HomeMy WebLinkAbout1983-05-09 Reading Housing Authority MinutesREADING HOUSING AUTHORITY
Minutes of the Regular Meetin& --%y 9, 1983
The Reading Housing Authority met in regular session on Monday, May 9, 1983
at 7:30 P.M. at 22 Frank D. Tanner Drive in the Town of Reading, Massachusetts.
Notice of this meeting had been properly posted in accordance with the By -Laws.
The meeting was called to order by the Chairman, Mr. Dempster. Those mem-
bers also present were Mr. Westra and Mr. Rand, forming a quorum. Mrs. Pierce, the
Executive Director, was also present.
A motion was first made by Mr. Westra and seconded by Mr. Rand, and
unanimously:
VOTED: To accept for the record, the Minutes of the Annual Meeting held
April 12,, 1983, copies of which had previously been mailed to all members.
The Chairman thereupon declared said motion carried and said vote in effect.
Another motion was made by Mr. Rand and seconded by Mr. Westra, and
unanimously:
VOTED: To approve the payment of bills and sign checks for 667 -C in the
amount of 11,173.57 and to ratify and sign checks for the Section 8 Program in the
amount of $1,279.34 and Project 689 -1 for $612.00. A list of these bills had pre-
viously been mailed to all members, and are attached hereto and made a part of these
Minutes.
The Chairman thereupon declared said motion carried and said vote in effect.
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,xs. Pierce reported on the financial condition of the Authority, advising
that the balance in the BayBank Middlesex Checking account as of April 30, 1983,
was $369.19. With the payment of the above checks due at this time, this account
would show a deficit balance of $ 742.04.
The current balance in the M.M.D.T. Savings account for 667 -2, was $27,208.75
plus interest. All rents had been paid for the month of May, totalling $8,690.00.
Mrs. Pierce also reported that the two new Money Market accounts discussed
at previous meetings were now established with MassBank for Savings in Reading -
with current balances of $16,312.26 for Section 8, and $58,000.00 for Project 689 -1.
At this time, a motion was made by Mr. Westra and seconded by Mr. Rand, and
unanimously:
VOTED: To withdraw $1,000 from the M.M.D.T. to cover current expenses,
and to accept the Financial Report as read.
The Chairman thereupon declared said motion carried and said vote in effect, and a
check was drawn on the M.M.D.T. account.
Mrs. Pierce gave the members an update on Project 689 -1 and the status of
its development. She said that all the paperwork on the sale of the property,
including the Plan of Land recently obtained, had been forwarded to E.O.C.D., and
was assumed to be satisfactory. The Contract for the Architect, John Walker, had
been approved, but to date he has not presented any preliminary drawings or speci-
fications on the work to be done to renovate this property for the purpose intended.
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Mrs. Pierce reported that there had been a problem with the person with whom
the Authority contracted to live in the house at 74 Bancroft Avenue until renovations
were begun. It was decided between Mrs. Pierce and the representatives from EMARC
to ask Mr. Underwood to vacate the premises, and he did so as of May 1, 1983. This
leaves the property unoccupied at this time, but timers have been set in the house
for lights in the evening, and Nancy Watt of EMARC said she would check the inside
on a regular basis, as she lives in Reading. Where the Board felt that there was
no immediate problem with the house empty, they would feel better if there were
someone in residence, and asked Mrs. Pierce to request that EMARQ try to find a
person willing to move in temporarily.
At this point, Mr. White entered the meeting, making the total number of
members present four instead of three.
Next the members were given a progress report on the expansion of the office
space as discussed previously. They were informed of the approval for the fund-
ing of this project by E.O.C.D., and permission to begin the Architect's Selection
Procedure. Mrs. Pierce said she would be working on this during the coming month.
Concerning the new Budget for Fiscal '84, Mrs. Pierce told the members that
E.O.C.D. is making changes in the Management Checklist which is required for the
determination of the spending cap for each Authority. Authorities with July
budgets were told at a recent meeting with new Management Bureau Chief, Sandra
Henriquez, that they should hold up their Budgets until further word from them,
and would be granted extensions on their Budget submissions if necessary.
It was announced to the members that Mr. Crouse who has served the Authority
so well as bookkeeper for the past 13 years, was retiring at the end of June on
the occasion of his 80th Birthday. Mrs. Pierce said that she had put a lot of
thought into the reorganization of the office staff since she and Mr. Crouse had
talked, and felt that it was time that the Authority retained a regular Fee
Accountant, as most Authorities do, to handle all phases of its operation.
Since Rick Fenton is currently used on the Section 8 Program and is extremely
competent and fully informed on all E.O.C.D. accounting procedures and policies,
Mrs. Pierce asked that he be considered to handle :this work. She has asked him
to submit a Proposal to the Board listing all the services that he can perform,
and his monthly rate. Of course, the rate for all Accountants for 667 projects
is governed by E.O.C.D. based on the number of units in the Project, and this fee
will be combined with his proposed work on the 689 and Section 8 Programs.
The routine work that Mr. Crouse has performed with reference to Rents,
Vouchers and checks, etc. can be performed by Patricia Renzello who currently only
works on the Section 8 Program three days a week. Mrs. Pierce felt she could han-
dle the routine work in the bookkeeping area, as well as helping with typing for
the 667 Program, if she could work one more day a week.
