Um, so if you're here in person, say so. And if you're here virtually as well, just um say it to the speaker. Um, so myself, Joe Graalisi, I'm present. Uh, Matt Wolfer >> here. Annayia Oswaki >> here.
>> Okay. Lori Manzo >> here. >> Deb Frank >> here. >> Leila Petri >> here. >> And Dean Harris >> here. and Judy Goslan. >> Yeah. >> Great. Thank you very much. Uh so the
next item that we'll move to is uh ratification of the minutes from the July meeting. Uh those were distributed to everybody last Friday. Uh so I'd ask for unanimous consent to ratify those minutes. Is there any uh do I hear any objections? >> Actually, well, sorry. Can I make a
motion to ratify the minutes for the July meeting? >> I second. >> Second. Any um any objections? Seeing none. >> Okay. >> Uh so we'll move to the next item of the agenda which is our monthly finances update. And for that we'll go to our
treasurer and IO. >> Uh good afternoon everyone. I hope you guys have had a good day. I'm sorry not to be there in concern in person. I'm suffering a little bit of a cold and I don't want to spread it to anyone. Uh the current balance is $913,99644.
uh this increases due to an interest being posted and again this is provided to us by student newton. Thank you. >> Great. >> All right. Thank you very much everybody. Uh any questions uh for the treasurer's update. Okay, seeing none uh we'll move to the next item on the
agenda which is an update uh on the senior citizen home repairs program. Uh I want to thank everyone for your patience with this. I know that we I believe it was the uh June meeting or the July meeting. We passed the vote to ratify this and we've had some uh technical difficulties with getting the
application online. Uh to prove that we're almost ready to go and ready to start accepting applications, I wanted to show you where we were at and let everyone take a look at the application. Um I'll point out where there's still one piece that I'm working with the IT department on getting a few things fixed
and up and ready to go. Uh but I am just going to present this up for everyone to take a look at. Um let me make sure that this works. Share my screen. Okay. So, I believe that you should see this application up
here uh and on your screens in front of you. Uh for people that are seeing this on Zoom, are you able to see this? >> Yep, >> I am. >> Great. >> Um >> yes. So, as you can see, we're trying to do a couple things. First of all, be really
clear and upfront about how the program works sort of up at the beginning so people understand some of the requirements and guidelines and then kind of walk people through the steps on how to complete an application. Um, so this cover page will be something that you'll be able to access from the city website. We'll come up with some sort of
catchy URL for it. Um and we'll also make sure that um information about it is disseminated through the senior center and through the community liaison 311 so folks know about it. Um it starts off with a description of the program as
you can see the rever.org URL is a placeholder for we're figuring out where that's going to live. Um we give examples of the types of projects. Right? So, as we discussed, we gave some examples of what we would consider to be age in place type projects, um
accessibility projects for folks that are aging. Um but, um eligible projects aren't limited to these. So, we're going to welcome and review applications for anything, you know, but it's just going to be based on if they fit the criteria
of you supporting senior homeowners as they age in place. But we just present these as kind of an example of types of projects that we're looking for. Um, so as we say right here, applicants will submit their income and residency information along with a quote and a contractor's uh contractor's estimate
describing the work and its cost. Um, and so then there'll be a review by the city. We have sort of an ad hoc committee of city staff across planning and community development, the senior center, um health and human services, uh to review the applications for
feasibility, um and alignment with program guidelines and make sure that the contractor is properly licensed. Um we're going to respond within one business day to let people know that they've received the application and then processing time will vary uh based
on the complexity of the application. Um, so we list here as we discussed the guidelines. So 60 or older, um, own and occupy the home in River, be a year-round resident, uh, and meet these income guidelines. So at or below 80% of area median income, and we have it
listed right here, um, right on the front before you even start applying so people know transparently, you know, what the guidelines are and where they come from, which is based on the HUD income limits, uh, for the Boston, Cambridge, Quinsey metro area. Um, so yeah, this is just the
description of the program. Feel free as we go through this if you have any questions, comments to just interrupt but or take them down and let me know at the end. So next page gives you a checklist of the applicant of the materials that you need. So proof of your age, proof of
review residency. um we will go to the assessor's office, you know, and make sure that everything matches up and aligns between who's submitting the application and who the owner of the property is. And we'll reach out to the owner if there's any discrepancy there. Um documentation of
income, uh homeowners insurance, uh and then the quote or estimate for the repair and photos of the area needing repair. So this is where they put in their address information, you know, verifying that they're an owner occupant in River.
