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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1980-09-08 Reading Housing Authority MinutesREADING HOUSING AUTHORITY Minutes of the Regular Meeting - September 8. 1980 The members of the Reading Housing Authority met in regular session at 7:30 P.M. on Monday, September 8, 1980 at 22 Frank D. Tanner Drive in the Town of Reading, Massachusetts. The meeting was called to order by the Chairman, Mr. Dempster. Those mem- bers also present were Mr. White, Mr. Johnson, Mr. Westra and Mr. Ogden, forming a quorum. Mrs. Pierce, the Executive Director and Patricia Renzello, Section'8 Administrator, were also present. Upon a motion made by Mr. Westra and seconded by Mr. Johnson, it was unanimously: VOTED: To accept for the record, the Minutes of the regular meeting held August 11, 1980, copies of which had previously been mailed to all members. The Chairman thereupon declared said motion carried and said vote in effect. Upon a motion made by Mr. Johnson and seconded by Mr. Westra, it was unanimouslys VOTED: To approve and pay checks and bills, a list of which is attached hereto and made a part of these Minutes and previously had been mailed to all' members, in the amount of $4,921.52 for 667-C. The Chairman thereupon declared said motion carried and said vote in effect, and the checks were signed. Mrs. Pierce reported that the balance in the BayBank Middlesex checking account for 667-0 as of August 31, 1980 was $4,900.49. After payment of the above approved checks, the balance in this account was $6,620.97• The balance. in the M.M.D.T. savings account at this time is $28,229.68 plus interest. All, rents for the month of September had been collected, totalling $6,642. This was the first month of the new rents as redetermined by the latest rent review. A motion was made at this time by Mr. White and seconded by Mr. Johnson,'. and unanimously: VOTEDs To draw a check for $4,000 on the BayBank Middlesex account to be deposited to the M.M.D.T. account to obtain the maximum interest on the Authority's money; and to accept the Financial Report as read. The Chairman thereupon declared said motion carried and said vote in effect. Mrs. Pierce presented the Board with a copy of•the Revised Budget for the current fiscal year. Due to the fact that there was a delay on the part of E.O.C.D. to put the new Rent Determination Regulations into effect, and the un+ certainty on whether or not the 1980 Social Security increase would be include$ in the income for this year, the Budget submitted on May 31, 1980 did not refloct the correct income figures. Therefore, the figures have been revised and thel, new deficit for the year is now $21,258 rather than $18,253, as modified by E.O.C.D. Upon a motion made by Mr. Johnson and seconded by Mr. Westra, it was unanimously: VOTED: To approve the Revised Budget as submitted, and to authorize the Chairman to sign for the Board. i 1. The Chairman thereupon declared said motion carried and said vote in effect. On the subject of the Modernization Program, Mrs. Pierce brought the members LV to date on some events which took place during the month. The Authority's request of July 22, 1980 to E.O.C.D. for additional funds to correct certain deficiencies which were brought to light in the course of the building inspections for the current Modernization work, was turned down by them' at that time. However, Mr. Meszaros, the Modernization Construction Engineer, felt that the Department would reconsider if they had more specific data and drawings from the Architect to determine the scope of the work involved. There -', fore, a letter was put together on August 28th requesting a modification of the Architect's Contract with Envirodesign to allow the funds for such work on their part. Mrs. Pierce sent a copy of this letter to the members with the Minutes of the previous meeting. Mr. White asked that Mrs. Pierce keep in touch with E.O.G.D.'s Modernization Dept. to follow through on this request. Also, on the subject of the Architect, Mr. Heym of Envirodesign has requested additional money on his Contract in the amount of $1,000, which is within the limits allowed for his work after the award of contracts to the low bidders. There was a question among the members as to whether or not E.O.C.D. had to approve each payment to the Architect and therefore, Mrs. Pierce was asked to call the Moderniza- tion Representative, Laura Carreiro, to check on this matter. A motion was then made by Mr. Johnson and