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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020-05-05 Affordable Housing Trust Minutes North Andover Affordable Housing Trust Meeting Minutes May 5, 2020 Present: Laurie Burzlaff, George Koehler, Richard Vaillancourt, Robert Bernardin, Christopher Jee, Joan Fitzgibbons and Jean Enright Absent: Roger Lawson Meeting was called to order at 5:04 p.m Chairman Burzlaff read the following: Pursuant to Governor Baker’s March 12, 2020 Order Suspending Certain Provisions of the Open Meeting Law, G.L. c. 30A, §18, and the Governor’s March 15, 2020 Order imposing strict limitation on the number of people that may gather in one place, this meeting of the North Andover Affordable Housing Trust will be conducted via remote participation. No in-person attendance of members of the public will be permitted but every effort will be made to ensure that the public can adequately access the proceedings as provided for in the Order. Persons who would like to listen to the meeting while in progress may do so by tuning in on their televisions to Comcast Channel 8 or Verizon Channel 26 or online at www.northandovercam.org. If you have public comments, please email lburzlaff@northandoverma.gov. Approval of Minutes from April 2, 2020 George Koehler noted that the votes for 2 items were not included in the minutes. Motion made by Joan Fitzgibbons, seconded by Robert Bernardin to approve the meeting minutes of April 2, 2020, as amended. Roll call vote: Koehler-yes; Vaillancourt-yes; Bernardin-yes; Fitzgibbons-yes; Jee-yes; Burzlaff- yes. Motion approved 6-0. Emergency Rental Assistance Program-additional funding Laurie Burzlaff provided the final documents to the Trustees for the Emergency Rental Assistance Program. At this point, the program has more applications than funding. If every application received as of today were funded the maximum amount of $3000, the cost would be approximately $182,000. Ms. Burzlaff explained that because unemployment is not starting to come in for a lot of people, the amounts will be less than anticipated to fill the gap income. Ms. Burzlaff suggested the Trustees could use the Community Preservation Funds from this year to add an additional $100,000 to the program to cover the needs. The program runs until July 2, 2020. Motion made by George Koehler to fund use the $100,000 received from the Community Preservation Fund for FY20 to the Greater Lawrence Community Action Council for the Emergency Rental Assistance Program. Roll call vote: Koehler-yes; Vaillancourt-yes; Bernardin-yes; Fitzgibbons-yes; Jee-yes; Burzlaff-yes. Motion approved 6-0. The Trustees discussed the fee to be paid to Greater Lawrence Community Action Council for administering the program. Ms. Burzlaff explained that after their last meeting, she spoke with Evelyn Friedman at Greater Lawrence Community Action Council about the administration fee. Ms. Friedman state they receive between 6% and 10% for other programs they are administrating. The trustees funded 5% for the initial funding. Motion made by Richard Vaillancourt seconded by Joan Fitzgibbons that the Trust authorize 7.5% total (additional $10,000) be paid to Greater Lawrence Community Action Council for the administration costs of the Emergency Rental Assistance Program. Roll call vote: Koehler-yes; Lawson-yes, Vaillancourt-yes; Bernardin-yes; Fitzgibbons-yes; Jee-yes; Burzlaff-yes. Motion approved 6-0. Long Term Rental Assistance Program Ms. Burzlaff asked the Trustees if they would like to use any funds remaining from the Emergency Rental nd Assistance Program (ERAP) on July 2 to fund a long term rental assistance program. Mr. Bernardin suggested the Trustees deal with the programs separately instead of automatically transferring funds between programs. Ms. Burzlaff explained that while reviewing the ERAP applications, it appears there is a need for a long term program. Several residents applied that were not impacted by COVID by are still having trouble paying their rent. She noted a few seniors were in that situation and perhaps the Trustees could start with a program to seniors only. The Greater Lawrence Community Action Council already administers a program for North Andover using the funds from the North Shore Home Consortium. Those funds have just about been depleted. The Trustees asked Ms. Burzlaff to speak with GLCAC to see if there is a waitlist for the current program so they can determine if there is a need in order to determine whether to fund. The Trustees scheduled their next meeting for May 20, 2020 at 5:00PM to discuss the long term program. ADJOURNMENT Richard Vaillancourt made a motion seconded by Robert Bernardin to adjourn the meeting at 5:44PM. Roll call vote: Koehler-yes; Lawson-yes, Vaillancourt-yes; Bernardin-yes; Fitzgibbons-yes; Jee-yes; Burzlaff-yes. Motion approved 6-0 MEETING MATERIALS: Agenda; Meeting minutes of April 2 2020; Emergency Rental Assistance Program guidelines and documents; HOME program documents.