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HomeMy WebLinkAboutJuly 26, 2005 HOUSING & REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY REGULAR MEETING MINUTES OF JULY 26,2005 CALL TO ORDER - The Regular Meeting of the Columbia Heights Housing & Redevelopment Authority (HRA) was called to order by Chair, Bruce Nawrocki at 9:31 p.m., Tuesday, July 26, 2005, in the Parkview Villa Community Room B, 965 40th Avenue NE, Columbia Heights, Minnesota. ROLL CALL Commission Members Present: Bruce Nawrocki, Tammera Ericson Diehm, Bobby Williams, Dennis Ecklund Jr., Patricia Jindra, and Bruce Kelzenberg PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE CONSENT AGENDA Approval of Minutes MOTION by Williams, second by Jindra, to approve the minutes from April 26, 2005, regular meeting as presented in writing. All ayes. Motion Carried. REPORT OF MANAGEMENT COMPANY Welke stated in April, May and June the North building had no vacancies and the south building having only one. In April the waiting list numbers continued to rise. For May the police calls where a little higher. At the May Resident Council meeting there were sixty three residents in attendance, it was voted on to see how many were interested in getting a reduced rate for their cable tv, which 52 residents weren't interested Welke asked if Nawrocki wanted her to look into this more. Nawrocki stated he would look into it, through the City contract. Welke stated in June a P HAS inspection was preformed and we received a score of 86. The physical score was the lowest. Maintenance man, Terry Bush made a list of things to fix after the inspection and made most of the repairs within 24 hours. Williams stated 86 out of 100 is about a B+, which he felt was a grade to be proud of Jindra asked if the score was down from last year. Welke stated the physical score was down but everything else went up. Nawrocki asked if they inspected each unit. Welke stated this inspection was more for the common areas, equipment and that the HUD computer selects approximately 1/3 of the units to inspect. Nawrocki stated he felt disappointed in the management of the building, and that Walker hasn't done their job. RESIDENT COUNCIL MINUTES Jindra stated the residents will be holding their Bazaar in September and would like some support by helping sell some tickets for the event or attending. Bakken stated she has submitted an advertisement for the Heights Happenings September issue. CITIZENS FORUM Marilyn Beers, Unit 124 stated she has lived at Parkview for 15 months without using her shower, there was 9 inches of mold on the walls and that the former resident let her cat live under the bathroom sink, so it smells of cat urine, and wanted the board to know that she moved Housing & Redevelopment Authority Minutes July 26, 2006 Page 2 of5 out today. Welke stated the maintenance man and her checked it out and found mold in the walls and an odor in the pipes, but can't figure out where it is coming from. Nawrocki asked if anyone else has any experience with mold issues that could look at this. Fehst stated he would have the City Building Official look at this tomorrow and if he can't figure out where it is comingfrom, we will see that staffhires someone that can. ITEMS FOR CONSIDERATION Set Public Hearinl! for the 2006 Public Housinl! Authoritv (PHA) Plan Review Welke stated the P HA plan is the HUD budget. HUD requires a forty-five day period review period to allow for public input. The plan will be available for review at the Library, City Hall and at Parkview, along with a copy being sent to Anoka County for their review. At this time, staffis recommending setting a public hearingfor Tuesday, October 25th. Motion by Williams, second by Kelzenberg, to set a Public Hearing date of Tuesday, October 25, 2005, at 7:00 p.m. at Parkview Villa for the purpose of receiving public input on the 2006 Public Housing Authority (PHA) Plan. All ayes. Motion Carried. Elevator Contract Welke stated the elevator contract expired on October 3 rt, 2004, she went out for bids, has received good response time with Schindler Elevator Service so she would recommend approving the contract with them. Also the City attorney, Jim Hoeft the Schindler agreement was changed on page 4 to eliminate the term paragraph. Nawrocki stated he felt we should use the low bidder. Streetar stated this is a service contract, so essentially it is a quote, not a bid Ericson Diehm asked what the differences between the bids were, and if Walker has had any experience with Schindler. Welke