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Salem Affordable Housing Trust Fund
Minutes of Meeting
Monday, January 12, 2009
A regular meeting of the Salem Affordable Housing Trust Fund was held on Monday, January 12, 2009 at 8:30 a.m. in Room 313 at 120 Washington Street.
Members present were Lynn Goonin Duncan, Lucy Corchado, Mary Dennesen, Mary Lauby, Andrew Meegan, Jennifer Raitt, and Leonette Strout. Also present was Jennifer Kolodziej, City of Salem Housing Coordinator.
Members absent were Mayor Driscoll, Councillor Jean Pelletier, Aaron Allen, Kathleen Burke, Chad Colarusso, and Councillor Matthew A. Veno.
Approval of Minutes
The minutes of the Salem Affordable Housing Trust Fund Board meeting held on November 3, 2008 were presented for approval. Mary Lauby moved to approve the draft minutes with one amendment (to add the word “education” to line 8 of page 2), seconded by Lucy Corchado and approved (7-0).
Affordable Housing Summit
The Affordable Housing Summit is scheduled for February 3, 2009. Jenny Raitt gave a brief report from the Affordable Housing Summit Subcommittee. Jenny reviewed a thumbnail sketch of the Board’s previous meeting regarding the decision to focus on education and advocacy of affordable housing. She reported that the Affordable Housing Summit’s Subcommittee has met with the Mayor, who has agreed to be a panelist at the Summit. Also, the subcommittee has lined-up three other speakers: Sam Cleaves, Regional Planner from Metropolitan Area Planning Council who will speak to regional housing issues and responses; Aaron Gornstein, Executive Director of Citizen’s Housing and Planning Association, who will discuss the state and federal housing policy issues and responses to the housing crisis; and
David Kres, President of the North Shore Association of REALTORS®, who will talk about the local real estate picture in our area. The members reviewed the final agenda. Jenny noted that the agenda for the Summit came out of the previous monthly board meeting and the meeting with the Mayor. The agenda and invitation to attend the Summit will be sent via email to City Councillors, Planning Board members, Redevelopment Authority, Housing Authority, Chamber of Commerce, local lenders, non-profits, social service agencies, real estate agents, and housing developers as well as Salem Access Television, the Salem News and Salem Gazette. Jennifer Kolodziej will circulate to members a distribution list via email so that the trustees may make additions to the list. Mary Lauby moved to approve the Summit agenda, seconded by Lucy Corchado and approved (7-0).
Audit and Community Reinvestment Act
At the board meeting in November, Lynn Goonin Duncan asked Jennifer Kolodziej 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 its own auditor for the annual audit of the fund. Jennifer reported to the Board that the Trust Fund’s audit is covered under the city’s general audit. The city’s 2008 audit is not yet complete, but it is expected to be finished within the next few weeks.
Also in November, Mary Lauby and Andrew Meegan asked about the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) and what projects the local banks are funding in order to meet their CRA requirements to find out if this could be a possible source of funds for the Trust. Jennifer presented research on what Eastern Bank was doing to meet its CRA requirements. The Eastern Bank Charitable Foundation 2007 Annual Report showed that 6% of its donations go toward affordable housing and that in 2007 Citizens for Adequate Housing, Inc. and Salem Harbor Community Development Corporation received small donations of approximately $1,000. In addition to small community donations, Eastern Bank gives grants between $10,000 and $50,000. Submission deadlines are March 1st and September 1st of each year.
The foundation does not make multi-year commitments and the applicant must be a non-profit organization. Jennifer explained that in order to receive grant funds, a specific project needs to be identified and the project needs to meet the objectives of the fund’s focus. Mary Lauby requested that Jennifer gather more of this type of information on Beverly Cooperative Bank’s foundation.
Meeting Schedule
The Board members discussed a change in the meeting date of the Board. Mary Dennesen voiced that she would like to meet at a later start date. Members reached a consensus that meeting at 9:00 am on Fridays instead of 8:30 am on Mondays would be more convenient for everyone. Mary Dennesen motioned to change the date and time of the monthly meetings to the second Friday of every month at 9:00 am, seconded by Andrew Meegan and approved (7-0). Jennifer Kolodziej will confirm with the absent members that they do not have conflicts with this new meeting day and time.
Adjournment
There being no further business a motion was made by Leonette Strout to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Jenny Raitt and approved (7-0).
The meeting was adjourned at 10:00 a.m.
Respectfully submitted by:
__________________
Jennifer Kolodziej
Housing Coordinator
City of Salem
Department of Planning & Community Development
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