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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2006-11-06 Reading Housing Authority MinutesREADING HOUSING AUTHORITY MINUTES OF THE REGULAR BOARD MEETING November 06 2006 An annual business meeting of the Reading Housing Authority was held on Monday, November 06, 2006 at P.M at the office of the Reading Housing Authority the town of Reading, Mass. The meeting was called to o at 7:05 P.M. with the Chair, Diane Cohen, presiding. Those members present and forming a quorum were Ti Kelley, and Mary Connors as well as the Secretary/Executive Director, Lyn Whyte. Jill Fenton with Fenton, Ewald & Associates was also present as guests. Minutes Move Mary Second Tim Vote 3 -0 02 -332 VOTED: To accept for the record the Minutes of the Regular Business Meeting of October 16, 20 6, as presented. Finances Move Mary Second Tim Vote 3 -0 02 -333 VOTED: To approve and sign the checkroll/billroll for the period for Accounts Payable Check #567 -6 Payroll Summary as presented for October, 2006. Section 8 Voucher Program, #830 -923 as presented. Finances Move Mary Second Tim Vote 3 -0 02 -334 VOTED: To certify receipt of monthly operating statements for all RHA programs for the month end September, 2006 of the current fiscal year. FY 2007 Budget Presentation - Our accountants, Fenton, Ewald & Associates, prepared the budget in accordance with DHCD budget_guidelines. Jill Fenton made the presentation_to_theBoard, noting that the Director would be inputting the numbers via the Internet on a secured web site for DHCD. _FY 2007 4001 Budget Move Tim Second Mary Vote 3 -0 02 -335 VOTED: To approve and sign the FY 2007 4001 Budget as submitted. FY 2007 689 Budget Move Tim Second Mary Vote 3 -0 02 -336 VOTED: To approve and sign the FY 2007 689 Budget as submitted. Write -of[ Bad Debt Move Tim Second Mary Vote 3 -0 02 -337 VOTED: To authorize Executive Director to write off vacated account receivable as a collection loss $5,661.40. Personnel Matters: - Over thirty applicants replied to our recent ad for our open maintenance position. The Executive Di along with staff member, Frank Veglia, chose seven potential employees for the - Position. Three were considered for a second/follow -up interview. Joseph Costello was considered - the best applicant to meet the needs of the RHA and extended an offer of full time employment eff November 1, 2006. We also have been able to fill the part -time position left open in our budget by Kevin Boyle of Wakefield, an individual who is qualified to repair /replace heating equipment, etc. licensed and certified technician, his employment will eliminate the use of a plumber for most jobs. The welcomes both gentlemen to our staff. Report of Programs:. - Vacancy Report- All units in 705 family development are presently leased as of end of October. Wei are .expecting a 2- Bedroom move -out in November and process is underway to lease up that unit by the en of November. There is one vacancy in our 667 elderly development as of October 31 and it will be leased again on November 7, 2006. - Sec 8 Report- A section 8 briefing session was held on November 2°d and we issued seven voucherS to potential clients. They will begin their search for housing at this time. If all those clients lease up in their initial 60 -day timeframe, the RHA Section 8 program will be fully leased by year -end. - FSS Report — The RHA has only eight slots available at this time. Six are filled with active participants and two presently open. Karin Keyser is working to bring on two working mothers who would like to participate within the month. We expect five of the active participants to complete there contract between November 06 and March 07. Resident Service Coordinator- Current Tannerville Newsletter provided. New Rusinesc- Jill Fenton made a presentation of the 2007 Budget from Fenton, Ewald & Associates. The budget most be submitted by November 15, 2006 for FY 2007. Overall, the guidelines provided an opportunity to increase our bottom line by 7% this fiscal year. This agency will adhere to the guidelines as presented. Executive Director discussed writing off vacated account receivables as a collection loss. We are still carrying five balances totaling $5,661.40 in our computer system that we still hope to collect in the future. Efforts will be made to collect some of the receivables through either the state intercept program that may come available this year or through a collection agency. Three families fall into this category. Two other bad debts will never be collected due to the prior death of those residents. Real Estate Matter: - Update 75 Pleasant Street: All signed MOU documents were returned to RHA legal counsel, Brad Latham as well as Town Counsel, Ellen Doucette. A meeting was held on October 17 at the Boston office of DHCD. The Executive Director met with Paul McPartland, Linda Lamont, LIP staff members and staff members associated with grant funding through CATNHP. When we left meeting, it was RHA understanding that a site approval letter would be issued either through the LIP program or from', the Director associated with the CATNHP funding. On October 31, I received a call from both Erin Batize of LIP staff and Paul McPartland, DHCD that 1) good news was that DHCD would approve a $50K grant to hire a consultant to assist us with the "process" but 2) bad news is that legal counsel for DHCD said''bat the LIP staff could not issue a site approval letter since there is a funding gap and RHA would have to have the Director from CATNHP issue that letter if we were seeking those grant funds to close the gap. -that process would start all over with a new application, new 30 -day local notice periods, etc. The next funding round does not start until February 07, with a possible determination made by July 1, 2007 with' the possibility of funds being available in September 07.....and only if we get the grant which is a competitive round of funding available to all. Needless to say, this determination appears to be a setback. RHA rust decide if we want to wait this long and risk the potential financial impact the time delay may have overall on the agency's federal housing program or determine whether RHA can close the gap on its own by mortgaging other properties or the like to support this project. Those present felt that leveraging our ther properties might not be a good idea at this time considering market conditions along with the projected loss of income on our property at 75 Pleasant Street. RHA may have no other option but to withdraw our plans to construct new units and concentrate on selling the existing structure and setting aside any profit,,; for future acquisitions. The Board members decided to wait until the December board meeting, with the hope that all members would be present, to vote on the matter. Board Schedule December, 2006 BOARD MEETING: 12/04/2006 @ 7 PM 02 -338 TO ADJOURN: 8:45 PM. Move Mary Second Tim Vote 3 -0 Respectful submitted, C�. �j x u ive Director Lyn E. Whyte, Secretary & E