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HomeMy WebLinkAboutFebruary 19, 2002HOUSING & REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY REGULAR MEETING MINUTES OF FEBRUARY 19, 2002 CALL TO ORDER - The Regular Meeting of the Columbia Heights Housing & Redevelopment Authority (HRA) was called to order by Chair, Marlaine Szurek, at 6:36 p.m., February 19, 2002, in the Parkview Villa Community Room B, 965 40th Avenue NE, Columbia Heights, Minnesota. ROLL CALL Commission Members Present: Commission Members Absent: Staff Present: Marlaine Szurek, Gary Peterson, Julienne Wyckoff, Bruce Nawrocki, and Bobby Williams Dennis Ecklund Jr. Walt Fehst, Executive Director Randy Schumacher, Acting Community Development Director Anita Kottsick, Parkview Villa Housing Administrator Shirley Barnes, CEO, Crest View Corporation Mark Nagel, Housing Assistant Cheryl Bakken, Secretary PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE CONSENT AGENDA Approval of Minutes Approve the Minutes of Regular Meeting of January 15, 2002. MOTION by Williams, second by Wyckoff, to approve the minutes from January 15, 2002, regular meeting as presented in writing. All ayes. Motion Carried. REPORT OF MANAGEMENT COMPANY-Anita Kottsick, Housing Administrator One of the North apartments heating system required a new vibration.valve due to a leak. This required the system to be drained below the fourth floor, refilled, and to bleed the air line from the expansion tank before the system was brought back up. Three apartments in the South building required heating zone valves replaced. Staff has been working on solving a loud noise problem residents have reported. An outside service was brought in several times, and staff th'ought they had the problem solved, but it kept coming back. Then on February 18th the problem was solved as the noise was coming from a heating register in one apartment. Parkview Villa North had a physical inspection by HUD on February 14'h including 21 apartments, all storage areas, all mechanical areas, and all common areas. There were three Health and Safety Hazards found. They consisted of a missing cover off an electrical box in the air exchange room, a missing cover plate on the inside of a timer box, and a missing outlet cover in the trash room. All three were corrected within 24 hours and the documents faxed over to the local HUD field office the same day. Kottsick will advise the Board when she receives the final report. Housing & Redevelopment Authority Minutes February 19, 2002 Page 2 of 5 ITEMS FOR CONSIDERATION Adopt Resolution 2002-03, Amending and Restating the Bylaws Schumacher indicated the HRA Board adopted a Resolution accepting the EDA transferring the control, authority and operation of all housing program and projects from the Columbia Heights EDA to the HR~t, as well as aH real property and contracts at their January, 2002 meeting. At that time, staff was directed to have Steve Bubul, of Kennedy and Graven, Chartered review and revise, the current HRA Bylaws. Bubul has submitted a draft of the Bylaws for approval by the Board. On page 3, Section 1, under meetings, the Board needs to determine a date and time for future meetings of the HRA. Szurek asked if it was necessary to hold meetings every month. Schumacher indicated that in the past the meetings have been on an as needed basis. Shirley Barnes indicated that even if the HRA doesn't hold a meeting each month, per their contract with the City, they would still provide a monthly management report to the Board. MOTION by Peterson, second by Williams, to hold the I-IRA meetings on a quarterly basis at 6:30 p.m., on the third Tuesday in the months of January, April, July, and October at Parkview Villa with the EDA meeting to follow. All ayes. Motion Carried. MOTION by Wyckoff, second by Williams, to Adopt Resolution 2002-03, a Resolution to Amend, and Restate the Bylaws of the Housing and Redevelopment Authority (HRA) of Columbia Heights, Minnesota. All ayes. Motion Carried. Analysis of 4607 Tyler Street On October 16, 2001, staff was given direction to review the option for the HRA owned, 4-plex at 4607 Tyler Street NE to determine whether or not the ownership of the property remained a good financial investment. Nagel found the following problems with the current financial proforma: 1) the total development cost turned out to be $166,395, or $41,600 per unit, which was 25% greater than the $31,000 budgeted; 2) the rents were scheduled to begin at $550 