Select Board Work Session Pt. 1 - September 16, 2026
2026-09-16

[0:02] You should
[0:05] not say
[0:07] well said.
[0:08] So I have the meeting here.
[0:12] Let me join the Zoom and I can at least
[0:14] tell you if your window is turning
[0:16] green.
[0:17] Okay. Um,
[0:28] I turned to not be on the internet.
[0:30] Does my speaker need to be off or on?
[0:33] I have this set as the microphone.
[0:35] Yep. Um, your speaker should be on and
[0:38] you want it to be set to probably set it
[0:40] to Apple as well.
[0:46] text me that the phone number so we have
[0:48] it on record somewhere
[0:56] out.
[1:00] So yeah, so actually it was coming out
[1:02] of the TV which is fine. So um am I
[1:06] seeing it looks like it's picking up
[1:08] close caption.
[1:09] It's Yes.
[1:11] It was here for sure.
[1:15] And we are recording. So,
[1:17] all right. Good morning everyone.
[1:19] Welcome to our select board workshop. It
[1:22] is Tuesday, September 15th. And now,
[1:25] first item of business will be the
[1:27] question of entering into executive
[1:29] session for the purpose stated in item
[1:32] two, which is an executive session
[1:35] pursuant to general law chapter 30A 21
[1:38] A6. Purpose six, for the purpose of
[1:41] considering the purchase, exchange,
[1:42] lease, or value of real property,
[1:45] specifically the Coolage Corner Theater.
[1:48] So, I will go ahead and move that we
[1:50] enter into executive session for that.
[1:54] Bernard,
[1:54] yes.
[1:55] Michael,
[1:56] yes.
[1:56] Amanda,
[1:57] yes.
[1:58] Anthony,
[1:58] yes.
[1:59] And I also vote yes. We will of course
[2:01] be reconvening in open session once we
[2:04] conclude our executive session.
[2:07] How good morning?
[2:09] So you want everything that we do to be
[2:11] secret and executive special.
[2:13] I just like hanging out with you guys.
[2:14] That's just it's start. It's no
[2:16] accident.
[2:19] I do the same thing at town meeting. I
[2:20] always vote no to journ.
[2:27] All right. Welcome. We are now back and
[2:30] we will proceed with agenda item number
[2:32] three miscellaneous items. approval of
[2:35] miscellaneous items or licenses and
[2:38] contracts. Do any board members have
[2:41] questions regarding items any items in
[2:44] 3A through 3L?
[2:47] Could you separate the minutes because I
[2:49] was not here?
[2:50] Sure.
[2:51] I have questions on
[2:55] 3C.
[2:56] All right. So question of approving a
[2:58] lease agreement with KS State Bank for
[3:02] five dump trucks and one excavator in
[3:05] the amount of 1.26 million approximately
[3:08] be paid over two years. Who can talk
[3:10] about that?
[3:14] Oh sorry the dump trucks dump item.
[3:17] So we've asked TPW for some information
[3:20] around um purchasing believes that uh oh
[3:22] here we go here just coming in now.
[3:25] breaking
[3:28] side guards are installed on the
[3:29] infiltrate jiggles. Um they're still
[3:31] trying to get more answers from you. Um
[3:34] they're in a meeting right now, but
[3:35] we'll we'll follow up with you after.
[3:37] Perfect. Uh just to give some context, I
[3:40] asked a question because in our vision
[3:42] zero action plan, there are three items
[3:44] related to safety of vehicles, including
[3:47] retrofitting municipal vehicles with
[3:49] intelligent speed assistant technology.
[3:51] basically using GPS to make sure they
[3:54] travel the speed limit. The second one
[3:56] is making sure that um they either have
[3:59] direct vision or install counter
[4:01] measures to improve vision. Um and the
[4:04] third one is um countermeasures to
[4:07] counteract blind spots as well as side
[4:10] guards which are actually really
[4:11] important for uh problematic
[4:13] interactions with pedestrians and
[4:15] cyclists so that uh particularly
[4:17] cyclists don't get pulled under the
[4:19] trucks. Um, so I wanted to make sure
[4:21] that if we are getting new trucks that
[4:23] they are complying with our efficient
[4:25] zero action steps.
[4:28] Yeah.
[4:29] I had one for 3G. I had a question. Um,
[4:32] those six police officers out of those
[4:34] six police officers that were approving
[4:36] for higher requests. Um, what is the
[4:38] impact on traffic um, management? Well,
[4:42] as you know, as as with anything, right,
[4:44] when we have more officers means the
[4:46] more opportunity for people to be on the
[4:48] street, more, you know, prioritization,
[4:50] right? The police have to prioritize,
[4:52] you know, um, you know, emergency
[4:54] response and so forth to lose that
[4:55] hierarchy. I will say that I went to the
[4:58] swearing in of a couple of laterals last
[5:00] week and the chief made special
[5:02] reference at that at that uh at that uh
[5:06] process to the fact that there's a real
[5:08] push for traffic enforcement and that
[5:10] that's where they're going to be
[5:11] assigned for a lot of the work. So it's
[5:14] um you know every every person
[5:16] contributes to that and you know the
[5:18] message that the police department is
[5:19] receiving from the community is very
[5:21] clear. Can we make can we make a note of
[5:24] trying to track the number of traffic
[5:25] violations and kind of I I'm sure we do
[5:27] somewhere obviously, but I just want to
[5:28] make sure that we talk about that later
[5:30] down the line.
[5:30] Sure. I mean, yeah, Sergeant um Sergeant
[5:32] Johan has that information and we can
[5:34] make sure that that that gets to you.
[5:35] Yeah, I want the public to know about
[5:36] that.
[5:37] Yeah, they'll know when we talk about
[5:39] the Warren article that too.
[5:41] I have a question regarding 3 L into the
[5:45] fire chief employment contract.
[5:47] Sure. Uh and again it's not because I'm
[5:49] substantively opposed but I'm just
[5:50] curious in terms of process. Do we
[5:54] regularly revise contracts midstream?
[5:56] This is uh this is a little different uh
[5:59] than usual but it's because um the
[6:01] police and fire contract the so you have
[6:04] three contract you have three contract
[6:05] employees which me the police chief and
[6:07] the fire chief. Um the police chief's
[6:10] contract was updated most recently and
[6:13] provided a substantial raise and as and
[6:15] previously the police and fire chiefs
[6:17] had been in parody. They were making
[6:18] roughly the same amount of money and so
[6:19] this is this is a an adjustment to
[6:21] ensure that the fire chief remains
[6:23] imperative with the police chief. Okay,
[6:26] um back to 3G, you mentioned that
[6:30] there's a swearing in recently. Were we
[6:32] notified of that?
[6:33] Uh the chief should have emailed you. I
[6:36] will double check to make sure she did
[6:37] not. I may have missed it, but you know
[6:39] you used to be that we would Yes. attend
[6:41] those sessions or swearing swearings in.
[6:44] Yes. And to be clear, I'm not throwing
[6:47] the chief under the bus. There must have
[6:49] been miscommunication from our office.
[6:51] So, we will we will figure that out. My
[6:52] fault.
[6:53] Um I just want to make a note in item 3B
[6:55] it says questions accepting a gift or a
[6:57] grant. Um I believe we typically have
[6:59] the amount existed grant in the agenda
[7:02] item. So, we just want to make sure that
[7:04] that's recorded. Um, as far as the
[7:07] minutes,
[7:08] it is Oh, well, in the explanation of
[7:12] the bookmarks, $3,000
[7:15] gift,
[7:17] right? Is it It's just not in the item
[7:20] itself.
[7:22] Yeah. Sorry. So, yes, 3B is $3,000.
[7:25] Yeah.
[7:29] Why don't we revise
[7:31] agenda item 3B to reflect that? So
[7:34] question 17 gift for grants in the
[7:35] amount of $3,000 pursuant to GL chapter
[7:38] 44 except we'll amend that.
[7:43] All right. Any other questions?
[7:45] 3A through 3 L and we will take 3A
[7:48] separately.
[7:50] All right.
[7:50] I had ahead.
[7:51] I had some amendments that I sent you
[7:54] email sent
[7:57] regarding minutes.
[7:58] Regarding minutes.
[7:59] Okay.
[7:59] All right. So I move approval of 3A be
[8:04] the minutes from September 2026
[8:07] subject to the amendments opposed by
[8:10] Michael
[8:11] Bernard.
[8:13] Michael
[8:14] yes.
[8:14] Amanda
[8:15] yes.
[8:15] Anthony
[8:16] yes.
[8:16] And I also vote yes.
[8:19] Now items 3B. I move that we approve
[8:22] items 3B through 3L in omnibus fashion.
[8:26] Bernard.
[8:26] Yes.
[8:27] Michael.
[8:28] Yes.
[8:28] Amanda.
[8:29] Yes. Anthony,
[8:30] yes.
[8:30] And I also vote yes. Well, that brings
[8:33] us to item number four, discussion and
[8:35] potential votes related to the
[8:37] rehabilitation and affordability of
[8:39] homes at 99 Kent Street as favorably
[8:42] recommended by the Housing Advisory
[8:45] Board as well as other related items.
