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HomeMy WebLinkAboutOctober 24, 2006 HOUSING & REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY REGULAR MEETING MINUTES OF OCTOBER 24, 2006 Call to Order - The Regular Meeting of the Columbia Heights Housing & Redevelopment Authority (HRA) was called to order by Chair, Tammera Diehm at 7:43 p.m., October 24,2006, in the Parkview Villa Community Room B, 965 40th Avenue NE, Columbia Heights, Minnesota. Roll Call- Tammera Diehm, Bruce Nawrocki, Dennis Ecklund Jr., and Bruce Kelzenberg Absent- Patricia Jindra, Bobby Williams Pledge of Allegiance CONSENT AGENDA Approve the Minutes of July 25, 2006 Regular Meeting and Financial Report for the months of July, August and September 2006, Resolution 2006-06. Nawrocki stated in the July report, $8,512 Parkview Villa pays the HRA is that per month. Lindig stated that represents 3 months of the quarter for HRA administration. Nawrocki asked under interest income, what is the fund balances for the north and south that we are drawing interest on. Lindig stated the north is on page 62, at $479,056 and the south is on page 73, at $213,745. Ecklund, jr. asked on page 11, due to resident council it is showing a minus, what is that for. Lindig stated it is the amount owned to the resident council on that date for the 50% of the laundry proceeds. Ecklund asked what is the current laundry fund. Lindig stated the north building is $228 and $98 for the south building, which is money that is deposited into the bank, but not written over to the resident council yet. Motion by Nawrocki, second by Ecklund, to approve the consent agenda Items #4 and #5 as listed. All ayes. Motion Carried. BUSINESS ITEMS Report of Manaqement Company Todd Klien introduced Nick Gravemann the new housing manager, who began in September this year. Diehm asked Gravemann to tell the board a little about himself Gravemann stated he recently moved to Minnesota from Missouri, has been in property management in several states and was happy to be here. Nawrocki stated he was told to talk to Streetar if he had questions we might have relative to this process of hiring a manager, did not put his questions in writing, but rather went in and talked to Streetar with the following concerns: 1) the experience candidates have in relative to management; and 2) the experience the candidates would have relative to working with senior citizens. He received no response and felt Housing & Redevelopment Authority Minutes October 24, 2006 Page 2 of9 the process wasn't working the way it was supposed to work. Gravemann stated he provided the July, August and September reports and are there any questions. Diehm asked for clarification of the occupancy report as September 19th report it was 101 out of 101 on the north and 44 out of 45 in the south, the same numbers hold true for October, but it looks like there were two move ins, where those transfers. Gravemann stated they were transfers. Nawrocki stated there is some sort of power ball gambling program going on at Parkview Villa, is for profit for somebody or is this a resident council activity. Gravemann stated it was the resident council. Ecklund stated it was organized by resident, Ron Schumacher. Schumacher, Unit 702 stated he started a bingo night at Parkview Villa a couple of years ago on Sunday evenings, he calls it power ball bingo, charges residents to play and if there is any additional fees collected, I donate those funds to needy children. Last year we donated $800 to the Ronald McDonald House. He checked with the tobacco and firearms, state gaming commission and as long as you get less than $200 and it is only for the residents of the building, we are legal. Nawrocki asked the management to'check into this to see if this is legal. Nawrocki stated once before he spoke about a water problem leaking on the 9th floor down, as far as he know the problem is still there, it seems like something should be done about this individual, if someone can't take care of the unit they are living in, like turning off the water valve to prevent water leaking to other floors, there should be some better solutions. Gravemann stated according to HUD rules that cannot force the resident to move, he has to choose to move and asked if the board would consider they process the eviction process for this individual. Nawrocki stated he wasn't sure what we should do, but to take care of the issue. Gravemann stated we would probably look into some services available to this individual from the county and if necessary proceed with the eviction proceedings. Klein stated Gravemann is on the right track as this isn't an assisted living facility and we can't force them to move. Nawrocki stated at the last meeting residents raised some concerns relative to problems with water backing up in apartments. Gravemann stated the maintenance man