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HomeMy WebLinkAboutJanuary 25, 2005 HOUSING & REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY REGULAR MEETING MINUTES OF JANUARY 25, 2005 CALL TO ORDER - The Regular Meeting of the Columbia Heights Housing & Redevelopment Authority (HRA) was called to order by Chair, Tammera Ericson at 7:05 pm, January 25,2005, in the Parkview Villa Community Room B, 965 40th Avenue NE, Columbia Heights, Minnesota. ROLL CALL Commission Members Present: Tammera Ericson, Bruce Nawrocki, Bobby Williams, Dennis Ecklund Jr., Patricia Jindra, and Bruce Kelzenberg PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Oath of Office- Walt Fehst conducted the Oath of Office to the reappointed Commissioners Bruce Nawrocki and Bobby Williams. ELECTION OF OFFICERS Chair- Williams nominated Nawrocki, second by Ecklund. Kelzenberg nominated Ericson, no second. Ericson nominated Kelzenberg, second by Jindra. Upon Vote by Poll: Votes for Nawrocki: Ecklund, Jr., Williams, Nawrocki, Jindra, Kelzenberg Votes for Kelzenberg: Ericson Nawrocki was elected Chair with a five to one vote. Nawrocki then took over the duties of Chair. Vice Chair- Ericson nominated Kelzenberg, second by Williams. Motion by Ericson, second by Williams, to appoint Kelzenberg for Vice Chair. All ayes. Motion Carried. Secretary/Treasurer-Ericson nominated Jindra, second by Williams. Motion by Ericson, second by Williams to appoint Jindra for Secretary/Treasurer. All ayes. Motion Carried. CONSENT AGENDA Approval of Minutes Motion by Ericson, second by Williams, to approve the minutes of October 19 and December 16, 2004, amending the December 16th minutes, Termination of Lease, paragraph two to read as follows: Nawrocki stated he heard from the family of a resident that went into the hospital the end of October and died in early November, the family was told they had to pay the rent for December, as the personal belongings were not removed from the apartment. All ayes. Motion Carried. REPORT OF MANAGEMENT COMPANY Welke went over the October, November and December monthly reports she provided to the board and stated the waiting lists for both the north and south buildings continue to grow. Staff is waiting on the last proposal for the 9th floor water pipe leaks, and that the physical. REA C inspection is scheduled for February 15, 2005. Housing & Redevelopment Authority Minutes January 25,2005 Page 2 of6 Nawrocki stated he understood there was a 20-year old, women placed in the south building, and asked if the south building wasn't just for seniors. Welke stated she had a vacancy in the south building and did receive prior approval from Mr. Streetar. Streetar stated he did give her approval as there was a vacancy in the south building, the young lady has a disability and there would be a unit available for her soon in the north building. Nawrocki stated he wrote a letter and had discussed with Mr. 0 'Donnell at walker his dissatisfaction with the kind of service provided to the residents, and did not want to see any problems come out of this for staff or for residents at Parkview villa. Welke stated Terry Busch and her are currently signed up for a Tenant and Resident Training Course they will be taking soon. Ericson stated she had asked Welke to address a situation she was made aware of and both the resident and her were very satisfied with the way she handled the situation. RESIDENT COUNCIL MINUTES Jindra stated she provided minutes for the months of November, December and January, asked if there were any questions. There were none. CITIZENS FORUM Lynn Miner, Unit 202, asked why the building has so few amenities for residents, no gyms, etc. Nawrocki stated this building wasn't built to accommodate these kinds of amenities and wasn't sure that HUD would pay for them either. Mrs. Brody, 3805 Reservoir Blvd., daughter of Adeline Schafer stated her mother died, they gave notice on November 8th, Parkview Villa management wants the family to pay the December rent. They wrote down and submitted a complaint stating they would not be paying the rent. When her aunt received a termination of lease notice, which was different than the one that she was given, they felt they shouldn't be responsible for the rent. A walk through was done on December 3dh, Welke stated the unit was going to be occupied the first of January, but they haven't received their damage deposit back yet. Nawrocki stated the board has researched this policy for Parkview Villa and determined it wasn't a good policy. Streetar stated Welke, will be bringing a new lease agreement before the board where this issue is addressed. Welke stated she didn't rewrite the lease for the south building yet. Nawrocki suggested the board take action to cancel the December months rent. Motion by Williams, second by Kelzenberg, to cancel the December rent payment from Adeline Schafer. All ayes. Motion Carried. Marilyn Beers, unit 124, stated she has a handicapped sticker, but is parked the farthest from the building, and wondered if there is someone canceling their handicap spot, if she could get it. Welke stated she does have a waiting list of residents that want to use the handicap spots and has given Marilyn Beers the form to fill out. Housing & Redevelopment Authority Minutes January 25, 2005 Page 3 of6 ITEMS FOR CONSIDERATION Resolution 2005-01, Amend and Restate the Bylaws Nawrocki stated this Resolution is to change the meeting dates from the third Tuesday of the month to the Fourth Tuesday of the month. MOTION by Ericson, second by Williams, to Adopt Resolution 2005-01, a Resolution to Amend and Restate the Bylaws of the Columbia Heights Housing & Redevelopment Authority. All ayes. Motion Carried. Policy for Under!!round Parkin!! Access Welke stated this policy is being presented to the board for approval to better service the residents of Parkview villa that are handicap, to be able to access the building from the garage. Nawrocki asked if the Parkview Villa south residents get first choice for renting the garage space. Welke stated she has been questioned about this, but there wasn't any policy in place that she could find. Nawrocki stated the south building residents should have first choice parking spots, as the garage was built for that building. Welke will write up a policy for board approval. Ecklund stated residents pay $35 deposit and $15 per year, what is the $35 fee for. Welke stated the $35 is a deposit for the door opener and is returned when they give up their parking spot. Ecklund asked why they couldn't pay the $15 per year as residents in the south building are also on a limited budget. Nawrocki stated the one time deposit fee, is an incentive to return the opener and keys after they aren't using the spot. Williams suggested a $1.00 yearZv fee for use of the garage space. MOTION by Williams, second by Kelzenberg, to Approve the Underground Parking Garage Access Policy with the amendment of$l.OO per year instead of$15.00. All ayes. Motion Carried. Community Room Policy and A2reement Welke stated this was brought to her attention as there are many residents that are using the community room and not leaving the room clean, this policy would require a fee for rental that would be returned to them if the room was left clean. Nawrocki asked about the groups such as the prayer groups that meet every Saturday night in this room, would they need to obtain a permit also. Welke stated that would be up to the board to clarifY this. Jindra stated it should be used if a resident wants to use the room for a birthday party and would get their deposit back if it is left clean, the prayer group is for all residents and so they shouldn't have a special permit. Bob Lindig, Walker stated maybe the policy could state the deposit will be required only if the function is not a management function. Ecklund stated we should go by anything on the calendar for the month. Welke stated there was only one time in the past year were a church used the room and left it in a mess, otherwise, it is used for residents and Housing & Redevelopment Authority Minutes January 25, 2005 Page 4 of6 management functions. Nawrocki suggested the resident council approve what functions would require a deposit. MOTION by Ericson, second by Jindra, to Approve the Community Room Policy and Agreement with the amendment of the Resident Council determining the functions on the Parkview Villa calendar to be excluded from the deposit. All ayes. Motion Carried. Policy for Internal Transfers Welke stated she rewrote this policy per the HRA board direction at the last meeting. Ecklund asked if she rented all of the two bedroom units and someone comes into the building that is married, is there some clause where the two bedroom units need to be occupied by two people. Welke stated it goes by the waiting list, which doesn't specifY any difference in occupancy, it is just if they have the money. Streetar asked if any of the two bedroom units specifY they have to be occupied by a handicap person. Welke stated it does not. Carol Hinrich, Unit 710, asked if there is a waiting list for the south building. Welke stated there is a waiting list, which is out about 6 months to a year. Nawrocki asked if Carol was on the waiting list. Welke stated she was given an application, and currently there are 13 people on the waiting list. MOTION by Williams, second by Kelzenberg, to Approve the Policy on the Internal Transfers at Parkview Villa North and South Buildings. All ayes. Motion Carried. Tenant Handbook & House Rules Welke ask the board if they had any questions on the Tenant Handbook & House Rules. Nawrocki stated the cover page states Parkview Villa is managed by walker but should also say owned by the Columbia Heights HRA, and it states residents are charged for an extra proxy key, what about the door keys. Welke stated she has in the past issued extra keys. Lynn Meier, Unit 202 there is a problem with so many of us using our computers, then when someone calls us to get in the building, we can't hear the ring. Terry stated there is a way to set your computer up so when someone calls you, the computer will automatically shut you down from the internet and your phone will ring and that he could give her some instructions on how to do it. Jindra stated there isn't pet policy in the document and should be added. Ericson stated there are some areas that need to be edited and maybe staff could bring the document back to the board after it has been revised. Streetar suggested he work