per month, $40 less than the Section 8 FMR for 2 BR units in 1995. The HRA changed the policy to no more than 30% of a senior citizen's Household income with a minimum of $35O per month and a maximum of $55O per month in September of 1995 without changing the proforma; 3) as a result, the rents have seldom exceeded $350 per month; and 4) because of the renovations, the units weren't rented out until May of 1996. The proforma includes 18 months of revenues that were not received and inaccurate accounting of the expenses. The financial results differ substantially from the original financial proforma: 1) there is nearly $25,000 in rent and laundry revenue that was lost because the units weren't rented out until 18 months afterwards; 2) the original proforma did not build in funds for capital improvements; 3) the total development cost was 25% higher than anticipated and was never changed to reflect a higher payback of funds to the HRA reserve account; and 4) the rents have remained at $350 per month, or about 50% of what the financial proforma called for when the building was purchased. [Yhile expenses have risen, revenues have not. Therefore, the HR21 has lost money on the property. Nagel presented the following options: 1} rents could be raised to $525/mo., which would provide enough revenue to cover expenses and build a small reserve for improvements; 2)forgive the loan from its reserve account, so rents would need to be raised by $175; 3) sell the 4-plex for its appraised value of $165,000, which would require the HRA to payback the entire $40,000 of the HOME grant Housing & Redevelopment Authority Minutes February 19, 2002 Page 3 of 5 and $36,395 of CDBG funds; and 4) have the tenants pay more of the expenses like payingfor all of the utilities except for the gas. Fehst indicated the $33,000 in CDBG funds could be reallocated by request through Anoka County. Nawrocki asked how many bedrooms the units have and are they subsidized. Nagel stated they are two bedroom units and are not subsidized. Nawrocki felt that if they aren't subsidized units, the Board should bring the rent up to the market rate. Williams questioned, if it was possible to transfer the four tenants to Parkview Villa, i. f the Board chose to sell the property. Kottsick indicated that wouldn't be possible as the age requirement for Tyler is 55+ and Parkview Villa's is 62+. She also indicated she uses the same rental agreement for Tyler as she does for Park'view. Wyckoff asked if the Board sold the property to an organization like ACCAP, would we have to return the CDBG funds. Nagel felt that this would be a possibility and he could check into it. Szurek requested Nagel research the relocation costs, possible sale to ACCAP issues, and any other options of selling the property for a future meeting. Approve Proposal for Lawn Treatment at Parkview Villa and 4607 Tyler Kottsick indicated in the past year, Parkview Villa and 4607 Tyler Street lawn treatment has been performed by TruGreen Chemlawn, which expires in March. Staff requested bids from several outside contractors and received proposals from three. Davey Tree & Lawn Care bid $972, Green Stuff Lawn Treatments bid $792.36 and TruGreen Chemlawn bid $520. Staff recommended Board approval of the contract with TruGreen Chemlawn for another year. MOTION by Peterson, second by Williams, to Approve the Contract for Lawn Treatment to TruGreen ChemLawn; and furthermore, to authorize the Chair and Executive Director to enter into an agreement for the same. All ayes. Motion Carried. Approve Proposal for Surge Protectors for Parkview Villa Kottsick indicated staff reviewed the need for surge protectors at Parkview Villa after last summer's power surges. The EDA directed staff to seek bids for the necessary protectors. Kottsickpresented bids for two plans. Plan one included surge protection for circu2ating pumps (south bldg), surge protection for ftre panel, telephone system, front entry door, and security camera/proximity reader at the panel, circulating pumps (north boilers) and the glycol pump (north bldg). Plan two included all of the above items, but instead of covering just the south boilers, it would add protection at the circuit panel to provide protection for several other pieces of equipment like air conditioning units, parking lot lights and garage doors. She recommended approval of the proposal from Ben Franklin Electric, Plan 2 with funding of $1999 from the HUD Capital Fund, $1,301from the PW North