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Home My WebLink About1996-07-01 Reading Housing Authority MinutesREADING HOUSING AUTHORITY Minutes of the Meeting of July 1, 1996 A regular Board meeting of the Reading Housing Authority was held on Monday, July 1, 1996, at the office of the Authority, 22 Frank D. Tanner Drive in the Town of Reading, Massachusett; The Chairman, Reverend Robert K. Sweet, Jr., called the meeting to order at 7:30 P.M. Thosc members present and forming a quorum were: Chairman Sweet, Mr. Allen, Ms. Connors and Mr. Kelley. Ms. Plansky, the Executive Director, was also in attendance. Minutes Upon a motion duly made by Mr. Allen and seconded by Ms. Connors, it was unanimously VOTED: To accept for the record the Minutes of the Regular Business Meeting of June 10, 196 and the Minutes of the Executive Session Meeting of June 10, 1996, as presented. The Chairman then declared said motion carried and said vote in effect. Finances Upon a motion duly made by Mr. Allen and seconded by Mr. Kelley, it was unanimously VOTED: to approve and sign the checkroll/billroll for the period for Accounts Payable Check #2854 -2899; Payroll Check #1040 -1072; Section 8 Certificate Program #3126-3179; Section 8 Voucher Program #1446 -1463; and Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program #474 -478, as presented. The Chairman then declared said motion carried and said vote in effect. New Vehicle The Board reviewed the bids for the 4 wheel utility vehicle with plow. The previously - approv vehicle was no longer available from AMI. As there is no secure storage for this vehicle at th Authority, the Executive Director will be permitted portal -to -portal use of the vehicle. Upon motion duly made by Mr. Allen and seconded by Ms. Connors, it was unanimously VOTED: To award the bid for the vehicle to the low bidder: Crest of Woburn, in the amount $24,899 and to add rear helper springs plus installation, if necessary, all not to exceed $26,000.00 in total. The Chairman then declared said motion carried and said vote in effect. Budggt Guidelines Budget guidelines were not available at this time and will be distributed to the Board when available. Page 2 Minutes 7/1/96 ,. •, , (AW11PRIA Spoke with EOCD today. It appears that the RHA had never received final sign -off for the replacement of the windows at their 667 development and Secretary Padula has officially retired and EOCD is now a division under another organization. Called Senator Tisei's office and they informed me that Senator Tisei is requesting money in the supplemental budget for the RHA in the amount of $175,000.00 (approximately). Report QfPrograms Don Allen reported on the meeting of "Financing Affordable Housing" held in Boston. After that meeting, the Executive Director and Mr. Allen met with Bernie O'Shaugnessy and William Colby of McNeil Company regarding public /private partnership opportunities. They will get back to us to see what opportunities exist to work together with us towards creating an assisted living community at their Cedar Glen development. 4 019 "1170,7101—IN me's Jean Calvin, John Greco and the Executive Director met with Susan Cweika regarding the selection criteria for the ALF Section 8 project -based certificates. It appears that there may not be a need for these certificates. As Susan explained it, the facilities usually eat the first day's costs, thus making the GAFC person a resident which fulfills the residency requirement. Maybe not the exact nature of our deliberations and negotiations. There was also a question as to the number and composition of the selection committee; and the ADL requirement. The Board felt that these matters could be easily settled. Section 8 Programs The public hearing was held on June 6, 1996 regarding the elimination of Federal preferences from the RHA's Section 8 programs. There were 2 people present; neither had objections but wanted to make application. We informed them of the opening dates for the Section 8 waiting lists. There being no objections heard, the federal preferences were eliminated effective immediately. The RHA opened their Section 8 waiting list on 6/18 & 6/19 and had about 160 applicants. Most of the applicants were not Reading residents and there were several vansibuses with housing search workers bringing their clients. There are no new Section 8 allocations. We currently have 9 certificates not leased and 3 vouchers not leased. This is mainly due to the 3 month moratorium before reissuing vouchers or certificates. We will have to be careful before reissuing if we are going to use any of these certificates for the assisted living facility and project- basing them. RA 7/1 Gas Easement - Frank D. Tanner Drive The enclosed daily work reports regarding the gas easement were provided for review. The m; questions were: The problem with the truck ruts and damage to the birch tree. The Authority requested .that thi Executive Director work with the gas company to bring this back to pre - construction condition Tree damage - The Board requested that a tree expert be contacted to see what has to be done. The berm at this area was broken by the large construction trucks. It has been put back but the are 2 major cracks for ice and heaving in the winter. The Board requested that this be properl} repaired as quickly as possible to avoid any further deterioration. The tree that was removed by permission of the RHA does not have to be replaced. Upon a motion duly made by Mr. Allen and seconded by Ms. Connors, it was unanimously VOTED: To authorize the Chairman to sign the easement with the gas company and to seek advice necessary in connection therewith. The Chairman then declared said motion carried and said vote in effect. Summit Village The Board reviewed the correspondence regarding the affordable purchasers. Issues: acceptar, of price reduction; waiver; delivery schedule and selling of garages to affordable purchasers. The Executive Director spoke with both the Reading Housing Partnership and Jonathan Edwz Town Planner. If the Board decides that the developer is not in compliance with the Special Permit parameters, which includes the endorsement from the RHA for the "affordable" units, then the Board and/or the Town Planner can call the developer in to discuss the issues and to if there