And then this is where everyone, so you'll have to list all household members. So we anticipate that most, you know, senior citizen households will be, you know, one or two people. Uh but if there are three or four or five people in the house,
whether they be minor children or adult children or unrelated family members, you know, that does count as a household for purposes of this program. So, um the household size is what determines if you're eligible or not based on income, but also every member of the household's
income counts. So, it's important to note um both for purposes of filling out the application, but also in communicating with folks that you know like if there's someone, you know, an adult child of the homeowner that lives in the home and has a full-time job, you know, their income counts towards
eligibility for this. Um, so that's just important to keep in mind, you know, that that's part of it. Um, so folks who put in their name, relationship to the applicant, and their income, this is the part that I'm trying to get fixed with it. Um, so there, as you can see, these
red stars represent um a mandatory field before you can go any further in the application. But it makes you put in your employer name, position, salary, etc., which is what we do on the first-time home buyer application. But as you can imagine, we actually anticipate that most of the applicants
won't, you know, won't be employed. They'll probably be retired. So, we want to create like a box. This is like the last sticking point before this is ready to post. And I'm not a computer engineer, so I can't speak to how complex it is to do this, but we want to put some sort of like box at the top
that just says like, are you employed, retired, you know, not working, whatever the case may be. And then if you are employed, that's then the box would pop up that you fill in your employment information. And if you're not, you can skip this question and just provide your social security income or, you know,
whatever the case may be. So, that's the part that we're trying to get fixed and I hope we'll be done within within days. Um, and so this is where I imagine it's going to be more, you know, valid or
interesting here or applicable to these applicants, which is if you're receiving any rental income, um, you know, pensions, retirement income, uh, any business income for folks that might like own small businesses or interest or dividends from stocks. That's the actual income that we
probably usually expect people applying for this program to receive. And so this is where they would put that in and then upload documentation of it. Um and same for all the members of their household. Um next piece is asset verification. And then
we ask a few mandatory questions. if they're party to a lawsuit, if their property has been foreclosed upon, if they've been declared bankrupt, uh if there's outstanding judgments against them, etc., if they answer no to any of these questions, you know, they're not they may not be eligible. They might we
might have to follow up for additional information. Um and then an e signature. So that is it. Uh that is the entirety of the application. It's we try to make it comprehensive without being too
confusing. um be relatively user friendly uh in terms of being right up front about what documents there are. So, we're just working through that one last kind of like glitch to get it good to go, but otherwise it should be ready soon. So, with that, I'd like to put it out there if anyone has any questions,
comments, feedback, things you'd change, general commentary. >> Sorry, Joe. I do have one question. Sure. Um, for senior citizens that are interested in this program but aren't necessarily techsavvy,
>> um, is there a way for them to be able to get access to this program and have somebody help them fill out the papers? >> Yes. So, um we are anticipating in fact that most people will apply for this by going in person to the senior center uh
where senior center staff will be trained on how to basically fill this application out with you or for you. Um so I'm going to be setting up some meetings with senior center staff and kind of running through like test applications before it's good to go. Um
but the applica to to complete the application you can bring your materials to the senior center uh and they will like go through the actual upload. Uh the only thing that we are going to ask uh people to provide even if they're not you know techsavvy and they're not using
it themselves there needs to be some contact email that you put in um as like what's attached to your application for processing purposes. So, we ask that when people come in and apply, even if they don't, you know, if they have like a relative's email
address or someone else's, that would be ideal. But if not, the senior center staff can help with that and help, you know, put an email alias or something that can just be used as like their kind of like username, I guess, if that makes sense. Uh, but other than that, there
will be no need to, you know, actually be online to fill it out on on the on the web. You can go down to the senior center and fill it out there. So, uh, and not only that, there's going to be a pretty extensive outreach campaign once this is good to go, um, both in person
at the senior center through the newspaper, Revier TV, etc. You know, letting people know that this program is available and that they can go to the senior center for help with their application. So, thank you for bringing that up. >> When is the deadline for this? >> Explaining. Thank you.
