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HomeMy WebLinkAboutNovember 18, 2003HOUSING & REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY (HRA) SPECIAL MEETING MINUTES NOVEMBER 18, 2003 CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL Chair, Ericson called the meeting to order at 7:01 p.m. Present: Tammera Ericson, Bruce Kelzenberg, Bruce Nawrocki, Bobby Williams, and Dennis Ecklund Jr. Absent: Patricia Jindra PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE PUBLIC HEARING Chair, Ericson opened the Public Hearing at 7:05pm. Resolution 2003-03~ Adopt 2004 PHA Plan Nagel stated this Public Hearing is for the adoption of the 2004 Public Housing Agency Plan (PHA) that is required by HUD each year. Per HUD regulations, the public hearing notice was published for a forty-five day review, submitted to Anoka County for approval and reviewed by the Parkview Villa Resident Advisory Board. After board approval it will be electronically transmitted to HUD by staff. On page 12 of the PHA plan it shows the breakdown figures of the 2004 budget. Nawrocki asked if the repairs to the boiler have been done and why is Dakota County approving the PHA plan. Nagel stated the boiler repairs are done and that staff sends the document to Anoka County and always comes back from the Dakota County office. Motion by Nawrocki, second by Kelzenberg, to close the Public Hearing. All ayes. Motion Carried. Motion by Williams, second by Kelzenberg, to waive the reading of Resolution 2003-03, there being an ample amount available to the public. All ayes. Motion Carried. Motion by Williams, second by Kelzenberg, to Adopt Resolution 2003-03 of the Columbia Heights Housing and Redevelopment Authority (HRA) confirming approval of the 2004 Public Housing Agency certifications of compliance with the PHA plans and related regulations. All ayes. Motion Carried. Recess- Chair, Ericson called for a recess at 7:09pm and the remainder of the meeting will continue at Parkview Villa, 965 40th Avenue, Columbia Heights. Meeting reconvened at Parkview Villa at 7:25p. m. by Chair, Ericson. CONSENT AGENDA Approval of Minutes MOTION by Williams, second by Kelzenberg, to approve the minutes from October 21, 2003, regular meeting as presented in writing. All ayes. Motion Carried. REPORT OF MANAGEMENT COMPANY Fantle stated the carpets were cleaned at Tyler yesterday. Carpet replacement bids came in so different that they went back to all of the companies and ask for a breakdown. Housing & Redevelopment Authority Minutes November 18, 2003 Special Meeting Page 2 of 5 At the October HRA meeting the board ask staff to prepare a back up heating plan for 2004. After doing some research of the 2004 Budget, it was discovered that instead of building up the heating account from 3 to 4°,4 as in years past, it was increase by 10% to accommodate any possible increases next year. Shirley Barnes stated: O from 1993-2000 management fees remained the same from Crest View; 2) If council members hear of any problems or issues at Parkview Villa, please feel free to contact Karen Fantle; 3) Thanked the board for the opportunity to manage Parkview Villa; and 4) suggested the board try not to micro manage the new management firm. CITIZEN FORUM Bob Baliza, Unit 704 asked why there is so much confusion between the North and South building rents and ask if HUD couldn't take over both buildings. Fehst explained that the North building has always been HUD subsidized and the South building is not. This is because the City built it. In the North building, because it's HUD subsidized, they have a say in what the rent structure is. Shirley Barnes stated that HUD isn't in the practice of taking over existing buildings. ITEMS FOR CONSIDERATION Walker ElderCare Management Agreement Streetar stated the 3-year Management Agreement for Parkview Villa North and South would terminate in 2007. The current agreement with Crest View has a 60-day notice and at that time Walker will take over. Under attachment B, it suggests tentative management, which is similar to our current agreement. On page 5-C, Fees, Walker will provide management for both buildings in an amount of $14,091.75per month with annual increases by the consumer price index for all urban consumers for the Minneapolis/St. Paul area as defined by the U.S. Department of £abor, Bureau of £abor Statistics. Attachment A, explains that under our current contract all employees are subject to a police background check, but Walker could require additional screening. Williams stated Crest View charged the City $7,000 in management fees, which covered employee salaries, insurance, etc. and therefore, Walker could make money with less staffing by paying them a fiat amount per