has looked into this and made some improvements to units, and it was his understanding that this was pretty much taken care of. Terry Bushe, Maintenance man, stated he was able to find some of the drains and cleaned them, 9 of the 10 risers he found had problems and he cleaned them, felt he was ahead of the problem, and was also in the underground garage. Resident Council Minutes Ecklund stated for the bazaar they profited $3,225.09. He thanked the members of the building, HRA board, City Council and the City employees. We appreciate you showing up at these events, it means a lot to residents. Housing & Redevelopment Authority Minutes Octo her 24, 2006 Page 3 of9 Citizen Forum Resident, Ken Block, Unit 315, stated he moved in this fall, and with the new clock tower on Central, people like to walk around the area, the sidewalk is broken up, and the garbage in the alley, he wanted to bring this to the cities attention. Diehm stated City Council has been working to clean up some of the issues with the Star Bar and asked staff to talk to the public works department to see if the sidewalk repairs can be made. Public HearinQ-Resolution 2006-07, 2007 PHA Plan & Related Certifications Gravemann stated the quality housing and work responsibility act of 1998 requires all Housing authorities to prepare a Public Housing Agency Plan. Staff has prepared a draft document for review. The plan has been reviewed by: Anoka County, the resident council and residents with no recommendations or comments to the plan. Ecklund asked what projects would be preformed next year to the building and when will the windows be replaced. Gravemann stated they would be taken care of re- caulking the windows next year and the windows would be sometime after 2008. Nawrocki asked on page 5, #4, page 4, item 2 and 3 and B-1, why isn't it filled in. Gravemann stated it was an error and he would make the corrections. Diehm asked if we have a consolidated plan. Gravemann stated we do not have this yet as it was an error on his and Dana's part, and wasn't sent to Anoka County until yesterday. Diehm opened the public hearing at 8:10 pm. There were no Comments. Diehm closed the public hearing. Motion by Kelzenberg, second by Ecklund, to waive the reading of Resolution 2006-07, there being an ample amount of copies available to the public. All ayes. Motion Carried. Motion by Kelzenberg, second by Ecklund, to Adopt Resolution 2006-07, a Resolution confirming approval of the 2007 Public Housing Agency certifications of compliance with the PHA plans and related regulations, subject to finalization from the management company and review by staff. All ayes. Motion Carried. Adopt Resolution 2006-08. Third Amendment to Walker ElderCare Contract Bob Alsop, Kennedy & Graven stated the current Management and Maintenance Services Agreement with Walker ElderCare Services Inc does not include the current maintenance wage rate determination or the Federal labor standards provisions required under Federal Law. This third amendment includes the language necessary to comply with these regulations. The changes to the agreement are: 1) subcontracting provision Section B (8), requires Walker to confirm and certify the proposed Housing & Redevelopment Authority Minutes October 24, 2006 Page 4 of9 subcontractors are not barred from entering into contracts with the HRA under Federal Law and insures all subcontracts contain the applicable labor standard provisions; 2) Under Section B (15), which is a new provision containing the applicable Labor Standard provisions; and 3) In Section D (8) it authorizes Walker to negotiate and execute contracts on behalf of the HRA up to $2,000 for services, materials and supplies in the approved Operating Budget, and they would negotiate all other contracts, which exceed $2,000 or related items not included in the Operating Budget to the HRA board for approval. He was taken it on for the city to develop these contracts and agreements to satisfy the HUD requirements. For an agreement or contract the law requires that you have a prevailing wage agreement and Labor standards provisions, the contract between the HRA and Walker ElderCare does not have these documents in it, so therefore, this amendment adds those documents. From what he could see there aren't any subcontracts between the HRA and subcontractors at this time. Anything up to $2,000 can be signed by the Deputy Executive Director, and anything up to $15,000 must be signed by the Executive Director. Fehst asked if this is all under the agreement that we pay walker or is this in addition to that. Streetar stated two payments are paid to Walker; one that covers gas, and operating costs; and one. covering management fees to run the building. If someone leaves their employment, that difference is applied towards their management fee. Diehm asked how the wage requirement works