposals. Member Freccero reiterated that much could be learned about what to advocate for if those involved in housing search activities in the City came before the Partnership with reports. Member Bianchi agreed with a Partnership role for projects, but not for the public services, as the award amounts are small, not all have housing as the exclusive focus and we should avoid making agencies jump through more hoops for small amounts. Member Freccero made a motion to have a Partnership member represented on the Ad Hoc Public Services Committee in the next round of CDBG funding. Member Byrnes seconded the motion. Member Reinhardt asked about the guidance this person would be given; whether they would be a decision maker or simply bring back information to the Partnership for decisions. Member Murray said the Implementation Sub-Committee could craft duties for that person. That friendly amendment was accepted by Ms. Freccero and the vote was unanimous in favor, one abstention. Member Byrnes reiterated her desire to have the issue brought before the Mayor; that everyone, either program administrator or developer should come before the Partnership to discuss their program/project and get input and approval from the Partnership, prior to any other step in the process. She said that if the City is following the goals in the Consolidated Plan, so should the Partnership. Ms. Freccero said planning is needed to know what the greatest 2 needs are, so they can be addressed before all the funding gets committed. Member Volkmann asked that members review the Ordinance prior to the next meeting and come prepared to discuss future directions and focus. The meeting concluded at 9:07 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Peg Keller 3 NORTHAMPTON HOUSING PARTNERSHIP Minutes May 20, 2003 Members Present: Jack Hornor, Chair, Don Bianchi, Yvonne Freccero, Jackie Brousseau-Pereira, Peg Murray, George Kohout, Richard Abuza, Pat Byrnes, Martha Acklesberg. Also present, David Wilensky and Peg Keller, staff. CALL TO ORDER/ Chair Hornor called the meeting to order at 7:07 p.m. Member Kohout announced that he is taking a different committee assignment from the Planning Board and will be replaced by David Wilensky. Mr. Kohout said he enjoyed his time on the Partnership and members thanked him for his time and commitment. Chair Hornor emphasized that the relationship between the Partnership and Planning Board was greatly enhanced due to George's efforts. He will be missed. Mr. Wilensky introduced himself by noting an interest in affordable housing and his experience as a local attorney. Members introduced themselves to Mr. Wilensky. Vice-Chair Discussion Chair Hornor reviewed the tasks that had been brainstormed as duties of the Vice-Chair. Member Freccero noted that the position is mentioned in the By-laws. Member Acklesberg agreed that attending sub-committee meetings is a good mechanism for communication linkages, although Member Kohout noted the time commitment that it would require. It was suggested that the Chair could attend one sub-committee and the vice could attend the other. Chair Hornor said that a vice-chair could be elected and that person would select their own duties. Member Acklesberg suggested that the Chair and vice-chair together, should coordinate the work of the sub-committees. Peg K. will ask the Housing Authority if they want a formal position, and other members were suggested for leadership positions. They will be approached. Vacancies and the Ordinance were discussed. Ordinance Review Member Byrnes said she thought the Partnership should be doing all that is stated in the Ordinance, as it all seems relevant. It was agreed that a letter would be written and circulated reminding the Mayor, Planning Department, CDBG office that the Housing Partnership is required to be involved in housing 1 proposal reviews. Member Bianchi noted that (re) establishing this protocol will be even more important in the future if we have a different Mayor. Chair Hornor will write that letter to the Planning Director, with a copy to the Mayor. Member Byrnes reiterated her stance that all housing proposals, regardless of whether or not the proponent is requesting local CDBG funds, should come before the Partnership. Member Acklesberg agreed that knowledge of all proposals will better inform the process of creating policy and goals. She also suggested having the Mayor and the Planning Director come to the Partnership once or twice a year to report on housing activities and their visions for future directions. Peg K. said there is still work to be done on supplying developers with good information about the definition of affordability, deed restrictions, housing resources. Member Byrnes said Mass Housing Partnership has a booklet on how to review projects, which she will secure for our use. Planning Committee Member Acklesberg reported that the group brainstormed about the need to oversee the goals of the Partnership and to keep it moving in a coherent productive direction. Member Byrnes has agreed to take over the chair of the sub-committee at the request of long time chair Yvonne Freccero. Member Brousseau-Pereira agreed to join the sub-committee. Chair Hornor agreed to join the Implementation Sub-Committee. The Planning group suggested that both committees meet