Um, so in about 20 seconds or so, I'll be ging us in and we'll uh go from there. Okay. Uh, good evening. Uh, welcome to the February 11th, 2026 meeting of the City River Affordable Housing Trust Fund
Board. Uh, my name is Joe Graalisi. I serve as the mayor's appointee as chair of the board. Um, we'll begin the meeting by taking attendance. We have members present both in person and on Zoom. So, if I call you and you're on Zoom, just unmute yourself and um speak
for the public viewers. Um, so I'm present. Uh, Matt Wolford >> present. >> Anio, >> present. >> Lori Manzo, I do not see. Deb Frank, I do not see. Um, Leila Petri
>> present. and uh Dean Harris >> present. >> Great. So I see um I note the presence of a quorum. We have five members present. So we are able to proceed with official business. Uh if anyone else joins during the meeting, we'll I'll
note that on the attendance. Um so Anio, first of all, we hope that you're doing better. I know that you're joining us remotely. You know, you can either share or not share for the for the record that you're odd that you're laid up a little bit, but we appreciate you making the effort to join us. Thanks a lot. >> Maybe I should have an update.
>> Well, I I would love to be there in person with you all, but I had a little bit of a knee injury in operation, so it kind of keeps me from uh moving. Hopefully, next time we have a uh when next meeting I should be in person. But getting to the actual budget itself, uh I can provide an update and I'm going to
read it as I was given. The current balance for the affordable housing trust committee is $882,571.77. This balance is reflective of the approximately 167 thou 67,000 that is encumbered for the next two payments to the neighborhood developers.
Additionally, interest posted for this period is 3,38964. During this period, a payment of $10,000 was made towards a firsttime home buyer down payment program. Thank you. Uh this was again provided by Suta Newton on the
uh the budget office in Reneier. >> Thank you for that. And um some added context. I anticipate we'll be having another down payment assistance check coming out um which you know is good news. It's it's a good thing to spend money on that someone qualified for it and is receiving it. So that's great.
Uh, and we also anticipate receiving, so I know I mentioned the River Housing Coalition. I was looking into making a donation to us um in support of um closing costs and other, you know, things that, uh, can support folks in the purchase of affordable units. Uh,
and we anticipate receiving that donation in the coming weeks of about, I believe, $13,000. So, uh, that'll be added to the ledger. So, uh, really appreciate the folks that support us in that way and thank you very much. Um, moving on to topics from the fundraising subcommittee, a little bit from ANIO and
a little bit from me. Um, with Annio, um, I know that you've have very good reason why we haven't gathered as a subcommittee. Uh, but obviously if you want to talk a little bit about your availability in the coming weeks, maybe we can send around a poll and pick a time for you to meeting.
>> Sure. Yeah. Again, again, really absolute apologies for the delay of this. Uh, I know this is something that is important for us. uh two years ago we saw it last year and we hope to accomplish uh this medical issue that I've had came out of kind of nowhere uh so it's delayed me ide however moving
forward again I should be back uh in the fold of about three weeks or so ideally um we can have a meeting before that the purposes of the meeting were a couple one we would sort of update folks as to the summarize the previous meeting we
had uh with our community partners uh then we would the next part of the meeting would be to propose some uh items that we could write or sort of a an effort to craft a fundraising proposal to the uh again our partners.
And uh so that was kind of the goal for it. I will send out barring any sort of weird medical issue, I will send out a a schedule for proposed meetings uh by Friday. >> Sorry. Thank you for that. Um so we look
forward to that and joining that conversation. The other update I'll add from the sort of fundraising side and on that topic is um I don't have any major updates to share on the concept we discussed last time about expanding the senior repairs program. Conversations are ongoing uh but I don't have a
concrete update to share yet. So uh the update is no update other than that we continue to work on it and you know plug away and uh look forward to involving everyone once we're able to move that process forward. I wish I could say more, but that's kind of where we sit at
this time. Um, moving on to this should be a really quick item. Uh, the ADU loan program. I know we looked through a draft of the application last month. We've developed, I think, a more secure version of the application that also was responsive to some of the feedback that
everyone made at our last meeting. I sent it around to everybody, but I'm just gonna share my screen um and post it if I can do that. There we go. All right,
bear with me. Riveting television here. Okay. Okay, can everyone see um the ADU form here or the piece of it? >> I get a a thumbs up from folks in the Y
>> Yeah, you can see in the Zoom. >> Terrific. Um, okay. So, this is responsive to some of the things that folks brought up, first of all, and secondly, instead of being on Google forms, it's through our laser fech system, uh, which we used for the senior citizen repairs program. It's more
secure, um, and is an internal system that we have for the city. Um, so this is basically just about ready to go live, I think, but I wanted to give everyone one last chance to look it over before we go public. Um, Anio made a really good point of making sure that we
referenced that this is for the city of River. Like, I know it sounds silly, but like it's one of those things I'm glad you mentioned. So, we have the city seal on it and, you know, kind of emphasizing that and that it's for housing in River. Um, I don't think any of this phrasing
changed um, from what we discussed at the last meeting, sort of what the terms are, what the repayment is. Other than that, we kind of put it clearly on its own page right at the front. I think it looks cleaner this way than it did in the other version. So, thank you for the feedback on that. Um, so for the
applicant information, one nice thing about this as well is that people can upload documents. Um, I don't think Yeah, here we go. You can see here where you can upload files. So, it shows like your proof of property ownership, proof of residency, like utility bill, driver's license, etc. Um,
and then a description of the project. So um you know what type of ADU it is, a description of the scope and then there's an opportunity here to upload um documents, quotes, renderings, etc. um you know our hope and expectation would
be that folks will have already gone to site plan review um to kind of start the process, but if not they can still apply anyway. we'll tell them their first step, you know, is to go to site plan review because obviously you need to have all of your permits in place in order to be eligible for this program.
