Amesbury Housing Trust

RECEIVED By Ellie at 8:15 am, 7/28/21 AMESBURY CITY HALL 62 Friend Street Amesbury, MA 01913 Amesbury Housing Trust MEETING MINUTES February 10, 2021 @4:00pm This meeting was conducted under the "Executive Order Suspending Certain Provisions of the Open Meeting Law' G.L. c. 30A, Section 20, signed on March 12, 2020. In attendance: Members: Mayor Kassandra Gove, Councilor Steve Stanganelli, Nancy Frick, Kerry Hamel-Pope, Margaret Hoffman, Flo Pamphile. Staff: Angela Cleveland 1. Call to Order: Since this was the first meeting of the Housing Trust, with no Chair, Angela Cleveland called the meeting to order at 4:03pm. 2. Minutes: N/A 3. Public Comment: N/A 4. Communications: N/A 5. Projects Please see the attached presentation for an overview of the PowerPoint that was presented by Angela Cleveland. The presentation included: • Overview of Housing Trusts • Amesbury Statistics • Structure of Trust (per bylaws) 6. Other Business The members discussed potential activities/priorities of the Trust: • Identify local revenue sources • Look into the Quality of Life Committee – is there still funding in that budget? • Present to the Planning Board about the Trust • Research rental vs. home ownership. Costs? Benefits? • Investigate ADUs and modify our current ordinance • Talk with Northern Essex Community College and other institutions about engaging a student to help us with grant writing (Flo offered to contact them) • Affordable family rentals • Work with the Housing Authority. Specifically, the members discussed understanding their waitlist (size, composition, wait time, etc.). Consider how to create a self-sufficiency program to move people more quickly into and out of housing authority property. • Research AirBnB/Landlord fee. If this is adopted, consider directing the funding to the Housing Trust. • Investigate promoting Shared Living/housing, especially for seniors Page | 1  • Work with landlords who do offer affordable rentals (that are NOT listed on the Subsidized Housing Inventory) to incentivize them to maintain those rates. • Create a listing on the website promoting where to find affordable housing units. • Maintain local priority for affordable housing. • Conduct outreach to property owners of abandoned properties to investigate opportunities for conversion to housing or construction of new units. • Consider Habitat for Humanity as an official partner. Perhaps invite them to a meeting soon to discuss their plans? Prior to adjournment, the members agreed to meet in 2 weeks to conduct elections, work on the bylaws, and review the Housing Production Plan together. Angela offered to send those items along, including a list of the Housing Trust Members. 7. Adjourn: Margaret Hoffman made a motion to adjourn, Steve Stanganelli seconded it. Motion passed unanimously. Trust adjourned at 5:45pm. Page | 2