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HousingPartnershipMinutes2013NORTHAMPTON HOUSING PARTNERSHIP Minutes April 1, 2013 Members Present: Lynne Wallace, Chair, Audrey Easter, Vice-Chair, Richard Abuza, Martha Ackelsberg, Jen Dieringer, _Toni Hochstadt, Gordon Shaw. Call to Order: Chair Wallace called the meeting to order. No one was present for the public comment period. Member Ackelsberg suggested some edits to the minutes from February. Members approved the minutes as revised. Developers Forum Update Peg has learned that the Planning Department has scheduled a developer's forum for April 25th. Some of the invited participants are folks we wanted to include in our session, so it may make sense to delay. The focus of OPD' s is strictly on downtown development and partially a follow up to the Priority Development fund grant Wayne Feiden reported on last fall. Discussion followed about the lack of housing developers on the OPD invite list. Peg will talk to Wayne about his plans, why affordable housing developers do not seem to be included and tell him we will wait to see how his session goes and plan ours accordingly. Members decided to hold the housing development forum on October 7. Peg circulated the computer run of municipally owned properties so members could see the universe of parcels. All agreed culling is needed and mapping of the primary sites would be beneficial for presentation purposes and analysis. Peg will ask Wayne if Chair Wallace could make an announcement about the October session on the 25th. Community Preservation Committee Dialogue/ De-Briefing Members were asked to give their thoughts on last month's discussion with Bill Breitbart and Joe DeF azio of the CPC. All agreed it was a valuable session and are encouraged by the receptivity for affordable housing project applications and efforts that support people in community housing. Family Self-Sufficiency Program Pilot/ Update Due to the anticipated success of ServiceNet' s Access to Housing Initiative proposal before the CPC which funds supportive services rather than a bricks and mortar project, members revisited the pilot project previously discussed. Member Dieringer 1 spoke to the high number of evictions in court due to non-payment of rent. It was noted that there is only one rep payee company (service that manages money for people) in the State -New Bedford area. Member Hochstadt emphasized the challenge faced by households to keep housing costs, public and health benefits and other financial obligations organized. Members agreed a program empowering tenants living in subsidized housing to achieve greater financial security is needed. Discussion followed about whether public housing should be long term housing, or transitional. If transitional, what options exist for people? Most next step housing options exist out of town. Member Hochstadt said she sees many families over and over. Community Action used to have the resources to address people's generic concerns holistically. B-�t now services are provided on an appointment basis for specific issues. All agreed that housing stabilization, maintaining stock and helping people maintain their tenancies benefit both the tenant and landlords. The idea of a survey was discussed. Gathering information from local landlords about tenant services they see a need for and data on notices to quit and evictions would be a valuable undertaking. A list of properties and sample questions were brainstormed. Member Ackelsberg offered to design a research project for her class at Smith to implement the survey. She will draft the set of questions and circulate them for review. Based on the results of the survey, members will have a better idea how to design the program. This could be done in time for the August Community Preservation funding round. Peg reported that the feedback from the CPC about the ServiceNet proposal was very favorable. After hearing about the need for data and finite performance outcomes, Peg presented area statistics on homelessness and described the universal data elements required by HUD which tracks the characteristics and movement of the homeless population. Wanda Rolon (Director of Hampshire County Programs for ServiceNet) presented the specific program design which includes a repayment component to create a revolving loan fund. Seth Dunn of ServiceNet then spoke about their agency's commitment as evidenced by not taking any administrative fee: 11 letters of support were included in the application, and 4 people spoke, including Member Dieringer, representing the Planning Board, Housing Partnership and her agency, Community Legal Aid. The Committee said it was one of the best applications ever received. Clearly, the Committee is receptive to receiving applications that support people in housing, in addition to bricks and mortar projects. This was successful community collaboration at its best! 2 CDBG Update Peg reported on the Annual Action Plan community process and the public services awards. The agenda for the second requireq. public hearing (April 10th) will be for award recipients to describe their programs, so all are aware of community resources available for local households with low and moderate incomes. Op-Ed Column A draft of the column initiated by Chair Wallace and Member Hochstadt was circulated. Comments were made. Chair Wallace will make the suggested revisions and circulate it for review. It will then be submitted to the Daily Hampshire Gazette. It will serve as an introductory piece about the Housing Partnership and invite people to engage in a conyersation about affordable housing in our community. New Business Chair Wallace said that the ·Pioneer Valley Regional Planning Commission has finished its Regional Housing Plan. It is on their website for review. There is also a PVPC report out on the State of the People, which is a comprehensive summary of healthy community indicators. Peg will send around the link for the latter. Adjourn The meeting concluded at 7:30 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Peg Keller 3 Identifying and Prioritizing Local Housing Needs Recent guest columns in this space have promoted an exciting new downtown housing model and the need for new development like it within the City. Topics such as this highlight the priorities of the Northampton Housing Partnership -aligning housing strategies and production with the local housing needs in our community. The Northampton Housing Partnership is a Mayoral appointed board of volunteers. In existence since 1991, it is charged by City Ordinance with identifying and addressing the City's housing needs, particularly for households with low and moderate incomes. The Partnership assists with efforts to preserve existing affordable housing stock and supports initiatives to create new housing opportunities. As part of that responsibility, the Partnership completed a Housing Needs Assessment and Strategic Plan in 2011, to be used as a guide for the City as it deals with any number of policy issues regarding housing. These include decisions about resource allocation for the production of new affordable and workforce housing, how to revise the existing zoning code as it relates to building new housing, and how to engage housing developers and other housing service providers in partnerships that will work to fill the identified needs. The Assessment revealed that, while Northampton's population growth has been flat, the number of households is increasing. At the same time, our population is aging and household incomes are relatively low (for our area), but housing prices -both rental and homeownership -have remained relatively high. Many agree that Northampton is a vibrant community, a desirable place to live, to work, and to raise our children. We have made important strides in addressing issues of housing affordability in the City. Nevertheless, we cannot rest on our laurels. Because of the growing affordability gap and a misalignment of how the demographics are changing the types of housing needed, we must develop a range of strategies so that the City can play a meaningful role in promoting housing options that match people to appropriately priced and sized units -producing housing that reflects our local needs. The project described by David Pesuit in his January 23, 2013 guest column and supported by Joel Russell this space a week later (mixed-income housing with civic and commercial uses, at an appropriate scale and architecturally compatible design behind Pulaski Park) fills gaps identified in the Housing Assessment -rental housing for individuals and small families as well as an in-town, walkable option for those looking to embrace the urban side of our City and a sustainable lifestyle. Promoting housing production that is in line with the needs of those living or wanting to live in Northampton is an important goal identified by the Housing Needs Assessment and the Housing Partnership. Our plan for this year is to actively engage in and facilitate conversations that will promote the creation of affordable housing along a range of income levels. This will include supporting local landlords in the preservation of affordable units, convening a Developers' Forum to explore matches between developers and developable parcels or existing buildings, and continuing to pursue and support the production of new housing like Mr. Pesuit suggested, as well as the Christopher Heights project at Village Hill, that meet the needs in our community -both for housing and its ripple effect to economic development. The Housing Partnership meets the first Monday of the month and has Board Member openings for Northampton residents interested in working towards these goals, check out the website http://www.northamptonma.gov/housingpart/ to learn more -we're up to something!