together to revisit tasks. A joint meeting was scheduled for May 29th• Project Updates A brief discussion followed about 2 projects proposed for Florence, the Go West conversion and new construction of a 3 story property ( commercial on the first floor, apartments on the upper two floors) with 6 townhouse units behind on Maple Street next to the Fire Department. Adjourn/ The meeting concluded at 9:00 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Peg Keller 2 NORTHAMPTON HOUSING PARTNERSHIP Meeting Minutes July 15, 2003 Members Present: Richard Abuza, Jackie Brousseau-Pereira, Peg Murray, Yvonne Freccero, Fran Volkmann, Martha Acklesberg, Joel Feldman, Pat Byrnes, Dave Wilensky. Members Absent: Nola Reinhardt, Jack Hornor, Don Bianchi Staff: Michael Owens Call to Order Jackie Brousseau-Pereira called the meeting to order at approximately 7:00pm. Public Comment No members of the public were present; no public comment was offered. Implementation Committee Report Joel and Peg reported that the Implementation Committee had focused on two issues at its last meeting; the process for reviewing CDBG request for proposals and the breakdown of committee roles relating to the powers and duties of the Partnership. Copies of the Implementation Committee meeting minutes, prepared by Jack, were available to all members present. Jackie then asked those present if the draft Powers and Duties document was ready to be accepted. This draft document was e-mailed by Jack and hard copies made available for the meeting. Proposed changes and comments were included in the draft. Peg noted that a final review was probably in order prior to approval. Members agreed. Planning Committee Report Pat reported that the Planning Committee would take on as its initial task the development of a Request for Proposals for outside consulting services to develop a comprehensive housing plan for the City. The issue of resources to fund the study was discussed. Members agreed that a formal request be made to the Planning Department for a portion of the City's Chapter 418 monies; to be committed to funding the work of a consultant. Of the $30,000 available for eligible 418 activities it was hoped that the City would commit part of this to the work of a consultant. Powers and Duties Document The Powers and Duties document was reviewed by members present, discussion focused on formatting, consolidation of certain tasks, definitions of terms such as 11local proposals" and the notes included in the draft document. The following was agreed to: #4 to be relabeled #1 #8 to be relabeled #2 #2 to be relabeled # 3 #1 and # 5 to be combined as #4 #3 to be relabeled #5 #6 remains #6 #7 remains #7 #9 to be relabeled# 8 There will be one final review of this document by the two committees. Implementation meets again on July 31st and will provide final comments to the Planning Committee for their meeting on August 14th. The full Partnership will then vote to accept the document at the August meeting. Membership Recruitment There are currently three vacancies within the Partnership. The director of the Council on Aging has been invited to join and members discussed networking with the Mayor to identify other possible candidates. Members expressed a desire to have another tenant or low mod income homeowner as a member as well as a representative of the Northampton Housing Authority. Condominium Conversion Recent condominium conversions in the City continue to remove rental units from the market; units on Market Street last year and the old school conversion on South Street are recent examples. Joel provided some background information regarding his understanding of the situation at the Old School Commons. Richard provided a quick historic overview of the condo conversion issue. The Partnership had looked at this issue back in the early 90's focusing on a restriction of conversions. The issue was very divisive and resulted in lots of ill will that took years to overcome. Current state law prohibits condominium conversion restrictions and is essentially a "process" law that owners must follow to convert. Members asked that staff follow up on tracking condo conversions through the assessor's office. Pat stated that she would check with CHAPA to see how other communities are dealing with this issue. Members wondered if this issue would be as pressing if the City had inclusionary zoning in place and also whether this issue should be part of the affordable housing study. Other Business Members discussed the King Street zoning regulations and noted that the Partnership needs a photo for the brochure for King Street. Pat requested that staff investigate the pilot program referenced within the CHAPA housing brief (Section 120 of H. 3944) to determine if this is something the Partnership and the City should pursue. Members briefly discussed the comparative census data and map prepared and presented by Peg Murray. Pat gave a brief description of the Hotel Westfield project, which has been completed and opened last week. This project was possible because of the work Peg Keller completed as part of a McKinney grant. Pat noted that it was a great project and shows Northampton is working regionally as well as locally to address affordable housing. Project Update Rehabilitation of the Valley Inn is complete; regular