MAMMOTH LAKES HOUSING, INC.
Board of Directors Meeting
Thursday, December 10, 2015
6:00 p.m.
Mammoth Lakes Housing Conference Room
587 Old Mammoth Rd.
Minutes
I. Call to Order
II. Roll Call
Members present: Lindsay Barksdale, Larry Johnston, Jiselle Kenny, Kirk Stapp, and Bill Taylor
Members absent: Colin Fernie
Public: Nolan Bobroff, Town of Mammoth Lakes Planning Department
III. Public Comments
Larry Johnston commented that at the November 17th Board of Supervisors meeting there were some public comments regarding code compliance (parking, etc.) in the Sierra Valley Sites. Jennifer Halferty was at the meeting. The Board of Supervisors decided to write a letter to both Mammoth Lakes Housing and the Town of Mammoth Lakes regarding the complaints. The draft letter is on the agenda for the December 11th Board of Supervisors meeting. Larry Johnston noted that he abstained from the item. Additionally, there were other comments submitted in a letter to Supervisor Stump. Larry Johnston asked that there be a future agenda item regarding addressing these individuals concerns. He also noted that he will be meeting with constituents in the Sierra Valley Sites regarding re-zoning some properties to a lesser density.
IV. Approval of Minutes from the November 2, 2015 regular BOD Meeting
Bill Taylor made a motion to approve the minutes as amended. Lindsay Barksdale seconded the motion. The motion passed 5-0.
V. Board Member reports
Larry Johnston reported that the County hired a new CAO. He also mentioned that Marshall Rudolph, county counsel, was leaving for Inyo County and the Stacey Simon would be acting county counsel in his absence.
Larry Johnston also commented that at the December 8th Board of Supervisors meeting, the Board held a public hearing regarding a potential Transient Rental Overlay District (TROD) in June Lake. The Board of Supervisors overturned the Planning Commissions decisions to allow the TROD by a vote of 5-0. The Town of Mammoth Lakes Measure Z was discussed as a potential tool to address the issue of single-family nightly rentals. Additionally, the impacts to affordable housing from the expansion of nightly rentals were mentioned.
Kirk Stapp noted that at his weekly luncheon with members of the local business community, many employers have noted that they cannot secure employees. He also mentioned that MMSA has a waiting list for their housing, and it’s not clear if they will have enough employees to open both Canyon Lodge and June Mountain this Saturday. He stated that if this is a big winter, where will all of the employees live.
Lindsay Barksdale said that Mammoth Mountain Community Foundation has an employee who cannot find housing and is living out of their car.
VI. MLH monthly status report
Bill Taylor asked how the Hispanic Advisory Town Hall meeting on December 4th went. Jennifer Halferty explained that only a few people showed up.
Jennifer Halferty noted that many frantic potential employees are calling looking for rental housing, saying that MMSA has a waitlist for employee housing. Employers have also called to express their concerns.
The next NGO Strategic Alignment meeting will be on December 15th at 1:00PM in Suite Z. All of the NGO board members are invited. The intention of the meeting will be to review and revise the 2025 goals, which will then come back to MLH Board at the January meeting.
Jennifer Halferty noted that the next step should be a market/feasibility study on the Shady Rest Tract. There was Board consensus to obtain a study.
VII. Review and discussion of the Tallus amendment request for workforce housing
Bill Taylor asked for clarification as to whether or not this was mitigation or a conversion because the use has already been in place.
Nolan Bobroff explained that Phase I was still not complete, and therefore, the housing requirement was not due until the final building had a Certificate of Occupancy.
Lindsay Barksdale asked how many other entitled projects were out there that had inclusionary housing requirements that would potentially come forward to mitigate under the new fee-based policy. Nolan listed a couple of entitled projects including Old Mammoth Place, Holiday Haus, and the Mammoth Creek Inn.
Larry Johnston noted that it seemed like if you were going to have a fee, then that fee should go towards mitigating that specific project. Instead, the Town is going to collect $57,000 in fees but not be able to adequately mitigate the impact and provide the two 3-bedroom units.
Lindsay Barksdale agreed and noted that the housing is no longer available at the time the project is completed, and it becomes someone else’s problem. She also asked that if the Gatehouse is deed restricted to be used only by the on-site manager, who will manage the compliance with that deed restriction? Jennifer Halferty explained that historically it has been managed differently across time but that MLH is willing to manage the deed restriction on behalf of the Town. Nolan Bobroff confirmed that Town staff is still in discussions with the developer on this aspect of the housing requirement and that the details of a deed restriction have not been discussed.
VIII. Review the draft MLH 2015 Strategic Plan
Kirk Stapp requested that the Mission Statement be moved to the top of the document. He asked for three headings: Challenges, Assets, and Opportunities. He suggested an addendum with bullet points.
Bill Taylor suggested that “tools” are different than “housing outcomes” and made a suggestion regarding goals 1.a. and 1.b. He suggested reframing the items in a way that asked the question “what tools are you bringing to the table?”
1.a. Identify available funding sources
1.b. Identify suitable land that addresses the Town’s need for workforce housing
Jiselle Kenny suggested adding bullet points at the beginning of the document to provide a reference point to specific items.
Lindsay Barksdale agreed, and thought it could also happen at the end of the document. She suggested changing the heading “History” to “Successes.” She also suggested adding Cap + Trade grants to funding resources. She thought one way to illustrate what a renewed commitment to Measure 2002A would look like could be to provide anecdotes regarding how many families could be helped or units created.
Lindsay Barksdale asked if there was a time limit for the document and an expectation that these items should be completed in a certain amount of time. Jennifer Halferty stated that the time frame would be added and it is generally 3-5 years.
Bill Taylor noted that the current challenges include the demand. Kirk Stapp thought that there should be a statement about the current demand at the beginning of the document.
IX. Council Member recap for the Town Council meeting
The group recapped the highlights. Jennifer Halferty will pass these on to Colin Fernie in order for him to report out to Council. The items of interest were:
1. At their November 17 meeting, The Mono County Board of Supervisors approved the creation of a Mono County Revolving Loan Funds (RLF) which is very similar to the Town’s RLF. The County’s RLF will allow MLH to borrow up to $300,000 dollars for the preservation of the Town’s deed restricted workforce homes.
2. Several Board members reported on a shortage of housing options. One member’s employee had a lease agreement lined up for the winter which fell through and they’re unable to find housing and are now living out of their car, and another Board member meets weekly with local business owners where he has heard a lot of concerns about the lack of workforce housing options.
3. A MLH rental unit was leased in November to a family of four with the father working in the Mammoth Lakes food preparation industry.
4. MLH is in the process of updating and refining their Strategic Plan.
CLOSED SESSION
X. Pursuant to Government Code Section 54956.8, the Board will hold a closed session to discuss property negotiations and possible staff directions and/or action – APN 035-010-020-000 and 035-100-003-000
Property: Shady Rest Tract
Negotiating Parties: Jennifer Halferty and her designees representing MLH (prospective buyer); Bill Schumer and his designees representing Sternseld 1088 Trust (prospective seller)
Under Negotiation: Terms of purchase (price, payment terms)
Announcement of Action Taken during Closed Session
No action was taken.
XI. Adjourn