>> No problem. >> Sorry. What is the deadline for this program? >> Sure. So, um, the funds, uh, there won't be a hard deadline. They'll be rolling. So, the funds will be spent until they've been exhausted. So, I think it's
50,000 in total. Um, and then a maximum of 5,000 per project. So, it could be, you know, 10 projects, it could be 12, 13 depending on the size of them. Uh, but the applications will be accepted until funds have been exhausted and they'll be reviewed on a first come,
first- serve basis. So every application that comes in has a time stamp associated with it and they'll be you know reviewed first come first serve. Yep. Other questions, comments, thoughts? So I'd like to sincerely apologize uh
that this isn't online yet. I really really was my goal to have it up and running by Labor Day. Um but very appreciative and grateful for the help of the um IT department with the city on helping get this going. Um
I certainly wouldn't be able to build it myself. So I'm glad to have the help and the support and um I know we've had some questions. We had a few people call um call into the planning department and ask about this. Uh it's coming and uh we really look forward to it. We're excited
to be able to provide this support for residents. So, thank you for your patience. Um, anything else on this topic before we move on? Do I see a hand up, Judy, or no? Okay. So, then the next um item is also an update on a kind of simmering project,
which is the RFP for excess properties that we talked about. Um, this is another one that's moved a bit slowly, although I think due to good reasons. Um, you may recall that I think it was a total of five properties that were declared surplus by the city council and
RFPs were prepared to put them out to bid for those that might be interested in bidding on them for purposes of affordable housing um or similar uses. Um, but there are a few that, you know, it was complicated, you know, whether it be like conservation land issues, flood
issues, utility issues. So, we're trying to kind of work through all of those before determining um which ones are buildable, but there is one that I believe will be advertised tomorrow, but I don't want to speak out of turn. So, uh I will report back to you uh once
that one has gone out. I've heard anecdotally that there are a few nonprofits that we've talked to that are interested in potentially bidding on, you know, one of these properties for purposes of like an affordable home ownership project, uh, like a duplex townhouse type of setup, which I think
we'd all be really excited about. So, stay tuned for more on that. Uh, we're hopeful that that comes to fruition soon. Um, any questions on that piece? And IO, I think you must have gave me the cough through the through the Zoom. Um,
okay. >> I tried. Trust me, what I have, you don't want. >> That's all right. Um, so we're going to move on to talk a bit about the ADU loan concept that we discussed at the last meeting and that I sent out to everyone
via email. Um, again, I'm going to hit pause on putting forth a vote on this just because I don't want to have multiple like balls up in the air. I want to get the senior citizen repair program up and running and taking applications before we open up a new
application and build it out. Uh, but I do want to make sure that we're all kind of aligned on what we expect that program to look like. Um, just want to make sure. Does anyone not know what I'm talking about before I pull it up? Just make sure that
everyone's kind of on the same page. Great. Uh, okay. So, I'm going to pull up for everybody. I had sent this out via email, but I just wanted a chance for us to discuss it all together. Um, a
terms and conditions um for an ADU loan program. So, I believe everyone, if you're on the Zoom, can you just let me know if you can see this the ADU uh program terms and conditions? >> Yes, it's clear. >> Terrific. Um, so as you can recall from
our previous meetings, the purpose of this is to help, you know, people create ADUs and also rent them at an affordable price, you know, to folks that need them. Uh, I can tell you that we've se we're seeing multiple ADUs come
each week before a site plan review for the city. So, the amount of people that are looking to build ADUs is increasing. um people are aware that it's an option for them, but I also know that, you know, people kind of learn upfront that it's an expensive process, right? It can
be complicated. And helping people with a um forgivable loan to help with some of those construction costs can a help some families that, you know, might require this rental income to help them be able to stably live in their home uh
moving forward. B, perhaps provide housing to a relative, you know, their son or daughter or family or brother or cousin or whatever the case may be. But then also C, we're um asking for this to be rented out at the affordable rate, right? So a rate that's considered
affordable based on HUD guidelines um for five years. So, we are we kind of talked through a bit of this and I just wanted to show everyone this isn't like a formal application, but this is what I'm going to base the application off of is these program guidelines, this terms and
