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HousingPartnershipMinutes2009NORTHAMPTON HOUSING PARTNERSHIP Minutes February 2, 2009 Members Present: Gordon Shaw, Chair, Lynne Wallace, Peg Murray. Also present, Peg Keller, staff. Call to Order: Chair Shaw called the meeting to order at 6:35 p.m. No one was present for the public comment period. Project Updates 1.) Housing Plan RFP/ Peg K. gave an update on the release of the RFP. She has been in discussion with the City's procurement officer regarding the insurance requirements. The concern is that extensive requirements may preclude the response from sole vendors and smaller firms. Joe Cook also asked for additional clarifications made to the selection criteria, a time line and payment schedule. Members discussed a possible release date, times for interviewing and places to circulate the release information. Peg K. will work to release the RFP as soon as possible. 2.) Hathaway Farms/ Members requested an update from Spear Management. Diane Andes had agreed to monthly reports in this final year of the Trust. Members are concerned about household notification, assistance with relocation and clarity on other resources. Peg K. will contact Spear to get an update on their activity. The trust balance statement for the year ending December 31, 2008 has been delayed due to a City staffing change. Information on new January rents is still being calculated. Fair Housing Impediments Analysis Peg K. reported that it was time for the Partnership to review and update the City's Impediments Analysis to Fair Housing. The report is required by HUD and needs to be updated annually. As the Fair Housing Committee for the City, the Partnership should take an active role in this process. The Mass. Fair Housing Center has received CDBG funding annually to carry out fair housing activities for the City and prepared the most recent plan. The Partnership has been involved in creating the work scope for those annual contracts in the past. Peg 1 will distribute the existing report for perusal at the next meeting and members can determine a course of action for updating it. CDBG Annual Action Plan Peg K. reported that Nate Best, the new CDBG Administrator, is in the process of bidding out and evaluating responses for the public services portion of this year's program. The Housing Partnership has traditionally had a member serve on the Ad Hoc Committee to review the requests. Once the funding determinations are made, they will be included in an Annual Action Plan. Next year the 5 year Consolidated Plan will need to be updated, which includes the Fair Housing Impediments Analysis. These two planning documents will be inforn::1ed by the Needs Assessment and Strategic Housing Plan currently being prepared for bid. There are still no funds available for the housing draw down fund. Members asked if Valley CDC's foreclosure program request had been funded by the Community Preservation Committee. Peg K. will find out. Adjourn/ The�e being no additional business to discuss, the meeting concluded at 8:10 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Peg Keller 2 NORTHAMPTON HOUSING PARTNERSHIP Minutes March 23, 2009 Members Present: Gordon Shaw, Chair, Peg Murray, Lynne Wallace, Betsy Siersma, Richard Abuza, Maureen Carney. Also present, Diane Andes, Spear Management and Peg Keller, staff. Call to Order: Chair Shaw called the meeting to order at 5:35 p.m. No one was present for the public comment period. Hathaway Farms/ Ms. Andes reviewed a strategic plan they have devised outlining the years activities. Families were notified a couple of weeks ago. Families were encouraged to come in to the office for one-on-one consultations. Families will be offered some options to lengthen their stay with differing rent increases. Leases have been month to month since last fall. There are 5 households that have disabled or elders that did not receive letters. Spear Management will subsidize those households for the near term. They expect 15 families to remain at the end of the year. The number changes daily. The expectation is that the fund will be exhausted in October or November of 2009. The office has received no calls since the letters went out. Direct phone calls will be made to those affected around April 1st• 3 tenants have indicated a desire to stay. People are being made aware of other residential complexes in the immediate area. Discussion continued.Members thanked Ms. Andes and Spear Management for their willingness toparticipation in the effort that lengthened the affordability for many additionalyears. Ms. Andes will keep Peg K. apprised over the next few months. A motionwas made, seconded and unanimously supported expressing the Partnership'sgratitude and appreciation for the undertaking and for the sensitivity with whichthe property owners are addressing the closure. A letter from the Mayor will besent to the partners. Ms. Andes was thanked for her attendance and shedeparted.Fair Housing Plan Members had reviewed the current plan sent in the mail. Peg Murray distributed some 2007 data she was able to collect on loan originations in City census tracts. A discussion of reasonable accommodation ensued in relation to the nah1re of 1 complaints received by the Mass. Fair Housing Center. Peg