site visits have been performed and the final request for payment was processed as part of the July 03 warrant. Go West received a special permit from the Planning Board to construct a handicap unit on the first floor eliminating some retail space; the appeal period ends tomorrow. Members asked that if the project is appealed that staff send out e-mail. Tom Fortier and Tris Metcalfe are unable to complete the Turkey Hill project and the City is in discussions with Jim Harrity who has expressed interest in taking over as developer. Staff will keep the Partnership updated as negotiations continue. Regarding the other Turkey Hill project, the City had set aside$ 95,000 in CDBG funds for a possible Habitat for Humanity project at the location of the former quarry. The City should have a good sense by Fall 2003 if this will become a real project or not. If the project does not happen staff will advocate for these funds to go into a housing drawdown fund. Staff also noted that a housing drawdown financial report would be e-mailed to members shortly. Pat asked about the HOP contract for FY03. Staff reported that the scope of services had been finalized by a contract executed. Members briefly discussed the funding process for HDP's contract, which is funded from the public service portion of the annual block grant award. The meeting was adjourned at approximately 840PM. Michael T. Owens Respectfully Submitted 07-21-03 NORTHAMPTON HOUSING PARTNERSHIP Minutes August 19, 2003 Members Present: Jack Hornor, Chair; Jackie Brousseau-Pereira, Fran Volkmann, Yvonne Freccero, Don Bianchi, Nola Reinhardt, Peg Murray. Also present, Peg Keller, staff, Karen Leveille, Hampden Hampshire Housing Partnership. Absent: Joel Feldman, Martha Acklesberg (on leave), David Wilensky, Richard Abuza, Pat Byrnes. Call to Order: Chair Hornor called the meeting to order at 7: 10 p.m. He introduced Ms. Leveille, Real Estate Program Developer, from HAP. West Street Family Housing Project/ Ms. Leveille explained that in January, HAP responded to a Request for Proposals issued by the Northampton Housing Authority for development of a parcel behind Jessie's House on West Street. After consultation with the Center for Human Development, administrators of Jessie's House, HAP proposed a collaborative effort between the two agencies to create 8 transitional and 4 permanent housing units for formerly homeless families. The proposal is directly related to the lack of affordable housing in the area for families leaving Jessie's House. The support services that will be available to the families in the transitional units will help them secure additional living skills to prevent recidivism back into homelessness. The bedroom composition will include 1 four bedroom unit, 5 three bedroom units and 6 two bedroom units one of which will be handicapped accessible. The site plan was circulated for review. Site constraints include the river and the Rivers Act regulations, flood plain issues and the demolition of the two existing buildings. Funding sources being applied for include the HIF and HOME programs. A One Stop application to DHCD will be submitted September 4th• Ms. Leveille is looking for support of the Housing Partnership, but has not yet thought through a specific CDBG request at this time. Smith College will be approached. She spoke to the difficulty getting a project of this size funded. It is too small for Tax Credits and there are no economies of scale on construction of 12 units. The costs of the 21 E and permits process are the same. This all yields a high per unit cost ($200,000). 1 Her purpose for tonight is to preview the proposal with the Partnership, and show evidence of support to the State. She is looking for $750,000 from the Housing Innovations Fund, $715,000 from the HOME Program. She will look to either the Federal Home Loan Bank Affordable Housing Program or a mortgage for the additional $500,000. The FHLB caps their grants at 200,000. This would still leave 300,000 to finance. The zoning considerations were discussed. Member Reinhardt made a motion to support the proposal, seconded by Member Volkmann. Ms. Volkmann said it is a good project at a good location. It was noted that a presentation had been made to the SNAP Committee and a recommendation will be made to the Trustees, t�at this is a model project for use of the proposed Smith funding, should such a fund be established. With regard to a CDBG commitment, Ms. Leveille said she would be looking for approximately $75,000. Peg K. said she and Michael Owens were going to meet with the Mayor to review CDBG allocations, and Mr. Owens had identified roughly 40,000 that might be available to this project. Member Bianchi offered a friendly amendment to the motion to add that the Partnership supports the commitment of City funds and recommends to the Mayor that funds be pledged to the extent available and appropriate. The amendment was accepted, and the final vote was unanimous in favor, 7-0. Ms. Leveille thanked the Partnership and departed. Peg K. will send the appropriate letter following the meeting with the Mayor. (An earmark of $75✓000 was made to the project by the Mayory. Planning Sub-Committee/ Member Pereira reported that the group met Thursday and reviewed the revised Powers and Duties. They incorporated the comments