with our current elevator contract, as we don't pay per hour. Alsop stated according to HUD in the future, you would need to document what they are going to pay their employees. Streetar stated we also provide to them copies of the wages to make sure they are in compliance. Nawrocki asked why couldn't Walker do that. Alsop stated according to this agreement Walker has some compliance duties. In terms of monitoring, HUD will not let them do that, it has to be done by the HRA authority. Diehm stated from now on we would look for this type of information when we perform the bidding process. Alsop stated he put the responsibility on Walker to check the government list to see that any contractor that they bring to the board has to be qualified per HUD's list. Ecklund asked if the maintenance workers come under this wage requirement or is it just a straight wage. Alsop stated it would be straight wages. Nawrocki asked who would be responsible to act on Walker's behalf on contracts. Lindig stated with Walker there isn't anything in writing, but has assigned this to Klein and Gravemann. Nawrocki stated, as the signature of the Executive Director is also the City Manager, is this documented that he will be signing these documents, and not just a verbal okay. Housing & Redevelopment Authority Minutes October 24, 2006 Page 5 of9 Motion by Kelzenberg, second by Ecklund, to waive the reading of Resolution 2006-08 there being an ample amount of copies available to the public. All ayes. Motion Carried. Motion by Kelzenberg, second by Ecklund, to Adopt Resolution 2006-08, a Resolution Approving and execution of the Third Amendment to the Management and Maintenance Services Agreement with Walker ElderCare Services Inc; and furthermore, to authorize the Chair and Executive Director to enter into an agreement for the same. Diehm stated as chair of this body it would be her expectation that they see this documentation with proposals that are brought forward. Motion by Nawrocki, to amend Section 3, amending section D (8) of the agreement so that the $15,000 authorization for the Executive Director be reduced to $5,000. Motion dies for a lack of a second. Upon Vote of the original motion: All ayes. Motion Carried. Adopt Resolution .2006-09, Maintenance/Services Contracting Policv Alsop stated this Maintenance/Services Contracting Policy for Parkview Villa must be implemented for contracting vendors. He provided the board with a contacting flow chart, which he provided to Judy Mcintire at HUD. Motion by Nawrocki, second by Ecklund, to waive the reading of Resolution of 2006- 09, there being an ample amount of copies available to the public. All ayes. Motion Carried. Motion by Nawrocki, second by Ecklund, to Adopt Resolution 2006-09, a Resolution Approving the MaintenancelServices Contracting Policy. All ayes. Motion Carried. Res.2006-10. MaintenancelServices & Subcontractor Agreement Forms Alsop stated he is asking for approval with respect to form of the agreements with Walker and contractors. From what he has seen, there has never been a subcontractor agreement. Mcintire made some changes to the original agreement. HUD requested the following changes: a) Under Section 1, change "maintenance and non-maintenance work" to "routine and non-routine maintenance work"; b) Section II, we must specifically state the Executive Director be as the authority signature; and c) Section III (E)- Identify the specific means to be implemented by the HRA in verifying compliance with the applicable prevailing wage requirements, i.e. certified payroll records and revise the policy so that payroll records will be reviewed and compliance verified prior to the last payment under the contract by the HRA; and d) Section IV- the Federal Labor provisions under this section should not be limited to Section II of HUD 5360C and revise the policy to require all appropriate provisions of HUD 4360C depending on the size of the project. I-lousing & Redevelopment Authority Minutes Octoher 24, 2006 Page 6 of9 It is the most basic policy he has put together to meet HUD's standards Diehm asked if these Maintenance Wage Rates are amended each year with the cost of living. Alsop stated, it is updated yearly by HUD. Fehst asked what happens if they do the work and don't sign the agreement. Alsop stated there are provisions in the agreement that states the actions necessary. Motion by Nawrocki, second by Ecklund, to waive the reading of Resolution 2006-10, there being an ample amount of copies available to the public. All ayes. Motion Carried. Motion by Nawrocki, second by Ecklund, to Adopt Resolution 2006-10, a Resolution Approving the Maintenance/Services and Subcontractor Agreement Forms for Parkview Villa. All ayes. Motion Carried. Streetar stated he wanted to thank Bob Alsop for all his work on these documents. There were a lot of documents necessary to get