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HomeMy WebLinkAboutApril 25, 2006 HOUSING & REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY REGULAR MEETING MINUTES OF APRIL 25, 2006 Call to Order - The Regular Meeting of the Columbia Heights Housing & Redevelopment Authority (HRA) was called to order by Chair, Tammera Diehm at 7:01 p.m., April 25, 2006, in the Parkview Villa Community Room B, 965 40th Avenue NE, Columbia Heights, Minnesota. Roll Call- Tammera Diehm, Bruce Nawrocki, Bobby Williams, Dennis Ecklund Jr., Patricia Jindra, and Bruce Kelzenberg Pledge of Allegiance CONSENT AGENDA Approve the Minutes of January 2006 Regular Meetings and Financial Report for the months of January, February and March 2006, Resolution 2006-03. Lindig stated the negative amounts are the areas they are behind under budgeted for, they projected gas and electric for this year, which was under estimated. Nawrocki stated at the time of the budget was approved he said we wouldn't be budgeting enough. Lindig stated on page 76 Parkview Villa South was running less than what was budgeting for the building for gas. Bush stated the old boiler system had a large loss of fuel, after talking to the heating company, they did throttle back the flow through the pipe, LBP mechanical took a look at the system, to the best of their knowledge it was running properly, he would like to see before next winter, another company come in to check all of our units. Motion by Williams, second by Kelzenberg, to approve the consent agenda Items #4 and #5 as listed. All ayes. Motion Carried. BUSINESS ITEMS Report of Management Company O'Donnell stated the reports for the months of January, February and March are before the board for review and asked if there were any questions. Ecklund stated he wanted to discuss a problem with the waiting for his friend. Diehm asked if he wouldn't mind this item being addressed under the ACOP, item #9 on the agenda. Ecklund stated it was okay. Resident Council Minutes Jindra stated she was only able to attend the February meeting and asked if anyone had any questions. She missed the meeting due to the snowstorm in January and did not make it there this month. Housing & Redevelopment Authority Minutes April 25, 2006 Page 2 of5 Citizen Forum Elvina Stieren, Parkview Villa South, unit 421, stated a year ago she brought up the Star Bar, and then a few weeks ago she gave him a petition, what is happening. Nawrocki stated he brought up with the police dept, city council, and police chief. Stieren stated the noise is still there, what more can we do. Nawrocki stated the star bar was originally put in as a restaurant and now is a bar with live bands. Diehm stated when the City Council looked into this the police dept said they had no police calls for that weekend, so she encouraged residents to call the police. Diehm stated she could ask the Police to come to a resident council meeting to discuss the issue. Mary Christenson, Unit 223, stated most cities have a noise ordinance in place for no noise after 10pm., what does Columbia Heights have and there is air coming in through the windows, can anything be done. Fehst stated we do have one in place, but still need residents to make the call into the police department. Bush stated with the windows it is because of they are metal clan type. Don Camp, unit 608 stated they have the same problem in the north building. Diehm stated we could look into building this in our next Capital Improvement Plan budget for next year. Streetar stated he would get a copy of the city noise ordinance to the board members and for resident council. Suggested the management company call the Police to get the list of how many calls were made, obtain a copy of the noise ordinance and also have Police department come to a resident council meeting. Dorothy Shaffer, Unit 425, didn't think threatening them works, as the police have tried calling them and they just said right. Schaffer stated they used to have the music on the other side, maybe that would help. Fehst stated previously the music was on the west end of the building, but when they remodel with the new owner, it got moved, also the back doors should not be open at anytime and believed they are looking for a new owner. Resolution 2006-04, Parkview Villa North ACOP Bob Alsop, Kennedy and Graven stated the ACOP needs to be updated because: 1) to insure compliance to meet Federal Regulations; 2) to eliminate ambiguities and inconsistencies and 3) to incorporate provisions necessary to assist in the operation of the public housing facility and enforcement of the lease provisions. The primary changes made to the Admission and Continued Occupancy Policy are: 1) re-formatted and changed provisions to improve clarity and consistency; 2) added provisions recommended by the Public Housing Occupancy Guidebook; 3) added affirmative marketing provisions; 4) clarified eligibility requirements for admission; 5) incorporated transfer policy; 6) clarified local residency preference; 7) deleted provisions that are either outdated or are no longer applicable; 8) added provisions relating to a tenant's continued occupancy, such as leasing policies, re-examinations, interim rent adjustments and lease termination procedures; 9) replaced income limits in Exhibit A with a general description; 10) added revised pet policy; and 11) added grievance procedure. Staff recommends, the HRA or the management company review this Housing & Redevelopment Authority Minutes April 25, 2006 Page 