operating funds, and $1000 from the PVV $outh operating fund. Schumacher recommended the Board change the motion to read that the total cost of Plan 2 be divided at one third for each account to balance out the deductions. Fehst agreed with Schumacher. Housing & Redevelopment Authority Minutes February 19, 2002 Page 4 of 5 Nawrocki questioned when bidding out a project, if we aren't required to use the lowest, qualified bidder, if it meets the requirements of the bid and if so, why isn't Mid-Northern Electric staffs recommendation. Schumacher indicated that is the proper procedure to be followed. Kottsick indicated she chose Franklin Electric because staff has experienced some problems with the service received in the last year from Mid-Northern. MOTION by Peterson, second by Williams, move to approve Plan 2 from Mid-Northern for Surge Protection, with the understanding that Kottsick talk to Mid-Northern and come up with a satisfactory agreement to perform the work with funding at one third fi.om the HUD Capital Fund, Park-view Villa North and South Operating Budget; and furthermore, to authorize the Chair and Executive Director to enter into an agreement for the same. All ayes. Motion Carried. Adopt Resolution 2002-04, Approving the PHAS Management Operations Certification Kottsick indicated that each year a Resolution adopted by the Board is required for the Public Housing Assessment System (PHAS) Management Operations Certification. Staff has prepared a draft for Board approval at this time. After the form was printed, Kottsick noticed two corrections that need to be made prior to submission to HUD. The first is on page 3, Component 2, All600 which should be 1 instead of 72, and A11700 should be zero instead of 28. Szurek requested Bakken make the necessary changes to the form prior to submittal to HUD. MOTION by Peterson, second by Williams, to adopt Resolution 2002-04, Being a Resolution of the Columbia Heights Housing and Redevelopment Authority confirming approval of the Public Housing Assessment System (PHAS) Management Operations Certification; and furthermore, to direct the Executive Director to forward same to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. All ayes. Motion Carried. ADMINISTRATIVE REPORTS Parkview Villa Management Contract Renewal Schumacher reported that the ftnal year of the Management Contract with Crest View Corporation expires in June. Staff is asking at this time, for direction from the Board, whether or not they would like staff to negotiate an additional agreement with Crest View Corporation or go out for bids for the Management Contract. Schumacher also indicated Kottsick will be moving to the new Crest View Senior Building on 42nd and Central sometime this fall. Szurek suggested the contract start at the first of each year, instead of in June. Peterson asked Barnes if Crest View has a candidate in mind for Kottsick's position and what is the possibility of Crest View extending the management contract. Barnes stated that Kottsick will be available to train in the new administrator, they do have a couple of candidates in mind. She also felt an extension of the contract wouM be feasible with only salary increases reflected. Renie Sufka, Apt. 104, asked for clarification of the rumor of the Parkview Villa building being sold. Fehst explained that one of the 2002 Goals for the Community Development Department/ED/L/City Council is to look into the status of Parkview Villa and that there hasn't been any decisions made, at this time, to sell any of the Parkview buildings. Fehst also stated this item is on the EDA agenda for discussion and involves the South building only. Housing & Redevelopment Authority Minutes February 19, 2002 Page 5 of 5 MOTION by Nawrocki directing staff to prepare a Request for Proposal (RFP) for Management Services for Parkview Villa North and South. Motion Failed for Lack of a Second. MOTION by Williams, second by Wyckoff, directing staff to negotiate an agreement with Crest View Corporation for a one year extension of the Management Contract, to give the EDA a chance to discuss future options. Upon Vote: Peterson- Aye, Williams- Aye, Nawrocki- Nay, Wyckoff- Aye, Szurek- Aye. Motion Carried. Nawrocki felt that with the management change coming in the future, that bids should be processed. ADJOURNMENT Chair, Marlain¢ Szurck, adjourned the meeting at 8:10 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Cheryl Bakken Recording Secretary H:LHRAMinutes 2002L2-19-2002