MINUTES

GREEN BAY HOUSING AUTHORITY

Thursday, December 17, 2009

100 N. Jefferson Street, Room 604

Green Bay, Wisconsin 54301

10:30 a.m.

 

MEMBERS PRESENT:     David Dolan-Wallace-Chair, Daniel Slater, and Ald. Piton.

MEMBERS EXCUSED: H. Genunzio.

MEMBERS ABSENT: W. VandeCastle-Vice Chair.

OTHERS PRESENT: Rob Strong, Robyn Hallet, Jacob Lopez, Darlene Hallet (BCHA Chair), Michael Welch (BCHA Vice Chair via teleconference), Rich Aicher, Kristin Byrne (media), Patrick Sheppard (media), Molly Barron, Dave Johnson, Ray Kurth.

 

APPROVAL OF MINUTES:

 

Approval of the minutes from the November 19, 2009, meeting of the Housing Authority of the City of Green Bay.

 

A motion was made by Ald. Piton and seconded by D. Slater to approve the minutes from the November 19, 2009, meeting of the Housing Authority of the City of Green Bay.  Motion carried.

 

COMMUNICATIONS:

 

None.

 

OLD BUSINESS:

 

1.         Discussion and possible action on Freedom House’s request for financial assistance.

 

            D. Hallet called the Brown County Housing Authority meeting to order.

 

            D. Dolan-Wallace called the Green Bay Housing Authority meeting to order.

 

         R. Hallet explained that Robyn Davis from Freedom House was set to make a presentation to both Authorities on December 9, 2009, but the meeting had to be rescheduled because of the snow storm.  At about 4:00 p.m. yesterday, she realized that Robyn Davis had not been informed of the rescheduled date for the presentation and due to prior commitments, was unable to attend today and sends her apologies. 

 

         R. Hallet stated that she and R. Strong had spoken to R. Davis on the phone on December 7, 2009, to obtain additional information in addition to what has been provided in the agenda packet.  She stated that if anyone had any questions, she would try to answer them.

 

         R. Hallet stated that the handout provided by Freedom House shows shortages/overages for the following months:

 

            December 2009       -$11,410.00

            January 2010           -$6,880.00

            February 2010          +$184.00

            March 2010               -$9,541.00

 

         R. Hallet stated that when she spoke to R. Davis yesterday, their fundraiser with Barb’s Center for Dance was very successful and they made more money than they anticipated.  Approximately $15,000.00 was raised through that fundraiser and R. Davis believes that those funds will take them through the month of December.  Freedom House is still looking for help starting in January 2010. 

 

         R. Aicher asked if Freedom House had mentioned anything about restructuring their long term debt payment on their mortgage.  The annual principal payment is significant and if they could get some relief on that, it would help them out on the short term basis as well.

 

            R. Hallet stated that R. Davis did not mention anything regarding that.

 

         D. Hallet stated that R. Davis mentioned at the last meeting of the Brown County Housing Authority that the end of the year usually brings in more donations because people are looking at funding for the end of the year. 

 

         R. Hallet stated that R. Davis did include that when she provided the figures for the handout.

 

         Ald. Piton stated Freedom House is a good cause and is one of the few places that people with kids can go when they need a place to stay.  If the Green Bay Housing Authority has the ability to help Freedom House through a rough patch, he does support that.  His concern would be if it were an ongoing obligation.  It seems to him that the help the Housing Authorities could provide would give Freedom House the time to get the fundraising efforts going. 

 

         R. Aicher stated that it appears Freedom House’s annual budget is around $600,000.00.  Based on the monthly expenses and projected income, the $60,000.00 would fit right into a $600,000.00 annual budget. 

 

         Ald. Piton stated that while it would be helpful to know if Freedom House is looking into restructuring their long term debt, it seems that the Director is doing the right things to keep this organization serving the needs of the community.

 

         R. Aicher stated that he personally would like to know the answer to the restructuring of the long term debt because it was previously presented to the Authority.

 

         D. Hallet stated that she knows R. Davis has been actively pursuing donations from the community. 

 

         R. Hallet stated that the handouts provided by Freedom House show what funds they believe they will be receiving.  From her discussion with R. Davis, Freedom House estimated these numbers on the low end so that they could be sure that they are meeting the minimum budget. 

 

         M. Welch stated that from what he sees, the shortfall total through March would be approximately $12,600.00 instead of $60,000.00. 

 

         R. Hallet stated that in the discussion she had with R. Davis over the phone, R. Davis was confident that Freedom House would be viable going forward.  They have a lot of different efforts to raise funds that they are just starting on.  Once these things get rolling, they feel they will be able to get a lot more money in from donations and fundraising efforts.  They are just looking for assistance to get past this difficult time.

 

         R. Strong stated that if the Authorities did want to provide financial assistance, it could be structured to not exceed a certain amount and for only a certain time frame.  The Authorities could also ask that after a certain amount of time, that Freedom House give an update on its fundraising efforts and where they stand financially.  He did make it clear to R. Davis that the Authorities did not want their funding to become a maintenance fund and for Freedom House to count on it every year.  This would be just to get Freedom House through this rough time and then they would be on their own after that. 

 

         Ald. Piton stated that to him, the worst case scenario is that Freedom House will stay open another six months and we spend money to make that happen.  Hopefully within those six months Director Davis can reshape the organization and finances in such a way so that Freedom House can thrive.