Um, but if all they're sending us is kind of a concept uh without any kind of renderings or information from site plan review, um, it's not a super advantageous application, but I can at least respond to them and say, "Look, here's your first step. go to site plan
review, get guidance on what you need to do, talk to a contractor, get quotes, get renderings, and then come back. So, we don't want people to feel confused, but we also I think that this is actually a way to help them be less confused, you know, where if they do think they can just kind of put in this
application, we have this Dropbox to upload what you have, and if you don't have it, that's kind of our first red flag that we should tell people to go to site plan. Um, this is the affordability agreement, which we've previously discussed. I don't think any of this
language has changed. The only edit that we're going to make, I talked I flagged this with it earlier. See where it says, you know, before you may rent out the unit, it kind of breaks off to the th and goes to E. We're going to fix that. And same thing on the next paragraph. We're going to try to like either
squeeze the font or deal with the size of the box or something to prevent that from happening. So, we're going to change that, but nothing material. Um, and then certification and signature. So, a digital signature um
for the owner and then a second owner if applicable. So, this really shouldn't be anything surprising, but if anyone wants me to go back and look at any piece of it, if there's anything that stands out to you or you're concerned about or still think need edits, let me know.
Anything? Anyone? Well, if not, I'd love to make a motion that we accept this in its current form, knowing that I'm going to make those little format tweaks. Uh, and we look to publish this next week. Next Wednesday would be my goal. Get it in the news or
excuse me, next Thursday. We'll have it publicized in the newspaper, the Rever Journal. Next Wednesday that it's going live and have it go live the next day. So, um, do I have a second for that? Second. Uh, all in favor? Yeah, I checked before and for me it's okay. I
read it the application I read the application before and I for me is good. I don't know the other's opinions. Yeah, >> sure. >> For me, it's a good application. >> Thank you. um any objection to launching this next week and uh just to note we
will work to get this translated into the four um predominant languages that are spoken in River and then we'll have the option through the community leaison program where if someone speaks an additional language beyond that we'll be able to provide support for them but it's only going to be published in the
four English Spanish um Arabic Portuguese but we'll be able to provide translation services as needed to anyone who needs it for other languages um the same way we do any other city document. Um so with that, we'll move to get this up and online. Thank you for your
patience. Um I know this has been a long time coming, but um excited to get this up and I think this will be helpful and I think it's timely uh the spring sort of construction season. I know it doesn't feel like it because of all the snow that's still on the ground, but it's just around the corner and we're going to see an uptick of construction
activity. So good timing for this. Uh moving on. Um I did submit for everyone we had an application come in uh under our open call for applications um which came in from uh North Suffach Community Services for their supportive housing
development on Hitchborn Street. Um I hope everyone had a chance to review the documents. So we did state um on the application that this round kind of goes through next month. So technically speaking, we can, you know, table this,
continue to think about it, see if we get other applications in the next month. Um, we're under no obligation to award funds. We can also award the maximum. We can do, you know, whatever folks think is best. Um, and it's within our discretion and our purview to, you know, respond to things as they come or
to wait and review everything at the end. Uh, so that being said, you know, for the last couple cycles, I've sent around this application that we received. Um, I think personally my position on it, you know, I think North Suffach does tremendous work in the community. Um, our department's been to
Hitchborn Street and seen the the project they opened there and it's terrific and they're wonderful neighbors and we're glad we're in the community. My concern and my reason why I'm going to suggest, you know, personally not voting in favor of this and we can table it for further discussion if people like
is that I just don't think we should set the precedent of funding kind of backfill funding projects that are already open. You know, this is already open. It has its certificate of occupancy. Um they've received the financing they need, you know, to get the project complete. Obviously, I know
as a nonprofit, um, it would help to offset, you know, some of the debt they took out, um, as part of it, but ultimately, you know, there's other projects and priorities that have unmet funding needs, and I would rather reserve, you know, and hold the funds that we have for those. So, that's my opinion on it. It's not to say that this