conditions. So, we talked about the purpose, we talked about the terms. So, it would be a maximum loan of $10,000 per ADU project and we'll fund up to five um of these projects. Um and then over the course of five years um the
loan would be forgiven by 20% so long as the unit remains in compliance uh with the affordability guidelines. So this is an owner occupancy requirement. So you have to own and occupy the property um throughout the term of the 5-year loan. um have to
comply with all building and zoning codes and obtain necessary permits and then also can't be delinquent, you know, for any payment of taxes, fees, assessments, etc. Um so the rent will be certified each year by the city as not exceeding the
affordable rent limit at 100% of AMI. Um so this is based on HUD, a HUD formula. Um, and then we would, you know, let the per let the homeowner know what that rate is for the year and then they would verify like through lease documents that
that it's in compliance. Um, I I believe for this year this would be around something like $2,000 a month. Uh, so it's not, you know, we're not talking about extremely deeply affordable housing, but
it is, you know, housing that's more affordable and attainable, at least to someone that's kind of in that working class um, income range. So, the lease would be submitted to the city um for review and approval each year for five years. Um, and then
throughout that period of time, right, the city would be verifying continued occupancy. you can't hold it empty, you need to be renting it out at the at that um affordable rate. Um and then if you sell the property, cease to reside at
it, so you keep it as an investment property but move out or rent it above the allowable rate, uh then you're required to pay back the unforgiven portion of the loan. So those are the program guidelines and then there will be an application essentially that lays out these guidelines and um you asked to
collect a lot of the same information that we collected in the senior repairs program. Uh and that will be how that will operate. My goal and my hope but I want to just take questions or see if folks have proposed modifications or concerns. My hope would be that we would
get the senior repairs application online, you know, hopefully in the next couple days, get that moving, maybe at our next meeting, you know, vote to approve this program and move it forward and work to get an application online and then maybe actually take
applications once we've exhausted the senior repair funds. Um, but at least have the application like ready to go and have the program approved so that we can start it. Um, I do think there's a lot of interest in building ADUs right now. We want to make sure that we're there to support people that might need
it. Um, so with that, I want to turn it over to any questions, comments, feedback. >> Okay. This is uh the program for the two and three female home that are with the owner live in one of the one of the
occupancies. So, >> uh, so this is for, um, anyone that's building an ADU on their property. Um, so that can be a single family, it can be a two family, it can be a three family. Um, it looks like, again, I don't know this for 100% fact, but it
seems like most of the ADUs that are coming through are either like two families that are adding a third unit as an ADU or a single family that's adding an ADU. >> And it's usually like a basement ADU, right? or kind of what we would call like an in-law apartment.
>> Um, we're not seeing a lot of like external ADUs. Um, you get you see those more in like more suburban settings where they might have a big yard and they build like a accessory dwelling apartment outside that's separate with the separate
entrance. Most of the ADUs here tend to be internal like a basement or like a back room or something uh or building an addition onto an existing house. That's what they mostly look like. The rules allow for kind of all different types of configurations. Um, but practically
speaking, that's what they mostly look like in the in the city of River. >> But at the owner have to live in on the property. The owner. >> Yeah. So, for this particular program, it it's for owner occupants only. Um. Yeah. So, that you have to be an owner
occupant of the property to receive this ADU loan. Um, you do not need to be an owner occupant under the state law that was passed um, last year to build an ADU on your property. Um, but you do need to in order to receive this loan. So this
loan is really targeted specifically for, you know, we think about residents, homeowners that either, you know, they themselves may need this ADU, you know, may need this rental income to support them, their ability to continue living in the property or their ability to rent it out
at an affordable rate, you know, to folks that may need moderately priced housing. So that's really the goal um in promoting this loan program. Other questions, comments, thoughts?