seconded by Mr. White, and unanumouslys VOTEDs That a payment of $1,000 lie made to the Architect on his Contract of verbal et lephone approval is given by the Modernization Department at E.O.C.O. The Chairman thereupon declared said motion carried and said vote in effect. Mrs. Pierce said that she and Mr. Heym were expecting that all work under this Grant would be completed by the end of the month, as all Contractors were ready to start momentarily. As discussed at the last meeting, an announcement of the availability of Funds for an Energy Audit and Energy Conservation Improvement Program was made by E.0'1C.D. in conjunction with the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy Resources. An!ap- plication deadline of August 18th was extended "to August 22nd, and with the expertise of Rick Heym and some data supplied from the Housing Authority's records, Mrs. Fierce was able to get an application sent into E.O.C.D. for this funding. Mr. Dempster was not available for signing the application at the time, and Mr. White and Mr,. Ogden were out of town. Mrs. Pierce was able to talk to Mr. Dempster by telephone and obtain a vote from him, Mr. Johnson and Mr. Westra to allow Mr. Johnson to sign this application for Mr. Dempster, as Vice - Chairman. Upon a motion made by Mr. White and seconded by Mr. Westra, it was unanimously$ VOTEDs To ratify the vote of the Authority to allow Mr. Johnson to sign, and to submit the application for the Energy Audit to E.O.C.D. The Chairman thereupon declared said motion carried and said vote in effect. 2. The Board finally turned their attention to Pat Renzello, Administrator of the Section 8 Program for her report on its activities. She presented a brief outline explaining that there are currently 49 out of 55 units under lease and six certificates are out, and two are pending for, verification of income. Of the 49 units under lease, 28 are .families and 21' are elderly. Even though HUD has increased the Fair Market Rents, there still doesn't seem to be available housing within those limits in the Reading area,) and certificate holders are finding it difficult to obtain rentals. Since the last meeting the members have had an opportunity to read up on the Section 8 Mobility Program which has been put into operation through the Section 8 Administrators Association, and is endorsed by HUD. Mrs. Renzello felt strongly that if the Authority participated in this Program, they could help more people and noted that it is a fact that HUD will give additional funding only to those Authorities who do participate. Mrs. Renzello also re -' quested to join the Section 8 Administrators Association where she can obtain'. current information and have the support of the other members with problems. The annual dues are $35.00. A motion was then made by Mr. Ogden and seconded by Mr. Johnson and unanimously: VOTED: To allow Mrs. Renzello to join the Section 8 Administrators Association and accordingly, sign a check for her dues of $35.00. The Chairman thereupon declared said motion carried and said vote in effect. (r There was further discussion on the Mobility Program and it was the general feeling of the Board that it would be a good idea, if Reading was to participate, if only to be eligible for future funding, and new applications would be upcoming in November. Therefore, a motion was made by Mr. Johnson and seconded by Mr. Ogden to complete the "Resolution Authorizing Participation in the Section 8 Mob- ility Program ". A Roll Call vote was taken as follows: Ayes Na es Dempster None White Ogden Johnson Westra the Chairman thereupon declared said resolution carried and said vote in effect. Also on the subject of the Section 8 Program; bids were read from three accounting firms who replied to the invitation of the Housing Authority to perform a biennual audit as required by HUD. The bids were as follows' Feeley & Driscoll, Boston - $952 Richard Fenton, Needham - 560 Robert D. Gersh, Burlington- 450 Cw Accordingly, Mrs. Pierce was instructed to send this information to HUD and request their determination of the low bidder, Robert Gersh, to per- form the work satisfactorily for the Authority. 