It was the suggestion of Mr. White that figures be worked out within the
scope of the Administrative salaries, to retain Rick Fenton as a Fee Accountant
and give Mrs. Renzello another day's work, for a trial period of two months. The
Board agreed to this arrangement, and Mrs. Pierce said she would prepare the figures
for the Board's review at the time of the Budget meeting. She also said that she
was working out plans for a little send -off party with the tenants for Mr. Crouse,
and Mr. Westra suggested that a Citation of some sort be put together by the Board
in recognition of Mr. Crouse's faithfulness and fine work throughout these past years.
At this time, Mr. Demp6ter put before the meeting, the matter of the pos-
sible rehabilitation of the Reading Community Center for housing of some type.
He said that from time to time, the re -use of this building, or the destruction
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thereof becomes a matter for debate at Town Meeting, and he felt that the Board should
give consideration as to whether or not they wish to pursue the possibility of apply-
ing for funds to convert this to a housing project.
It was the general feeling that the Board should look further into this matter,
and Mrs. Pierce was asked to check with the proper people at E.O.O.D. to see if there
were any funding programs becoming available to Housing Authorities in the near future.
Lastly, Mrs. Pierce showed the members a letter from the State Auditor's office
in which they reported on the Authority's Cash Management Audit which was performed
last Fall. They reported one Finding concerning the lack of documentation of income
on Rent Reviews which had been discussed at the closing meeting with the Auditor. Mrs.
Pierce agreed to require tenants to bring in their checks for copying at the time of
the next Review as required by E.O.C.D. - something that she has not asked of them
previously. However, a second part to the Finding referred to "Mathematical errors
found in the rental computations sampled ". This was never mentioned by the Auditors
when they were here, and Mrs. Pierce felt that this was an unfair finding. She said
she planned 'to look into this further, and would report to the Board at the next
meeting concerning this matter.
There being no further business to come before the meeting, and upon a motion
duly made and seconded, it was unanimously voted to adjourn, and Mr. Dempster declared
the meeting adjourned at 9:30 P.M.
Respectfully submitted,
r /
Janet Pierce, Executive Director
and Secretary
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.I R�ADiNG I
may ' 5,
r To Tom eClftk
" IAWW 'Suva
R�liu�. lea.. f
In aaeardnnee with the provisoes of Chapter 89 of the General Iowa of the Commonwealth of
the Reading Housing Authority
I ' ' a..ssaehmetts, as amended. a meeting of
wW 4e heid at 22 Frank D. rarmer Drive
r
dare /e Monday, May,, T.
9, 1983 e: 7:30 P-11. 1
an us loftwift rbw: j
j Matters of administration, management and
Ifis conter u e
related Pr ams.
Pasted acecutive Director
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READING HOUSING AUTHORITY
Checks and Bills
667-C
May 9, 1983
r' -eck No.
Account
3215
M.M.D.T.
(deposit into Savings)
3216
Janet Pierce (ratify only - already signed)
3217
James L.
Muise
3218
Mahlon D.
Crouse
3219
Patricia
Renzello
3220
James L.
Muise
3221
James L.
Muise
3222
James L.
Muise
3223
Patricia
Renzello
3224 PEBSCO /MASS - (Deferred Comp. - JLM, JP)
3225 BayBank Mdsx. - (Fed. Inc. Tax Withheld)
3226 Comm. of Mass. Dept. of Revenue (Mass. Tax Withheld)
3227 Town of Reading Contrib. Ret. -(JLM, PR, JP)
3228 Comm. of Mass. Group Ins. (JIM, PR)
3229 New England Telephone
;230 Somerset Supply Co. - (Plumbing Materials)
3231 Johnson Farm Supply
3232 Richard Avery - Electrician - (Ck. Hot Water Tank, #4)
3233 Boston Fire Extinguisher Co. (1- Refill -- 1 new tank
& Bracket for Comm. Bldg.)
3234 Mass. Sanitary Supply - (Drain Opener)
3235 Reading Municipal Light Dept.
3236 V. Canelas Co., Inc. - (garbage pickup)
3237 Reading Disposal - (trash pickup)
3238 Petty Cash
(continued - Page 2)
Date of Inv.
4/12/83
4/30/83
5/6/83
4/30/83
5/13/83
5/13/83
5/20/83
5/27/83
5/27/83
5/31/83
4/30/83
4/30/83
4/30/83
4/30/83
4/13/83
4/19/83
4/25/83
4/25/83
4/29/83
4/14/83
4/29/83
4/30/83
4/30/83
5/6/83
Section 8 Checks
2965 RHA 667-C - Reimbursement on Adm. Exp. - May 5/1/83
Project 689 -1
'110 Howard C. Buttrick - Survey for Plan of Land - 74 Bancroft 4/27/83
111 Joseph Boncorddo - Mowing Lawn - 74 Bancroft Ave. 5/7/83
12 John Walker - Architect - lst Installment on Contract 4 /21/83
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38.00
6,164.94
25.00
234.00
25.67
$ lo, 614.82
1,279.34
85.00
27.00
5,00-00
12.00
Reading Housing Authority
Checks and Bills
May 9, 1983
Check No. Account
3239 Joseph Boncorddo - Mowing Lawns 667 -C
3240 Russell Johnson - Ptg. Ceilings 17 -1
3241 General Electric Co. (new Refrig. & Range - Stock)
Date of Inv. Amount
5/9/83 54.00
5/9/83 43.75
'Final Total
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5/4/83 461.00
$11,173.57