3 of 5 document on an annual basis. Ecklund stated he met with Welke about his friend, as he was on the waiting list to get into the north building since 1997 and is still waiting. In talking to Welke he found out that the gentlemen was not on the list anymore, he worked as a doorman at the VFW, the ACOP doesn't say specifically that residents of Columbia Heights are first on the waiting list, then employees, and then non-residents. Alsop stated the preference that he put into the ACOP document was what was approved in your 5-year PHA plan. Alsop stated his concern was that you would have to classify how many hours a week they worked in the City, which would cause problems with individuals not working full time, thus discrimination. Diehm asked if she gets a job at the work force center, would she be eligible for the building. Alsop stated that was correct. Nawrocki stated when the City originally built Parkview, there were a lot of seniors still in there homes, needing alternative housing, with lower incomes and that the City Council felt with the senior building it would also allow more homes become available for younger families to move into the City. Fehst stated even with the gaming commission, someone like the local church, has to be in business for 10 years, realizes there are a lot of people that have worked for many years in the City and would like to now move into the building, but, felt the local preference should be first. Diehm asked for board members opinion. Kelzenberg, Nawrocki and Jindra stated they preferred residents first on the waiting list. Bush stated he was in the office when Welke met with Ecklund about this situation. She is working with documents from a predecessor, where if the person isn't ready to move in when they are called, or we can't get a hold of the person, she goes to the next person on the list. Diehm stated if we change the ACOP to specify residents as first preference, we would have to change the 5-year PHA Plan to be consistent. Alsop stated that was correct. Motion by Nawrocki, second by Jindra, to Adopt Resolution 2006-04, a Resolution approving the Parkview Villa North Admissions and Continued Occupancy Policy with the amendment to clarify the waiting list to read residents are the top priority and that the effort be made to adjust the 5-year plan, and if the plan cannot be changed, that staff will bring this back before the board. All ayes. Motion Carried. Approve Phase 3, Parkview Villa North Apartment Modernization Lindig stated the 2004 and 2005 Capital Fund budgets included funds for remodeling of Parkview Villa North apartments on a floor-by-floor basis, including new doors, cabinets, appliances, plumbing, lighting, and repair of tiles and walls. The estimated Housing & Redevelopment Authority Minutes April 25, 2006 Page4of5 cost per unit is $8,000. Again, we could take advantage of Walker's buying power to get the costs down. Phase 3, or the yth floor of the north building is what staff is asking authorization by the HRA board to direct staff to obtain bids and proceed with the modernization. Kelzenberg asked how much we would be saving by them bidding. Lindig stated it is about $2,000 for the appliances. Nawrocki asked what they would be doing exactly. Bush stated they replaced the kitchen cabinets, sink, floor tiles, bathroom tiles, toilet, wall repairs, lighting in both areas, appliances, plumbing and new doors for the yth floor. Nawrocki asked if we are duplicating the same process for the yth floor as the 8th and 9th, why aren't we getting a discount. Lindi~ stated this item is for the approval to obtain bids from contractors and authorizing the 7 floor modernization. Then the next item on the agenda is for the architect's agreement approval, which states he is honoring the same pricing as for the other two floors. Jindra stated we could caulk around the windows to help with the drafts, while they are in the apartments. Bush stated they are going to have someone come to determine if we need new windows or do we just need to caulk before next winter. Streetar stated there is $426,000 in the fund reserve, that he did ask O'Donnell to check to if there is enough money left or if there are any grants we could apply for to get the windows done the right way, the first time. Motion by Williams, second by Kelzenberg, to Approve Phase 3 of the Parkview Villa North Apartment Modernization Project and authorize staff to obtain bids for the project. All ayes. Motion Carried. Architectural Services Agreement for Phase 3 Apartment Modernization Project Diehm stated this agreement was already talked about briefly in the last agenda item and asked if there were any questions. There were none. Motion by Williams, second by Kelzenberg, to Approve an Architectural Services Agreement with BWBR Architects in an amount not to exceed $7,000 for the Parkview Villa North Modernization Project, Phase 3; and furthermore, to authorize the Chair and Executive Director to enter into an agreement for the same. All ayes. Motion Carried. Other Business Nawrocki told Lindig he appreciated the significant improvement in the financial report. Lindig said thank you but, he could not take all the credit, it was Cher that organized and compiled the booklet the new way. Commissioners thanked her. Adiournment Chair, Diehm adjourned the meeting at 8:16 p.m. Housing & Redevelopment Authority Minutes April 25, 2006 Page 5 of5 Respectfully submitted, 0-/ ~L/_ Cheryl B~ken Recording Secretary H:\HRAMinules 2006\4-25-2006