with Welke on making the corrections, and suggested if board members have any comments or corrections they should contact him. Nawrocki table this item until a future meeting. Housing & Redevelopment Authority Minutes January 25, 2005 Page 5 of6 Parkview Villa North Lease Revision Welke stated she was notified, by our HUD representative that the Lease needs to be updated to state standards. Such corrections as we cannot deny anyone that qualified to rent per HUD requirements ,the current lease reads month to month, it should be one year and then after that month to month, added late fee charges or NSF fees charged at $25, security deposit went from $100 to $200, and on page 4, letter !, was added stating residents are responsible for actions of their visitors. Fehst stated we would hope walker keeps the waiting lists up so that people who are not seniors are not able to get into the building. Welke stated they tell people that are not seniors the waiting list for that isn't a senior is approximately 7 years. Nawrocki stated in the case of a death, we would expect payment of rent for that month, what if they died on the 28th of the month. Ericson stated what about leaving the policy as it is in place and leaving this board to make that decision. Nawrocki asked how the family would know about this. Welke stated she makes it very clear to new residents what the requirements are according to the lease. Fehst stated the important thing would be that the unit be ready for the next tenant to rent as soon as possible. Ericson stated ifwe don't leave that specification in the policy, you could say someone dies on November 8th and staff calls the next person on the waiting list to see if he can move in on December 1st, but he can't so we move down the list and ifwe don't have this in place we would move down the list fast, which would allow non-seniors to occupy the unit. Welke stated in most cases the family is happy about having the extra time to clean up the unit. Williams suggested we leave the policy as is and let this body handle the appeals. Kelzenberg would like to see that part highlighted stating they wouldn't need to pay for the extra months rent unless they need time to clean out the unit. MOTION by Ericson, second by Kelzenberg, to Approve the Parkview Villa North Lease Revision. All ayes. Motion Carried. Nawrocki asked if the board would be reviewing the south lease soon. Welke stated it would come before the board at a later date. ACOP (Admission and Continued Occupancy Policy) Welke stated her HUD representative updated this document as there were so many changes. Welke added a couple of things like the square footage, page 16 the drug related information has been updated, and a security deposit was added. Typically it is held for damage but she added if the resident pulls out of the apartment without notice, we would keep the deposit. Ericson asked whether or not staff has gotten a legal opinion, and gave an example: the near elderly section of the policy was omitted in the new policy, with a legal opinion they could tell us if there is some areas that we can specifY our preferences that would be different from the HUD guidelines. This would possibly help us specifY seniors only. Streetar asked Ericson if she is asking for attorney review to see if we can specifY senior preference. Ericson stated she is. Housing & Redevelopment Authority Minutes January 25, 2005 Page 6 of6 MOTION by Williams, second by Ericson, to Approve the ACOP (Admission and Continued Occupancy Policy), subject to legal review by Kennedy and Graven Chartered. All ayes. Motion Carried. Community Service and Self Sufficiency Policy Welke stated this policy was not initiated in 2003 as required by HUD and states persons 62 or older are exempt from this policy, residents under age 62 would have to have it verified by a doctor that they cannot do 8 hours of community service per month, are working 30 or more hours at a job or they would be required to turn in a signed Community Service sheet at their annual recertification time, and if they don't complete the 8 hours per month their lease could be terminated. Nawrocki stated this should be addressed at the Resident Council meeting. Welke stated she has met with Ecklund, posted a notice in the Library for 30 days, brought it before the Resident Council and that her HUD representative told her she could sign off on community service hours, as walker is a non-profit organization. MOTION by Kelzenberg, second by Jindra, to Approve the Community Service and Self Sufficiency Policy, which would be in effect on April l, 2005 when approved. All ayes. Motion Carried. ADMINISTRATIVE REPORTS Streetar suggested Mr. Lindigfrom walker go over his financial report that is in the EDA packet so he doesn't have to stay for the EDA meeting. Financial Report for Parkview Villa Bob Lindig went over some of the areas of interest in the financial report for the board. Motion by Ericson, second by Williams to approve the Parkview Villa portion of the EDA financial report. All ayes. Motion Carried. ADJOURNMENT Motion by Jindra, second by Williams to adjourn the meeting at 9:19 pm. All ayes. Motion Carried. Respectfully submitted, Cheryl Bakken Recording Secretary H:\HRAMinutes 2005\1-25-2005