K. said she will bring the HUD requirements for the Impediments to Fair Housing Analysis to the May meeting. Peg M. said she can help with some data collection. HousingRFP Peg K. reviewed some of the geographic locations from which requests for theRFP have come. Logistics of reviewing responses was discussed. The responsesare due by noon on April 3rd• Hard copies will be available for those that want toreview them over the weekend. A meeting will be held Monday April 6th. Thetime will be spent reviewing the non-price proposals and making selections for interviews. Price Proposals will follow. CHAPA Initiative Peg K. circulated a grant opportunity from CHAP A. Members felt it was premature to apply until they were further along in the plan formulation. Adjourn/ The meeting concluded at 7:35 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Peg Keller 2 Northampton Housing Partnership c/o Community and Economic Development Office City Hall, 210 Main Street Northampton, MA 01060-3199 (413) 587-1001 Fax: (413) 587-1275 NORTHAMPTON HOUSING PARTNERSHIP MEETING MINUTES -OCTOBER 8, 2009 Meeting called to order by Gordon Shaw, Chair, at 5 :30pm with the following members and guests present: Members Present: Gordon Shaw, Lynne Wallace, Martha Ackelsberg, Margaret Murray, and Betsy Siersma Members Absent: Maureen Carney, Richard Abuza Others Present: Karen Sunnarborg, Housing Needs Study Consultant, Teri Anderson, CEDO Director (for Peg Keller), and Peter McClain from the Zoning Revisions Committee Public Comment Period: Peter McClain explained that the Zoning Revisions Committee has a few housing related zoning revisions on their list to review and he was interested in learning more about the Housing Needs Assessment. Review of Housing Needs Assessment: Karen Sunnarborg reviewed this round of revisions to the study. The document still needs a zoning section. We still need Peg's comments. Karen will update the data tables as best she can as new data is published -including 2008 American Community Survey data, and MISER 2010-20 estimated age distribution data. Reviewed comments from HP members and from Teri Anderson. Need to get Karen the list of attendees for 6/23 meeting. Karen will prepare a pared down version of the Ex. Summary for public presentation. Revisions discussed: 1.Cover -Change Claire Higgins to Clare. 2.P. 1 Add housing the homeless and creating live/work spaces as priority objectives in.text and executive summary and on page 73.P. 2 -change population to units in last paragraph4.P. 3 3rd paragraph, last sentence-note that loss of younger population also relates to housing costs rather than the items listed since the quality schools and quality of life rate highly in the city. 5.P. 7 -clarify the definition of permanent housing 6.P. 8 -Summarize New Homeless Prevention Programs and add a specific list to theappendix. 7.Add Expiring Use as a concern somewhere 8.Table 2-1 -add a column for DHCD workforce housing at 80-120%. Note that the Springfield SMA data does not accurately reflect income/housing costs for Northampton due to our higher cost of housing than in the City of Springfield. 9.Account for Smith College replacement units on Bedford Terr./State Street -24 30-80%units for 99 years. 10.Table 3-25 -Does table include Rocky Hill Co-housing? 11.Table 3-33 Add Smith College 24 relocated units and 40 more rental units at Village at Hospital Hill Hillside Place, School Street 4 units, Yvonne's place? 12.Use a new photo on page 52 of State Hospital -show new housing units.13.P. 65 -Add CPA projects -Yvonne's House-check CPA City Website for projectsfunded.Teri will email other comments and Peg's comments. Discussed public meetings to present the draft housing needs assessment for public comment and reviewed the draft slide show presentation. Changes: 1.Correct spelling of Clare Higgins and Martha Ackeslberg2.Slide 4 -Define and distinguish between subsidized affordable housing and market rateaffordable.3.Slide 5 -add subsidized to 1st bullet4.Slide 7 -last bullet -add: in comparison to county and state5.Slide 12-Delete Housing first, SRO, and just have 3 bullets6.Slide 13 -add live/work and workforce housing to needs list7.Slide 15 -add expiring use and condo conversion and add sustaining to the titlePublic Meeting Structure and Invitations: one evening one Saturday morning in separate locations if possible in Mid-November. Preferred dates: Nov. 18 & 21 (backup dates: Nov. 14 and not 11/19). Discussed having breakout groups to prioritize needs and strategies. Post updated draft on City website before the meeting. Hand out the slide presentation and a condensed executive summary. Invite: general public, realtors, developers, businesses and chamber, arts groups, housing/social service groups, Smith College, Housing Authority, apartment complexes, city boards. Project Updates-CPA Funding Proposal: Discussed two project applications to support. Valley CDC foreclosure prevention and post purchase counseling -Homeownership Sustainability program for $42,446 serving 45 people -and the Valley CDC Revolving Loan Fund program. MOTION: Moved by Acklesberg, seconded by Siersma and voted unanimously to send a support letter strongly endorsing the Community Preservation Committee for the Valley CDC Homeownership Sustainability