MINUTES

GREEN BAY HOUSING AUTHORITY

Thursday, May 21, 2009

1424 Admiral Court, Second Floor Reading Room

Green Bay, Wisconsin 54303

10:30 a.m.

MEMBERS PRESENT: D. Dolan-Wallace-Chair; W. VandeCastle-Vice-Chair; Ald. Piton; D. Slater; and H. Genunzio.

MEMBERS EXCUSED: None.

MEMBERS ABSENT: None.

OTHERS PRESENT: Rob Strong, Anne May Steffel, Anne Monday, N. Aderholdt, Molly Barron.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES:

Approval of the minutes from the March 26, 2009, meeting of the Housing Authority of the City of Green Bay.

A motion was made by Ald. Piton and seconded by H. Genunzio to approve the minutes from the March 26, 2009, meeting of the Housing Authority of the City of Green Bay. Motion carried.

COMMUNICATIONS:

None.

OLD BUSINESS:

None.

NEW BUSINESS:

1. Request for authorization to enter into an agreement with Focus on Energy for an energy audit for the Scattered Site Properties at no cost to the Authority.

R. Strong explained that to be competitive for future Federal housing funds, an energy audit must be conducted for all GBHA properties. Mason Manor has had a recent audit; however, the scattered site properties have not. Focus on Energy has provided application information to us to conduct such an audit at no cost.

A motion was made by Ald. Piton and seconded by H. Genunzio to enter into an agreement with Focus on Energy to conduct an energy audit for the scattered site properties. Motion carried.

2. Authorization to solicit a Request for Proposals (RFP) for Architectural/Engineering Services to Perform a Physical Needs Assessment (PNA) for the Mason Manor Retirement Community and the Scattered Site Properties.

R. Strong stated that HUD is requiring a Physical Needs Assessment for all GBHA properties for future capital improvements. Although a few companies have inquired about conducting the assessment, it is recommended that a RFP be offered to interested engineering and architect firms. This assessment will facilitate future capital improvement plans.

A motion was made by H. Genunzio and seconded by Ald. Piton to solicit a Request for Proposals for Physical Needs Assessment for Mason Manor and scattered sites properties. Motion carried.

3. Review and authorization to award to the low qualified bidder the contract for the painting of the Scattered Site properties.

Proposals for painting occupied and unoccupied scattered site units will be put out for quotes within the next few weeks. This will be a two year contract to paint units as needed, based on a square foot cost. To move the process along, it is being requested that the Authority authorize award of a contract to the low qualified quote when received by purchasing.

A motion was made by W. VandeCastle and seconded by H. Genunzio to authorize awarding the painting contract to the low qualified quote. Motion carried.

4. Update of review of tenant files by Barron Rentals.

M. Barron said she has completed review of all but 10 of the scattered site tenant files and has found errors. The errors range up to $3,600.

A. May Steffel stated that previously there had been a meeting held and in attendance were herself, Keith Pamperin, Molly Barron, Rosemary Jonas, and Dawn DeWitt. It was agreed that ICS would come over and review the files because Rosemary was the only one familiar with this and she was in agreement that errors had been made. ICS is fully aware that the Authority is looking into this and that we may ask for compensatory payment as a result of errors they made.

R. Strong stated that there were 10 left go and then a total package should be put together.

M. Barron stated that they are doing a review of all the current tenants from when they took over the management of the scattered site properties. If someone moved out six months after they took over, then they did not do that file since they were gone.

R. Strong asked M. Barron if she had found any tenants that the Authority owes money.

M. Barron stated yes, there are a lot of them but so far only two have been repaid.

Ald. Piton asked what the hardship would be to the tenant if they have an outstanding balance showing.

M. Barron stated nothing except that it takes up a lot of her time. Also, if they don’t pay this month’s rent and she has to do a 5-day notice, she technically would have to do it with the full amount listed on the notice.

A. May Steffel suggested putting a note on the account in the tenant’s file so it is documented. HUD is going to be conducting a check of all of the tenant files and this needs to be documented.

Ald. Piton asked what the fiscal impact would be and how much money is in the checking account.

A. May Steffel stated that there is a lot of money in the checking account. Operationally, this will not affect us. There is a surplus.

Ald. Piton stated that the Authority should pay back what is owed as soon as it is practical. He questioned if cutting checks would be admitting guilt.

W. VandeCastle said once this investigation is finalized then it should be presented to the Law Department and they should determine how to proceed.

Ald. Piton asked what the number is of total files being reviewed.

M. Barron stated a review is being done of all units that are currently occupied or that were occupied when they took over as management.

A motion was made by Ald. Piton and seconded by H. Genunzio to receive and place on file the update of review of tenant files by Barron Rentals. Motion carried.

5. Update of elevator/storage addition to the Mason Manor Retirement Community.

R. Strong stated that Architects Group Limited has been selected to do the necessary work. Architects Group Limited is not moving as efficiently as he had hoped and he still does not have a contract. He called his contact, Dave Johnson, at Architects Group Limited and was told that he has to meet with Tom Lesperance from the Inspection Division and it took three weeks to get in to see him. Mr. Johnson did feel that he would still be able to meet the August timeframe to bid this out and get under contract. Mr. Lesperance did comment that this addition is part of the residential structure and so sprinklers would need to be installed at an additional cost. Also, Mr. Lesperance felt that there would need to be a separate stairwell in this addition.