of the Implementation Sub-Committee and blessed the final document. The letter drafted by Member Byrnes to Mr. Feiden regarding the 418 funding, was noted. Chair Hornor asked for a motion to approve the final Powers and Duties document. Member Volkmann made a motion for approval, seconded by Member Freccero. The vote was unanimous in favor, 7-0. It was noted that Member Brousseau-Pereira's husband had offered his assistance with producing the mixed-use brochure created by the Committee. Member Freccero asked for more information on a CHAPA reference to a housing program. Peg K. was asked to follow-up. Implementation Sub-Committee/ Member Murray had circulated the Project Review Criteria, the CDBG funding application and a process flow chart to members prior to the meeting. She asked for endorsement of the package at this time. Member Pereira made the motion to approve the package, a second was offered by Member Freccero. There was no further discussion. The vote was unanimous in favor of adopting the package as presented, 7-0. The sub- 2 committee was thanked for its work. The package will be circulated to the Mayor and Planning staff. Membership Recruitment/ Chair Hornor reported that he met with the Mayor about recruiting someone from the Council on Aging to the Partnership. The Mayor suggested that a Council on Aging Board member as opposed to a staff person be invited to join. The Mayor was concerned that compensatory time for meeting attendance might be requested by City staff which would take away from their daily work time. Ms. Freccero suggested that staff could serve on their personal time. Member Murray asked the Chair if he had gotten a response from the Mayor regarding the Partnership's desire to review all housing proposals requesting CDBG funding. Chair will follow-up, as no, he had not. Zoning Proposals/ Peg K. reviewed a list of zoning proposals the Planning Director was putting forward. Each proposal was reviewed. Comments in this preliminary discussion phase will be forwarded to Mr. Feiden. Adjourn/ There being no additional business to discuss, the meeting concluded at 9:10 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Peg Keller 3 Northampton Housing Partnership Minutes September 16, 2003 Members Present: Jack Hornor, Chair, Pat Byrnes, Fran Volkmann, Yvonne Freccero, Don Bianchi, Peg Murray, Jackie Brousseau-Pereira, Joel Feldman, Richard Abuza, David Wilensky, Nola Reinhardt. Others present, Gerry Joseph and Rachna Purhoit from The Community Builders, Michelle Morris of Valley CDC and Peg Keller, staff. Call to Order/ Chair Hornor called the meeting to order at 7:09 p.m. He reviewed recent activities at the State Hospital Citizen Advisory Committee, saying not a great deal of discussion has been devoted to affordable housing. He did ask the developers to give an update, however, as funding applications are beginning to be awarded. Northampton State Hospital Update Gerry Joseph, Director of Massachusetts Operations. made a presentation, beginning with the homeownership parcel known as the Ice Pond. A map was displayed, showing the location of the 26-lot subdivision. 6 affordable lots will be included, 2 with accessory apartments (total of 20 market rate lots and 8 affordable units). TCB has deposits on all the market rate lots, which were sold within one week. Half were purchased by developers, the other half by private individuals. The lots were sold for prices ranging from $75,000 to 110,000. Ms. Purhoit noted that the affordable lots are scattered throughout the development (lots 12 and 20 will contain the duplexes). The income levels for the affordable units will be 60% of median. The development is a cluster, therefore open space will be deeded back to the City for preservation and a bike trail connection will link with the Pathways co­ housing site. Site work will take 2 months; work has begun. The road will be completed in November and the closing with the State will happen this fall. Wright Builders will be constructing the affordable units. (Costs came in at $115 construction cost per sq.ft. without land or infrastructure/ parcels are ¼ to ½ acre/ stick built bids came in lower than modular). There is approximately $100,000 of subsidy in each full unit, which will contain 3 bedrooms and 2 ½ baths. Floor plans and elevations were reviewed. Michelle Morris described the lottery process that will be held to select the first time homeowners for the affordable units. The deed restriction time periods are 1 15 years for the HOME funds, 15 years for the Affordable Housing Trust funds and 99 years for the City (in exchange for zoning relief and $43,000 in CDBG funds). The City time period was discussed. Mr. Joseph said he doubted the 99 year restriction would negatively impact marketability, but said the issue of first time homebuyers being allowed to build equity is the concern. Various down payment assistance options were mentioned. Mr. Joseph then stated that the Governor was coming to the campus site on October 1st to make a funding announcement for the first phase of the rental housing. This involves rehabilitation of 2 existing buildings into 33 apartments. The subject buildings are the South Employees Home and the Male Nurses Dorm. 25% of those units will be market rate. The requirement to house clients of the