stated the only difference was Minnesota Elevator did not charge for a call after hours and the other two did Lisa Toms stated they have not had any experience with Schindler. Kelzenberg stated he was concerned that in the past she wasn't happy with Schindler. Welke stated she did have issues with them, but after contacting their representative they have been very cooperative. Nawrocki asked what the present monthly charge is. Welke stated she didn't know as we haven't had a contract since November and that we will have to back pay Schindler after an agreement has been signed. Motion by Jindra, second by Williams, to approve the Minnesota Elevator in the amount not to exceed $724.00 per month. Ericson Diehm stated she was concerned that Minnesota Elevator is located out of Mankato and would be worried about how quickly they could get here. Streetar asked Welke if they have a local office in the cities. Welke stated she did not know. Williams stated he would have a Housing & Redevelopment Authority Minutes July 26, 2006 Page 3 of5 problem votingfor Minnesota Elevator for the same reason Ericson Diehm stated Motion by Ericson Diehm to approve the elevator contract with Schindler Elevator due to the fact that Minnesota Elevator isn't a local company and felt they would not provide adequate service. Nawrocki stated her motion was not appropriate as we already have a motion on the floor. Motion was not voted on. Amended Motion by Williams, second by Kelzenberg, to amend the current motion on the floor with the stipulation of 4-hours weekdays, or 12-hour service on weekend, made apart of the requirements. All ayes. Motion Carried. Upon Vote for Original Motion: Ecklund-nay, Williams-nay, Jindra-nay, Kelzenberg-nay, Ericson Diehm-nay, and Nawrocki-aye. Motion Failed. Motion by Ericson Diehm, second by Williams, to approve the contract with Schindler Elevator Service as presented to the board tonight. Upon Vote: Ecklund- aye, Williams- aye, Jindra- aye, Kelzenberg- aye, Ericson Diehm- aye, Nawrocki-nay. Motion Carried. Lead Base Paint Inspection Welke stated HUD requires a Lead Base Paint test done on Parkview Villa, which staff did not find any documents stating the last time it was done. Therefore, after consulting with our HUD representative, it was determined we need this completed in August in order to comply with HUD standards, so bid proposals were obtained to perform the inspection. Three bids were received: Midwest Environmental Consulting LLC in the amount of $2,805; Angstrom Analytical Inc. at $4,200 and Techtron at $5,640. Staffrecommends approval of the lowest bidfrom Midwest Environmental. Motion by Williams, second by Kelzenberg, to approve the low bid from Midwest Environmental Consulting LLC not to exceed the amount of $2,805.00. All ayes. Motion Carried. Ericson Diehm stated now that we have Walker Managing this building, we wouldn't assume that she should be knowledgeable of this type of equipment, but would hope that someone at Walker would help her. Common Area Policies Welke stated this policy was developed by Dennis Ecklund and her, the policy was necessary as there are continued amounts of plants appearing and not being taken care of on the lobby floors near the elevator. There has also been a new coffee club formed, which meets Monday through Friday and with the new carpet they wanted to make a rule for open containers to prevent stains or spills and some other issues dealing with trash chute areas. Housing & Redevelopment Authority Minutes July 26, 2006 Page 4 of5 Ecklund stated with this policy the person bringing the plant down, would be responsible to Water, and take care of it. Motion by Ecklund Jr., second by Kelzenberg, to approve the Common Area Policy for Parkview Villa. All ayes. Motion Carried. Pull Cord Svstem Part 2 Welke stated since the December meeting there has been consistent problems with the emergency pull cord system, we spent a total of $3,891.69 trying to repair the existing problem and the contracted company has not been able to determine what the problem is, she brought this to the attention of our HUD representative, Lucy Beckwell, which felt it would be in the residents best interest to disable the entire system until the HRA board could vote on what to do as the cost to repair the entire system would be endless. Inspectors have recommended a wireless system would be the most reasonable and quickest response system to use. Nawrocki asked if HUD wouldfund the new system. Welke stated she askfor funding, which they refused Welke stated she had