[8:50] So, um I'm Amy. Uh nice to see you all
[8:55] again. Roger Blood um is should be here
[9:00] any minute. He was going to kick this
[9:01] agenda item off um if you'd like to wait
[9:04] for him for a few minutes or I can um
[9:08] fill in. We have a couple of guests with
[9:10] us. We have Gilbert Win. Um and I'm
[9:14] going to butcher your last name, I'm
[9:15] afraid. Lauren,
[9:16] I don't mind. Kafari
[9:18] Kafari.
[9:20] Well, what we can what we can do, we
[9:21] have items 4 A through 4E. So, were one
[9:24] of you going to be presenting
[9:27] one of those additional items for B
[9:29] through 4? And we can jump in with one
[9:30] of those.
[9:31] I think
[9:32] he's here.
[9:33] Oh, there he is.
[9:37] Oh my go
[9:45] get to that point.
[9:52] We also have um Michael Alfren on Zoom
[9:56] with us from a train on his way to New
[9:59] York City
[10:01] to help out with this presentation.
[10:07] Gina said let's dive in.
[10:09] Oh, I thought I was
[10:14] good morning everybody.
[10:16] Good morning. Um I'm Gerald the advisory
[10:20] board and um I'm going to lead off
[10:25] several presentations
[10:27] regarding the u the expiry use situation
[10:30] we have. Um the uh the general problem
[10:34] challenge that that we face is um a
[10:38] number of projects including the one
[10:39] we're talking about here were financed
[10:42] decades ago um under perhaps an illvised
[10:46] uh structure whereby uh the
[10:49] affordability of the units was tied to
[10:51] the terms of the financing and um these
[10:55] terms have now reached a point where
[10:57] they're expiring and tenants are at risk
[11:00] of um losing their affordability. Many
[11:03] of them in this project if um uh terms
[11:07] can't be uh achieved that um will
[11:10] successfully
[11:11] substantially extend the affordability
[11:14] terms um in the in the project.
[11:17] What we have here is probably the
[11:19] largest such situation in the pine. Um,
[11:23] originally a single property now divided
[11:26] into two uh 99 Kent Street um in the in
[11:31] the village and north of the TRAS with
[11:33] um 117
[11:36] all affordable senior uh dwelling units.
[11:39] And then um on the south of the TA
[11:42] tracks um of village way there was a
[11:45] Brook line with uh 193 family affordable
[11:49] units and uh straddling the two
[11:52] properties um a large uh uh parking
[11:55] garage um serving the property um under
[11:58] a long-term air rights lease uh with the
[12:01] uh with the T. Um
[12:04] our um the objective here uh is to uh
[12:08] both extend the affordability and um
[12:11] also renovate and upgrade the property
[12:13] so that they will um physically uh be in
[12:18] uh top shape to uh to serve the tenants
[12:21] over the uh extended affordability term.
[12:24] Um our our goal um from the town's
[12:28] perspective in addition to these two um
[12:31] general objectives is to optimize uh the
[12:34] town's investment um in this project.
[12:37] Our our piece uh uh as as with so many
[12:40] other affordable housing trust
[12:42] investments um isn't the biggest piece,
[12:45] but it's the you might think of it as
[12:47] the last one in and what makes
[12:48] everything else possible and draws other
[12:51] resources that are that are critically
[12:52] needed. Um very quickly um the uh the
[12:57] participants in in this and the process
[12:59] itself uh has involved um um a a
[13:05] negotiating committee on the on the part
[13:07] of the town at the executive level uh
[13:10] that uh began um it its meetings last
[13:13] April. So, it's been going on for some
[13:15] time and periodic uh uh executive
[13:18] sessions uh that have included our town
[13:21] administrator uh Bernard Green from the
[13:23] select board uh town council um uh the
[13:28] planning uh director, planning
[13:30] department director and um uh assistant
[13:33] uh director for housing and community
[13:35] development uh and and uh and myself
[13:38] from from the HAB. Um
[13:42] the um the HAB is uh has been another um
[13:45] participant in this uh not just myself
[13:48] on the negotiating committee by all
[13:50] means but um of the uh the entire AB um
[13:54] itself I'll come in a little bit further
[13:56] about that in a moment but other other
[13:58] critical players we were fortunate to
[14:00] have been able to secure uh a very
[14:03] capable consultant Michael Alpring I
[14:05] think you all know is now an independent
[14:08] consultant and he has proven to be
[14:12] critically helpful not only from from
[14:14] his knowledge and experience but in his
[14:17] positioning in this process uh as an
[14:20] intermediary between the town and and
[14:22] win as those negotiations have have
[14:25] continued. Um then the other uh major
[14:28] player of course is is players are is is
[14:31] when uh the development owner operator
[14:33] of the project since its uh original
[14:35] construction many many decades ago. uh
[14:38] and um this the Commonwealth of the OLC
[14:42] um being another major player. While
[14:44] this is a a negotiation that involves
[14:47] three critical parties, uh in a sense
[14:50] it's not a three-way negotiation. Um u
[14:53] the way this is structured is that um
[14:57] the town is negotiating with with wind
[15:00] at at our our local level and uh at the
[15:03] same time win it has the relationship
[15:05] and negotiating um responsibility with
[15:08] uh with the with the commonwealth.
[15:11] Um
[15:13] the um the HAV's role in this um our our
[15:18] formal role is a bit narrower than the
[15:21] than the broader informal role. We are
[15:23] here to recommend um as trustees of the
[15:26] town's housing trust a um uh what what
[15:30] has ended up being a $4 million uh
[15:32] investment specifically for one of the
[15:36] two project components which is the
[15:38] senior housing at 99 Kent Street. Um uh
[15:42] one way of looking at that investment of
[15:44] $4 million as it applies to um uh
[15:47] basically 115 of the 117 senior housing
[15:50] units there uh and and have
[15:54] instinctively looks at almost everything
[15:56] we invest from the trust on a per unit
[15:59] basis. Uh that comes out to um about
[16:02] $35,000
[16:04] per unit of the 115 units for uh what
[16:07] we're proposing. uh it's called
[16:09] perpetual but it's a basically a 99-year
[16:12] extension of the affordability
[16:14] provisions um of the units on that
[16:16] component of the project. Um they have
[16:21] um as a as a public body um and our
[16:25] meetings have been uh basically a part
[16:27] of the public process but I want to
[16:29] emphasize um that the HAB's role has
[16:32] been um more extensive than that. Um we
[16:36] we have been fortunate to bring to the
[16:38] table uh this is a very complex project
[16:42] perhaps even more so than some of the
[16:44] new developments. Um the H have a a a
[16:47] range of skill sets and experience and
[16:49] in this uh current situation we're
[16:51] fortunate to have had uh three members
[16:54] and now four which who have direct uh
[16:57] experience with this unique kind of um
[17:01] financing and refinancing uh under under
[17:04] expiring use terms. Um so the process
[17:08] that we set up to uh to to try to
[17:11] optimize uh the the HAB's um role of
[17:15] this was to open up a line of commun a
[17:18] continuing iterative line of
[17:20] communication between those uh the three
[17:23] active HAB members Jonathan Klein Pam
[17:26] Goodman and Carol Gladstone where they
[17:29] could communicate back and forth uh
[17:31] directly with our consultant who could
[17:33] then take their combined expertise piece
[17:36] on a Q&A basis, you know, continuing and
[17:39] add that to the negotiating process that
[17:42] um that that Michael Alurn was was doing
[17:45] uh directly with wind. This this proved
[17:47] to be very helpful. Um uh I I myself
[17:51] added a little bit to that, but not
[17:53] having the direct professional
[17:55] experience that I have was very well
[17:57] structured to uh to set things up this
[18:00] way. And then we were um we were
[18:02] fortunate to have um Amy Upast join the
[18:06] process from the staff um because with
[18:09] her
[18:11] 10 dozen odd years at HUD, she also had
[18:13] direct experience um with this
[18:16] particular kind of project financing and
[18:17] you're going to hear from her
[18:19] immediately following myself. Um the um
[18:23] the um the end result of what we're
[18:27] recommending to the select board uh and
[18:29] and I know you've seen the details in in
[18:31] your packet is both the HABs vote and
[18:34] then the that folded into the the
[18:36] memorandum of agreement which uh which
[18:38] is a longer detailed legal document that
[18:40] you're you're
[18:43] looking at executing. Um the the uh the
[18:48] financing gap uh that began last spring
[18:51] u as brought to us with wind and their
[18:54] detailed numbers showed uh around 6 and
[18:57] a half million that potentially could be
[19:00] called upon the town if we were to close
[19:02] the entire gap. Um
[19:05] early on in the process that that number
[19:08] was able to be reduced uh without an
[19:10] awful lot of difficulty to five million
[19:13] of when took on some more of its own
[19:17] some of the line items that the
[19:19] developer fee deferral uh a a seller
[19:22] note which is functionally equivalent um
[19:25] but a separate line item that they were
[19:27] able to uh to to to make a little bit
[19:30] more attractive. So we we were at 5
[19:32] million and then um question being how
[19:35] did we get to four? Uh that that aspect
[19:39] was was a little bit different. Um and
[19:41] the way that was done um when there was
[19:44] a $5 million uh um investment that we
[19:47] were contemplating. Um it it um it was
[19:51] in the form of uh the town uh loaning at
[19:54] at a a positive rate of interest for
[19:58] repayment at the end of of a loan term
[20:01] and the the the town's money being put
[20:04] in uh to a considerable extent at the
[20:08] closing, some upfront and some at the
[20:10] closing. The way the additional million
[20:11] dollar reduction was achieved was um
[20:15] advancing the timing of the of the
[20:17] funds. So that you you'll see in in the
[20:20] proposed terms now 95% of the funds can
[20:23] be put in at the closing with only a 5%
[20:27] uh hold back. Um and um instead of uh us
[20:32] relying on uh like with with a a loan or
[20:36] a mortgage repayment terms with an
[20:38] interest uh applied and acrewing the the
[20:41] terms that are being proposed now and
[20:43] these are quite similar to other new
[20:45] projects that we do. there's a 0%
[20:48] interest and the um the 4 million will
[20:51] be due at least on paper uh after 45
[20:54] years but um that that will possibly be
[20:57] re renegotiated um on village at
[21:00] Brooklyn our role is more informal since
[21:03] there's no trust fund money um we uh we
[21:06] have appined and and been very
[21:08] interested in the way that the terms of
[21:09] that that extend extended affordability
[21:12] has been negotiated
[21:14] um it it didn't it didn't make everybody
[21:17] totally thrilled at the end of the day,
[21:18] but you know what they say about about
[21:21] bad deals that if not everybody's
[21:23] entirely happy, it's a sign that
[21:25] probably it's as good as anybody is
[21:26] going to get. Um and then on the timing
[21:30] um which I think you you'll hear more
[21:32] about from from others including Michael
[21:35] um that it it we there's a preliminary
[21:38] um commitment from the select board and
[21:40] and again with new projects we do
[21:42] something very similar a two-step
[21:43] process with you all where we're asking
[21:46] for it and you would be executing now a
[21:48] preliminary commitment. The function of
[21:50] that is that the state, this is
[21:52] critical, needs to see some assurance
[21:55] that the locality, us are really
[21:58] stepping up with some significant funds
[22:01] to induce the state through wind. They
[22:04] can present this as the town being a
[22:06] serious player here so that we can get
[22:09] priority for the funding. We know
[22:11] there's annual rounds and possibly
[22:13] semianual
[22:14] uh and and get this done early. And the
[22:17] timing has been moved up so that your
[22:19] schedule now is rather tight. You're
[22:21] going to meet today, I think, and maybe
[22:22] one more time soon so that you can vote
[22:25] in time for when to get in the um under
[22:29] the late September deadline for the
[22:31] so-called preliminary preliminary round.
