HomeMy WebLinkAbout2006-10-16 Reading Housing Authority MinutesREADING HOUSING AUTHORITY
MINUTES OF THE REGULAR BOARD MEETING October 16 2006
An annual business meeting of the Reading Housing Authority was held on Monday, October 16, 2006
at 7:00 P.M at the office of the Reading Housing Authority the town of Reading, Mass. The meeting was
called to order at 7:05 P.M. with the Chair, Diane Cohen, presiding. Those members present and
forming a quorum were John Coote, Tim Kelley, and Karen L. Flammia as well as the
Secretary/Executive Director, Lyn Whyte. Reading Historic Commission members, Virginia Adams and
Clayton Jones were also present as guests.
Minutes Move Tim Second Karen Vote 4 -0
02 -325 VOTED: To accept for the record the Minutes of the Regular Business Meeting of Septembe 11,
2006, as presented.
Finances Move Tim Second Karen Vote 4 -0
02 -326 VOTED: To approve and sign the checkroll/billroll for the period for Accounts Payable Check #505-
566. Payroll Summary as presented for September, 2006. Section 8 Voucher Program, #734 -829 as presented.
Finances Move Tim Second Karen Vote 4 -0
02 -327 VOTED: To certify receipt of monthly operating statements for all RHA programs for the month end
August, 2006 of the current fiscal year.
Authorize Exchange Move Tim Second John Vote 4 -0
02 -328 VOTED: To authorize the exchange of property on Pleasant Street, Reading, MA, boundaries t be
determined, between the RHA and the Town of Reading..
Authorize MOU Move Tim Second Karen Vote 4 -0
02 -329 VOTED: To approve and execute the Memo of Understanding between the Reading Ho sing
Authority and the Town of Reading as is and pertaining to the development of the 75 Pleasant Street prope
Section 8 Pavment Standards Move Tim Second Karen Vote 4 -0
02 -330 VOTED: To approve updated Payment Standards per K. Rolli's memo. Effective 10 -1 -06
the RHA 100% of FMR would be:
0 BDR 1 BDR 2BDR 3BDR 413DR
$1097 $1164 $1366 $1634 $1795
Personnel Matters:
- Ad for maintenance person was placed with response deadline of September 28, 2006. The RHA s in
receipt of thirty-four applications. The search has been narrowed to seven and some interviews wi 1 be
conducted by week's end October 20, 2006. Board will be kept posted on progress.
- Request was made by Town Manager for the RHA to provide a nominee from our board to be past of
the upcoming CPA Study Committee being formed. Karen L. Flammia volunteered to represent the
Housing Authority. The Executive Director will provide her name to the Town Manager by the
deadline of October 20, 2006.
Report of Programs:
- Vacancy Report- All units in the 667 development are fully leased as stated in reports presented.
Efforts continue to lease up a three bedroom family unit. We have a potential family in verification
process and hope to lease up before end of October if all paperwork in place.
Sec 8 Report- Report provided by Section 8 Administrator, Kathy Rolli. Leasing numbers are going
up and we are in compliance with most recent HUD reporting percentages. Our goal is to be filly
leased in that program by year -end.
FSS Report — Annual Report is being compiled for submittal to HUD by month end.
Resident Service Coordinator- Current Tannerville Newsletter provided.
New Business•
- Final copy of MOU was presented for Board vote. Discussions continued on language used in reference
to shared parking spaces belonging to the RHA. John Coote expressed concerns on the time constraints
and possible affect it may have on tenants or agency if for example a tenant does not move their vehicle
or if their space is occupied by an unauthorized vehicle. Concerns will be brought to the attention of our
legal counsel, Brad Latham, to discuss further options. However, all agreed to approve the MOU in
order to move the process along. An additional motion was presented to authorize the pot ntial
exchange of land between the Town and the Housing Authority.
- The Executive Director informed the Board of her wishes to eliminate the need for a security deposit as
it pertains to the RHA -Owned properties. The administrative burden to track these deposits on a yearly
basis, as well as, the financial burden placed on potential tenants appear to serve no real purpose. The
security deposits presently held in escrow will be dispersed to our tenants and the bank account w 11 be
closed.
- The Executive Director informed the Board that Budget 2007 guidelines are out and the budget must be
submitted by November 15, 2006 for FY 2007. Fenton, Ewald & Associates will be present 4 the
November board meeting to present our new budget. As part of the budget presentation, the Exec�tive
Director proposed making changes with the "on- call" wage for maintenance staff who must over
nights and weekends for emergency calls. The rate has not changed in over 10 years.
- The Executive Director presented the new payment standard as published in the Federal Register for
approval. The RHA will adopt these rates effective 10/15/06.
Real Estate Matter:
- Update 75 Pleasant Street: Two Historic Commission board members, Clayton Jones and
Virginia Adams were present at our meeting to discuss the existing building at 75 Pleasant Street.
They have made contact with a local resident that may be interested in pursuing the opportunity
of assisting the RHA with this building. She is willing to discuss a number of options; the
possible purchase of existing building, the moving of building to a vacant piece of property at
she presently owns, or swapping properties. The Board was appreciative of their endeavors, to
resolve the situation. The RHA will make contact in the near future with this potential resident to
discuss these possible options. The RHA must continue in its endeavors to develop the pro
and may be unable to commit us to the disposal of the existing house until such time as all zo g
on project is approved. Mr. Jones and Mrs. Adams have an understanding of our place in this
process. We agreed to keep all parties informed.
- The RHA board agreed to authorize the exchange of land with the Town and voted to approve,the
MOU that had already been approved by the BOS at their October 3, 2006 meeting. Those
documents will be provided to DHCD in order to attain a site approval letter on project.
- Updated engineering exhibits and drawings were made available for the Board to review. These
documents were necessary in order to complete MOU and had been requested by Town Counsel,
RHA legal counsel and DHCD in order to continue in the process.
- The Executive Director will be attending a meeting at DHCD on October 17, 2006 to discuss the
funding gap and to provide any updated formal documents to them for their review.