HomeMy WebLinkAboutApril 22, 2014 min
HOUSING & REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY
MINUTES OF THE MEETING
OF APRIL 22, 2014
1.Call to order –
The meeting was called to order by Vice Chair Williams at 7:00 pm.
2.Roll Call
– Members present: Bruce Nawrocki, Gary Peterson, Donna Schmitt, Bobby
Williams, and Rheta Nelson.
Members Absent: Tammi Diehm
Staff Present: Executive Director-Walt Fehst, Community Development Director-Scott Clark,
Assistant Community Development Director-Joseph Hogeboom, and Secretary-Shelley
Hanson.
CommonBond Staff- Laura Frost and Heidi Mindestrom
3.Pledge of Allegiance – Recited
CONSENT AGENDA
4.Approve Minutes of January 28, 2014.
5.Resolution 2014-06: Approve Financial Reports and Payment of Bills for January,
February, and March 2014.
Questions from members:
Schmitt questioned why there were late fees listed on the General Ledger of January payments
for several accounts (Home Depot, Comcast, City of Columbia Heights Water). Frost said she
would check with the accountant to see if late fees were indeed paid, and why late fees were
incurred.
Nawrocki asked about an outstanding check (#1786) dated back to June 2013 for Johnson.
Frost said she would check into that also and report back.
Motion by Peterson, seconded by Nawrocki, to approve items on the Consent Agenda as
presented. All ayes. MOTION PASSED.
HRA Minutes
Page 2
April 22, 2014
HRA RESOLUTION 2014-06
RESOLUTION OF THE COLUMBIA HEIGHTS HOUSING & REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY
(HRA) APPROVING THE FINANCIAL STATEMENT FOR JANUARY, FEBRUARY, AND MARCH,
2014 AND PAYMENT OF BILLS FOR THE MONTHS OF JANUARY, FEBRUARY, AND MARCH
2014
WHEREAS,
the Columbia Heights Housing and Redevelopment Authority (HRA) is required by Minnesota
Statutes Section 469.096, Subd. 9, to prepare a detailed financial statement which shows all receipts and
disbursements, their nature, the money on hand, the purposes to which the money on hand is to be applied, the
HRA's credits and assets and its outstanding liabilities; and
WHEREAS,
said Statute also requires the HRA to examine the statement and treasurer's vouchers or bills and if
correct, to approve them by resolution and enter the resolution in its records; and
WHEREAS,
the financial statement for the months of January, February, and March 2014 and the list of bills
for the months of January, February, and March 2014 are attached hereto and made a part of this resolution; and
WHEREAS,
the HRA has examined the financial statement and the list of bills and finds them to be acceptable
as to both form and accuracy.
NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED
by the Board of Commissioners of the Columbia Heights Housing
& Redevelopment Authority that it has examined the attached financial statements and list of bills, which are
attached hereto and made a part hereof, and they are found to be correct, as to form and content; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED
the financial statements are acknowledged and received and the list of bills as
presented in writing are approved for payment out of proper funds; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED
this resolution and attachments are to be made a part of the permanent records
of the Columbia Heights Housing & Redevelopment Authority.
nd
Passed this 22 day of April 2014.
MOTION BY: Peterson
SECONDED BY: Nawrocki
AYES: All ayes
__________________________________
Chair
Attest by:
________________________________________
Shelley Hanson, Secretary
HRA Minutes
Page 3
April 22, 2014
BUSINESS ITEM
6Report of Management Company
.
Frost told members that we have received $40,000 thus far for the Operational Grant. She
expects that we should receive additional funds next quarter. According to the HUD site the
potential amount of the 2014 Capital Grant is approximately $85,000 but it has not been
released yet.
Clark reminded members that if the closing takes place in early 2015, these funds will need to
be used on the projects Aeon has determined necessary according with their improvement
schedule. Clark then informed the members of the timeline for the projects taking place over
the next month or two. He said Aeon will be on site overseeing the projects in conjunction
with CommonBond.
