Salem Affordable Housing Trust Fund
Minutes of Meeting
Monday, November 3, 2008
A regular meeting of the Salem Affordable Housing Trust Fund was held on Monday, November 3, 2008 at 8:30 a.m. in Room 313 at 120 Washington Street.
Members present were Lynn Goonin Duncan, Councillor Jean Pelletier, Aaron Allen, Mary Lauby, Andrew Meegan, Jennifer Raitt, and Leonette Strout. Also present was Jennifer Kolodziej, City of Salem Housing Coordinator.
Members absent were Mayor Driscoll, Kathleen Burke, Chad Colarusso, Lucy Corchado, Mary Dennesen, and Councillor Matthew A. Veno.
Approval of Minutes
The minutes of the Salem Affordable Housing Trust Fund Board meeting held on May 12, 2008 were presented for approval. Aaron Allen moved to approve the draft minutes with no amendments, seconded by Leonette Strout and approved (7-0).
Approval of Annual Report for FY08
Members reviewed the report. Councillor Pelletier motioned to approve the report and submit it to City Council, seconded by Mary Lauby and approved (7-0). The report documented that no funds were expended in fiscal year 2008. Twenty-five thousand dollars of the Trust’s fifty thousand dollars was committed to the redevelopment of the St. Joseph’s Church site into affordable housing. These dollars have yet to be drawn down.
Also, Lynn asked Jennifer to look in whether or not the audit of the Trust Fund was covered under the City’s general audit or if the Board would need to hire it own auditor for the annual audit of the fund. Jennifer will report back to the Board on the audit at the next meeting.
Membership & Officer Elections
Jennifer Kolodziej announced that it was time again to elect officers for the Board. Mary Lauby nominated Jenny Raitt for the office of President. Aaron Allen put forth his name for Vice-Chair and Mary Lauby, after review of the duties of the Treasurer, said she would be willing to serve in that role. Councillor Pelletier motioned to elect all three nominees in one vote, seconded by Lynn Goonin-Duncan and approved (7-0).
Board’s Future Undertakings
Lynn Goonin-Duncan explained to the two new members components of an Accessory Dwelling Ordinance, which had been the topic of many of the Board’s meetings over the past few months. Also, she updated the group on the status of the St. Joseph’s redevelopment project. The project will be having a commercial component. It needs to come to the planning board with a new site plan. The total units will be 67 with 43 affordable units.
Andrew commented that he would like to get more money into the fund. Mary Lauby asked about the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) and what projects the local banks are funding. Jennifer will do research to find out what the local banks are doing to meet their CRA requirements in order to find out if this would be a possible source of funds for the Trust. Leonette questioned if we would need to have an identified project. Jenny replied that she thought we would need to a specific project that met the objectives of the fund’s focus.
The group reviewed its original goals and objectives from last year. Jenny suggested that the group may want to narrow its focus or cut down on its goals. The group expressed that its greatest priority at this time was education.
The group discussed holding a forum or awareness summit on the affordable housing and the current housing market. The group agreed that talking about the housing crisis is a hot topic and a great draw to entice people who are concerned about housing to attend. In addition, the forum would be an opportunity to boost the visibility of the Board and help to forge relationships with other local groups dealing with affordable housing.
The first segment of the summit would cover general information on who the Affordable Housing Trust Fund is, efforts the City is currently undertaking regarding affordable housing. The second segment would cover the impact of the current housing crisis on Salem compared to other cities in the North Shore and the current affordable housing challenges in a down market as well as current state and federal responses to the problem. The final part would be an opportunity for the audience to comment on what they see as the pressing issues and barriers. Among the target audience could be non-profits, government officials, and local developers.
Jenny Raitt, Leonette Strout, and Aaron Allen volunteered to meet as a subcommittee to plan for a future housing summit to be held sometime in late January/early February.
Lynn commented that if the board wanted to retreat into a traditional role of just monitoring funds, then you could move to quarterly meetings. However, she said that it sounded like the board has more energy and other activities the members want to move forward with, so she recommended that the Board continue to meet on a monthly basis. The other members present agreed. At a future meeting the Board will discuss forming a work plan.
Change in Meeting Schedule
The Board members discussed a change in the meeting time of the Board. The members decided that 8:30am instead of 9:00 am would be a more convenient time to meet.
Adjournment
There being no further business a motion was made by Leonette Strout to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Aaron Allen and approved (6-0). Only six members were in attendance at the close of the meeting as Councillor Pelletier needed to exit the meeting after the officer elections.
The meeting was adjourned at 10:15 a.m.
Respectfully submitted by:
Jennifer Kolodziej
Jennifer Kolodziej
Housing Coordinator
City of Salem
Department of Planning & Community Development
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