Page 8 THE EVERETT ADVOCATE – FRiDAy, JAnuARy 3, 2025 CHANUKAH | FROM PAGE 5 tendees and shared a moving story about the true meaning of Chanukah and how the holiday can bring communities together. He then enlisted the aid of the children in attendance to light the menorah with him. After the menorah was lit, all who attended were invited to enjoy traditional Jewish music, latkes, doughnuts and more in the lobby of City Hall. Rabbi Sruli Baron joins Councillor-at-Large Stephanie Smith and family in front of the menorah. Tobin Bridge Chabad Director Rabbi Sruli Baron. Ward 3 Councillor Anthony DiPierro addresses the crowd. LINKAGE FEE | FROM PAGE 2 ily of four is not reflective of Everett’s low-income earners because it’s higher than a vast majority of the incomes in Everett. Affordable rent limits are based on 30% of the income of somebody who makes 80% AMI, so in Everett affordable rents are based on incomes of a more affluent area than the city itself. Despite the higher incomes in the other communities, Lattanzi said, the need for affordable housing is “not an Everett problem, it’s a huge state and national issue. We all have an affordable housing crisis.” He also said 25 Garvey will have the maximum allowable preference of local residents of 70%. Rabbi Sruli Baron addresses the crowd at the menorah lighting. “While affordable housing is a need across the state, we’re not taking in folks, but capturing folks already living in Everett,” he said. “The hope is not to increase the population, but capture people that can’t afford the space they’re in or are in a space that isn’t the best to raise a family.” Councillor-at-Large John Hanlon asked Lattanzi how the funds were spent on 25 Garvey. Lattanzi said the funds can’t be used for construction but can and was used to purchase the land, including $750,000 from a Community Development Block Grant (CBDG), which is separate but in addition to linkage fee funds. “It’s very common in the development world that you permit a project, but don’t close until the Public Note Request for Proposals: 5,000 to 6,000 sf Office Space The Metro North regional Employment Board, Inc., d/b/a MassHire Metro North Workforce Board (MNWB), is issuing a Request for Proposals (RFP) designed to solicit proposals from organizations interested in leasing 5,000 to 6,000 sf office space. The desired occupancy date is July 1, 2025. MNWB is only considering leasing office space in the following communities, all of which offer MBTA Rapid Transit service: Cambridge, Malden, Medford, Revere, and Somerville. The RFP and related documents can be accessed on the MNWB website: https://masshiremetronorth.org/. Proposals are due by January 20, 2024. financing is in hand.” “Affordable housing is critically needed in the region and in Everett,” Ward 5 Councillor and City Council President Robert Van Campen agreed. He asked why Everett doesn’t have an Affordable Housing Trust, as many communities do. “We see it work in other communities,” he said, and he feels it would be a good mechanism in addition to the Linkage Fee program to create and retain affordable units. Lattanzi answered that the Linkage Fee program serves the same purpose, including producing new affordable housing units, providing new affordability, creating units affordable to households with a range of incomes, particularly units for households with incomes below 80% of the AMI, including affordable units for families, the disabled and the homeless and using private funding sources and non-state funding sources, all of which are priorities outlined by MassHousing, an independent, quasi-public agency created in 1966 and charged with providing financing for affordable housing in the state. “They act the same way,” he said of the Linkage Fee program and an Affordable Housing Trust. “Affordable Housing Trusts use funds from Community Preservation Acts, which are tax dollars. We raise funds from developers City Council members and residents gather in front of the menorah. which have no effect on taxes.” Everett has a new Housing Production Plan, written with the help of the Metropolitan Area Planning Council. It recommends creation of an Affordable Housing Trust. Lattanzi said that won’t happen, but a board, commission or committee will be formed to oversee the distribution of funds rather than leaving it in the hands of the Planning Department. He also said that the City is in compliance with regulations imposed by the MBTA to have an area zoned to build multifamily housing by right. “We made minor changes to zoning to comply because we didn’t have anything specifically worded to comply, but existing conditions comply with the MBTA wants,” he said. Although it would seem Everett already has such a zone, it doesn’t because most multifamily units were allowed through Special Permits or being grandfathered in by predating zoning. Lattanzi also said the new regulations apply to what could or will be built, not what already exists. In other year-end business, the Council accepted a $925,000 federal Department of Housing and Urban Development grant for the CDBG program, at their meeting Monday, December 23. $277,500 will go toward paying administrative costs, including CDBG consultants and portions of multiple Everett staff members. That allows the City to budget less for those positions in the municipal budget. $464,500 is for the Housing Rehabilitation Program to assist income-eligible residents to rehabilitate their homes/apartments at no cost to them. It’s a 15-year, 0% interest, deferred loan that only requires payment if the home is sold by the Applicant prior to 15 years elapsing. Each year that the Applicant remains in the home, 1/15th of the principal is forgiven. The remaining $183,000 is for social services, split between Housing Families Inc., Bread of Life, For Kids Only Afterschool, Mystic Valley Elder Services and the Justice Resource Institute. Before business began, the members thanked Van Campen for being their president over the last year. “We chose the right leader for the job,” Ward 1 Councillor Wayne Matewsky said. “He was fair.” “Being president was not what I sought running for office, but I was interested in having honest and civil discussions about issues without it being personal. We showed the City what a professional and civil deliberative body could look like.” The Council will reorganize itself at its next meeting: Monday, January 6.
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