Department of Mental Health will be served by some of these units, as most clients will desire one bedroom rental units, as opposed to homeownership units. It appears that 8 out of the 33 Phase One rental housing will be earmarked for DMH clients, and 6 out of the 31 units in Phase 2. Mr. Joseph described the high project costs as being a result of lower rents being able to be received due to the lower Fair Market Rent rate, and the inability of the market rents to cover the costs. He said 100% of the Phase 2 units (31) will be affordable. The new townhouses will include 6 one bedroom units and 25 three bedroom units. The decision on this funding application will come in December. The master site plan was reviewed, noting that most of the rental housing will be along the main spine of the north campus, with the homeownership being in the next area farther north. The 31,000 sq.ft. retail requirement was discussed. Phasing was also reviewed as there are caps on State funding amounts available per project. Mixed income and scattered site housing were discussed. There are 107 total rental units in the overall plan. There are 64 units in the first 2 phases, leaving 43 remaining for subsequent phases. Some of the DMH requirement may be met offsite, for example the 6 units purchased at River Run may "count" toward the total. Mr. Joseph outlined remaining issues. He said that Old Main, if developed, may deplete other resources and there is a problem moving ahead on the new construction that is planned in close proximity to Old Main, if that issue remains unresolved. The total number of units are capped under the Master Plan and the MEPA ( environmental review) process. He would like to be able to consider more residential units in the north once the initial community gets established. He sees those units as having low impacts on services and schools. He said that initially the residential will support the commercial construction, but in the long term the commercial will offset the costs of the residential. 2 He concluded by saying that the Ice Pond parcel is moving ahead. Over the winter, thought will be given to advancing the remainder of the development. The MEPA process is concluding, the Preliminary Plan was approved by the Planning Board with conditions. The definitive plan is being prepared with the final road layouts. TCB will be considering whether they themselves will build out the remainder of the units, or TCB with a partner, as opposed to single family custom built homes. In answer to a question about how the Partnership can help move the project forward, the referendum questions were discussed. Members concluded that if the referendum questions do get on the ballot, then public education will be needed about the benefits of the project overall, with the full build out scenario. Mr. Joseph, Ms. Purhoit and Ms. Morris were thanked for their presentations and presence. They departed. Other Business Member Byrnes asked if there had been a response from Mr. Feiden relative to the Partnership's request that 418 funding be used to hire a housing consultant. Mr. Hornor has not received one. It was noted that the mixed use brochure is being produced by the Planning Sub-Committee. Adjourn/ The meeting concluded at 9:00 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Peg Keller 3 NORTHAMPTON HOUSING PARTNERSHIP Minutes 21 October 2003 Present: Jack Hornor, Joel Feldman, Fran Volkmann, Don Bianchi, Yvonne Frecchero, Peg MmTay, Jackie Brousseau-Pereira, Nola Reinhardt, Others present, Wayne Feiden, Director of Planning and Development Not present: Richard Abuza, Pat Byrnes, David Wilensky, Martha Acklesberg The meeting was called to order at 7:00 by Chair Hornor. Wayne Feiden was present to begin a discussion on proposed zoning changes. These changes were previously discussed by the Paiinership and there were several questions. Proposed Zoning Changes: 1.Parcels on King St. -the property owner requested a change in the zoning from URC toHighway Business. Member Volkmann asked what the impact on housing would be if this change were made, Director Feiden responded that there would be a loss of four units of housing. Members agreed that the Partnership would be concerned with the loss of housing units and would prefer to see mixed use at the site if there was to be a change in zoning. 2.Hatfield St. -this is a parcel to the east of Rt. 91. City Council approved zoning of thisparcel as Special Industrial. The widow of the property owner responded to this changelate and is requesting that the parcel be rezoned as Suburban Residential. Partnership members did not have any opinion on this matter. It is not a prime spot for housing. 3.Market Street-one property on Market Street would be rezoned to URC to keepcontinuity on the street.Partnership members support this zoning change. 