Frost then told members that the vacancy issue is improving now that the weather has
improved. She said they have put up new signage again, they have two open houses planned
thth
on May 18 and 28th, they are hosting a senior tour on May 12, and are getting social service
referrals. Frost stated they were listing the vacancies on Apartment.com, but have cancelled
that as no interest was coming from that site. She told members that there are currently two
ndst
vacancies in the North building-one will be filled May 2 and the other on June 1. In the
South building, three will be filled in April, one in May, and two others are pending approval,
which will leave 4 units still available.
Nawrocki still felt this rate of vacancy is unacceptable. Schmitt thought there had been big
improvements made with filling the vacancies as noted above, and appreciated management’s
efforts.
7.Resident Council Minutes
Shirley Benitez reviewed the minutes of the Resident Council for the Board. She noted who the
floor representatives are for the neighborhood watch group they created within their building.
Williams thanked the Resident Council for supplying this information to the Board and for
keeping them abreast of what is happening in the building.
8.Citizens Forum
Lyn Miner said now that the weather has improved and residents are starting to open their
windows, it gets noisy for those on the east side of the building. The voices and the smoke both
carry to units above the entry and smoking shelter. She suggested that radios be banned or that
headphones be required. She urged residents to speak softly, and that smoking only take place in
the shelter, not at the picnic table. She said it especially becomes an issue at night or on
weekends when someone plays their car radio.
HRA Minutes
Page 4
April 22, 2014
Frost asked if it would help to post a sign noting quiet time between the hours of 10 pm and 8
am. Mindestrom reminded residents to report loud noise to management so they can address it
with the proper parties.
Peterson agreed with management to post signage reminding residents to be considerate with use
of radios and other noise that affect residents especially during certain hours.
9. Resolution 2014-07: Aeon Purchase Agreement Extension
Clark stated that on August 27, 2012 the Housing and Redevelopment Authority (HRA) approved a
Purchase Agreement with Aeon for the sale of Parkview Villa North and South. Based on terms of that
Agreement the termination date, including Buyer extension provisions, ends on April 30, 2014. The
attached resolution extends the Purchase Agreement, as written until the end of April 2015.
This amended Agreement is written without any substantive changes to the original since it is
understood, and written within the original Agreement, that major changes will occur once a final deal is
agreed to with the Department of Housing and Urban Department. The economic structure between
Aeon and the HRA will be driven by the ultimate contract rent allowance for the North building, which
in turn, will determine key financial determinations such as the price for the South building,
rehabilitation amounts, etc. The primary reason that the Agreement needs to be addressed now, and not
have a period of time where there is no official contract in-place, stems from the fact that Aeon will
need to extend their HOME fund appropriations from the MHFA, and an in-place and continuous signed
Agreement is critical.
Clark said that additional amendments will be considered in the coming months, but recommends
extension of the present contract as presented. He went on to update the members on the current status
of the tentative verbal agreement they have reached with HUD. HUD has agreed to a rent structure that
will be substantially lower than originally anticipated by Aeon. There are a lot of different components
to the agreement, but we could potentially close on the sale by February or March 2015. Once the
agreement is on paper, Aeon will need to complete their financing package that has been on hold during
the stalled negotiations with HUD. Due to the much lower than expected rent structures, the south
building may not produce the equity the city had originally hoped for. HUD doesn’t care about the
south building or how it affects the overall bottom line of the total sale. They are looking at the north
building only and the anticipated rents have dropped from the originally requested amount of $790
down to $640. This means there is less operating income which will affect Aeon’s financing
requirements. Clark explained that instead of getting the sales proceeds of the south building
immediately that the HRA may have to take a Seller’s Finance Note. He said one way to pay back a
portion of the note would be to extend the antenna lease to allow the City to recapture funds for a period
of 10 or 15 years in addition to negotiating for some cash flow proceeds. Clark also said that currently
taxes on this site are paid under the PILOT program. Once the sale takes place, the City would get
significantly more tax dollars than the current program generates. Clark said these are items that will
have to be negotiated in the coming months in order to make the sale go through based on what HUD
has agreed to.