[22:34] And so with that, I hope it's not too
[22:36] detailed and because you're going to
[22:38] hear some more from I think Amy next and
[22:40] then Michael remotely and Dwayne will be
[22:42] be giving you their formal presentation
[22:44] after that and I'll come back and then
[22:47] ask for you to vote which we'll have a
[22:48] look at for you before you see it and we
[22:51] may or may not vote today but you'll see
[22:53] what we're the details of what we're
[22:55] offering. So,
[22:56] would you like to go to Michael first if
[22:59] possible while we have him just because
[23:01] I'm concerned that we we may lose him on
[23:03] his way on his travels. Um, Michael, can
[23:06] you hear us?
[23:12] He's muted.
[23:24] should be able to
[23:33] see if not
[23:35] Amtrak Wi-Fi is not great.
[24:09] it get my call.
[24:12] Okay. All right.
[24:19] So, I don't have a lot to add. Um Roger
[24:21] did a very thorough job of of letting
[24:24] you know how we got to where we are
[24:25] today. Um, but I will say just echo what
[24:29] he said about the town's commitment of
[24:32] funds being very important to the
[24:34] application process that when plans to
[24:36] proceed with with the executive office
[24:38] of housing liberal communities and um,
[24:43] you know, we're hoping uh that our if
[24:47] the town chooses to commit the $4
[24:49] million that that will really make a
[24:51] case to EOHLC that we're invested in
[24:54] this project and We want to see it go
[24:56] forward um because it's a very
[24:58] competitive funding round. So, we want
[25:00] to be able to help win get where they
[25:02] need to be so that the application was
[25:04] successful. Um I'd like to turn it over
[25:07] to to Gilbert and Lauren right now to
[25:10] give a presentation on the proposed
[25:12] project at Kent Street. Um and I have
[25:15] hard copies of people with
[25:18] I'll give I promise I will make it.
[25:21] Roger gave such a good introduction. I
[25:23] feel like gave a presentation. So you
[25:24] mean I put it up here?
[25:26] Yeah.
[25:26] Yeah. So way to do it is to join
[25:28] Zoom and I'll make
[25:29] Yeah. Is it the same thing to send a
[25:32] package?
[25:42] It's the same.
[25:43] The same thing. The center packet.
[25:45] Yes.
[25:45] Okay. Okay.
[25:46] If anyone would like a hard copy, if you
[25:48] don't have one, I'll just
[25:50] Yeah. on my uh on my phone's Wi-Fi. See
[25:54] what the Wi-Fi is here?
[25:56] Yeah.
[25:57] Bernard's
[26:01] I was told the number
[26:06] 617 730207.
[26:15] Okay.
[26:29] Oh,
[26:42] we're going
[26:44] to talk to us.
[26:56] Um,
[27:00] so Michael came back.
[27:08] Michael, are you back?
[27:09] I I am. I apologize for the spotty
[27:12] internet.
[27:13] I am. I apologize for the spotty
[27:14] internet. can write some notes in the
[27:16] chat to the slide if helpful.
[27:21] Yeah, we're having we're having trouble
[27:22] hearing him in the room.
[27:23] Is there a volume issue on our
[27:25] No,
[27:31] there.
[27:31] Yeah. Also, his
[27:32] Oh, he's still muted. Yeah, I see. Oh,
[27:34] we're getting the caption. I see
[27:35] unmuted for a moment, but his window
[27:37] never turned green. So, we've never
[27:40] Yeah, looks like it's
[27:41] I'm trying. I will write notes in the
[27:43] chat for you. Sorry for the spotty
[27:44] internet.
[27:45] Nobody's in the way.
[27:47] Okay, she's got to turn.
[27:52] Why don't we continue with your
[27:53] presentation in the meantime? And if
[27:54] Michael can join us, you can jump in.
[27:56] Okay, great. And I am joining right this
[28:00] moment. It says
[28:08] okay record.
[28:14] Okay.
[28:17] So
[28:19] sure
[28:42] beginning.
[28:47] All right, I'm going to make this very
[28:48] quick because I feel like Roger did a
[28:50] great job introing us. Um, but thank you
[28:53] all for having us here today. Um, Lauren
[28:56] Canopari, senior project director at Win
[28:58] and Gilbert Wyn, CEO of Wind Companies.
[29:01] Um, here to talk about 99 Kent Street.
[29:04] So,
[29:06] I have a few slides about Win. I'm not
[29:08] going to bore you guys with information
[29:10] about us. Um, you know, we manage more
[29:14] than 100,000 apartment homes in 25
[29:16] states. Um, been around for 53 years.
[29:21] Um, our development team is in 12 states
[29:24] in the District of Columbia. Um, you
[29:26] know, obviously our our focus is we do a
[29:29] lot of work in Massachusetts and, um,
[29:31] you know, we've been at 99 Kemp Street.
[29:34] Um, you know, we last rehabed the
[29:36] project in in 1997, 1998. Um, and you
[29:42] know, we're we're a proud owner operator
[29:45] um throughout throughout the East Coast
[29:47] and um you know, obviously with a big
[29:50] focus on on affordable and workforce
[29:52] housing. Um this is our team working on
[29:54] the project. um Gilmer W and myself
[29:58] um Jotif who's our divisional vice
[30:01] president of Gwen Residential um who
[30:03] actually was the property manager at um
[30:08] Villages Brooklyn
[30:10] about 20 something years ago and is
[30:12] still with WIN um and still oversees the
[30:15] the region. Um Trevor who's our wind
[30:17] communities and myself and Marcel who's
[30:20] our assistant project director. So, I
[30:22] think the important thing to talk about
[30:24] is why why are we here today, right? Um,
[30:26] as Roger mentioned, we are applying to
[30:28] EOHLC
[30:30] um for funding to rehab the 99 Kent
[30:33] Street project. Um, pre-applications are
[30:35] due September 24th with the full
[30:37] application due in December. So, what do
[30:40] we need to show for our December 24th
[30:43] preapp? really to make it um competitive
[30:46] um we need to show strong town support
[30:50] um including matching funds um you know
[30:52] to be invited back to do a
[30:53] pre-application and hopefully get
[30:55] funding for the project. It's it's a as
[30:57] Amy says extremely competitive uh
[31:00] process and you know we think we think
[31:03] 99 Kent Street is is a really compelling
[31:06] case for that. Um, you know, the other
[31:08] items we want to talk about aside from
[31:10] the funding, um, is, you know, a a
[31:13] resoning to reduce parking requirements
[31:15] on site and help with extending, um, our
[31:18] MVTA air rights lease. As you can see,
[31:21] um, from this picture, there's um, you
[31:24] know, we are built, our parking garage
[31:27] and community space is built on top of
[31:28] the train tracks, and we have a a
[31:31] 99-year lease that expires in um, 2075.
