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HomeMy Public PortalAboutHousing Authority -- 2020-09-16 MinutesMinutes of the Public Hearing & Meeting BREWSTER HOUSING AUTHORITY, _C ��sP1 Board of Commissioners` �`� September 16, 2020 Date: September 16, 2020 ERHISTER Tpiip{ CLERK' Time: 5:30 PM Location: Remote meeting due to COVID-19. GoToMeeting call in # 1477-309-2073 Access Code: # 464-738-989 Members Present: Robert Hooper, Laurel Labdon, Barbara Burgo, and Zachary Volpicelli Members Absent: none Others Present: Leila Botsford, Executive Director/Managing Agent, Carol Mitchell Assistant Executive Director, Cynthia Bingham, Town of Brewster, Donna Kalinick, Town of Brewster, and Jon Springfield, POAH. List of documents and other exhibits used at the meeting and retained at the Authority's office. • Meeting Notice/Agenda • Minutes of meeting held July15, 2020 • _ Warrants for July and August 2020 • Fenton Ewald Proposed 3 -year contract • TD Bank signature paperwork • Smoke Free Housing Policy • Advertisement to bid FISH 041043 Fire panel and heat detector replacement • FY 2019 AUP (Agreed Upon Procedures —Audit) DECISIONS MADE/ACTION TAKEN ARE IN BOLD - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 1. CALL TO ORDER AND ATTENDANCE Robert Hooper, Chairperson, convened the regular meeting of the Brewster Housing Authority's Board of Commissioners at 5:35 PM via GoToMeeting. 2. MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETINGS) The minutes for the meetings of July 15, 2020 were distributed prior to meeting. Laurel Labdon made a motion to approve the minutes of the July meeting, as presented. Zachary Volpicelli seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. 3. TREASURER'S REPORT/WARRANT APPROVAL Mrs. Botsford sent the war7ants to members before the meeting to review. The warrants this evening are for the months of July and August. After review, Zachary Volpicelli made a motion to approve warrants for July and August 2020. Laurel Labdon seconded the motion which was voted unanimously. Mrs. Botsford reported that we have a few residents who haven't paid rent. One is a resident at Frederick Court who we are actually trying to get moved out. He has not paid for 2 months and we are seeking emergency eviction on health and safety lease violations. We are hoping his family is going to move him out voluntarily but if we Page 1 of 5 need to go to court, our attorney will be assisting. One other Frederick Court tenant just has a small balance due of $25.00 due to bounced check. The rest (7) who haven't paid are Huckleberry families and have been contacted. Hopefully they will get payment in soon. Mrs. Botsford reported that we do have one balance fiom a tenant that moved out in the spring with a small balance due of $258.00 which she'd like to write off before the quarter ends. Laurel Labdon made a motion to approve the write off of $258.00 for unpaid rent. Zachary Volpicelli seconded the motion which was voted unanimously. The chair indicated that he would like to invite our guests to present on the status of the Brewster Woods project, so that they can leave the meeting if they want to. Brewster Woods Update: Ms. Kalinicic stated that the town has a rental assistance program now, administered by Housing Assistance Corporation. She suggested sending residents to them who are having difficulty paying rent. For Brewster Woods, she stated that today it went out to bid for the Town pot -tion of infrastructure work which is being funded by the MassWorks grant they received. Bid opening is October 9. She stated that they hope to have a contractor and they hope to start work in the 3rd or 4th week of October and they expect it to be about a 6 -month process. Coastal Engineering is the engineer on the project. Mr. Springfield stated that the development was awarded Tax Credits and there is strong interest from investors. They expect to close in early 2021 with a March or April construction start date. Construction is expected to last approximately 12 months. Ms. Burgo asked if they expect the bids to be good. Ms. Kalinicic stated that most bids that have been done at town hall have come in close to the expected cost. Mr. Volpicelli asked if abutters would be given notice on work as it moves along. A short discussion ensued, and it was agreed that more detail could go into the notification of abutters. The board thanked Ms. Kalinicic and Mr. Springfield for giving the update. Mr. Springfield left the meeting. 4. EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'S REPORT Mrs. Botsford reminded the board that Brewster Housing Authority would be getting $70,000.00 in a land lease payment when POAH closed on Brewster Woods. Mrs. Botsford report ed that we now only have 1 vacancy at the family site, which is almost ready to rent. It is the handicapped accessible unit that required a lot of rehabilitation. Maintenance is just working on some final small items and Mrs. Campos is in the process of selecting a tenant. Mrs. Botsford stated that she applied for, and received, a waiver fiom DHCD to have until November 11 to get the unit leased. Mrs. Botsford reported that we have two vacancies now at the elderly site, one due to a transfer. Both units are just about ready to re -rent, Mrs. Campos is in process of hying to get tenants lined Page 2 of 5 up and Mrs. Botsford just applied for an extension from DHCD for filling these at end of October. Mrs. Botsford reported that the DHCD calls have gone from weekly to bi-weekly and are now going to be just monthly. DHCD will send PHNs (Public Housing Notices) or memorandums if anything comes up between calls. Maintenance is getting caught up with work orders. Inspections are now allowed, although DHCD wants just a quick Health & Safety inspection done. Mrs. Campos has been busy getting those scheduled. The office is staying closed for now, with residents and applicants encouraged to call or email the office. Some hearings are being