>> Um Joe, just for clarity, if this is sequential, so it's going to be the senior repair program and we go through those funds and then we move into the ADU. >> That would be my preference. I'm open to anyone else's, you know, if anyone wants to say, "Hey, Joe, I'd like to make a
motion to pass this now." And then it's our job as city staff to just go do it. I'm fully supportive. You know, that's your prerogative as a board. So, I'll just say I would suggest and recommend and request that that be the process that we go through that we get the senior repair program online. You know,
that we approve this program in form and then, you know, I anticipate that the senior repair program will probably expend its funding relatively quickly. If I'm wrong, >> I will come back here and say I was wrong and we might change the sequence of of how things go. But that would be
my thought, you know, is that we get that up and running at least get it started before we start this program. Um, just to make sure that we're not, you know, that we're providing the pro appropriate level of customer service to everyone that's applying for every program and that we're not opening up
two big application rounds at once. That would be my recommendation. >> Can we put in the to start the process now though to get the application and everything else online. >> We can um my request to the board would
be that we wait until we get everything that we asked for for for the senior repairs just because we're still trying to get like the last kinks worked out and then once the application is done to our liking, we need to get it onto a certain URL. It needs to be promoted on the city website. You know, go to the
mayor's office for communications. So, I'd rather just line the ducks up that way. I get where you're coming from and I I don't disagree, you know, but um I would say that next meeting would be when I would say I'd come and ask if we could approve it and kind of start getting the ball rolling of getting the
application online. >> Okay. I'm just new to the process, so no problem. >> No, I I completely agree with a lot of what you're saying and where you're coming from. Any other um questions, comments, feedback?
Okay, seeing none, I want to thank everyone for their work on this. You know, I know we had a few um committee meetings where we met separately. You know, we had some calls about this. We distributed via email and um I think everyone's participation and cooperation's been super helpful. So,
thank you for that. Um, moving on. Um, another item that we're working on that I also want to make some progress on is putting out sort of a request for an open call for uh, housing proposals. So,
as you may recall, we've gotten a few kind of I'll call them ad hoc requests uh, over the last couple years to support, you know, specific um, housing projects that have been built in the community. you know, one that we obviously approved was the funding for
the um 110 ocean uh project for for supportive housing, you know, and then there was another proposal that came in that we were a little bit less sure of, you know, that whether that made sense for us. And I think we all agreed that it makes sense for us to put together some transparent guidelines on, you
know, here are the criteria that we use to determine if we fund a project or not and create an application for it. And then also create funding rounds that are based on how much funding we have available. Um, and set a deadline, right? and have people come up after
they submit their applications and come and give a presentation much like others have done about the project they're doing, you know, why they think it makes sense, etc. Um, I sent this out to everybody, but I just want to again I'm um I'm on a a tear of uh sharing my
screen, so I'm just going to do it again and show this call for applications, which I believe you should all see in front of you. Okay, let me know if you can see that for folks that are on the Zoom. >> I can see it.