[31:36] So 99 Kent Street, this is the um
[31:39] elderly, you know, 55 plus restricted
[31:42] 117 unit building um at 99 Kent Street
[31:46] um built in 1975. It's been 28 years
[31:50] since the last renovation and our our
[31:52] affordability expires in in 2027.
[31:56] So as Roger said, I think the priority
[31:58] of of the town and when and the state
[32:00] hopefully our compelling argument is
[32:02] affordability is expiring next year.
[32:04] want to extend it and we've committed to
[32:05] do that for 99 years. Um so here's what
[32:08] the project looks like. Um you know it's
[32:13] the tenants really have a lot of pride
[32:15] in it, take great care of it. Um you
[32:17] know this is kind of the community space
[32:20] and the greenhouse as is uh and what
[32:24] needs to be done. So, here's a unit
[32:25] that's been renovated, but you know, our
[32:27] goal as this for this project is to
[32:30] really gut, you know, kitchens and
[32:32] bathrooms, all new kitchens, all new
[32:34] bathrooms. Um, this talks a little bit
[32:37] about what we like to do. Plumbing,
[32:38] fixtures, appliances, flooring,
[32:39] lighting, thermostats. Um, the nine ADA
[32:43] units, we would fully gut the entire
[32:45] units to make them code accessible.
[32:46] They're not up to current ADA codes. um
[32:50] common area improvements. A big priority
[32:52] for the site is offering services to the
[32:55] senior residents. We have a pretty
[32:57] extensive services program now. We'd
[32:59] like to expand that um and improve the
[33:02] community spaces to offer not only, you
[33:05] know, better services, but also bring in
[33:06] providers, nursing providers, meal
[33:09] providers, things like that um for the
[33:11] tenants. And then some exterior upgrades
[33:13] to um sidewalks and landscaping and
[33:16] things like that. So, um I know this has
[33:20] all been previewed with you and you've
[33:22] seen the presentation, but just to get a
[33:23] little bit uh this rehab that we're
[33:26] talking about today, um funding for is
[33:30] really the second phase in a two-part um
[33:33] rehabilitation. The first phase is a
[33:35] deep energy retrofit that's starting at
[33:37] the end of this year. Um and we have
[33:40] already received over $10 million in
[33:43] awards from DOE, MHP, and Massave. um in
[33:48] order to do this. So, it's it's in
[33:50] progress. It's starting probably the end
[33:52] of this year or very beginning of next
[33:54] year. And that will essentially be a
[33:57] total reskinning of the exterior of the
[33:59] building, new all new windows, um
[34:03] upgrade to the electrical system, um new
[34:05] HVAC system. Um so that's, you know, a
[34:10] pretty big project. Um, so that's kind
[34:13] of what we consider that's the exterior
[34:15] project that's happening now to um make
[34:18] the project more efficient. Um, and in
[34:21] addition to that $10.5 million we've
[34:23] been awarded, WIN is putting in um $7.2
[34:27] million into the project to kind of
[34:29] complete that. So this is this is a
[34:31] pretty major project that's about to be
[34:33] underway and then our rehab will come
[34:34] in, do the interior of the units, kind
[34:36] of marry the two projects together. I
[34:39] know someone on the select board had a
[34:41] question about um electrification of the
[34:43] building. So the current um building has
[34:46] gas powered boilers and heat. This will
[34:50] essentially completely electrify the
[34:52] building. So it will be um electric
[34:55] heat, electric hot water. We are going
[34:57] to maintain one backup
[35:00] boiler that is gas powered that will be
[35:03] supplemental for the building. So, not
[35:05] used on a daily basis, but if something
[35:06] fails, they will have a gas powered
[35:08] backup. Um, but aside from that, it'll
[35:11] be essentially a full electrification
[35:13] um of the building. And this is how the
[35:16] beautiful new exterior um will look.
[35:20] So, when we're talking about this um you
[35:23] know, the the 99 Kent Street project
[35:26] that we're applying for now, we're
[35:27] applying for it as a twin deal. So, two
[35:29] separate projects using both four and 9%
[35:34] tax credits. And that's one of the way
[35:36] Roger mentioned that we were able to
[35:38] reduce our ask to the town um of
[35:40] Brookline. But so, it's it's two
[35:42] separate deals, but one building um and
[35:46] additional funds, you know, the funds
[35:48] we're applying for outside of um
[35:55] outside of the Brooklyn funds. Um, you
[35:59] know, we're applying for another $6.5
[36:01] million of soft debt in addition to
[36:03] large amounts of state tax credits, 4%
[36:06] credits, 9% credits, and of course, um,
[36:09] we're putting in our deferred developer
[36:11] fee, some deferred developer fee, and
[36:13] we're, as Roger mentioned, we're putting
[36:15] in a seller note, um, back into the
[36:17] project as well to make make this work
[36:19] and be able to get all of the work done
[36:21] that we want to do. Oh, one thing I also
[36:24] wanted to mention, sorry, I'm not just
[36:25] going to go back for one second. Um,
[36:27] something that I missed on the scope of
[36:28] improvements that we just added to the
[36:30] scope is we're going to sprinkler the
[36:32] building. So, the BR building doesn't
[36:34] have any sprinklers right now. We're not
[36:35] required to have any sprinklers. Um,
[36:38] kind of as we've been talking about
[36:40] this, it's an important like like life
[36:43] health safety thing to add. So, that's
[36:45] going to be another thing that's going
[36:46] to be added as part of this
[36:48] rehabilitation
[36:49] hopefully. Um so you know here we have
[36:52] the uses of the funds how the money is
[36:54] being spent that you know the total CDC
[36:56] is about total development cost about
[36:58] $73 million for this project. Um I know
[37:02] Roger mentioned 115 of the units will be
[37:05] affordable. There's often a question of
[37:07] why do we leave two units out? Um that's
[37:11] because there are two units two tenants
[37:14] currently at the property who are over
[37:16] income. Um and we don't we are always
[37:19] committed when we do these in place
[37:21] rehabs not to lose any tenants as part
[37:23] of that. So those two existing tenants
[37:25] will stay those will become market units
[37:27] so they can stay in their units and then
[37:29] the other 115 units will become
[37:31] affordable for 99 years.
[37:34] Um so some of the challenges I mentioned
[37:37] so of course this is an occupied rehab.
[37:39] Tenants will stay in place during their
[37:41] during construction of their units.
[37:42] We'll have a place for them to go during
[37:44] the day. Um and then the nine units that
[37:47] are being completely got renovated,
[37:50] bring them up to code. Those tenants
[37:51] will be moved out. Um we have, you know,
[37:54] we have a lot of experience doing this
[37:55] and and um have a consultant that comes
[37:58] and helps us and moves everybody and
[38:00] make sure that everybody's safe and um
[38:03] you know, taken care of during the
[38:04] during the rehab. Um obviously being on
[38:07] top of the train tracks makes things
[38:09] complicated. We need help with an
[38:11] extension to the air rights lease and um
[38:15] you know we need some help with zoning
[38:19] parking um a reduction in our parking
[38:21] requirement. Um that will give us more
[38:23] flexibility with the garage and you know
[38:26] we've talked had some conversations
[38:28] about uh entering into a partnership
[38:30] with the town to lease spaces or you
[38:33] know selling the garage and leasing
[38:34] spaces back to us. Um, so that's
[38:36] something we're still trying to figure
[38:37] out to maybe have more funding and more
[38:40] sources for the project. Um, so as Roger
[38:43] mentioned, timeline, the real big thing
[38:46] is this preapp is due September 24th.
[38:49] There's one of the main questions is
[38:51] does the town is the town offering
[38:53] matching funds? And that's why we're
[38:55] here and we really want to be able to
[38:56] say yes because that's what makes a
[38:57] project competitive given the amount of
[39:00] resources we're asking for from the
[39:01] state. So, the goal would be we apply
[39:04] the full application in December, get
[39:06] approved beginning of next year, and
[39:08] close by the end of next year. Um, with
[39:11] an 18-month construction schedule, we
[39:14] would hopefully close in uh complete
[39:16] construction mid 2029.
[39:19] Um, I also just wanted to very quickly
[39:22] touch on the villages of Brooklyn. So,
[39:25] separate project, right? So that was my
[39:28] I know Bernard this is one of Bernard's
[39:29] comments was it was confusing the
[39:31] presentation mixed everything together.
[39:33] So everything I just talked about was 99
[39:35] Kent Street. Now talking about villages
[39:38] of Brookline what are we offering there?
[39:41] This isn't the project that we're asking
[39:43] for funding for but I know it's
[39:45] obviously a concern because there's 193
[39:48] families living there um as well. So
[39:51] following the expiration of the of the
[39:54] LITC restriction and extended 40T
[39:56] protections um there are two red burden
[40:00] households there. So we've been working
[40:02] with these households to secure subsidy
[40:05] for them um you know secure vouchers and
[40:09] if we can't help them find a subsidy
[40:11] then you know we have agreed to limit
[40:14] their rent increases um for you know in
[40:17] the year over year to the change in CPI
[40:19] just 3%. So, we're um as long as people
[40:22] are certifying their income, we're
[40:24] keeping their units affordable and
[40:26] making sure their rent burden households
[40:28] aren't um you know losing their house
[40:31] losing their housing or or being rent
[40:33] burdened. Um we're also committing to
[40:37] renovating um the affordable units of
[40:40] Village Brooklyn over the next 5 years,
[40:42] approximately 12 units per year. Um and
[40:45] that's a pretty pretty um heavy scope of
[40:48] renovation. includes new kitchens, um
[40:51] appliances, bathrooms, painting floors,
[40:54] um basically anything where we feel like
[40:57] they've they're beyond their useful
[40:59] life. You know, we have subtenants there
[41:01] who have been in the same units for 30
[41:02] years. They need new carpet, right? Or
[41:05] they need carpet replaced for flooring.