HRA Minutes
Page 5
April 22, 2014
Questions from members:
Nawrocki said this is going backwards and he is not in favor of losing more money in this transaction.
Clark admitted there is probably less money in the deal now, but also reminded Mr. Nawrocki that the
top two priorities of the Board when the decision was made to sell Parkview was to ensure that we kept
affordable public housing for the residents and to provide better services to the people that live there.
Everyone knew that the monetary gain in this project may not meet the expectations that some hoped
for.
Motion by Peterson, seconded by Schmitt, to waive the reading of Resolution 2014-07, there being
ample copies available to the public. All ayes. MOTION PASSED.
Motion by Peterson, seconded by Schmitt, to adopt Resolution 2014-07, being a Resolution Approving
First Amendment to Purchase Agreement, Dated April 22, 2014, For the Sale of Parkview Villa and
South to Aeon. All ayes. MOTION PASSED.
HRA RESOLUTION 2014-07
COLUMBA HEIGHTS HOUSING AND REDEVLOPMENT AUTHORITY APPROVING FIRST
AMENDMENT TO PURCHASE AGREEMENT, DATED APRIL 22, 2014 FOR THE SALE OF
PARKVIEW VILLA NORTH AND SOUTH
WHEREAS, the City of Columbia Heights Housing and Redevelopment Authority (HRA) has
expressed a desire to sell Parkview Villa North and South, and
WHEREAS, after a long search and an interview process the HRA identified Aeon, a major regional
low and moderate income housing provider, as a potential Buyer, and
WHEREAS, on April 16, 2011 the HRA approved a memorandum of understanding with Aeon that
established the goals of the sale, and
WHEREAS, to date Aeon has committed themselves to the sale of Parkview Villa through work
including complete building analysis, grant applications, funding strategies, submittal of the Public Housing
Agency dissolution application, resident meetings and a variety of other tasks, and
WHEREAS, this work has been done in conjunction with the HRA staff and the HRA board itself, and
WHEREAS, on August 27, 2012 the Housing and Redevelopment Authority approved and entered into
a purchase agreement with Aeon, and
WHEREAS, that Agreement has been formally extended by Aeon until April 30, 2014, and
WHEREAS, all parties have acted in good faith and a need arises to extend the original Agreement until
April 30, 2015.
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED: The Housing and Redevelopment Authority Approves First
Amendment to Purchase Agreement, Dated April 22, 2014, For the Sale of Parkview Villa North and South
nd
Passed this 22 day of April 2014
Motion by: Peterson
Second by: Schmitt
Roll Call: All ayes
___________________________
Tammera Diehm, Chair
_____________________
Shelley Hanson, Secretary
HRA Minutes
Page 6
April 22, 2014
Administrative Update
Clark told members that at the next EDA meeting the members will be discussing the housing project
for the Office Building. Staff was informed about 3 hours prior to this meeting that the developer
would be bringing a plan for consideration for floors 2-6. Clark said it may be a complicated proposal,
but staff hasn’t seen the formal submittal yet. He said that NE Bank would remain on site as part of
the plan.
Clark stated that this was his last HRA meeting. He thanked the Board and the residents for their
support and friendship over his tenure with the City. He told the residents that he has been impressed
with the fact that they have created a nice family atmosphere at Parkview Villa and that they are
concerned with what happens in their home. Clark then introduced Joe Hogeboom as the new
Director.
Shirley Benitz thanked Scott for his hard work with Aeon and for keeping the residents in the loop
during the whole process and for listening to resident’s concerns over the last 6 years. His support has
been appreciated.
Williams stated the next regular meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, July 22, 2014, at Parkview Villa.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:50pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Shelley Hanson
Secretary