>> Great. Um, so here's what we had put together and this, um, was iterative based on some feedback that we got at the last meeting and I think from some of you via email. So, thank you for that. Um, all proposals have to create and maintain housing units affordable to
those at 80% AMI or less. That's our task, you know, as a as a board. Um, we would be we would make $150,000 available in that in the first round of funding. So, this is based on, if you remember, the budget activity that we did a few months ago where we laid out a
spreadsheet of what we have in the in the fund, what we've kind of already allotted, and then what we plan on spending on things like the ADU program or home ownership initiatives. This kind of additional bucket, what I'll call it,
is what we kind of are viewing as being for all other types of projects. So, this could be for extremely low-income rental projects or supportive housing or really anything that fits our guidelines. Uh, but that would be the the bucket of funding that we'd consider it for. Um,
no limit on the number of projects that may be funded until funds are exhausted. So, if we get as a board, you know, 15 $10,000 proposals and we think they're all great, we can fund all of them, or if we get one proposal that we think is
really phenomenal that our $150,000 would make all the difference in the world in getting it done, then we could allocate all of it to that. It leaves a lot of flexibility for us to discuss, you know, what makes sense. Um, which I think makes sense, right? We want to make sure that we're being flexible, that we're being adaptable, and that
we're considering smallcale and larger scale investments based on what makes sense for the project. Um, so we added a few things that, you know, the only like mandatory requirement to
request funding is to fit our goal of creating or maintaining affordable housing units. Um but we put a particular emphasis and on a couple things. So supporting the creation or preservation of housing for existing river residents. Um we can't make that
mandatory as we've discussed like under state law all these affordable housing projects have a certain cap on the number of units that are like local preference versus would be an open lottery for anybody. But we would be preferential to proposals that max out
um the local preference that max out the amount that are dedicated to current Rivier residents or like another good example is that 110 ocean project. It part of it was one for one replacing literally existing units you congregate
home for longtime rever residents that have been there for a long long time and they have the right to return you know so it's literally preserving the units for current rever residents. So we put a really high priority on that. Um
we would put an emphasis or priority on applications that allow us to leverage other funding sources. So I know we've talked about this a lot where you know the power of our $50,000 say um while not nothing is certainly not enough to
build even one you know unit of affordable housing as we all know. But if our investment can help in unlocking state support, federal support, private, you know, philanthropic support, um, if we're a force multiplier and us putting
in our support helps unlock additional funding, we would prioritize that over an ask of say, you know, we have a $100,000 gap in our project and we would take out a loan to cover it, but your $10,000 can help
reduce not we wouldn't say no to that necessarily. It's just less prioritized, I think, versus if we put in $50,000, it could unlock our eligibility for a $2 million Commonwealth builder grant or some other type of grant program. Um
that would really help us stack up the benefit and invest further in in residents. Um and then we'll also add some additional um weight to applications that support residents at or below 60% of AMI. you know, I think a
lot of our other bigger initiatives that we're talking about doing for the trust, so ADUs, uh, first-time home buyer support, um, doing, you know, I know we've talked about, um, subsidizing like deed restricted condo units is something that
we've considered doing or, um, not condo units, um, like units within a multif family home. We've talked about that as a possibility. or if we had a bigger budget like acquiring properties themselves or deed restricting properties. Um, we want to do those things to support home ownership and
like kind of moderate income range. Um, but I think if we can use this bucket to support some of the more deeply affordable, I think that's valuable. Um, so those are things that we have as kind of points of emphasis. We're happy to change any of these or add things to it,
but that's a starting point. Uh and then this would have a deadline. So unlike some of our other projects where it's until funds are exhausted, this would have a deadline. We would give people like say two months, we'd let them come up after their applications submitted to explain
at the next meeting. And then we would have at the following meeting after the applications are closed, we'd have a chance to deliberate and vote and determine how many projects we want to approve. um if any, right, we might get none that meet our criteria and our
needs and we just keep the funds um and roll them into the next cycle or into the next year. Um I know I talked a lot, so I'm going to uh do my best to be quiet and just see if folks have either questions, comments, uh or additional
points of emphasis they'd want to add or change or anything like that. going once. I'm going to take this as we're all in agreement. I'm not actually I'm not trying to be glib. I think this is something that's really important. You know, I want to make sure that um this
document reflects the conversations that we've all had in these meetings and offline. And I hope that we're all kind of in agreement that this is is a sensible way to do it and try to allocate the remaining funds. Joe, I think it's a it's definitely better than the way it's been where
people have come in and we kind of make decisions. Um, but there could be other people out there with better ideas that haven't come forward. This gives everybody an opportunity uh to present their ideas to the the the trust fund uh board and and we can decide and which ones are the best and for the city.