4.Suburban Residential and Rural Residential standards -the recommended increase in frontage requirements was suggested to encourage cluster development. Director Feiden expressed his opinion that the reduced setbacks should not come forward on its own ( as an isolated change). He also explained that there is currently a consultant looking at cluster regulations across the state so that the City can come up with something that will work. Wards 6 & 7 would see the most impact from these changes. Member Frecchero expressed concern that most people do not understand what cluster development is. Member Volkmann agreed that more education is needed before any zoning change bemade. Member Feldman stated that it would make more sense to package these changeswith something else. Members agreed to pass on a recommendation at this time. 5.SRO revisions -The City did not have a definition of SRO and needed to define SRO andenhanced SRO. This ordinance defines theseMember Feldman asked for clarification about where SROs might appear in zoning. Director Feiden explained that they appear in zone use regulations and dimensional and density regulations. The Planning Board is interested in changing more URA to URB but while limiting creation of SROs in URB. Partnership members agreed that they were concerned about anything that would limit the creation of SR Os. They further agreed that the definition of SRO was fine. NORTHAMPTON HOUSING PARTNERSHIP Minutes 21 October 2003 6.Mixed residential and commercial uses -this issue is in response to certain projects in thedowntown area of Florence. Changes have been proposed to limit residential use of firstfloor space in URC areas.Chair Hornor raised a concern about the need for handicap accessibility. Members agreed that this was a complex issue and chose to pass on recommendation at this point. Subcommittee Report Neither the Implementation nor the Planning Committee met this month. There were no updates. NHP Goals and Implementation Strategy Partnership members also agreed to pass on a review of the NHP goals and implementation strategy due to time and poor attendance. Executive Order 418 Funds Plam1ing Director Feiden sent a response to Chair Hornor's letter which requested E.O. 418 funds to hire a consultant to do a housing plan. These funds are already committed at this time. Director Feiden mentioned in the letter that some work is being done by Planning Department Staff that would add to a housing plan. Member Freccero asked what the timeline might be for this work and Member Feldman suggested that we find out when information would be made available. Letter to Mayor Chair Hornor informed the Partnership that he had sent another letter to the Mayor requesting a response to a previous letter he sent on behalf of the Partnership, regarding its role and purpose. He reported that he still had no response. Other Business: Member Freccero suggested that the Partnership draft a letter to UMass about the impact on rental housing of their increasing the number of students who will be attending but live off campus. Member Feldman asked whether we had any evidence of the impact of students. Member Volkmaim suggested that the Partnership work with the Amherst Housing Partnership on this issue. She further suggested that this issue be addressed by one of the committees. It was agreed that the Implementation Committee take on this task. Member Brousseau-Pereira requested that the Partnership consider making a recommendation to the Planning Board that they reconsider the 99 year deed restriction on the homeownership units in the Hospital Hill Project as it is having a negative impact on the project. Member Bianchi asked for more info1mation about the specific problems this was causing. Member Brousseau­Pereira agreed to follow up with Valley CDC to find out more about this. Also, the implementation committee will look into this issue. Adjourn/ The meeting was adjourned at 8:30 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Jackie Brousseau-Pereira, Vice Chair NORTHAMPTON HOUSING PARTNERSHIP Minutes November 18, 2003 Members Present: Jack Hornor, Chair, Peg Murray, Joel Feldman, Yvonne Freccero, Richard Abuza, Fran Volkmann, Don Bianchi, Jackie Brousseau-Pereira, Nola Reinhardt. Also present, Peg Keller, staff. Call to Order/ Chair Hornor called the meeting to order at 7: 10 p.m. No one was present from the public. Chair Hornor asked if anyone had any announcements. Vice-Chair Brousseau-Pereira asked that nominations for Chair of the Partnership be made this evening. Chair Hornor asked for nominations. Mr. Abuza asked if Ms. B.Pereira were interested; she responded that in fact she is moving out of town and will need to resign from the Partnership altogether. The members discussed that announcement and Mr. Abuza made a motion to have the Partnership invite the Mayor to reconsider the residency policy with regard to the Northampton Housing Partnership as there are people with skills and interests beneficial to the Partnership who do not live in this community. Ms. Freccero seconded the motion. Additional discussion occurred. A qualifier was added to include "already serving" members. Mr. Feldman said he could foresee a problem with the Chair of the Housing Partnership not living in Northampton. Ms. B.Pereira said she would decline the chair nomination. Ms. Volkmann made a friendly amendment to ask the Mayor to allow Ms. B. Pereira to remain on the Partnership; that amendment was seconded by Mr. Feldman. Mr. Bianchi asked if the Partnership should be deviating from the policy. Members them voted unanimously on the original motion. Ms. B. Pereira abstained. Other potential new members were mentioned. Ms. B. Pereira then nominated Ms. Volkmann to be the next Chair. The motion was seconded by Ms. Freccero. Ms. Volkmann accepted, agreeing that members participating on the Partnership should take a turn with chairing responsibilities. The vote will take place next month. Chair Hornor noted his wish to continue his membership on the Citizen's Advisory Committee, on the Planning Department's Technical Review team and a newly formed sub-committee of CAC and Planning Board members. 