isn't incredibly worthy, you know, and a great organization, and this deeply affordable housing, you know, is something that we're we're grateful to have in the community. Uh I'm just not comfortable setting a precedent of kind of voting to go backwards to fund something that's already open. Um and
you know because we also don't fund like ongoing operations for affordable housing nonprofits for instance. You know we could I guess we could kind of do it that way but I I would rather kind of stick to what we've been doing which is amplify other funding sources and fill in gaps. So that's my position. You
know I feel badly because it's a great project but that's just the my my thoughts on it. So with that, I'll yield and see if other folks have thoughts as well. >> Well, I'll agree with you and and the if the response is that, you know, by awarding suffic u uh this money that
would unlock uh future development, then my response would be then when the future developments happen and those opportunities are, then they can come in front of us at that point in time and seek the the funding for those projects at that time. I agree with not backfunding.
>> Any other um comments on this? >> And so I will say, you know, Oh, go ahead. >> Yeah, one thing I was going to add. I mean, yeah, same same page. I mean, I feel like the idea of this program is we we really want to be funding projects that look like this, you know, like this. This reminds me of the Ocean App
project and the Salem Street project. like, you know, it it it kind of looks and smells like an opportunity where we can put a limited amount of capital to work and get a lot of affordable units out of it, but it doesn't meet the core criteria that we're solving for of
people who really need that funding gap to get a project done. That's not the case with this one. Um, but also think it brings up um, I don't know, maybe it's worth thinking about timelines on when we're approving applications because the other thing is
even if this, you know, was a project that was still in the planning phase and and we were, you know, filling that funding gap to get it done. Um, it's it's hard to make a decision without the context of what the other opportunities are out there. So, I don't know that we need to do anything on that, but like as
opposed to trying to think about whether these projects make sense when they come in, like reviewing all the projects on the docket on a regular basis that's quarterly, whatever that is, might might also help us make better decisions. >> Yeah, I I agree with that and I think that's something that maybe we can
clarify when we republish the next open call is sort of like if we're going to judge them on a rolling basis or if it's specifically going to be at that time. You know, I think that um I'm open if folks want to because our application round that went out says we're accepting applications through the March meeting.
If folks want to pause on making a final decision and just look at and vote on kind of everything that comes in. If anything else comes in by next month, we can do that. I will say, you know, I and I'm obviously happy to have North Suffet come back to answer questions. I think
that they already did come and answer questions about this project and I don't want to, you know, take their time if if it seems like there's general kind of agreement on like from a principal standpoint where we sit on this. I think if from a process standpoint, we'd rather not vote and would rather kind of
wait till that round is over, I'm okay with that, too. Um, whatever the, you know, feelings of the board are. Although, I think that my inclination would be to to reject this now so we can let them know. Um but also make sure that they know that we gladly, you know, hope to partner with them and work with
them on future projects should should one come up. Any other comments, thoughts, feedback? Okay. Well, with that I'll I'll make a motion if there's a second to um you know reject this motion uh excuse me reject this request for funding and
direct myself as chair to reach out um to the applicant you know let them know the reasons why which we've stated um you know around sort of the completion of the project already um and communicate you know our willingness to entertain future applications for future
projects. So um with that I' you know I'd make that motion to decline this Do we have a second? >> Second. >> Second. Okay. Um, any all in favor? Um, either say I if present or maybe put your hand up on Zoom.
>> I >> in favor of rejecting, right? >> Uh, in favor of Yeah. The Sorry, let me clarify. In favor of declining the application for for funding. Yeah. So, >> sorry. I'm a stickler for length. >> No, no. I appreciate that. And if there
is any objection, you know, if if there is objection, we can do a roll a formal roll call as well. >> Oh, I I was just unclear what Yeah. >> Completely. So, with that, do we have unanimous consent for um rejection of this application? >> Yes.