>> Agreed. Uh so, thank you for advocating for that. I know that's something that you've been trying to um get going all along and it was a good idea and I think that we'll move towards I'll bring something to everyone at the next meeting that we can we'll vote on, you know, approving the application and also
approving a timeline for it and we'll we can talk about that at that time. Um any other questions or comments on that agenda item? No. Okay, seeing none, um, very, very quickly, um, I So, we've received a few
additional applications for the first-time home buyer down payment assistance program. So, we're continuing to try to get all of those funds out the door. Uh but as Deb knows, you know, one thing that I've been trying to do is get in touch with other cities and towns and just learn more about
how they leverage other, you know, programs and ways to support people through first-time home, uh that are on the first-time home buyer path. Um there's no perfect answer, but you know, I think there's a lot of communities that struggle to
flesh out these types of programs for all the reasons we've already talked about, right? because of that narrow range of folks that qualify for it. Um, but we're considering a few things. You know, I think that we've seen that some communities have had success with sort
of marketing and pushing people towards the one plus um mortgage program through MHP, which Deb, I know that you have a lot of, you know, experience with that. if you want to maybe quickly if you have a chance to speak a bit to what that is.
>> Is um it's it's a a loan that allows for a 3% down payment. Um it is priced 30 basis points lower than whatever the Freddy M conforming rate is. So every month Freddy uh every week, I'm sorry, Freddy Mack posts what their their
average conforming mortgage rate is. So in order for a lender to participate in the one mortgage, they have to agree to price that loan 30 basis points lower. So for example, if the interest rate was seven and a half as the average, then they would have to agree to price it at
7 and a quarter or 7.2. So that's that would be the agreement the lender makes for that. So you can put a minimum down of 3%. Um it goes up to a three family property um uh with the one mortgage. There's a subsidy that is permitted if you're below 80% of median income um
that you can use for a single family and for a condo and a two family. So it's it's a I mean it's a a product that if you uh a person fits in that box, it's the best game in town. It's the best product out there. Then second to that, there's also mass housing. So, Mass
Housing also has subsidies and they also have um down payment assistance and there's also grants and things and all of the stuff can be stacked together with our $10,000 grant. >> Yeah. So, my goal and my hope is to at a bare minimum create like a landing page,
a web page for resources for folks that are trying to navigate all the different programs that are available to them. Uh but beyond that, it would be great to, you know, maybe formally establish partnerships with lenders. Um there are some cities that have done this and I'm looking into how it works where they
have like >> there's actually a list of approved lenders right online for the city of Austin. >> Yep. Exactly. And so we are pointing I do point people to that when they reach out and ask for what's available or if
they have questions um if they're applying for first-time home buyer but they haven't been pre-approved for a mortgage. I send them exactly that list Deb of um who the OnePlus um lenders are. But maybe there's a possibility to like do an RFQ or
something for like enter into a formal partnership with for sure. So, our hope is to help people kind of navigate that process. Um, and we'll continue to do research on that and continue to welcome, you know, your feedback as you have it. Uh, but that's something I just
wanted to update folks on. Um, as always, I have a window for actually, well, I wanted to mention as well that we have the upcoming event um that uh I had sent everybody and of course I forgot to pull that up. Does anyone have that in front of them, the uh calendar
invitation that I sent? Uh but there's an event coming up um on affordable housing trusts like around the Northshore and I invited everyone to come to that. I'll be going on on behalf of everyone. It's in a couple of weeks. Uh but just wanted to remind everyone that this is a chance to kind of learn
more about what other trusts are doing, do some networking, gain some ideas, and so everyone's invited. And so if you'd like to come, you know, please reach out. Um, in terms of a space for other updates, a couple of things. First off, Dean, I don't know how much you want to
or can say yet about, you know, ongoing updates on RHA's work. >> Well, >> what I can say from the River Housing Authority is is we're moving forward to reposition in in three phases. One is to
reposition our federal portfolio in in a RAD conversion. Um, which would then create an additional 175 fair cloth vouchers, which we could apply to other building additional housing in the city. And then it would generate approximately $3 million worth of additional funding
uh for the housing authority on the federal portfolio which we have 194 units spread out over Harris Street, Rose Pomona, um Hutchinson and then the end of Kage and upper Kushman. Uh we have a a project that we're looking on