application. MOTION: Moved by Siersma, seconded by Wallace and voted unanimously to send a support letter for this project application -this is a well designed program. Gordon Shaw will prepare the letters. Teri will email Housing Partnership letterhead. Other Business: None Adjourned at 7:35 p.m. Respectfully Submitted: Teri Anderson, Community and Economic Development Director Northampton Housing Partnership c/o Community and Economic Development Office City Hall, 210 Main Street Northampton, MA 01060-3199 (413) 587-1001 Fax: (413) 587-1275 NORTHAMPTON HOUSING PARTNERSHIP MEETING MINUTES -November 2, 2009 Meeting called to order by Gordon Shaw, Chair, at 5:30pm with the following members and guests present: Members Present: Gordon Shaw, Lynne Wallace, Martha Ackelsberg, Margaret Murray, and Betsy Siersma. Members Absent: Maureen Carney, Richard Abuza Others Present: Karen Sunnarborg, Housing Needs Study Consultant, Teri Anderson, CEDO Director (for Peg Keller) Public Comment Period: None Final Preparation for Housing Needs Public Meetings: Confirmed meeting dates and times of: Sat., Nov. 21 lOam-noon and Monday, Nov. 23, 7-9pm at the Senior Center great room. Equipment needed: Karen will bring an LCD projector and laptop. SC will provide the screen and one easel. CEDO will provide two more easels and the pads. One extra extension cord, microphone, markers, and a podium. Karen will send out a draft agenda with breakout group instructions. The plan is to have Karen present the study with power point presentation and then have a· short Q&A session. Following that, we will divide into groups depending upon how many people attend. HP members will be small group facilitators. Groups will choose a recorder and a reporter. Small group tasks: list 2-3 affordable housing strategies/actions, prioritize the list -top 3. Small groups report out to full group and then all attendees label their preferred and least preferred items with colored dots. Members reviewed the power point presentation with Karen and made some edits. Agreed that we will have copies of the presentation as a handout so people can take notes. The executive summary and full report will be posted on the City website for review. Target audience/advertising: last meeting participants, social service groups, developers, realtors, the general public, property owners, landlords association, neighborhood associations, tenant associations, chamber, city councilors/boards, housing authority, Smith College, media PSA's, list serve announcements. Refreshments will be served: Cider, water, cookies in evening and pastries in morning. Further Review of Housing Needs Assessment: Members reviewed additional edits to the Needs Study with Karen Sunnarborg. Some revisions discussed: 1.Language changes to the opening paragraph.2.P. 7 Producing new and protecting existing affordable housing (heading) 3.P. 9 add minimize cost of operating and maintenance after green design ... 4.Discussed affordable units vs. total units at Village Hill5.Teri will confirm status of Mary McColgan units.6.Get examples of inclusionary projects from Wayne and Carolyn in OPD.7.P. 2-change 29, 978 to 28,978 on table.8.P. 5 -add explanatory footnote to pop./housing change table 9.Peg offered info on Westhampton affordable units to add to table. 10.P. 60-update language/numbers in Smith Replacement paragraph. 11.Discussed timing of bus service to Florence Heights. Teri has confirmed this service began in late 1980's, but that this route has recently been extended to serve the VillageHill project. MINUTES: MOTION: Moved by Siersma, seconded by Wallace and voted unanimously to approve the minutes from Oct. 8, 2009. Other Business: None Meeting Schedule and Next Meeting Date: Agreed that the regularly scheduled monthly HP meeting will be on the first Monday of each month, 5:30 -7:30pm in the Hearing Room in City Hall. Next meeting is Dec. 7, 2009. Adjourned at 7:30 p.m. Respectfully Submitted: Teri Anderson, Community and Economic Development Director Northampton Housing Partnership c/o Community and Economic Development Office City Hall, 21 O Main Street Northampton, MA 01060-3199 (413) 587-1001 Fax: (413) 587-1275 NORTHAMPTON HOUSING PARTNERSHIP Minutes December 7, 2009 Members Present: Gordon Shaw, Chair, Richard Abuza, Peg Murray, Martha Ackelsberg, Betsy Siersma, Lynne Wallace. Also present, Karen Sunnarborg, Consultant and four members of the Zoning Revisions Committee: Joel Russell, Tom Weiner, Dillon Sussman, Peter McLean. Also present, Peg Keller, staff. Call to Order: Chair Shaw called the meeting to order at 5:35 p.m. No one was present for the public comment period. No minutes were approved. Zoning Revisions Committee The members of the Housing Sub-Committee of the Zoning Revisions Committee introduced themselves. Mr. Russell gave a brief report on the Sub-Committee's activities to date saying that the group has been meeting since April of 2009. The members have 2 year appointments, which is to coincide with the duration of the project. They started out reviewing the list from the Sustainable Northampton plan, developed a time line and a work plan. The plan is divided into 4 main work areas. Mr. Russell has analyzed the current ordinance concluding that the Committee should focus on short term