1 Ms. Volkmann nominated Ms. B. Pereira as Vice-chair. The motion was seconded by Mr. Abuza. The vote will occur next month. Ms. Freccero made the observation that the committees Jack mentioned are not specifically addressed in the newly revised Partnership Goals and Objectives. Ms. Murray said the Trust Fund's Board of Trustees also needs members. Chair Hornor also noted that a community effort to enact the Community Preservation Act is underway. Mr. Bianchi informed the members that his daughter's ih grade class was utilizing the Partnership's Affordability brochure and that the Mayor was going to the class to talk about Country Lane Estates. Ms. Freccero announced that the Mixed Use Brochure has arrived. Ms. B.Pereira's husband did the design layout. (many thanks to him!). It will be distributed at the locations planned; Chamber, real estate offices, Mayor's Economic Development Office, etc. Partnership Goals Discussion It was agreed that the Planning Committee would address a mechanism for incorporating the goals/objectives into the Partnership's monthly meeting agenda. The Implementation Committee will develop goals for its work, similar to the Planning Committee's. Project Updates Peg K. gave updates on the following: Bridge Rd., Country Lane Estates, Ice Pond, Oaks, Turkey Hill, Westhampton Rd., Verona/Garfield, 66 Green St. SRO/Earle Street, Paradise Pond Apartments, Grove Street 689 Project and Laurel Street. Members discussed the Smith College Press Release relative to the SNAP proposal. The Ice Pond Deed Rider was discussed; to be addressed further at the Implementation Committee meeting. Adjourn/ The meeting concluded at 9:10 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Peg Keller 2 NORTHAMPTON HOUSING PARTNERSHIP Minutes December 16, 2003 Members Present: Jack Hornor, Chair, Fran Volkmann, Pat Byrnes, Peg Murray, Yvonne Freccero, Joel Feldman, Jackie Brousseau-Pereira, Don Bianchi, Nola Reinhardt. Also present, Wayne Feiden, Planning Director, Peg Keller, staff and Joseph Krupczynski and Phil Chu of the West Street neighborhood. Call to Order/ Chair Hornor called the meeting to order at 7:07 p.m. He then recognized two members present to discuss an issue. Mr. Krupczynski and Mr. Chu are both residents of the West St. neighborhood. Partnership members introduced themselves. Mr. Chu said they were concerned about housing issues in the area, relative to Smith College's plans to demolish existing buildings in order to accommodate campus expansion. Mr. Krupczynski introduced himself as the President of the Green Street/West Street/Belmont Avenue neighborhood. He has written an editorial to the Gazette. He said he got involved when he saw Mr. Chu's letter from the College. He said the purpose of the neighborhood coming together is out of a desire to have a community contribution to Smith's planning. He described the character of the area and said that the premise stating the neighborhood is dispensable is illfounded. He said units cannot simply be recreated elsewhere with the walkability and character of the current neighborhood. He described an initial meeting that representatives of the College attended. He said the neighbors are looking for zero displacement and thinks that Smith's needs can be accommodated with design solutions arrived at through an inclusive process. Member Feldman inquired as to which properties are owned by Smith. Mr. Krupczynski responded that they were working on a letter to Smith requesting that information, in addition to a Planning report (the Master Plan that identifies this as the area in which to expand), the criteria used to reach that decision and the timetable for activity. Upon an inquiry from Member Abuza to Mr. Feiden, it was determined that the Planning dept. did not receive a copy of the plan. Additional discussion was held until later in the meeting. E0418 Plan Mr. Feiden described how the $30,000 received from the State for planning purposes has been expended. Peg K. then reviewed the organization of the material in the Housing Plan submission, noting that further analysis is needed. 1 Requests from members for additional information included the number of UMass and Smith Ada Comstock students living here and the number of condo conversions in the last few years. It was agreed that Peg would get the condo information from the Assessor's office and condo conversion activity would be placed on a future agenda. Mr. Feiden said he would appreciate a statement of endorsement from the Partnership to submit with the plan. Member Abuza made a motion stating "The Northampton Housing Partnership commends the Commonwealth for recognizing the importance of comprehensive planning and the important issues facing cities in the Commonwealth; and further applauds the inclusion of the assessment of housing needs as part of that process and the 'Grow Smart Northampton' report that the E0418 funding enabled. We look forward to using the