month. Williams stated on page 6, number 5 it states they would provide support to Parkview Villa staff in an emergency, subject to reimbursement by owner. Does this mean we would have to pay an additional fee and if so what kind of scenario would this apply to. Nagel stated this is the same language as in our current contract with Crest View and only applies to an emergency. Denny 0 'Donnell from Walker ElderCare gave an example of afire in the building, with extensive water damage. Additional staff would be required to clean up the water damage. Williams asked what kind of penalties the City would have to pay if the agreement was terminated Streetar stated the HRA would only be responsible for services up to the date of termination. Nawrocki stated on page 7, E-I, it should be worded to have staff responsible to oversee abnormal expenditures. Nagel stated in the north building anything over $15,000 comes out of Capital Funds approved by HUD and for the south building there is an amount in the Capital Outlay of the budget set aside for carpet replacement. Housing & Redevelopment Authority Minutes November 18, 2003 Special Meeting Page 3 of 5 Kelzenberg ask O'Donnell if there were an issue of residents having people stay with them too long, how would they handle the situation. 0 'Donnell stated they would investigate the situation and then follow HUD regulations to deal with the problem. Williams stated he would be voting against the agreement, as he believes in the loyalty ~nd service provided by Crest View over the years, if Motion by Nawrocki, second by Kelzenberg, to Approve the 3-year Management and Maintenance Services Agreement with Walker ElderCare subject to final review by the City Attorney; and furthermore, to authorize the Chair and Executive Director to enter into an agreement for the same. Upon I,'ote: Ecklund- aye; Nawrocki- aye; Ericson- aye; Kelzenberg- aye; Williams- nay. Motion Carried. 4607 Tyler Street Sale Streetar stated at the August HRA meeting the board approved the sale of 4607 Tyler to Minnesota Housing Resources. Subsequently, Anoka County notified staff that they have to take action prior to the final approval of the sale to comply with Federal CDBG regulations, as CDBG funds were used to purchase the property. At this time, Anoka County has approved the sale and has asked that the HRA re-approve the sale. Motion by Kelzenberg, second by Nawrocki, to Approve the sale of 4607 Tyler Street to Minnesota Housing Resources for $160, 000 with the stipulations outlined in the Purchase Agreement; and furthermore, to authorize the Chair and Executive Director to enter into an agreement for the same. All ayes. Motion Carried. Mayor, Julienne Wyckoff stated she noticed there wasn't anyone on the waiting list, and asked if the new owners will choose Columbia Heights Residents to fill the units first. Streetar stated Minnesota Housing Resource has chosen Crest View to manage the building for them and that any determination would be decided by them, as it was not stated in the purchase agreement. Parkview Villa South Rent Structure Streetar stated at the October HRA meeting, commissioners directed staff to recommend rent increases for new residents moving into Parkview Villa South. The rent increases are based upon information Crest View obtained for like properties owned and managed by Anoka County HRA and are suggested as a means to begin to address the revenue shortfall for the south building. Staff recommends leaving the age requirement at 62 years and older and the maximum income for 1 person at $39,500 and 2person at $45,200 as established by HUD and adjusted annually. The rent capped at 30% of annual income for both the 1 and 2 bedroom units would be removed and changed to a flat rent amount of $502 for a 1 bedroom and $674 for a 2 bedroom, which would increase yearly per HUD's fair market rent requirements. The changes would only affect new residents of the south building and would go into affect on December 1, 2003. Ericson asked if the amount of $502 for a ! bedroom and $674 for a 2 bedroom for all new residents was correct. Streetar stated that is correct. Housing & Redevelopment Authority Minutes November 18, 2003 Special Meeting Page 4 of 5 Joe Kroska, Unit 225, asked if the 62 years or older age requirement would stay the same. Ericson stated it would. Nawrocki stated he disagreed with the comment about micro management as he felt the board has not done enough of it. Originally the south building rent was set up at $100 more than the maximum in the north building, but ironically some residents in the north building pay as much as $800 a month, which is more than residents pay in the south building. The City receives almost $1, O00 