[41:07] Um so, you know, this is working
[41:10] individually with each resident. every
[41:12] unit is surveyed and you know if tenants
[41:15] would like you know have things that are
[41:17] beyond their useful life and would like
[41:18] them replaced or committed to working
[41:20] with them um or scope plan committing to
[41:23] scope all units by the first of the year
[41:26] um with approximately 12 units um
[41:29] completed per year. So I just want to
[41:32] touch on those two things at Village of
[41:33] Brooklyn villages because I know there's
[41:35] been a lot of questions and concern
[41:38] about that property as well. So, I know
[41:41] I went really quickly through that, but
[41:43] um I think you're more important to take
[41:45] questions and I hope that was a helpful
[41:50] description. Go ahead.
[41:52] Yes.
[41:52] Yeah. Um I thank you for also touching
[41:56] Village Way. I know there's a lot of
[41:57] folks in the community that are very
[41:59] concerned about the vacant use. Um, and
[42:01] I know it is in the MOA, but I'm hoping
[42:03] you can touch on it um for extending
[42:07] this renewal of the housing assistant
[42:09] payment contract with the BHA and what
[42:11] the plans are for that.
[42:13] Yes. So, that contract expires in 2044.
[42:16] Um, and basically we're committed to
[42:20] renewing that contract, right? um we you
[42:23] know would like essentially we're
[42:26] committed to keeping those units
[42:27] affordable for 99 years. Um you know the
[42:32] plan is to renew that contract. If it's
[42:34] not renewed then you know our agreement
[42:36] is to partner partner with the town
[42:38] where we kind of you know contribute
[42:41] half of the of the you know funding to
[42:45] get there. the town contributes the
[42:46] other half and we keep those units
[42:48] affordable um at a similar level of
[42:50] subsidy going.
[42:53] So that's better.
[42:54] And so with the combination of that and
[42:57] the two additional
[42:59] uh units that you talked about, the
[43:01] assumption is that the affordability
[43:04] uh that currently exists in village way
[43:06] will continue.
[43:09] The goal is the goal is for for the
[43:12] units that are affordable to continue to
[43:14] be affordable.
[43:17] Thank you.
[43:18] Anyone else with questions at this
[43:20] juncture? Michael. Um so thank you for
[43:22] uh answering the couple of questions
[43:26] that I raised earlier about um the
[43:29] current heating cooling source um and
[43:32] the building being all all electric. Um,
[43:34] one of the reasons why I I raise these
[43:37] questions is because at some point over
[43:40] time as we continue to transition off
[43:42] gas, um,
[43:45] having the town push for, um, basically
[43:49] shutting down of gas pipelines, um, is
[43:52] was a necessary part of that strategy.
[43:56] Um, so I'm wondering when you say
[43:57] there's a backup generator um that is
[44:00] gas powered, is that utility supplied or
[44:03] is that independently supplied at this
[44:05] point? How do you enision how do you
[44:07] envision that changing over potentially
[44:09] changing over time?
[44:10] I don't know. I mean it's so it is
[44:12] utility supplied, right? Essentially
[44:14] it's a you know a boiler a backup boiler
[44:18] that will be utility supplied with gas.
[44:20] Um, but I I mean we are constantly
[44:24] this is obviously a conversation I think
[44:26] we're having in a lot of places right
[44:27] like electrification is the goal for and
[44:30] I think that's
[44:31] wind's goal you know we're going to all
[44:33] electric when we're building new
[44:34] properties um it's more complicated here
[44:37] obviously part of this energy project is
[44:39] upgrading the entire electrical system
[44:40] to support all of this because it's not
[44:42] as simple as just like changing it
[44:44] um right so I think that's I think we're
[44:46] we're moving towards that and I think
[44:48] maybe
[44:49] the next goal is getting off of of gas
[44:52] alto together.
[44:58] Anyone else?
[45:00] Okay, continue.
[45:02] Um, I just have a couple of things to
[45:04] add. That was great. Thank you. Um, I
[45:06] just wanted to say that the MOA that was
[45:09] in your meeting packet is still evolving
[45:12] a little bit. We're still going back and
[45:13] forth between our legal council and
[45:16] women's legal counsel. So, um, what you
[45:19] have before you now will most likely
[45:21] change a little bit. Um, but what Lauren
[45:25] presented is the overall scope of that
[45:28] agreement. And Lauren also mentioned a
[45:30] letter um that when prepared for the
[45:33] town that outlines um the some of the
[45:39] things that they are um agreeing to do
[45:42] at at the villages of Brookline, which
[45:44] Lauren just talked about. So the
[45:45] renovations and the rental protections
[45:47] there for the tenants. Yeah. So those
[45:49] yeah those are outlined in a kind of
[45:51] side letter that commits says what we're
[45:53] committed to that we will sign is
[45:55] obviously part of this.
[45:58] What are the issues that are still
[45:59] outstanding in the MOA? Um there's some
[46:03] language in the MOA that Wind's legal
[46:06] council added that talks about uh the
[46:09] town's
[46:11] ongoing commitment to um
[46:16] to what Lauren just described. And then
[46:18] we also there's also some language that
[46:21] talks about if the housing assistance
[46:24] payment contract to renew the project
[46:26] based vouchers isn't available, what
[46:29] that will look like. Um, so we're still
[46:32] going back and forth on that. So I don't
[46:34] really want to delve into it um because
[46:36] we haven't reached agreement on that
[46:37] yet. But
[46:38] yeah, I think it was that and I think it
[46:39] was also
[46:41] um you know we'd like like the town to
[46:44] say that they'll support us, you know.
[46:47] So just said we're here right now,
[46:48] right? 30 years have gone by. The
[46:50] project needs work done, you know. So,
[46:54] our goal is that, you know, we we're
[46:56] committed to keeping the project
[46:57] affordable for 99 years, but we'd like
[47:00] in 30 years from now, we'd like help,
[47:02] you know, again, with the state and and
[47:04] advocating for this project to be
[47:06] renovated or rehabbed as needed. Um, so
[47:09] there was just some language around
[47:10] that, but um I think we're close. I
[47:13] think it's, you know, kind of a little
[47:15] bit of legal use going back and forth,
[47:17] right? And apologies for not having that
[47:19] completed.
[47:20] Yeah, I think that should be tried. I I
[47:22] did send you back another draft now.
[47:24] Hopefully. Yeah. So hopefully it's
[47:26] Well, my my concern has always been that
[47:30] the relationship between and the tenants
[47:32] not be a relationship that we're we're a
[47:35] part of and and I think that MOA is is
[47:39] um is sufficient with respect to that
[47:42] that issue. I just want to make sure
[47:44] that we're not sort of seeping into
[47:47] No, and I think um I think you're
[47:50] sensitive that
[47:51] we are. I think that was and I think
[47:53] that was a concern that the tenants
[47:55] brought up that we were very sensitive
[47:56] to that, you know, we're working with
[47:58] the tenants association very closely
[48:01] directly right now. So yeah, and I think
[48:03] they don't want they don't want the town
[48:05] to say something on their behalf, right?
[48:07] They want their voices to be heard and
[48:08] they so I think we've been working with
[48:10] them pretty closely.
[48:12] Any
[48:15] other questions?
[48:17] I have a question regarding the
[48:18] affordable housing trust fund balance.
[48:20] So this 4 million is that currently
[48:22] sitting in the affordable housing trust
[48:24] fund? Yes.
[48:24] And so this would be upon our approval
[48:26] that 4 million would be depleted
[48:27] immediately or how does that work?
[48:29] Um it would be um encumbered. So
[48:32] effectively it would be not available
[48:35] for anything else. And um the uh the
[48:38] unencumbered trust fund balance is a
[48:41] little bit north of at the moment at 6
[48:43] million. So it would largely it would it
[48:46] would not fully depleted but it would
[48:48] largely depleted and our priority top
[48:51] priority for the trust fund is to build
[48:53] it up for the known other first priority
[48:57] of walnut high phase two which likely
[48:59] would be close to 10 million. So we're
[49:02] starting with a very low base after we
[49:04] commit this. But the actual
[49:06] dispersement of our um encumbered $4
[49:09] million would um as I mentioned briefly
[49:12] now it's advanced but still only near
[49:15] the point of um you know postclosing. Y
[49:19] so that's still a little ways off. So
[49:21] and so Melissa that uh free cash
[49:24] waterfall gets a uh gets calculated
[49:27] against the unencumbered.
[49:29] Right.
[49:29] Got it. And just one, Roger, you had
[49:32] seen the updated balance. So I know
[49:34] this, but um the waterfall payment from
[49:36] the prior fiscal year or the one that
[49:39] allocation that um just posted to the
[49:42] trust recently, so we're we're up a
[49:45] little bit above 7 million right now.