>> Yes. So, any any opposition to the any opposition to declining? >> Okay. Seeing none. Okay. So, moved. And so I'll u make that communication and also um further I'll work to clarify the
way we phrase when and how we review these um to make sure that there's no confusion about that moving forward. Um okay so another item I wanted to get to um I don't have a particular ask for us
on this yet but I think I might. Um, as folks may know, you know, if you're following the news, there's been some changes to federal uh, homelessness policies. Um, there haven't exactly been implemented yet, but, you know, they've started to kind of make the process. The upshot of
it is, um, the, you know, HUD, um, and federal programs that administer homelessness programs have put less of an emphasis on permanent supportive housing, um, and more of an emphasis on transitional housing. um to you know so for those that aren't maybe as versed in
the language you know permanent supportive housing is for extremely low-income families that have been considered chronically homeless um so have had like multiple spells of homelessness or homeless for an extended period of time um and with some you know
extenduating circumstance um you know beyond just income so some sort of disability physical disability substance use behavioral health um that's contributed to the homelessness. Um, and so if you fall into that category, you may become eligible for permanent supportive housing. Um, permanent
supportive housing is administered through numerous agencies including nonprofits in our area. Um, it exists both for individuals and for families. And something that's pertinent is I know that um, you know, through a nonprofit provider in the area, there's
25 families, you know, with children in the river public schools that have received permanent supportive housing. We don't know exactly how this is going to change. Um, but there's a fair expectation that, you know, some of those families might lose access to this
housing. Um, and a policy response or thinking about what we might be able to do as a trust is something that I think we'll we'll want to think about. Um, you know, I think another change as well is that there may be some reclassifications of what counts towards qualifying for
permanent supportive housing. Um, so it may only apply, you know, to, again, this is all sort of up in the air. Uh, but there's talk around limiting it to like a physical disability. So if we have families where the head of household or the adult in the household
is um has a behavioral health issue or substance use issue or things of that nature, you know, they may be at risk of losing supportive housing. Um, as we know, what we have to do from a budget standpoint is pretty limited. So, we can't be a per permanent supportive
housing provider, but if there's ways that we can work with providers to, you know, create some sort of support for any families that lose funding because of federal cuts to homelessness support, especially if their kids in the river public schools. Um, I would want to kind
of take special consideration to try to see what we can do to fill in gaps there. Um, I don't have an anything remotely that looks like a proposal for it yet because we also don't really know what it looks like. Uh, but I've been in the process of working with counterparts
um in the community development department in different cities and towns around River, you know, Malden, Everett, etc., and talking through some of these issues. And I hope to come back to the board with thoughts. But, um, that's something that's on my mind. You know, I think if we can try to prevent families
with kids in re public schools from losing housing, whether it be a funding issue or just kind of advocacy and you know where you dean to the extent you know what resources might exist and things like that, we should just try to insert ourselves in that. So, um not a
super specific comment, but just wanted to put that out there. Um Dean, I don't know if you have further knowledge, you know, I know it doesn't it's not directly public housing, but I know that you're really well verssed in these federal issues. Well, I would say that initially what they should do is is just get on those
emergency lists when you become from the there's no real emergency housing or emergency application on the on the HUD side of things, but the state of Massachusetts or the Commonwealth has emergency housing and their first um their first criteria is homeless through homelessness through no fault of their
own. So once that comes into play, um you know, they get right on those the the lists from EOHLC, which is the CHAMP system, um and they get, you know, hopefully towards the top of the list. Um the issue is there's just not a lot of vacancies out there. If you're talking about so many families in in
River that have it, you mean the housing authority at at certain time, we have 900 units and you know, we're probably, you know, 10 to 20 units vacant at a time. it's not going to take care of we're not built like a shelter to take everybody in at the same time you know
um and I the only other thing is though while there are people uh when you're in emergency that emergency automatically goes statewide and so so just because they're a ver resident right now there may not be a place in river available but they may be placed in another city too but I'm assuming that other cities
are going to have the same issues with the programs and it's not just going to be a river um problem with families that are losing their funding it's going to statewide throat. >> Yep. Nope. That's that's exactly right. Um so and part of the challenge, you
know, is that I think that where possible and it might not be possible. So I know that there's all different models for permanent supportive housing. Some of which involve like congregate housing that's owned or operated by a nonprofit and some of which is like scattered site. So it means that they're in a regular
apartment. You know, they could be in any apartment or home in Rivier or anywhere. Um but they receive supportive services from a nonprofit that they come and you know provide like behavioral health assistance or job assistance or other support that folks might need. Um
