HomeMy WebLinkAbout1976-02-09 Reading Housing Authority MinutesREADING HOLDING AUTHORITY
Reading, Massachusetts
MINUI S OF THE REGLRAR MEETIIIG HELD FEBRUARY 9, 1976
The members of the Reading Housing Authority met in regular session at
22 Frank D. Tanner Drive in the Town of Reading, Massachusetts on Monday, Feb uary
9, 1976 at 7:30 P.M.
The meeting was called to order b the Chairman, Mr. White, The oth r
members present were I4r. Stratton, Mr. Dubt, Mr. Dempster and Mr. Johnson, fo ng
a quorum. Airs. Pierce, the kXecutive Director, was also present.
Upon a motion made by Mr. Stratton and seconded by Mr. Dube, it was
unanimously:
VQ=c To accept for the record the Secretary's Report for the meeting
of January 12, 1.976, copies of which had previously been mailed to all members
for review,
The Chairman thereupon declared said motion carried and said vote in effect.
Upon a motion made by Mrs,. Stratton and seconded by Mr4 Dubf, it was
u}u imously:
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VOTED; To approve and pay checks and bills$ a list of which is attacad r_ �
hereto and made a part of these minutes and had been previously mailed to all mem-
bers of the Authority in the amount of ¢8,586405 for 667 —C. Also, to ratify Uie
signing of checks for the 707 Rental Assistance Program as shown on the attached
list, in the amount of $670.00.
The Chairman thereupon declared said motion carried and 6te14n effect.
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At this point in the mbe�eting� Mrs Pierce read a linter to the Board ion e
corning a problem which had arisen in the 707 Rental Assistance Program. Brie ly,
it stated that the appropriation :for,$arch payments to Authorities was not inc uded
in toe ,roper account, and a technicality �n the appropriation act.prevented the
Dep4rtpent from transgerrin8 funds from one account to another. Therefore., they
were initiating emergency legislation which would elimiaate this restriction in
the Chapter 707 Appropriation Act* Bald advised that if payment was not receive
for March rents, authorization was given to make interim payments from the put orityls
Operating Reserve accoyntq.
mr. Johnson warned the other members against starting this policy of 1;bor�
rowing from Operating Aeserves � Project 667-C, as his past experience has shprm
that once this practice is beguni DCA will continue to withhold funds. He advised
that the Board stand firm in this matter and demand.payment for rents from DCA to
which they are committed under Contract. The rest of the members concurred and
Mrs. Pierce was asked to write letters to all landlords sending them copies of the
DCA memo, and asking that they write to their representatives and senators request-
ing correc tion of this situation.
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In the meantime, Mrs. Pierce waa asked to contact the three 707 tenan s
and have them make application immediately for the Federally subsidized Section 8
Program so that, in the event that the 707 Program folds, they could possibly be
funded under this more reliable Federal Program.
Concerning the financial situation of the Authority at the present tim�,
it was reported that as of January 31, 1976s the 19iddlesex Bank checking account
showed a balance of $31450.56 for 667-0.
After receipt of rents in the amount of $4,854.00 for February, and pa nt
of the above checks due at this time, there remained a deficit balance of $96
in this account.
The balance in the Charlestown Savings Account was $40,193.30 plus interest,
After a short discussion of the current financial status, and a look ahead
to the upcoming expenses in the next month, a motion was made by Mr, Stratton and
seconded by Mr, Dempster, and unanimously:
VCTLI?: To withdraw $2,000 from the savings account to be transferred into
the checking account to meet expenditures, and to accept the financial report' as
read. I
The ChairAan thereupon declared said motion carried and said vote in effect.
A letter was read to the Board from the Reading Board of Assessors which
stated that the Reading Housing Authority was again granted exemption of real' }
estate taxes for the Housing for the Elderly Project for 1977 Fiscal.
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Mrs. Pierce read a brief Progress Report from Mrs. Kalish on the Sectigm 8
program. It stated that all 33 certificates of eligibility for f unding had been
given out to people of very low income, and another 31 people are currently on the
waiting 13at. ` =fin some of the cases involved, the applicants are already living in
approved apartments and negotiations with the landlords are nearing completio , but
others h4ye the certificates for a 60 day period and must find an apartment suitable.
for the Program on their own, or relirnquish their chance to another on the
Mrs, Kalish gave great Cr�dit to' the Welfare Department who she said h -!pod
to uncover some elderly people who had Act heard of the program from other sources,,
The report further stated that the ' paperwork involved is "ponderous" and that HUD
was out of luost of the required forma ands therefore, xeroxing costs were far ex-
ceeding the estimates on the budget.
During t he month, Painting Specifications had been prepared with the h 1p
of Mr, Dubs for the painting of the apartments in the older section of the Project
under the Modernization Contract. Mrs. Pierce said she intended to submit these
to DCA for their approval so that invitations to bid could go. out shortly.
On the s ubj ect of tenants $' Mrs, Pierce announced that the vacancy left' by
the sudden death of Mrs Elizabeth Smith of Building #4, had been filled by Mrs,
Agnes OlNeil. All other applicants who had been voted upon to fill future vacan-
cies at the past meeting, for one reason or another were no longer interested
Therefore, it would be necessary to review the list again, and ifirs. Pierce promised
to prepare an up -to -date report of eligible applicants before the next meetin at
which time this matter will be given considerable time,
2*
The subject of the Inverter for the fire alarm system was again a topic of
discussion by the Board since there is great concern over the fact that this Piece
of equipment is not currently working properly to protect the entire Project of
80 units.
The Simplex Company had quoted a price of $3,514.00 from Standby Systems,
Inc. for the installation of a 24 —hour standby unit for our needs, and the members
were in agreement that the correction of this situation should not be put off,any
longer and that a request should be submitted to DCA for payment of this from''the
operating Reserve Fund, Mrs. Pierce was asked to take the necessary steps to
initiate this action.
The last matter of bUsiness was a request by Mrs. Edith O'Brien, a tenant,,
on behalf of the Reading Grange, to hold semi- uwnthly Whist and Card parties In
the Recreation Hall to which all tenants and senior citizens would be invited
It has always been the opinion of the Board, as reiterated by Mr. White, that
the
Hall should be used as much as possible for the social benefit of the tenants
and
all agreed that Mrs. O'Brien could pass on the Authority's permission to the Heading
Grange to hold such parties providing they set up and clean the hall themsely
s.
There being no further business to come before the meeting, and upon a
motion
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duly made and seconded, it was unanimously voted to adjourn, and the Chairman
ad-
jQurned the meeting at 900 P.M.
Respectfully submittedp
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an ce Ex..e...c._. Executive Dire Pier a
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a nd Secretary ,
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