Lenox Affordable Housing Committee
March 5, 2012
Minutes
Members present: Dave Klausemeyer (DK), Chair, Ellen Jacobson (EJ), Debbie Burke (DB), Kate McNulty-Vaughan (KMV), Olga Weiss (OW) and Theresa Ahrens (TA). Absent: Jo Anne Magee.
Also in attendance: Mary Albertson (MA), Town Planner.
DK opened the meeting at 3:04 PM.
OW made a motion to approve the minutes of February 7, 2012. ~EJ seconded the motion and the Board voted 6-0 to approve.
Connie Kruger, Peer-to-Peer Consultant, attend the February 7th meeting. MA said she talked to Ms. Kruger following the meeting. Ms. Kruger was very complementary regarding the Committee’s accomplishments. Ms. Kruger suggested that she could assist the Committee with: 1) the preparation of the CHAPA grant application; or 2) the revision of the strategy section of the Housing Production Plan (HPP). Discussion ensued regarding potential projects. The Committee tabled the discussion to the April meeting. MA will contact Ms. Kruger and inform her that the Committee has not arrived at a consensus regarding the next phase of the project.
KMV informed the Committee about the Citizen Planner Training Collaborative conference. The conference is March 17th at Holy Cross College in Worcester. DK said the Housing US conference was rescheduled to March 20th. He cannot attend and he asked if a Committee member could attend in his place. EJ volunteered. OW may also attend this meeting.
KMV asked if the Committee was interested in investigating the idea of a shared housing office based on the Sudbury example. This would allow for a dedicated housing planner similar to the Berkshire Regional Planning Commission (BRPC) Circuit Rider program. MA said Tyringham is in the process of preparing its first HPP. Discussion ensued regarding neighboring communities who might be interested in this type of program.
OW said she talked to Mary Jo Piretti regarding rental opportunities. In general, one bedroom units are $750, and two bedroom units are $1,000 to $1,200. Members discussed developing a program to have landlords donate rental units to the Affordable Housing Trust. Discussion ensued regarding the need to look at the development of new rental opportunities.
The Committee discussed updates to the HPP. KMV did research on the 2010 Census. She pointed out that the traditional long-form has been eliminated and replaced with the American Community Survey. Only basic census information is available at this time. The Committee discussed the idea of including “housing questions” on the yearly Town Census. MA will discuss this idea with the Town Clerk. DK suggested the Committee keep this as an agenda item and have a “brainstorming” session at the next meeting. DK suggested that it be scheduled as a joint meeting of the Committee and the Trustees. DK asked EJ if she would talk to the Housing Authority regarding vacancy rates at the Housing Authority properties.
Meeting adjourned at 4:00 PM.
Respectfully Submitted,
Mary Albertson, Town Planner
Approved: 4/2/2012
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