valuable tool in our planning process". The motion was seconded by Member Feldman; vote in favor was unanimous. Member Byrnes reported that the Valley CDC held a wonderfully successful fundraiser at the Look Park Garden House (Dec. 7, 2003) at which local attorney David Bloomberg, Fran Volkmann and Florence Savings Bank were honored. West Street Neighborhood/Smith College Expansion Member Abuza began the discussion with his observations of the neighborhood meeting held December 6, 2003. Chair Hornor asked if SNAP members were there and if they had a role in this process. Member Volkmann responded that the focus of the SNAP group was on financing and to insure that Smith replace what they were taking away from the community affordable housing inventory. It was also to leverage Smith funds if they were to be used to accomplish that goal. She noted that SNAP succeeded in that endeavor and confirmed that their efforts were not location specific. SNAP/NHP Member Reinhardt added that early on the committee did look for sites, but felt that effort was premature and that the framework needed to be adopted first. Members then recalled that the early thrust of the Housing Advocacy Coalition was leaning toward adversarial and all concluded that working with Smith would yield a more beneficial result. Member Byrnes said that the success of SNAP was to hold Smith accountable, now they are and the process can move to the next phase. Mr. Krupczynski said he was not aware of the SNAP group or that it was working on these issues. He said that Smith did not notify the neighbors, as they had when the parking garage was constructed. Member Bianchi said the issue now is neighborhood preservation. He said that in order to accomplish both goals, leverage, strategy and priorities need to be addressed. 2 Member Volkmann distributed a list of potential stakeholders she identified in her thinking. Member B.-Pereira added neighborhood businesses to the list. Member Abuza noted that as an educational institution zoning does not restrict locations. Member Freccero said information on Smith's plans is needed in order to create opportunities or strategies. Member Volkmann said the only way to move forward constructively is to include all parties in the discussion. She suggested, that as an advisory body to the Mayor, the Partnership should encourage the Mayor to ask President Christ to pull all the stakeholders together. Member Abuza offered that advocacy does not always equate with belligerence and that he did not agree that the NHP's only role is to advise the Mayor; there may be other roles beyond that. His particular role in this discussion, as a neighborhood property owner, was briefly discussed. Member Byrnes suggested a motion that would ask the Mayor to make contact with the President (of Smith College) to discuss next steps for the neighborhood. Member Brousseau-Periera offered a friendly amendment to ask the Mayor to consider convening a group of the stakeholders. Member Volkmann suggested asking the Mayor to raise with the President, community concerns regarding the communication about Smith's plans in this area and the possibility of convening a group of stakeholders and express that the neighbors, SNAP and the Housing Partnership feel uninformed. She went on to say that expansion of the science and engineering curricula as an accomplishment has immeasurable value, considering one third of the undergrad students at Smith are pursuing sciences and have the possibility to go on to make worldwide contributions in this area. Mr. Krupczynski said that if the argument that they (Smith College) are who they are and Smith's role as a major employer is more important than the preservation of this neighborhood, they reiterate their contention that the loss of 36 units is an untenable loss to the community. Member Bianchi said that our Mayors have taken ground breaking action to preserve affordable housing (Hampton Gardens and Meadowbrook) and has confidence that Smith will be held accountable as a "corporate citizen". The Partnership reverted to Member Byrnes motion with the friendly amendment. The motion was made by Member Byrnes, seconded by Member Brousseau-Pereira, the vote in favor was unanimous, no abstentions. Election Member Jackie Brousseau-Pereira submitted her letter of resignation (effective January 1, 2004), as she is moving to Easthampton. She was thanked for her participation. Member Volkmann was nominated for Chair of the Partnership, 3 succeeding Jack Hornor, who has served the three terms allowed. Member Abuza moved that the nominations be closed, seconded by Member Brousseau-Pereira. The vote to close the nominations was unanimous in favor. The motion to approve Member Volkmann as Chair was made and seconded, the vote in favor unanimous. Requests for someone to serve as Vice-Chair were made. It was agreed that this would be revisited at the next meeting. Implementation Committee The group met and reviewed the Ice Pond Deed Rider as requested by the Partnership. Member Abuza distributed a summary sheet. The topic will be revisited next month, due to the lateness of the hour. Adjourn/ The meeting concluded at 9:01 p.m. after members thanked Jack Hornor for his service as chair and offered a round of appreciative applause. Respectfully submitted, Peg Keller 4