Lifeline, Health East Health Alert, and the Anoka County Sheriff's Office come out and present there systems, which not vary many residents attended, however, Anoka County gave out approximately 30 free cell phones to residents that wanted them and went through the training with her. Nawrocki asked if the cell phone ties into a main base system. Ericson Diehm stated it works just like any regular cell phone, where it recognizes the closest emergency facility. Motion by Williams, second by Jindra, to direct Welke contact the Sheriff's office to look into getting more emergency phones, educating more residents and bringing this before the resident council to advise the residents. All ayes. Motion Carried. Jeff Diehm stated the FCC regulates that when you dial 911, they have to direct that call through the cell service. Nawrocki asked what about people that are speech impaired Welke stated she didn't think there were any residents in the building that were speech impaired Discussion on Revisions of Admission and Continued OccuDancv Policies Attorney, Bob Alsop, Kennedy & Graven stated he has been working on updating the Lease and A COP for both the North and South buildings per the board's request. The purpose of the review was to: 1) insure compliance with Federal and State laws; 2) eliminate ambiguities or inconsistencies among the documents; 3) implement the board's decision to change the tenant eligibility criteria for Parkview Villa South; and 4) incorporate provisions to assist in the operation of the buildings and enforcement of the lease provisions. The changes for the South building were as follows: 1) eliminate unnecessary public housing provisions as it is not a subsidized building; 2) revised the tenant eligibility criteria to Housing & Redevelopment Authority Minutes July 26, 2006 Page 5 of5 exclusively limit the building to persons who are 55 years of age and older, which qualifies the buildingfor elderly persons under the state andfederallaw and exemptfrom claims of discrimination based on age or family status; 3) revise the lease by a) adding provision to avoid waiving lease violation by acceptance of rent by the HRA, b) added severability clause to avoid illegal contract upon discovery of unenforceable lease provision, c) added provision requiring tenants cooperation with implementation of lease requirements, d) revised various provisions to consist with applicable laws, and e) added provision allowing HRA to collect attorneys' fees and costs associated with successful eviction or collection proceedings against a tenant; and 4) re- formatted the lease to improve clarity. The changes for the North building are: 1) revised the lease to include mandatory one year renewal period for the lease term; 2) added provision allowing legal profit making activities in the unit with the consent of the HRA; 3) clarified and revised notification requirements for additional occupants or guests to stay in the unit; 4) added provision outlining HRA 's obligation to advise tenant of any adverse action with any related grievance rights; 5) revised provisions related to criminal activity to coincide with Federal regulations and to avoid confusion on tenants responsibilities; 6) reviewed all tenant obligations under the Federal regulation and confirmed inclusion of such obligations in the lease; 7) added provision outlining tenant rights if unit is rendered uninhabitable; and 8) added provision advising tenant of their right to review tenant file in connection with a lease termination. Alsop recommended not having a resident on the grievance committee, there should be a single hearing officer for the both the south and north buildings. Nawrocki stated he felt residents should not feel afraid to come to the HRA board if they have a grievance issue. Ericson Diehm stated sometimes there maybe a difficult resident that staff may need to terminate their residency immediately and then there is the other issue of someone that is being wrongfully accused and would need someone outside of the building to determine if the acquisition is appropriate or not. The consensus of the board was to make the grievance clause for both the north and south the same. Alsop stated he would continue working on the A COP policy, enter the changes and would have it to residents and the public for review prior to coming before the board ADMINISTRATIVE REPORTS- NONE ADJOURNMENT Chair, Nawrocki adjourned the meeting at 11 :06 p.m. Respectfully submitted, V-/ ~ CheryrBakken Recording Secretary H:\HRAMinutes 2005\7-26-2006