[49:47] And once this is encumbered, it'll be a
[49:49] three.
[49:49] Okay.
[49:50] Around.
[49:50] Got it. Michael,
[49:52] um you you had mentioned uh earlier
[49:56] about the state the state grant being
[49:59] competitive. Um and you know, obviously
[50:02] we all want to do as much as we can in
[50:04] order to make that happen. I'm wondering
[50:06] what the contingency is. If for some
[50:09] reason we don't get the state funding,
[50:12] what happens to this project? Uh what
[50:15] happens to the uh encumbered funds from
[50:18] the town, etc.? Um yeah, that's a great
[50:21] question. Um we're committed to reapply
[50:24] as well. I think oftentimes what happens
[50:26] is uh with competitive it's we're
[50:30] qualified to receive these funds. So
[50:32] it's more a question of what the
[50:33] competition in that given year is. So we
[50:35] would reapply and then we would reapply
[50:37] again and then we reapply again. We're
[50:39] basically we're committed to four rounds
[50:42] of applications. And I I think as as
[50:46] long as the town stays committed as it
[50:48] is and helps us kind of prioritize the
[50:51] lobby, I round should be sufficient to
[50:54] get it done.
[50:55] And that's that's a frequent occurrence
[50:57] that
[50:57] Yeah, that happens often to us where
[50:59] Yeah. We But I apply,
[51:02] right? For everybody. Yeah. But I feel
[51:03] like often, you know, um especially when
[51:06] we have support like this, it's not this
[51:08] round, it's the next round.
[51:11] Yeah.
[51:12] So I I have a question regarding the uh
[51:16] extension of 99 years for these units
[51:18] being affordable. So 115 of the 117 will
[51:24] uh receive that 99year extension because
[51:26] two of the units the families currently
[51:28] there do uh not meet the threshold. What
[51:32] happens though if the same were to occur
[51:36] for a family and one of the other 115?
[51:39] Would they be asked to leave? would they
[51:41] be extended a similar courtesy as to
[51:45] um you're saying for this current I I'll
[51:48] actually address your other question too
[51:49] because interest the implication of the
[51:51] other question will just be in the
[51:52] future um so yeah if between today and
[51:56] closing
[51:57] um somebody else goes over income they
[52:02] would be able to stay and the likelihood
[52:04] is that they would even still qualify
[52:06] for tax credits because they're able to
[52:08] go up to I think 140% % of the area
[52:11] median income without overqualifying.
[52:14] Um so the likelihood so we implicit in
[52:18] that would be to say we're not going to
[52:19] rerand a vacant unit to a market ten.
[52:22] So we won't have that issue. So it'll
[52:24] just be the folks that are there if they
[52:27] happen to go over income under the
[52:28] grandfathering rules of the tax credit
[52:30] program they would still be eligible and
[52:33] still keep them affordable. The only
[52:35] time they wouldn't be is if they go over
[52:37] 140% from their current 60% which is
[52:40] pretty unlikely in the next six or seven
[52:42] months
[52:42] to get yeah be a big
[52:45] a very big salary increase between now
[52:47] and then for that to happen.
[52:49] But but just I implicit in that was what
[52:52] happens 30 years because we're going to
[52:54] 99 years. Um there there's federal rules
[52:58] around that. So, let's say uh 30 years
[53:01] from now we're going to do this again
[53:04] and somebody is above 140%.
[53:08] The federal rules allow that person to
[53:10] stay as long as they wish. They're never
[53:12] kicked out. It's just that the next
[53:15] available unit always has to be
[53:16] affordable.
[53:18] So, like you can hypothetically have
[53:21] less than all affordability, but every
[53:22] time it payates you have to react.
[53:25] So, once they move out, that unit would
[53:26] be reacting. That's sort of how it all
[53:28] works because I don't want to displace
[53:29] them.
[53:30] So I guess the the the other sort of
[53:33] piece of this in terms of installation
[53:35] is for those two units, those two units
[53:38] are currently occupied by people who
[53:40] have
[53:42] um over income, right? So they have to
[53:45] be market because they were income when
[53:47] they moved in and then they've lived
[53:48] there for so long.
[53:49] No, actually those no those are
[53:50] different. So those there were uh
[53:53] certain units that were not encumbered
[53:54] by affordability. That's right. And
[53:56] those were starting in 2014. And those
[53:58] two units that are over income were
[54:00] rented as market rate units. That's
[54:02] right.
[54:02] Okay. So the so so if at some point
[54:05] those people move out, those would
[54:06] remain market rate units.
[54:08] Yes. Correct.
[54:10] And there's there is there any path that
[54:13] would convert those two units to
[54:15] affordable
[54:16] at the next rehab?
[54:18] Yeah, we could do I mean there's I would
[54:20] say two paths. One would be at the, you
[54:22] know, when we're sitting here 30 years
[54:24] from now, we could have two. The other
[54:26] more quick path would be to the extent
[54:29] that that's important to the town, we
[54:30] could enter into some negotiation of
[54:33] what
[54:34] town support and state support would be
[54:36] there to
[54:38] create those later. It's affordable. You
[54:39] don't have to do that as part of the
[54:41] rehab. We could do that
[54:42] two years from now if we wanted to.
[54:45] Couple other questions I have. So one of
[54:47] them regarding the AMI 30% and 60% what
[54:52] determines that distribution is it
[54:55] mostly based on investment presumably
[54:58] 30% AMI you would need a bigger
[55:01] investment from state federal local
[55:03] so right now there's no 30% units at the
[55:05] property um as part of this application
[55:08] that's another thing that makes it
[55:10] competitive is to add 30% units um so
[55:13] we're doing we're adding some 30% units
[55:15] um approximately
[55:18] 15% on each 4% and 9% project. Um so
[55:22] there will be 30% units, 60% units, and
[55:25] then the two market rate units.
[55:26] And and to answer your question, the the
[55:28] reason we're able to that's all baked
[55:30] into the numbers. Um, but one of the
[55:32] things that's helpful at this project is
[55:34] that there's already 40% of the units,
[55:38] 40
[55:40] a federal housing assistance payment
[55:42] contract, which
[55:44] means that you're getting the rent from
[55:46] HUD at a at a fixed level.
[55:48] And so whether the person is earning 60
[55:50] or 30 doesn't affect the rent level that
[55:52] the property receives for those 40%
[55:55] units. that allows this property to be
[55:58] very competitive with the state because
[56:00] it can do more 30% units than others
[56:03] because it has that housing assistance
[56:05] payment.
[56:07] A significant percentage of the units
[56:09] are two-bedroom and is there some kind
[56:12] of age restriction on all family members
[56:17] that are living in this unit? Because if
[56:19] there is, I'm curious as to why there
[56:20] would sometimes be two bedrooms because
[56:23] guests are allowed for up to a certain
[56:24] period of time. Are these sibling
[56:26] groups?
[56:27] Uh, that's a great question. This dates
[56:29] back um many this dates back to 1975. So
[56:33] um the
[56:36] elderly folks, let's say um someone has
[56:38] a caregiver that wants that that
[56:40] qualifies to live with them. That that
[56:42] would be in the second unit. Sometimes
[56:43] there's medical reasons why the husband
[56:46] and wife can't or the the spouses can't
[56:48] live together in the same room. So they
[56:50] or and then yes sometimes there's
[56:52] children with an elderly
[56:55] um lease holder. So this you can under
[56:58] this lease as long as the head of
[57:00] household is 55 or older they can have a
[57:04] child.
[57:05] Um so that's kind of what the three
[57:07] reasons why a two might be useful.
[57:09] Okay. Yeah.
[57:11] Yeah. My understanding is that with
[57:12] respect to the market rate units in
[57:15] Village at Brooklyn, uh we're still at
[57:18] uh sort of workforce or upper workforce
[57:21] rent levels.
[57:22] Yes. There's various different
[57:24] restrictions there. Um there's some that
[57:27] are still affordable, some that are in
[57:29] 40t, some that Yeah. So there's there's
[57:32] a variety of rental restrictions. I
[57:35] think I can I can provide you a more
[57:37] detailed breakdown if that's helpful.
[57:38] Yeah, that would be it.
[57:39] I think to to answer your question, what
[57:41] we're committing to for long term
[57:43] uh would be there are two ways to
[57:46] qualify for um
[57:48] for 40B for the subsidized housing
[57:50] inventory. Either 20% of the units are
[57:53] 50% AMI or 25% at 80% AMI. Those are the
[57:57] two ways that will be we'll be right
[58:01] now. Um all those units are probably
[58:03] closer to 30% AMI because they're under
[58:05] a HAP contract. But what we're
[58:07] committing to long term is to either do
[58:10] 20 of 50 or 25 of 80 um so that the town
[58:13] continues to qualify those as 40
[58:15] million. So we'll do we'll do one of
[58:17] those.
[58:17] My concern is or my question is uh with
[58:21] respect to the market rate units we
[58:26] they're at a probably 100 or 120% AMI or
[58:32] does that even apply to those units?
[58:35] Yeah. And the question is, you know,
[58:36] what what what are the rent levels
[58:38] there?
[58:39] Uh yeah, so that the rent levels would
[58:41] differ from the income restriction.
[58:44] Yeah. So some of the rent levels because
[58:46] they were affordable and because we've
[58:48] agreed to sort of limit rent rent
[58:50] increases now to 10% instead of marking
[58:53] them up to market.
