Lincoln Housing Commission
Meeting Minutes of July 28, 2009 at 4:30 pm
Lincoln Town Hall, Donaldson Room
Present: Renel Fredriksen, Connie Lewis, Pam Gallup, Phyllis Mutschler and George Georges
Also present: Mary Sheldon, Earl Midgley and Anita Scheipers
Actions and Discussion:
1) Finances – Earl Midgley presented monthly invoices totaling $ 1642.65 for approval for payment: (2 from Ogilvie’s for bark mulch; 1 from tenant at the HA unit for repair of an appliance; 3 from Lincoln Tree for mowing; and 1 from Waltham Chemical for pest control)
2) Minutes: Lewis moved and Mutschler seconded to approve the minutes of the June 23, 2009 meeting as written. Motion was unanimously approved.
3) 40B Mailer from May – Connie Lewis presented copies of the unsolicited mailer she and other town residents received in May form an unknown source which gave misleading and inaccurate information regarding the financial impacts of 40B development. She stated in her search to determine the source of the mailing, she also discovered that Westford had a similar situation some time ago, and she brought copies of the letter the Westford town manager had sent to all residents in rebuke of the inaccurate information. No action was taken on this item.
4) Scheipers asked the Commission to send a representative or two to meet with the consultants hired by the Town as part of the Healthy Community planning project that is underway. Several members agreed to attend and Scheipers scheduled them to meet with the consultant on Tuesday Aug 11th at 2:30pm.
5) Property management RFP – Scheipers presented draft 2 of the property management RFP. This draft includes the edits provided by Georges. Several additional edits were discussed and approved by the group in the area of minimum qualifications and evaluation criteria. It was agreed that the proposals should be due on or about Sept. 22, 2009. Scheipers will make the necessary changes and send out draft 3 to the group. Resident Neil Feinberg was present and asked that he be copied on the new draft when ready. Scheipers agreed to email it to him when completed. The commission agreed to meet briefly on Aug 11th at 3:15pm to vote to approve the final version of the RFP for distribution. Scheipers agreed to post the meeting and schedule the
meeting location.
6) Battle Road Farm - Acquisition of Additional Affordable Unit – Gallup stated that Battle Road Farm complex has another unit that needs to be bought down. She stated the Housing Trust is discussing this at tomorrow’s meeting and she asked the Commission take a vote as to whether to support additional Housing Trust money be spent on this. She explained that the State has agreed to provide $20,000, the Lincoln Foundation will provide $20,000 and the Housing Trust wishes to provide $20,000. She expressed concern that if this amount is spent for one unit, it will reduce the amount of funds available for other larger projects that may come forward in the future. After much discussion Lewis moved and Mutschler seconded to recommend that the Housing Trust spend the $20,000
toward the buy-down with the express understanding that the Housing Commission has some concerns; and that the State should be urged to contribute a larger amount and in the future the Lincoln Foundation should go the CPC to request funding for such purposes rather than depleting the housing fund. The motion was approved unanimously. Lewis asked if the federal stimulus funds were available to help with affordable housing. All agreed no information was yet available regarding this.
7) Liaison Reports: Small Housing Study Group – Lewis reported that the study group met last Tuesday to brainstorm the concept of using small and or historic homes that are to be demolished to address local housing needs, and to preserve these homes. She stated the meeting went extremely well with very good ideas being generated. A report of the meeting is intended to be generated in August.
8) CPC Applications: Fredriksen asked if anyone had ideas for potential FY11 CPC funding requests, but no needs were identified.
9) Correspondence: Fredriksen announced the Commission had received a letter from Bonita Williams expressing her displeasure at the process used for assigning affordable units to interested parties. Ms. Williams had been offered an affordable unit twice but turned them down each time for various reasons. No action was taken on this item.
10) Meeting adjourned at approximately 6:00 pm.
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