us in compliance with HUD's requirements. Adopt Resolution 2006-11, 2007 Parkview Villa North Budqet Bob Lindig, Walker Finance Officer stated the proposed 2007 budget for Parkview Villa North is $519,904, which includes $101,041 for capital outlays. Excluding capital outlay, which was not budgeted for in 2006 and the 2007 budget represents a 4.2% increase, or $16, 816 over last year's budget. The majority of the increase is attributed to the increased management fees of $24,138 over last year's budget greater than the 2006 budget. The Utility budget has been increased over the 2006 budgeted amounts also. The total revenue is $528,446 and includes rents of $290, 630, Operating Subsidy of $121,200, (based on the 2005 operating subsidy, we should see more funding actually come out later, Capital Funds of $101,041, Investment Income of $5,000 and other miscellaneous charges. The capital improvement plan of the apartment modernizations will continue to be implemented. Nawrocki asked on page 1, computer supplies, what have we been running the computers on as in previous years there wasn't anything budgeted. Lindig stated it is for basic computer supplies like paper, forms, etc. Nawrocki stated maintenance construction materials would take a large jump. Lindig stated as part of next years budget in the north building there is a few plumbing issues that need to be addressed. Bushe stated it is replacing plumbing with PVC parts. Diehm stated the attorney's budget takes a significant decrease. Lindig stated with all of the leases, ACOP's and HUD forms being developed this year, the need for the attorney's fees would drop for 2007. Housing & Redevelopment Authority Minutes October 24, 2006 Page 7 of9 Nawrocki stated the expert and professional seNices increased and why the amount for the north building is budgeted more. Lindig stated in the 2006 budget that was under estimated, so he felt we should raise that amount and that the north is higher because these additional HUD documents required to meet the HUD monitoring standards are for the North building only. Nawrocki asked what is the expert and professional fee for both the north and south buildings in 2005 and 2006. Lindig stated the total for both buildings for 2005 was $171,975,2006 was $210,000 and for 2007 it would be $216,049. Nawrocki asked on the revenue side, no property tax dollars come into Parkview Villa north and south, and what is PILOT. Streetar stated it is for the north at 10% ofthe shelter rents by agreement between the HRA and HUD and the south building, since the building was put into use they used the 10% figure, which should actually be the 5% and staff is working to get that changed. Fehst stated PILOT stands for payment in lieu of taxes. Diehm stated they increased the gas budget for the north versus the south building. Lindig stated the increase forecast ranges from 4 to 15% and that the north building uses significantly more gas than the south building. Motion by Kelzenberg, second by Ecklund, to waive the reading of Resolution 2006-11, there being an ample amount of copies available to the public. All ayes. Motion Carried. Motion by Kelzenberg, second by Ecklund, to Adopt Resolution 2006-11, a Resolution of the Housing and Redevelopment Authority in and for the City of Columbia Heights Adopting the 2007 Parkview Villa North Budget for $519,904 and recommending this budget to the City Council for approval. All ayes. Motion Carried. Adopt Resolution 2006-12. 2007 Parkview Villa South Budqet Lindig stated the proposed 2007 budget for Parkview Villa South is $242,639, which represents a 4.7% or $9, 932 increase over last year's budget. The increase includes $15,519 in management fees, pursuant to the change in fee structure approved in January 2006. The increase is partially offset by an $8,859 reduction in budgeted Expert & Professional SeNices. Utility budgets for 2007 are somewhat lower than the 2006 budget, due to expected decrease in the cost of gas. The cost of supplies in 2007 is budgeted at an increase of 16.16% or $1,600 over 2006 to allow for replacement of aging appliances. Proposed gross revenues are $280,470 and include rents of $273,277 investment income of $2,500 and other miscellaneous charges. The rent budget takes into account the limited rent increase proposal approved at the July 2006 HRA meeting. That proposal mitigates the impact of rent increases otherwise due to be implemented for 15 residents who would be severely and adversely affected by the final transition to the new rent structure approved in 2004. Housing & Redevelopment Authority Minutes October 24, 2006 Page 8 of9 Motion by Nawrocki, second by Kelzenberg, to waive the reading of Resolution 2006- 12, there being an ample amount of copies available to the public. All ayes. Motion Carried. Motion by Nawrocki, second by Kelzenberg, to Adopt Resolution 