per unit a year for the north building, which we do not get for the south building. Nawrocki suggested: 1) a rent structure that residents could build into gradually; 2) ifa south resident feels they can't afford the new amount, they should have first choice at getting into a unit in the north building; and 3) staff apply for funding that Streetar spoke to him about that would.help for a couple of months with the unit transition period. Barnes stated she checked with HUD on the issue of letting the south building residents have first choice of the available units in the north building and they stated they couldn't do that. Williams stated residents should be aware that the $700,000 in the south buildings budget could only be used to pay off the debt, not repairs and that he agrees with everything Nawrocki said and would be in favor of applying for the funding. Fehst stated he agreed with staff to wait until Walker takes over and have them review the rent structure and make recommendations early next year. He also asked Barnes what the ratio in the south building is of residents that moved from the north building into it. Barnes stated she would have to investigate it. Ecklund stated he would like to see the motion to raise the rents for all new residents passed, so we can move on. Renie Sufika, Unit 104 asked if the intra building moving fees would be waived. Ericson stated this is a motion to approve the rent increase for all new residents only and other issues would have to be discussed at another meeting after Walker is on board. Ericson stated she: O agrees these issues should be addresse& 2) disagrees with Nawrocki, as she doesn't have a problem with new people moving in and paying a different amount. People buy airplane tickets and pay different prices for them and doesn't think there would be a conflict with new residents paying more than our current residents; 3) we will need to look at the rent structure for our current residents; 4) agreed with staff that we should give the new management company an opportunity to put some numbers together, consider fees for moving from one building to another; and 5)felt comfortable with changing the rent for new people that don't live here now so that they know what the new rents will be at the time they move it. Nawrocki stated Ericson's example of the airline ticket is not an apple-to-apple comparison as the airline ticket is a private transaction. This is a public facility, with public money. That is the difference. It would be like saying "you adopted it on the City level and want to raise the water rates considerably". Would you even think of saying just new people would be charged a higher rate for water. Ericson asked do we give a senior discount and if so why do you as a senior pay less for water than she does. Nawrocki stated the City does give a senior discount for water. As a senior citizen he pays as much for water as she does and would be willing to compare water bills with her and expects Housing & Redevelopment Authority Minutes November 18, 2003 Special Meeting Page 5 of 5 he pays more. Ericson asked how he could support a policy that provides a discount. Nawrocki stated he has said more than once that she was the smartest person on this body, but sometimes wonders how she uses these smarts. He thinks she is capable of figuring out the difference between and public and private transaction. Ericson ask for the record to reflect that she would appreciate Mr. Nawrocki to not make personal comments and to keep his comments to the issues at hand. Motion by Ericson, second by Kelzenberg, to approve the Rent Adjustment for new residents to take effect December 1, 2003. Upon Vote: Ecklund- aye; Nawrocki- nay; Ericson- aye; Kelzenberg- aye; Williams- aye. Motion Carried. Kelzenberg stated he thought the board had already passed a motion to table this item until March or April of next year as a courtesy to the residents. ADMINISTRATIVE REPORTS ALDI GROCERY STORE Streetar stated the A£DI Grocery Store representative contacted staff in regards to the Kmart site as a possible location for one of their stores. Staff met with ALDI's representative and took a tour of one of their stores. They provided staff an example of if you are a single person or for an average family of 4, it would be a savings of approximately $20-$50 per week by shopping at A£DI's. HVS International Streetar stated the marketing firm of HVS International contacted staff to discuss a potential location of a Sheraton Hotel at 49th and Central. They will let staff know by the end of December of their intentions. ADJOURNMENT Chair, Ericson, adjourned the meeting at 8:44p. m. Cheryl'Bakken Recording Secretary H:LltRAMinutes 2003\11-18-2003 Special