is a simple and effective resolution. Upon a motion duly made by Mr. Allen and seconded by Ms. Connors, it was unanimously VOTED: To have the Chairman send and sign a letter to Mr. Dolben stating: 1) their concern as to his lack of response to inquiries made by the Executive Director; 2) there were concerns brought to the attention of the Authority by inquiries from seve purchasers regarding the delivery schedule and the adverse impact that such delays a 3) 4) 5) causing to the fmancing of these units. Has the delivery schedule changed? As per the agreement, please let us know if there has been a change. Let us know also if there is no change. Inform him that Mr. Greco has been instructed to develop an initial draft for the Page 4 Minutes 7/1/96 addendum to the Land Use Agreement and the waiver for each purchaser. Please ask Mr. Dolben to contact Mr. Ley to have him consult with our attorney in this regard. The Chairman then declared said motion carried and said vote in effect. Personnel Bob Howe is out of the hospital and is expected to be ready to come back to work in mid -July. We will furnish a job description and release to the doctor to be sure that he-will be able to continue in this work. We have hired Mark Nicholls on a temporary fill -in basis to cover Bob while sick; and Tom while on vacation. We have hired a part-time temporary Section 8 participant (male) to help with apartment turnovers and general clean-up of the areas. We have employed an AARP person (female) to assist in the office during the summer months. AARP pays this person; hoping that we will find some permanent work in the future. She is well educated and has worked in the Reading school system. She lives at Tanner Drive. She hopes to be able to be hired by the School Department this fall. It appears that there is a need to increase the maintenance hours due to the number of sites and units. This will be presented during the budget process. Also the state budget has been approved and it looks like a 4% increase from the State side for administrative salaries (Maintenance salaries follow DLI rates issued in April each year). The Board discussed the possibility of a 5% administrative salary increase and asked the Director to talk to the fee accountant in this regard. The next Board meeting was rescheduled from August 12, 1996 to August 5, 1996. There being no further business before the Board, it was unanimously voted to adjourn at 9:35 P.M. Respectfully submitted, Margaret K. Plansky, Secretary and Executive Director READING HOUSING AUTHORITY Minutes of the Executive Session Meeting of June 10. 1996 An Executive Session meeting of the Reading Housing Authority was held on Monday, Ju 1996, at the office of the Authority, 22 Frank D. Tanner Drive in the Town of Reading, Massachusetts. The Chairman, Reverend Robert K. Sweet, Jr., called the meeting to order 8:55 P.M. upon the following roll call vote: Mr. Allen - aye Mr. Kelley - aye Ms. Connors - aye Mr. Sweet - aye Ms. Galvin - absent 10, Ms. Plansky, the Executive Director, was also in attendance along with the Authority's alto ey, Mr. Greco. Mr. Dolben, from the Dolben Company and Mr. Paul Kelley of the Reading Ho sing Partnership joined the Board later in the meeting. The Chairman reviewed the proposal sent by Mr. Dolben regarding the difference in market vs. affordable units and how the discrepancy would be reconciled. Mr. Allen presented a financial analysis of the proposed settlement. The Board then reviewed the memo regarding the actual dollar cost difference. Mr. Greco, the RHA attorney, felt that the subsequent appraisal either at first sale or after all sales was definite and would be difficult to enforce. An exact settlement at this point would be better from the RHA standpoint. It would stop any future about value of units and monetary return. Mr. Dolben joined the meeting at 8:15 P.M. He presented his case as proposed: To wait until the last unit was sold; have a market appraisal of like units performed; and, at that point, the BHLP would pay the difference, if any, that might be owed to the affordable unit purchasers. At 8:30 P.M., Mr. Allen left the meeting due to another business engagement. The Board then discussed this proposal and presented the difference in the pricing from the view. This was figured on the lowest pre - construction price quoted by Mr. Dolben, from w the "Discount Rate" was realized, presented to EOCD and approved. The fact that the price quoted by Mr. Dolben was not the actual lowest pre - construction price (taking into account inclusion of the garage as well), left the "affordable" purchaser at a distinct financial disadvantage upon resale because of the Deed Rider and the mandatory discount rate. Mr. Dolben reviewed the difference in pricing analysis prepared by the Board. The Chairrr asked Mr. Dolben what the current pricing of a market rate "Arlington" style unit was. Mr. Dolben responded that it was currently at $139,900 with a garage. After some discussion tl following settlement was proposed: Minutes Exec. Session/ Meeting- 6/10/96 Page 2 To present the following negotiated agreement to the selected lottery applicants who will be purchasing an"affordable unit" at Summit Village: ► Nine Arlington style units to be sold at $104,000.00, formerly $108,000.00; ► Two Hereford style units to be sold at a price of $125,500.00; formerly $127,000.00; ► Purchasers will sign a waiver of any claims if they accept; ► A "Memorandum" to be attached to the Land Use Agreement between the RHA and the Bear Hill Limited Partnership (Summit Village development) and to be developed by Mr. Greco, RHA attorney, in consultation with Mr. Ley, BHLP attorney; ► Accept the new schedule for delivery of the units for the RHA, in the fourth and seventh building, rather than the first building with an affordable unit (second building built) and the eighth building. At 8:55 P.M., upon the following roll call vote, the Board unanimously voted to adjourn from Executive Session and return to the regular business meeting, upon the following roll call vote: Mr. Kelley - aye Ms. Connors - aye Mr. Sweet - aye Ms. Galvin - absent Mr. Allen - absent The Chairman then declared said motion carried and said vote in effect. Respectfully submitted, Margaret . Plansky, Secretary and Executive Director