revisions with large impacts, (such as infill). He says a complete revamp of the ordinance should be conducted in the longer term, perhaps moving to form based zoning for some districts. The members do not have any formal recommendations yet and did not want to begin the public input process with preconceived ideas. They will be holding their first public input session on February 10th• Mr. Sussman said one of their first tasks was to identify housing needs for the community and translate that into needed zoning revisions. He said the fact that the Housing Partnership had already undertaken this was a huge help. Discussion followed. Housing Partnership members agreed to attend the session on 2/10 and continue the dialogue. Peg K. stated the timing was perfect, as the housing needs assessment and strategic plan would conclude when the Zoning Committee begins to formulate their recommendations (although their process will not conclude until April 2011). Members were thanked for taking on this important community task. 1 Housing Plan Status Update Ms. Sunnarborg said she would soon begin to draft recommendations based on the housing needs assessment. She said the next meeting should be spent identifying the nature of the public input for phase 2 (the strategic plan). With regard to zoning, she said she would not be crafting specific language, only making recommendations for specific tools. She applauded the process of working together and said the collaboration should continue well beyond the completion of her work. At this point, members of the Zoning Sub-Committee departed. Ms. Sunnarborg noted that the next large task is to satisfy the requirements of the State's Planned Production Plan and identify specific housing projects and parcels for inclusion. Those potential projects need to be analyzed and selected. Peg K. said she would print out the list and meet with area realtors, the Planning Director and the Community Development Director, as a first step to culling the list. The Consultant asked Partnership members if they were familiar with "intentional housing" ( a system of formalized roommates) as an alternative living type. Members agreed it was something to be considered for our plan, due to the high number of one-person households in our community. It was also noted that Solar Way in Greenfield should be researched as a local example of green affordable housing. In addition to the collaboration with the Zoning Revisions Committee, she noted that other possible community group synergies should be discussed and identified at the January meeting. Project Updates Peg K. noted she was following up on issues at Ice Pond Lane regarding the affordability restrictions and refinancing, issues at Leeds Village and rent increases at Hilltop Apartments. She reported that Michaels House owners have signed on for additional years of affordability and Appleton Corp./O'Connell Development should be commended. This State Street complex was the next to expire in 2012. This is very good news. Village Hill/Citizen's Advisory Committee Martha Ackelsberg is the new representative for the Housing Partnership on the State Hospital Citizen's Advisory Committee. Members are appreciative of the time Jack Homer spent in that role. Ms. Ackelsberg reported on the meeting she attended, noting that Kollmorgen will open for occupancy in the fall of 2010, Wright Builders will start construction on the town homes this spring, the Coach House will be marketed as a commercial site and efforts will soon commence to restore the fountain and design a memorial park. Adjourn/ The meeting concluded at 7:30 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Peg Keller 2 NORTHAMPTON HOUSING PARTNERSHIP Minutes January 5, 2009 Members Present: Gordon Shaw, Chair, Betsy Siersma, Richard Abuza, Peg Murray, Alan Ells, Lynne Wallace. Also present, Consultant Karen Sunnarborg, Pat McCarthy, Valley CDC and Peg Keller, staff. Call to Order: Chair Shaw called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m. Members introduced themselves to newly appointed member Lynne Wallace. Request for Proposals for Needs Assessment and Strategic Housing Plan The bulk of the meeting was spent reviewing the draft RFP prepared by Ms. Sunnarborg and offering input and revisions. She welcomed all comments and will produce a revised version by the end of the week. Discussion items included work force housing, data collection per census tracts vs. blocks and response time frames. Ms. Sunnarborg was thanked for her work. Valley CDC SRO Proposals to the Community Preservation Committee Members discussed the status of Valley's request to renovate The Maples SRO in Florence and the acquisition and renovation of 98 King Street into an enhanced SRO development. It was agreed that the Partnership, having prioritized the preservation and creation of SRO units as a critical community need, would send a letter to the City Councilors. The applications have been approved by the Community Preservation Committee and the Mayor, and are now before the Council for final approval. Peg K. agreed to draft the letter for circulation. Members will see if they can attend the hearing to express support. Adjourn/ The meeting concluded at 7:45 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Peg Keller