3• Finally, Mrs. Renzello advised the Board that she has noted that the wAuthority had funding slots for two 4- bedroom units for which there is no one on the waiting list. One person had had a 4- bedroom certificate for over a year and has not been able to find an apartment. Her certificate continues to be re- newed periodically as there is no one else to pass it down to. Mrs. Renzello requested permission to ask HUD to change the 2- 4 bedroom units to 2 3- bedroom units for which there are several people on the list. Everyone agreed that this was the logical thing to do and advised her to write the necessary letter to HUD. Last on the Agenda was a discussion with John Zorabedian of the Reading', Planning Board who entered the meeting at this point. He stated that his prime purpose for attending the meeting was to informally talk with the members con -' cerning the Areawide Housing Opportunity Plan (AHOP) criteria for the Town's housing needs. Since the Massachusetts Area Planning Council (MAPC) has determined frog the input into the Plan that the minimum goals for elderly housing in Reading have been met with the opening of Cedar Glen Apartments, they recommend that Reading concentrate their efforts toward the family needs. It was determined that there are three ways that this housing need can be fulfilled: 1. New construction of family units 2. Acquisition of existing smaller structures 3. Rehabilitation of older buildings for apartments Mr. Zorabedian had bought with him a plan of a section in Town where there (ware many older houses which he felt could be acquired over a long -range plan and made into a cluster of apartments for low- income families. This would mean th relocation of the existing tenants which would seem to be a concern in this t of plan. There were other alternatives mentioned such as acquiring some schoo buildings in the Town one of which is currently closed, and another which will be in the near future. It was felt that this was an effort which would require the input of many other Town officials and boards, as well as possibly some landlords and realtors in the Town; or perhaps an Ad Hoc Committee could be formed to study further into this matter. Ultimately, it was decided to tentatively set up a meeting for October 7th, and the board irAructed Mrs. Pierce to contact Wendy Plotkin of MAPC and various other interested parties to attend this meeting. Mr. Dempster thanked Mr. Zorabedian for coming, and he left the meeting',at this time. Mrs. Pierce stated that E.O.C.D. was in the process of .putting through new Lease Regulations to supercede those of May, 1976. Authorities were asked to send in written comments if they wished before September 30, 1980. Since it was getting late, and this would be a lengthy process, it was decided to have a special meeting on September 23, 1980 to review this Lease. In the meantime', Mrs. Pierce would send copies to each member so that they could familiarize them- selves with it before the meeting. There being no further business to come before the meeting and upon a motion (W duly made and seconded, it was unanimously voted to adjourn and the Chairman there- upon declared said motion carried, and the meeting was adjourned at 1Otl5 P.M. Respectfully submitted, anet Pierce, Executive Director 4. and Secretary Em �L TOWN OF READING To Town Clerk 16 Lowell Street Reading, Ma., 01867 19 accordance with the provisions of Chapter 39, of the General Laws as amended a meeting of will be held (Location) on the following date /s Time: Time: for the purpose of ela Posted nZILAA.17114 nVUQ.LMT wvisavn..i t CHECKS AND BILLS September 8, 1980 it )ate Account Date of Inv. 2361 M. M. D. T. - Deposit of surplus funds (ratify only) 8/11/80 2362 James L. Muise - (ratify only - already signed) 9/5/80 2363 Janet Pierce (ratify only - already signed) 9/2/80 2364 James L. Muise 9/12/80 2365 n to n 9/19/80 2366 '+ 9/26/80 2367 Mahlon D. Crouse 8/31/80 2368 U. S. Trust Co. (Deferred Camp. - JP & JIM) 9/31/80 2369 BayBank Middlesex (Fed. Inc. Tax Withheld) 8/31/80 2370 Commonwealth of Mass. - Dept. of Revenue (State Tax) 8/31/80 -2371 Town of Reading Contributory Retirement (JP & JLM) 8/31/80 2372 Reading Municipal Light Dept. 8/21/80 2373 New England Telephone 8/16/80 2374 Comm. of Mass - Group Ins. Comm. (State Health & Life) 9/30/80 '-375 D. & J. Repair L Range - Bldg. 29 -8) 8/29/80 376 c Johnson Farm Supply, Inc. 8/25/80. ;377 Business Copy Associates, Inc. (Svc. - Copier) 8/20/80 23 78 Avon Supply Co., Inc. (Misc.plumbing supplies) 8- 5,19/80 2381 Petty Cash 8/30/80 2379 Donald L. Michelini (electrical repair - Bldg. 37) 8/20/80 2381 Janet Pierce (Quarterly salary - Sect. 8 Program) 9/30/80 2382 Reading Disposal, Inc. - (trash collection) 8/31/80 2383 V. Canelas Co., Inc. - (garbage collection) 8/31/80 2384 Joseph H. Young Co. - (plumbing supplies) 8/13 -28/80