in Shirley A where we would redevelop and repurpose a couple of three family buildings and try to build a five-story building which with about 26 units there. Um and then the third is is we're doing a master plan uh currently uh for
that that Koolage Constitution kind of the 39 acres that are over there. Um and we'll be working with the with the public and and city officials very shortly. Um as we get through our our planning process. >> Thank you. Um the other quick update I
would give from the city sort of development standpoint um that you may have seen is that there is um a developer who's potentially interested in a piece of property that's like directly adjacent to the Chelsea Housing Authority um that's on I guess
technically Feno Street in Chelsea. Uh but it's a piece of property that's like tucked underneath the highway. I have a hard time explaining where it is other than to say that you wouldn't know it's in River um driving past it or like even looking at a map unless if you if you click on Google Maps or Apple Maps and click on River and it shows the outline
of it, you'll see that it like extends just underneath the highway and it butts up against the Chelsea Housing Authority um property. So, it's surrounded by housing, but it's this sort of undeveloped plot of land that is like weirdly zoned. And there's a few different challenges that need to be
worked through both for zoning and um utilities and things like that. Uh but there is an interest in doing a fully you know 100% affordable project there. um which you know great in and of itself but also because we have um as
you may recall our housing production plan set out a goal of um we had to have I think it was 129 units of affordable housing approved within a year of ratifying the housing production plan and then something like 250 approved within two years. Uh we do not have any
you know since it was it was approved. Um so um we need to get moving on that in in order to remain in compliance with our goals under 40B or within our obligations rather you know under 40B under state law. So good opportunity for
the community. Um to this point they have not requested to come before the trust for any reason but I'll let you all know if that changes. Uh but just something to keep an eye on. you know, I think we certainly would appreciate seeing an affordable project, you know, given that we haven't had a lot of
those, you know, come through. They've mostly been market rate. Um, so something to keep an eye on. Um, I think that's all we had from sort of an updates standpoint. But any questions for me or for Dean on those pieces?
They follow the same procedures for the loan proposals that you show before on the ADU. You know, um the properties updated, you know, this the special this special project would
be the same guidelines for proposals that you show before. Um so if this developer was interested in applying for funding from the affordable housing trust then yes that that's this is that's exactly the type of proposal that I would envision going through this
application process uh where they would you know identify that they wanted x y and z that they needed it for x y and z reason and this is why and submit an application and come and speak to us. Um, to this point, I don't believe they've requested anything from the affordable housing trust, and I'm not
sure if they intend to. Um, but just wanted to put it on everyone's radar. Um, as something that's important to our overall affordability goals in the city, >> other questions. Joe, the the neighborhood developer project that we were just a part of down
by the beach that none of those units are being counted towards the permitting for affordable housing in the city at this time. >> Uh I believe that they were because they were already um permitted like before the house. I believe they I believe they got their
um uh building. They got their permit before we approved the housing production plan. So I don't think so, but I could be wrong about that. um they will be added to our SHI, but I'm not sure if they count as units that were approved in the year following the
housing production plan. Uh I might be wrong about that. So that's a good question and I'll get back to you. Um but they are units that are going to be on the SHI which is important because that's part of getting to our 10% um that we're required to have under 40B.
Um I think we're somewhere around 7% right now. you know, it's a number that's dipped a bit as more market rate housing has come on board. Um, so it'll be good to to note that and kind of where those units um impact where we are relative to those goals. So, thank you
for that. Other questions? Okay. So, with that, I'll leave just open if anyone has any other items that they want to put on the agenda, late items that didn't make it on, including anyone on Zoom.
Okay. Well, seeing none, I'll just uh begin to wrap up by saying I appreciate everyone's patience. Um, I know that we're all excited to see the senior repairs program move forward. I think this is going to be a great thing for the community. uh and we're excited to get it going. Uh so thank you for
walking through that application with me and we have a lot that we're working on between that the ADUs um and that open call for proposals. So uh thank you for all your work on this. Uh with that I'll make a motion to adjourn for the month.
Second. All right. Any opposed? Seeing none, we'll meet back here in October.