2006-12, a Resolution of the Housing and Redevelopment Authority in and for the City of Columbia Heights Adopting the 2007 Parkview Villa South Budget of $242,639 and recommending this budget to the City Council for approval. All ayes. Motion Carried. Discussion on Current Internal Transfer Policy Diehm stated Commissioner Nawrocki requested this item be brought up before the HRA board for discussion tonight. Nawrocki asked what an internal transfer policy is supposed to cover. Gravemann stated it covers the costs to make repairs to the apartment. Diehm asked if they paint every time someone moves out, regardless of how long they lived there. Gravemann stated that was correct. Nawrocki stated he didn't believe there should be a cost to fix up the new unit as the previous resident should have left it in good shape, the tenant leaving, if they don't leave it in good condition, the costs for the repairs would come out of the damage deposit originally received when they moved in. Recently, we had a discussion on a resident paying these fees and the board did waive this fee. Diehm stated she felt it was at the October of 2004 meeting that it was discussed. Lee Feeney, caretaker when we have a transfer, we have two apartments that have to be turned, where as we take someone from the outside coming in we only have one apartment to turn. Nawrocki stated that is what he is talking about, the $400 isn't justified. Diehm stated if she was a moving from one apartment to another, and maybe there would be a cost of turning an apartment with a quick turn around. Bushe stated painting alone is $220, shampoo and carpeting $195 or a total of $395. Nawrocki stated he didn't feel that each time you have to a complete paint job on the unit. Fehst asked Nawrocki if he was asking if they should do an assessment each time someone moves out. Nawrocki stated no he wasn't asking that, but that it should be no different for a person that would move internally or moving out. Diehm stated wasn't this part of the idea to discourage moving from one unit on one floor to another floor, the costs are incurred by us, and that she remembers this was brought to us by the management company. Nawrocki stated that is an unfair charge. Fehst asked if Walker has a policy for their units. Lindig stated they paint every 5 years even though they don't need it. Resident, Ruth Hiltested, Unit 310, stated when Dana was here and someone that wanted to move from one unit to the other, she received a bonus to move apartments. Housing & Redevelopment Anthority Minutes October 24,2006 Page 9 of9 Feeney stated Dana didn't get a bonus for internal moves. Lindig stated Dana's agreement stated she would receive compensation for new move in's, not internal transfers. Diehm asked Gravemann if there was anyone on the waiting list at this time that this would apply to. Gravemann stated there wasn't. Diehm asked staff to pull out old minutes and consent letters to provide to the board at our next meeting to find out the real reasons why this policy was adopted. Diehm stated we have to recognize there would be a possibility of residents moving to different floors or sides of the building because it's nicer. Motion by Nawrocki, that the Internal Transfer Policy be changed to read that if the tenant should chose to move from one unit to another in the building, that they be charged only the actually clean up costs from normal wear and tear in the unit they leave. Motion dies for a lack of a second. Motion by Diehm, second by Kelzenberg, to have staff come back to the board with the previous documents from past meetings on this issue. All ayes. Motion Carried. Other Business Nawrocki stated the HRA hasn't approved the levy. Streetar stated the HRA doesn't approve the levy, it is approved by the EDA. Nawrocki stated if that is the case it can no longer go down in the portion of the property tax statement, because the EDA has to be up with the general levy. Streetar stated the EDA which does all of the redevelopment work, pays for all of its services through the levy at a rate of. 0001813 and the HRA levy of.000140, its called the HRA levy, has no bearing to this body, we call it the HRA levy because that is how it is general understood, the EDA can levy both to fund redevelopment, these properties and the cost to operate them are paid from rents, operating subsidy from HUD, and the capital subsidy from HUD, that is how it has been paid for the past four years. Diehm stated so they are not paid from the HRA levy. Streetar stated that was correct. Nawrocki stated you just testified that when you started doing that sometime back, that this was really a sneaky way to get an extra levy out of the citizens of the community. Adjournment Chair, Diehm adjourned the meeting at 9:50 p.m. Respectfully submitted, ~~ Cheryl Bakken Recording Secretary H :\H RAMinutes 2006\10-24-2006