[58:54] Um this is sort of in a negotiation with
[58:56] the with the tenants.
[58:58] Um
[58:59] right now they are in a middle income
[59:01] like we are saying 110 120%. But over
[59:05] time, I would imagine they go to market,
[59:07] they just go much slower than they would
[59:09] have because of the 10% increase.
[59:11] I just want to get it to be able to
[59:14] understand that, you know, we're not
[59:16] only maintaining affordable units as
[59:19] that's usually um understood, but also
[59:22] middle inome
[59:24] housing.
[59:28] Amanda
[59:28] um so I just a a little bit of a
[59:31] question on process and a little bit of
[59:33] a statement. I think it's a great
[59:34] opportunity to preserve a substantial
[59:36] amount of affordable senior housing at
[59:38] 99 Kent. I'm really glad that about the
[59:42] negotiations that have happened to
[59:45] extend some affordability protections to
[59:47] the village because I think it's it's
[59:49] really important um that they are not o
[59:52] overlooked in the process. Um
[59:55] and it seems to me that if the MOA is
[59:58] still being discussed, we are going to
[1:00:01] vote on um authorizing the release of
[1:00:05] funds authorizing um advocacy basically
[1:00:08] for 99 Kent. Um and we were supposed to
[1:00:12] vote on conditional approval but if of
[1:00:15] the MOA but if there is still some
[1:00:17] negotiation taking place um for for me
[1:00:21] personally I would like to know that the
[1:00:25] intent of affordability protections for
[1:00:27] the village are not going to go away
[1:00:29] with whatever negotiations and the MLA
[1:00:31] are going
[1:00:33] that's not yeah that's not we're we're
[1:00:35] this is like we're we're talking about
[1:00:37] like very small like that those things
[1:00:39] are 100% in
[1:00:41] It's not changing um unless the ch town
[1:00:44] changes the first amendment, but we're
[1:00:45] committed to all of that. Yeah, that's
[1:00:47] that's definitely not changing and we
[1:00:48] will um I just sent a revised version
[1:00:51] over yesterday so we can you know
[1:00:54] provide a a version when it's more
[1:00:58] finalized. But yeah, those the
[1:01:00] commitments for the affordability at 99
[1:01:02] Kent and Village are in there.
[1:01:09] That would be an important statement to
[1:01:11] make sure is reflected in.
[1:01:17] Sorry, Michael just sent me some notes
[1:01:19] and I think we've covered everything.
[1:01:23] Yes.
[1:01:24] Thank you.
[1:01:25] All right. So, any more questions,
[1:01:27] comments from board members?
[1:01:30] Oh, sorry. Just one brief comment on um
[1:01:34] Roger's point on members of the HAD
[1:01:36] being really useful. I would love to
[1:01:37] figure out a way when this kind of topic
[1:01:39] comes up to include their expertise
[1:01:41] earlier in the process uh going forward
[1:01:44] because I I think you are right we are
[1:01:46] lucky and that we have some really
[1:01:47] wellqualified members of the HAB that um
[1:01:50] I would love their their guidance as we
[1:01:53] go to challenges like expiring going
[1:01:56] forward.
[1:01:56] I do have to say some of like the most
[1:01:58] detailed like intensive questions I've
[1:02:02] ever received from a public board. So it
[1:02:04] was it was uh clear that there was a lot
[1:02:07] of experience there. So great.
[1:02:09] Thank you select board for appointing
[1:02:11] Wesley Reed because she hit the ground
[1:02:13] running and is just as much
[1:02:14] knowledgeable as Jonathan.
[1:02:17] So reinforce that and yes
[1:02:23] if I could just say something. So um for
[1:02:26] those who don't know, um I grew up in
[1:02:29] Brooklyn about a mile away. Um, my
[1:02:32] father grew up in Brookline since 1939.
[1:02:35] This is our hometown and we care very
[1:02:37] much about this project. This is first
[1:02:39] among equals
[1:02:41] from the 120 developments we've
[1:02:44] developed over the years. Very proud of
[1:02:46] it. And um what I think is an
[1:02:48] interesting fact for all of you because
[1:02:49] I think this speaks to both the town's
[1:02:52] um kind of uh dog on a bone
[1:02:56] affordability uh needs and and our
[1:03:00] partnership is that when it was
[1:03:01] originally developed, it actually wasn't
[1:03:03] an quote unquote affordable housing
[1:03:05] project. In 1975, it was mostly um a
[1:03:09] middle income housing project. is 80% of
[1:03:12] 80% AMI units on and that was going to
[1:03:15] expire basically 30 years in. It was in
[1:03:18] 1997 that the town and wind worked
[1:03:21] together to add tax credits to that and
[1:03:23] actually created the affordability
[1:03:24] that's expiring today. So it's actually
[1:03:27] started more of a middle income in a
[1:03:29] market. it turned into an affordable
[1:03:31] housing and now it's going to turn, I
[1:03:33] think, back into what essentially will
[1:03:35] end up being 50% affordable and 50%
[1:03:37] market, which is something that just
[1:03:40] personally I push for. I love mixed
[1:03:42] income housing. I think that's the
[1:03:44] proper way uh to to sort of create a
[1:03:46] community. But I just wanted to point
[1:03:47] out that like this has really evolved
[1:03:50] over time with the partnership with the
[1:03:51] town. And I think I'm I'm very proud of
[1:03:54] how it's ending up. I think the town
[1:03:55] should be uh because a lot of 70s era
[1:04:00] HUD housing has gone to market over the
[1:04:03] years or has fallen into disarray. It's
[1:04:06] kind of unusual for this to result in a
[1:04:09] family elderly mixed income regime that
[1:04:11] that lasts. So, um just wanted to say
[1:04:13] that that thank you for the profound
[1:04:16] partnership and I'm looking forward to
[1:04:17] the next 99 years. Thank you.
[1:04:21] All right. So with that, I think we may
[1:04:24] be prepared to take a series of votes.
[1:04:26] So I move that we
[1:04:30] I think we should make sure right with
[1:04:31] the MOA then
[1:04:33] um I wonder if we given that the MOA is
[1:04:36] still in the final stages of being
[1:04:38] addressed. I wonder if we might
[1:04:40] hold the votes until next week. Is that
[1:04:42] right?
[1:04:42] Um
[1:04:43] or are there certain votes that we
[1:04:44] should take now?
[1:04:46] Yeah, there's general consistent
[1:04:47] I think you could take the the vote of
[1:04:49] supporting their application for sure.
[1:04:51] Um, I think the if
[1:04:56] I wish I wish I have Michael's opinion
[1:04:58] here. I think we could you could move
[1:05:00] forward with the vote on the 4 million
[1:05:03] um preliminary commitment and supporting
[1:05:06] their application and acknowledging the
[1:05:08] letter um that they provided. But I
[1:05:10] think we should definitely I I think we
[1:05:12] should hold off on the MOA just until we
[1:05:15] finalize that.
[1:05:17] Roger, do you do you agree?
[1:05:19] Um, I think so. And I I was at one
[1:05:22] procedural question. Is the
[1:05:25] formal execution of MOA an absolute
[1:05:29] requirement for the select board to
[1:05:31] provide the conditional letter of
[1:05:33] commitment on 4 million? Do they have to
[1:05:35] follow in sequence?
[1:05:38] So the way the MOA is written, it it um
[1:05:42] would be executed after
[1:05:45] the um after this leadboard votes
[1:05:48] approval on the funding because if
[1:05:49] there's a line in the MOA that lists
[1:05:52] what they they approved it. Um so
[1:05:54] so execution of the MOA would fall in
[1:05:56] that bucket of conditions.
[1:05:58] Yes. So you could issue the um the
[1:06:02] letter the wing needs to to provide the
[1:06:04] state the town's preliminary commitment.
[1:06:07] Right. So so it seems to me that we
[1:06:09] could vote on 4B, 4 C and 4 E and hold
[1:06:13] off on memorandum of agreement till we
[1:06:15] see it. Of course, which is 4 D. So that
[1:06:18] would be my suggestion unless other
[1:06:20] board members feel differently.
[1:06:22] I'm okay with that. I just want to note
[1:06:24] when we vote on 4B that it's with the
[1:06:27] understanding that nothing substantial
[1:06:30] is going to be changing about that like
[1:06:34] minor legally stuff I'm not so worried
[1:06:36] about maybe because I'm not a lawyer but
[1:06:42] all right so with that I move that we
[1:06:45] authorize $4 million of affordable
[1:06:47] housing trust funds on the terms and
[1:06:49] conditions recommended by the housing
[1:06:51] advisory board so long There are no
[1:06:54] major modifications to those
[1:06:56] recommendations to be utilized for the
[1:06:58] substantial rehabilitation and extension
[1:07:00] of affordable housing restrictions at
[1:07:02] the senior rental housing at 99 Kent
[1:07:04] Street for 99 years and authorizing the
[1:07:06] select board chair to sign related
[1:07:08] documents on behalf of the select board.
[1:07:11] Bernard
[1:07:11] yes.
[1:07:12] Michael,
[1:07:12] yes.
[1:07:13] Amanda,
[1:07:13] yes.