R. Strong stated that one other thing that he did ask Mr. Johnson to look at is the 20’ to 25’ addition that would be constructed of solid brick. He would like him to see how this fits in with the rest of the building and if there is some sort of treatment that needs to be done to that piece of the building to make it look like it wasn’t just attached to the end of the current building

R. Strong stated that this is moving forward but not as quickly as he had hoped. The monies are available and ready to go. He updated the new GBHA member, D. Slater, on the building expansion plan.

D. Dolan-Wallace mentioned that putting a sprinkler system throughout the whole building might save costs because of the reduction in the costs associated with what type of firewall protection that would be required.

R. Strong stated that he would talk with T. Lesperance on this and see if that is beneficial.

A. May Steffel explained that while we would submit an application for the competitive money, the GBHA is not in the first group that would be awarded monies because we are not in high performance status. We would be bypassed in the first round, but if there are any monies leftover after that first round, we might be awarded funds.

A motion was made by Ald. Piton and seconded by W. VandeCastle to receive and place on file the update of the elevator/storage addition to the Mason Manor Retirement Community. Motion carried.

6. Recommendation to amend the procurement standards and policies to expedite and facilitate the use of ARRA funds by raising to $100,000 the threshold for triggering formal competitive bidding.

R. Strong stated that HUD is allowing this to be done in order to move funds more quickly. This would streamline the process and allow quotes to be received instead of a formal bidding process if under $100,000. Today we are looking for authorization to adopt this amendment to the procurement standards so that we do have the option of utilizing quotes instead of the formal bidding process if necessary to move something along quickly. R. Strong stated that every contract would still come before the GBHA and if we have the time and choose to bid it out, we could still do that.

A. May Steffel stated that there are aggressive deadlines that would have to be met when utilizing the ARRA funds.

A motion was made by W. VandeCastle and seconded by Ald. Piton to approve the recommendation to amend the procurement standards and policies to expedite and facilitate the use of ARRA funds by raising to $100,000 the threshold for triggering formal competitive bidding. Motion carried.

7. Request to fund an intern for the summer at $10/hr. for 10 hours per week.

R. Strong stated that N. Aderholdt is currently working 30 hours per week for the BCHA. She has been an intern for the City for several years and is very experienced. He would ask N. Aderholdt to work on the applications for the recovery funds in order to give us the opportunity to get some of the monies available. The Housing Administrator position has not been filled so this intern position would be able to help out with certain things the Housing Administrator would do.

W. VandeCastle stated that he works with N. Aderholdt on the Section 8 housing fraud prosecutions through the BCHA and she does all of the organizing for that. She does a very good job and it would be beneficial to keep her around as long as possible.

A motion was made by H. Genunzio and seconded by Ald. Piton to approve the request to fund an intern for the summer at $10/hr. for 10 hours per week. Motion carried with W. VandeCastle abstaining.

8. Distribution of the 2008 audit.

A. May Steffel distributed copies of the 2008 audit for review. The only big change is that HUD required new reporting standards, which are very detail oriented.

R. Strong stated that they have been asked to have someone outside of the financial side oversee the financial reports that are being done. Either the Housing Administrator or he will sign off on the reports every month and quarterly the City Finance Director will review the reconciliation of the accounts.

A motion was made by Ald. Piton and seconded by W. VandeCastle to receive and place on file, the distribution of the 2008 audit. Motion carried.

9. Notice that the audited FASS report has been submitted to HUD.

A. May Steffel stated that the audited FASS report has been submitted to HUD and has been approved.

A motion was made by Ald. Piton and seconded by t H. Genunzio o receive and place on file, the notice that the audited FASS report has been submitted to HUD. Motion carried.

FINANCIAL REPORT AND BILLS:

A. May Steffel distributed the financial report and bills for review.

Ald. Piton stated he would be interested in seeing the history of utilities through Wisconsin Public Service before and after the energy assessment for scattered sites.

M. Barron stated that WPS could provide a year average for a specific address.

A motion was made by W. VandeCastle and seconded by Ald. Piton to approve the financial report and bills. Motion carried.

STAFF REPORT:

• A. Monday stated that the position of Building Custodian I has been posted to the public. There have been 190 applications received and 12 individuals will be interviewed. Currently there is temporary help being utilized from a temp agency. The two union members that had signed for the job both went back to their original jobs after trying out the position.
• R. Strong stated that there is a yard maintenance contract in place until the Building Custodian I position is filled.
• R. Strong stated that replacement drapes are being ordered for Mason Manor.
• R. Strong distributed a request from Unison to take over the leases for the antenna systems on the roof. More money is made by continuing on as we have been, than going with the deal Unison is proposing. If one of the three leases to have an antenna on the roof were to come to an end, we would still make more money. If we lost two of the leases, we would make less, but then we would have roof space available to lease out.

A motion was made by H. Genunzio and seconded by Ald. Piton to adjourn the meeting at 11:16 a.m. Motion carried.

:dmr