Affordable & Fair Housing Partnership

Affordable & Fair Housing Partnership Meeting minutes 4/11/2023 In attendance: Janna Tetreault, Kiam Jamrog-McQuaid, Jackie Brousseau-Pereria Guests: Jamie Webb (City of Easthampton), Jess Allan (Valley CDC) and Ben Breger Meeting was called to order at 6:06 p.m. Meeting was hybrid. 1. Welcome New Member Ben Breger! The Partnership welcomed our newest member, Ben Breger. 2. Approve February meeting notes These meeting notes were not available and be will voted on at the next meeting. 3. Western Mass Policy Briefing with Legislators Recorded Meeting Continued Discussion Members decided not to pursue this 4. School Reuse updates The Property Subcommittee is meeting 4/20 to start reviewing the Evaluation Committee’s recommendation that Arch Communities is the preferred bidder. If Members can attend the meeting, they should. 5. Housing Coalition Updates Next meeting is April 26th. Finalized the mission statement and shared it on Facebook. Have been talking about projects like the school reuse project and Sierra Vista – contrasts between projects were affordable housing feels like a concession for a larger goal vs. affordable housing as the primary objective. Housing Coalition members are not as excited about Sierra Vista. Jess Allan from Valley CDC shared that Valley put an offer in on the Tasty Top parcel but it was not accepted. She thinks the project could benefit from a landscape architect. Valley has a different model around community engagement that typically results in more community support for a project. Coalition has been looking at the list of legislative priorities issued by the Western Mass Network to End Homelessness. Coalition members are interested in the Real Estate Transfer Fee and are looking for ways to support it. 6. Other Items Jackie proposed trying to meet with the EDIC at one of their upcoming meetings. We have met with them before and it’s helpful to share information between our two committees and look for action items in the Housing Production Plan that we could work on together. Jackie will reach out to Gwynne, the Chair. Since are meeting on April 11, members agreed to cancel the April 27 meeting and meet again on May 25. The meeting was adjourned at 6:56 p.m.