conducted using GoToMeeting. Daily sanitizing has been reduced to just a few times a week with the addition of sanitizing stations being installed throughout buildings. DHCD issued a notice on COVID special funding, which includes money for hazard pay. This discussion is on agenda under new business. Mrs. Botsford reported that FISH # 041040, the `big job' at Huckleberry is now fully funded by DHCD. Some pre -construction testing may be taking place shortly — HAZMAT and energy- related. There is a lot of coordination of this that needs to happen. Mrs. Campos is in loop. This is a large project and it has been suggested by DHCD that a cleric of the works be hired. Mrs. Botsford reported that she has never had to do that, but it certainly would take a lot off of Mrs. Campos' plate. DHCD may need to provide information on how to go about this and Mrs. Botsford stated that she is assuming they pay would for it. The project is getting ready to go out to bid after the testing is figured out. Mrs. Botsford stated that the generator has been installed but there is just some final hook up required for the service. Ryan is working on trying to get the contractor to finish job ASAP. Mrs. Botsford reported that training is happening now with Mrs. Campos and she's also typed up extensive instructions and schedules. Mrs. Botsford reminded everyone that she is available as a consultant during the transition period, as well. Mrs. Botsford stated that she had forwarded the current No Smoking Policy to the board because over several months complaints have been received from both the town and neighbors about our residents congregating on the bench near the entrance to the property. Mrs. Botsford reminded the board that they did not allow for a designated smoking area in the original policy and wanted to see if that was something they would be interested in allowing now. Some pictures of a potential sight were provided to the board members. Some discussion tools place, but there was not a perfect layout to the area, as there was grass and not hard top. Mrs. Botsford mentioned that if this was something they wanted to change, an amended policy could be drafted and voted on at future meeting. 5. OLD BUSINESS None 6. NEW BUSINESS A. DHCD Directed Cost —Hazard Pay: Mrs. Botsford reviewed DHCD's memo informing housing authorities that they would receive a one-time DHCD directed -cost at a rate that would equal more than $18,000.00 for Brewster. This money is to help defray the cost of COVID49 related expenses and can be used to give front-line workers bonuses or hazard pay. A discussion tools place and it was agreed that staff members that continued to work on - Page 3 of 5 sight cleaning and sanitizing, and collecting rent and paperwork, and handing out masks deserve to be compensated for their hard work and exposing themselves to potential sickness. After a brief discussion, Barbara Burgo made a motion to approve a bonus to workers in the amount equal to two -weeks' pay. Laurel Labdon seconded the motion which was voted unanimously. The board also asked Mrs. Botsford to let the employees all know how much the board appreciates their dedication. Mrs. Botsford will take care of this right away. B. FISH# 041043 — Replace smoke and heat detectors: permission to contract: Mrs. Botsford stated that this job is expected to cost $35,000.00 The project will be run by RCAT and the bids were due in today. RCAT is asking that the board consider approving the low bidder tonight, pending good references — so that the project can move forward ASAP. This will also eliminate the need for a special meeting. Zachary Volpicelli made a motion to approve the low bidder for FISH # 041043, as long as the contractor's references were positive. Laurel Labdon seconded the motion which was voted unanimously. C. TD Bank accounts — authorized signatories: Mrs. Botsford stated since she is retiring, she should be removed from the accounts and Mrs. Campos should be added. We have the paperwork to do this, but TD Bank requires "ink signatures" so a PDF cannot be done. Laurel Labdon made a motion to add Carol Campos as an authorized signatory and remove Mrs. Botsford, as of October 1, 2020. Zachary Volpicelli seconded the motion which was voted unanimously. Members of the board will coordinate with Mrs. Campos to get this taken care of. D. Fee Accountant Contract Renewal: Mrs. Botsford had provided the proposed contract to board members before the meeting. The contract is a three-year contract with minor increases each year. Zachary Volpicelli made a motion to approve the three-year accounting contract with Fenton, Ewald and Associates, as presented. Laurel Labdon seconded the motion which was voted unanimously. Mrs. Botsford will sign and return a copy to them. 7. OTHER BUSINESS WHICH MAY LEGALLY COME BEFORE THE BOARD Mrs. Botsford reported that the AUP (Agreed Upon Procedures — audit) for FY 2019 was recently finished. She reported that there was one exception, which she responded to. Jason's salary was over originally budgeted salary, but that was due to having him work extra for unit turnover. Other than that, no findings — or exceptions — found. The board stated that they were very pleased. Laurel Labdon made a motion to accept the AUP and response. Barbara Burgo seconded the motion which was voted unanimously. Board members thanked Mrs. Botsford for all of her years of service and for bringing the Brewster Housing Authority to where it is today. 8. CORRESPONDENCE: none that hasn't already been mentioned. 9. NEXT MEETING: The next meeting was scheduled for October 21, 2020 at 5:30 PM. 10, ADJOURNMENT Laurel Labdon made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Barbara Burgo seconded the motion which was voted unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 6:45 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Page 4 of 5 Leila Botsford, MPHA, PHM, C"P Executive Director/Managing Agent Secretary Ex -Officio Page 5 of 5