Affordable & Fair Housing Partnership

Easthampton Affordable and Fair Housing Partnership August 22, 2024 - Minutes Attendance: Janna Tetreault (chair), Ben Breger, Shira Simon, Donna Cuipylo (remote), Jackie Brousseau-Pereira, Kiam Jamrog-McQuaid Absent: Lindsey Rothschild Guests: Koni Denham (City Council) Meeting called to order at 6:06pm 1. Approve June minutes: Minutes were not ready. Will approve them in August, 2. Public Speak: No one present for public speak. 3. Review of draft memo re: Zoning amendments for City Council Kiam prepared a draft memo incorporating all of the suggested changes that Members have been working on for the last several months. Members reviewed the document together and discussed edits needed in each section. The memo is missing Fair Housing Language and Jackie and Lindsey need to provide that information to Kiam. Members determined that clarity from the City Clerk was needed on how to proceed with further edits outside of the meeting to comply with Open Meeting Law. Janna will reach out to the City Clerk and will notify members of her response. Councilor Denham will reach out to Dillon Maxfield in the Planning Department to determine how we move the memo forward. Members were unclear if the memo goes jointly before Council and the Planning Board or if it goes to City Council first. Members determined that our goal to finish the document is October 24, 2024. We may need to find a different meeting date in October – we will revisit at September meeting. Ben shared that the Partnership had a new member. Janna was not aware and will reach out after the meeting to welcome them. 4. Other items Brief updates on other housing developments happening: • 385 Main Street – Jackie asked if there were any updates on the ZBA meetings. Janna explained that the applicant needed to restart the public hearing due to an  issue with abutter notifications. Janna, Donna and Kiam attended the ZBA meeting on July 31. The meeting went well. There were some people who spoke in opposition and several people spoke in support. • Tasty Top/Sierra Vista Commons – there was a Planning Board meeting that members were not able to attend about a bridge needed on the site and environmental impacts. • 11 Ferry Street – Janna heard from the developer that the project submitted its One Stop application. Under a best-case scenario, residents could occupy the completed building in Spring 2027. • Janna asked Koni for an update on the School Reuse project – this was discussed at the June 25, 2024 City Council meeting. Property Committee had met to discuss the removal of the gym from the Land Disposition and Development Agreement (LDA) because the requirement to retain the gym has been challenging and after many attempts, no proposals from any City departments or non-profit organizations were received to rent and manage the space. As noted in the minutes from the August 7 2024 City Council meeting “at this point, retaining the gym would mean “going back to the drawing board”, delaying the planned project and continuing to pay expenses to maintain the three vacant schools”. The removal of the gym will result in the addition of four more affordable apartments. The Property Committee had voted 2 to 1 to remove the gym requirement. Meeting adjourned at 7:27 p.m.