I think that you know from my standpoint is if there's some if folks are in that second and again I don't know we don't know the numbers. I don't know who the, you know, but if we have folks in that second situation where like they might still have access to the services but might need help with rent in that unit
like if there's support that's pulled to keep folks stabilized. I think that's something that we should think about if it's something that's possible. I don't I don't I don't know yet. Like I said, there's more unknown than known at this point, but you know, I do want to be mindful of that, especially given, you know, from a city standpoint,
you know, if homeless students remain in the school system and the city becomes responsible for transportation costs. It's a obviously, you know, it's challenging both for this for the municipality and for the family when kids get, you know, pulled out of the school system that they're in, even if
they're able to get emergency housing, which obviously is better than not having that, but kind of what we can do. So, um, I know that's a little bit of all over the place, but I just wanted to put this on our radar so that way if we come with an idea or a concept, it's not a total surprise. It's something that,
you know, I want to keep our eyes on. So, any questions or thoughts? Seeing none. Um, so we'll kind of place that on file for now. Uh, be on the lookout. Um, I'm going to try to get some experts in this space to provide some information to us. Um, maybe appear
at our next meeting and just talk through like what the situation is and what's facing families that are experiencing homelessness in Mass in Rivier specific specifically. So, um, stay tuned for that. Um, so we now move into other or late items. have a couple quick updates to share but before then
does anyone else have any additional items late items public items for any public okay not um so quickly um no major updates on you know we still waiting to pay out the last senior repairs project
but you know that continues to kind of be a pace um as I mentioned we had another person qualify for the down payment assistance program so that's great that check should be going out in the next week or so. Um we also have um
as many of you may be aware, we're part of the North Suburban Consortium down payment assistance program and the great news is it looks like for the first time in years uh they're going to pay out all of the slots they had for down payment assistance. Um they're not all to rever
residents because it can be anyone you know in any of those communities. Um, but my understanding is that and Debb would know I think probably many years they don't give out all the money that they have. Um, so the fact that they have means we're doing a better job of getting the word out, you know, people
are learning about it. They're applying for it. And this is the first time I've ever had to tell someone who applied for that program that they might not get it because it looks like all the money's been awarded. So bad news in that sense, but good news in the sense that we're getting the money out the door, you know, supporting families and helping
people. um become first-time home buyers. So, um you know, we're really happy to see that. Um any questions on the down payment assistance programs? Um the other thing I would add um is that a couple things. Um I continue to
work with our state delegation on getting further support for this program and the budget again for this year from the state. You know, no guarantees. I know it's a tough budget year for everybody, city, state, federal. So, um, you know, what comes will come, but that's something that remains a priority
for us to receive, you know, an additional infusion of funding and support for down payment assistance. Um, and you know, Deb, I know that, um, we've been in touch with your team and with Chelsea about co-hosting um, this event that's coming up. And Chelsea, I
don't know if you want to talk briefly about it, but I'll be sending out some press materials around this shortly. >> Yeah, abs. Absolutely. So, we have a home buyer fair scheduled uh for the 28th of this month. It's from 10 to 2. It's being held at the Clark Middle School um in Chelsea. We are going to
have um I I'm assuming someone from the city of Chelsea will be there representing this this program and then someone from the city reve I mean from I'm sorry, from South Chelsea there. I believe the Revier will be there. We're going to have Mass Housing there, Mass Housing Partnership. Um there'll be a couple of uh real estate
agents, one that's specifically from Chelsea, one from Revier, um and a number of other vendors will be there. Um I'm going to focus my presentation on loan programs and grants and down payment assistance and things like that. Um you know, people might have we might
have some information on credit repair and and whatnot. But the goal being to get the word out about all of these different programs so that we could try to help out the people in um in Chelsea and and Revier. >> Thank you for that. So I'll be there on the 28th representing River and uh we'll
get the information around to board members if you want to be present, you know, to to see it or >> I believe I believe the marketing piece is is just about finalized. It's my understanding they were just waiting for u the river's uh city seal if we could use it along with Chelsea's.
>> Yep. So, I'll be getting that over um ASAP and uh so yes, so if anyone wants to be present at that from a member standpoint, great. And then obviously for public, we'll publish this in the meeting notes. We'll get it up, get the word out on social media, you know, etc. Um and try to get a good turnout for
this. So, thank you Deb and thank you Metroion for for your efforts on this front. >> Um any questions about about that? >> Okay. Um well, seeing none, um that's the last item on our agenda. So we once
again had a very tidy half hour. Um do I have a motion to adjurnn? >> All right. Um any objection? Seeing none. All right. Thank you everyone. All right. Thanks those who joined us
virtually. Have we lost you? Thanks everyone. >> Thanks everyone um for joining us and um and I will get better.