[1:07:14] And I also vote yes. I move that we
[1:07:17] authorize the town administrator,
[1:07:19] director of planning, community
[1:07:20] development, and housing and community
[1:07:22] planning director favorably recommends
[1:07:24] to the state or other funding sources
[1:07:27] grant applications that support the
[1:07:28] rehabilitation and affordability of
[1:07:30] homes at 99 Kent Street. Bernard,
[1:07:33] yes.
[1:07:33] Michael,
[1:07:34] yes.
[1:07:34] Amanda,
[1:07:35] yes.
[1:07:35] I also vote yes. I move that we
[1:07:38] acknowledge the letter from wind
[1:07:39] companies to the town stating their
[1:07:41] commitments to renovate units and to
[1:07:43] extend rent protections for two income
[1:07:45] qualified tenant households at 77
[1:07:48] Village Way with changes proposed by the
[1:07:50] town. Bernard,
[1:07:51] yes.
[1:07:52] Michael,
[1:07:52] yes.
[1:07:53] Amanda,
[1:07:53] yes.
[1:07:54] And I also vote yes.
[1:07:56] All right. Well, thank you very much for
[1:07:57] coming and for the very thorough
[1:07:58] presentation and asking our m answering
[1:08:02] our multitude of questions.
[1:08:04] Thank you so much. Thank you everybody.
[1:08:06] appreciate it. Good luck with the state.
[1:08:14] He's one of the first to do this.
[1:08:16] Thank you.
[1:08:17] Thank you very much.
[1:08:21] All right. So,
[1:08:21] how about a break?
[1:08:22] How about Sure.
[1:08:24] We are ahead of schedule.
[1:08:26] All right. if you'd like
[1:08:27] or I can just go to like
[1:08:34] David
[1:08:35] the question probably has been answered
[1:08:38] but are these agreements attached to the
[1:08:41] property if they were to sell these
[1:08:43] properties
[1:08:44] yes
[1:08:45] because when they
[1:08:49] process property in in they flipped it
[1:08:53] as soon as they got the third It is
[1:08:56] touched by
[1:08:59] you know I didn't see one right outside
[1:09:00] on the right I think
[1:09:03] you guys all
[1:09:07] uh straight ahead I think on the right
[1:09:09] sorry Bernard
[1:09:11] we muted the room
[1:09:19] all right I
[1:09:22] would like to allow Anthony to provide a
[1:09:25] vote to 4B, 4 C, and 4E. So, Anthony, do
[1:09:29] you approve the question of authorizing
[1:09:30] four million affordable housing trust
[1:09:32] funds?
[1:09:33] All right. So, yes, for Anthony on 4B.
[1:09:35] Anthony, do you approve authorizing the
[1:09:38] town administrator, director of plan,
[1:09:39] community development, and housing,
[1:09:40] community planning director to favorably
[1:09:42] recommend state or other funding
[1:09:43] sources, grant applications?
[1:09:45] Yes.
[1:09:46] All right. And do you uh acknowledge the
[1:09:50] letter from wind companies to the
[1:09:51] channel stating their commitment to
[1:09:52] renovate units and extend rent
[1:09:54] protections? Yes. Thank you, David, for
[1:09:56] allowing me to vote on this.
[1:10:01] Now, we will move to review the public
[1:10:03] bodies handbook.
[1:10:10] So,
[1:10:13] um we have uh a new draft of the public
[1:10:18] bodies handbook that is being um worked
[1:10:22] through has been worked through. Um
[1:10:24] we've been implementing re uh potential
[1:10:28] comments from uh individual select board
[1:10:30] members uh and working through to uh get
[1:10:34] to where uh hopefully we uh need to be.
[1:10:36] I will note um there are some comments
[1:10:39] um came in over the weekend that we
[1:10:41] still need I still need to implement. Um
[1:10:43] so I'm apologize to kind of switching
[1:10:45] back and forth between two versions
[1:10:46] here. Um but you can see here um the
[1:10:51] biggest the biggest changes um
[1:10:54] substantively um are um one a
[1:10:59] requirement um
[1:11:01] um
[1:11:03] is uh one a language about vacancies. Um
[1:11:07] if you scroll down to page um
[1:11:12] page eight or sorry page seven of the
[1:11:14] manual um
[1:11:17] there's now new language about vacancies
[1:11:20] um and this is the after discuss you
[1:11:22] know with discussion to the um
[1:11:27] um
[1:11:32] so if you scroll down to see the select
[1:11:34] or endeavor and fill vacancies on public
[1:11:37] bodies as soon as practiced. Posted
[1:11:39] positions will remain open until filled,
[1:11:41] but typically the select board will
[1:11:42] endeavor to conduct interviews and fill
[1:11:44] positions no earlier than 30 days and no
[1:11:46] later than 60 days from posting.
[1:11:47] Vacancies on public bodies requiring
[1:11:49] specialized expertise may take longer to
[1:11:51] fill. Select board also typically
[1:11:52] endeavors to interview every applicant
[1:11:54] and may decide not to do so in the
[1:11:56] chair's discretion if an application is
[1:11:58] submitted after a sufficient number of
[1:11:59] candidates have been interviewed. So,
[1:12:01] this sets a certain level of expectation
[1:12:03] from the public, but doesn't foreclose
[1:12:06] you from after a 60-day period if you
[1:12:08] feel like you need to hear from more
[1:12:10] applicants or you want to hold the
[1:12:11] position open, particularly if it's one
[1:12:13] requiring specialized expertise. Um, but
[1:12:16] it sets right it gives the community a
[1:12:18] sense of, you know, when they should get
[1:12:20] their application in if they want to be
[1:12:21] considered for a position.
[1:12:26] Can I make one note and I'll just
[1:12:28] explain my comment like this now
[1:12:31] formalizes the definition of a vacancy
[1:12:33] basically being not when someone does
[1:12:35] not resubmit for reappointment but when
[1:12:38] someone steps down early for one reason
[1:12:40] or another.
[1:12:41] Yes. uh
[1:12:44] so that it it should be important and I
[1:12:48] don't think that it necessarily needs to
[1:12:50] be reflected in the handbook but then
[1:12:52] essentially when we are considering
[1:12:55] candidates for reappoint and we are
[1:12:57] trying to make it on a regular calendar
[1:13:01] schedule um then we're also considering
[1:13:04] new candidates for appointment at the
[1:13:06] same time um apart from vacancies which
[1:13:09] are their own category
[1:13:10] yeah I do think it would be helpful to
[1:13:12] spell that out to be very clear because
[1:13:14] this will be a bit of a departure from
[1:13:17] prior protocol.
[1:13:18] We can definitely do that. Um so we can
[1:13:20] make clear that this that there's a
[1:13:23] difference between an open position and
[1:13:25] a position that's being considered for
[1:13:26] reappoint.
[1:13:28] So um
[1:13:31] right then the the vacancy is right just
[1:13:33] to spell out that someone has stepped
[1:13:36] down early. It is a vacancy. we are
[1:13:37] filling it not on the normal calendar
[1:13:39] time that we are thinking about based on
[1:13:42] when the person has stepped down. Um and
[1:13:45] then reappoint we are I I don't actually
[1:13:48] know that we have put this in here but
[1:13:50] we are trying to make it sort of at the
[1:13:53] same time each year right
[1:13:55] hopefully yes um and that brings us to a
[1:13:57] question of well reappointments if
[1:13:59] someone misses the August 31st deadline
[1:14:01] that you have set in one of your prior
[1:14:03] meetings is that now considered a vacant
[1:14:06] position and then that person who maybe
[1:14:08] re reapplied three or four weeks later
[1:14:11] are they now a new candidate do you want
[1:14:12] to reinter
[1:14:16] I think that's that's I'm sorry. Go
[1:14:18] ahead.
[1:14:18] Isn't Isn't interviewing at the
[1:14:20] discretion of the chair anyway? So, do
[1:14:23] we have to make a rule about that?
[1:14:25] No, I just would like for my purposes in
[1:14:28] scheduling. I have a couple of reappoint
[1:14:30] applicants who missed the deadline. Do
[1:14:31] you want to interview them or put them
[1:14:33] on for reappoint? Because are they now
[1:14:36] considered new applicants? So I
[1:14:38] personally would like when when the vote
[1:14:41] happens to not have separate categories
[1:14:43] of reappoint and appointments um to have
[1:14:46] one conversation. So just to take one
[1:14:48] example from what happened previously,
[1:14:50] we were voting on candidates for parks
[1:14:54] and wreck for reappoint. Two of the
[1:14:55] three put in for reappoint. Um and we
[1:14:58] voted on them in a separate meeting and
[1:15:00] then we just had the special meeting to
[1:15:02] fill the third of those seats. I would
[1:15:04] much prefer going forward to say we have
[1:15:09] what would have been uh six candidates
[1:15:15] these are incumbents and so we know them
[1:15:17] and you have a little more familiarity
[1:15:19] with them but then the comation becomes
[1:15:21] which of those six get appointed to
[1:15:23] those three seats um with the knowledge
[1:15:26] it's sort of like it's an incumbent star
[1:15:28] in the discussion as opposed to a
[1:15:41] not going to be rubber stamping
[1:15:42] incumbents in the future, which is not
[1:15:44] to say they won't have an advantage. Uh
[1:15:46] but if we're not going to be rubber
[1:15:47] stamped