        

         R. Strong stated that the five year plans for both the Green Bay Housing Authority and the Brown County Housing Authority have identified family need as a mission. He does not believe that doing this would be setting a precedent and both Authorities are staying within their five year plan.

 

         R. Aicher stated that he felt that there needed to be accountability on a monthly basis.  If there is a month where they have more funds than they had predicted, then the amount of funds needed from the Authorities would shrink accordingly. He would like to see a report each month of the finances they have, the expenditures, and what effort is being done to bring money in to Freedom House. 

 

         D. Hallet stated that a question she would have liked to ask R. Davis is what happens to the families after they are helped through Freedom House.

 

         R. Hallet stated that Freedom House’s goal is to get the families that utilize their services to a point where they are able to provide for themselves living independently. She read from the materials previously provided by Freedom House which state that adult residents are required to attend budget/finance classes, basic parenting classes, job skills training, computer classes and other optional classes.  D. Slater also reiterated the life advancement services Freedom House provides its residents.

 

         R. Strong stated that from what he knows about Freedom House and their programs, they do a pretty good job of helping families become independent.  They don’t just shelter them for a period of time and then turn them loose. They have a high success rate with families not needing to return to Freedom House.

 

         R. Hallet stated that R. Davis is willing to come back in January if the Authorities would rather not make a decision today.  R. Hallet stated that she feels badly because staff did not notify R. Davis of the meeting today and also, she doesn’t want to inconvenience the commissioners by having to schedule another meeting. 

 

         D. Hallet stated that Freedom House seems to have enough funds for December so maybe having R. Davis come back in January would be a good idea.

 

         Ald. Piton stated that the piece that is missing for him is what is in their checking account right now.

 

         R. Hallet responded that when she and R. Strong spoke with R. Davis on December 7th, they did ask her that and at that time they had $7,600.00 in their checking account and $1,400.00 in their savings account.  R. Davis also stated that they have another account, which has money that is specifically used for a future project.  They would like to build a duplex to provide transitional housing to families.  They have done a lot of fundraising for this particular project and have raised a significant amount of money.  They partnered with Merrill Lynch for this fundraising and they currently have over $119,000.00 in that fund.  Merrill Lynch did agree that they could draw from those funds if it became a necessity to keep their doors open.  The Board for Freedom House is truly dedicated to this duplex project and would like to leave that option as a last resort. 

 

         Both Authorities agree that what needs to be decided is the amount needed, how it would be split between the two Authorities, and how long would this need be for.  The idea of creating a temporary account and having Freedom House inform the Authorities every month of how much they need to draw to fund the existing operation and not any growth of the organization is something both Authorities agree on.  The Authorities agree that this is a onetime effort on their part. 

 

            M. Welch questioned what the timeframe would be.

 

         R. Hallet stated that the money they just made from the fundraiser with Barb’s Center of Dance is designed to add to their yearlong budget and not just to cover one month.  However, that money is available if necessary to get through this month.

 

         R. Aicher suggested looking at a cap for how much money the Authorities would give to Freedom House and for what period of time. 

 

         R. Strong stated that what he is hearing is that the Authorities are interested in continuing to look at this request from Freedom House.  They would like to hear from R. Davis again and have a twelve month budget laid out estimating their shortfalls and showing what they are planning to do over the next twelve months.  Also, the Authorities would like to have an answer on the restructuring of their bank loan.   

 

         R. Hallet stated that Freedom House has hired someone to work on fundraising and grants.  They are updating their website so that people are able to donate online more easily.  They are doing a lot of different things that make it sound like the future is going to look a lot better for them. 

 

         R. Strong stated that the Green Bay Housing Authority has approximately $600,000.00 of unrestricted bond funds.  He stated that later in this meeting staff is going to ask the Green Bay Housing Authority to obligate approximately $200,000.00 as a cushion for a project that is ongoing and that would reduce the amount available to $400,000.00.

 

         A motion was made by Ald. Piton and seconded by D. Slater for the Green Bay Housing Authority to pay 30% of the amount to be provided by the GBHA and BCHA up to a maximum of $30,000.00, to be spent over the twelve months of 2010 for shortages to fund the existing operation of Freedom House based on their need monthly, with a monthly report provided to the Authorities for at least the first quarter of 2010.  Motion carried.

 

         M. Welch stated that Freedom House needs to understand that this is a short term source of funding. 

 

         R. Strong stated that a statement to that effect could be put into the agreement so that there is no misunderstanding.

 

         A motion was made by M. Welch and seconded by R. Aicher supporting the action made by the Green Bay Housing Authority but that they would like additional information from Freedom House such as the restructuring of their long term debt. If Freedom House is acceptable to this, the Brown County Housing Authority is very interested in continuing to look into this request. Motion carried.  

 

         A motion was made by R. Aicher and seconded by M. Welch to adjourn the special meeting of the Brown County Housing Authority at 11:30 a.m.  Motion carried.

 

Chairman Dolan-Wallace stated that item 3 would be taken next.

 

NEW BUSINESS:                          

 

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

 

            R. Hallet stated that M. Barron is going to give an update on the files.  When Barron Rentals took over the management of the Scattered Sites from ICS, it was discovered that there were many errors that needed to be resolved and possible overpayments that would be owed back to clients and then we would in turn ask ICS to pay that money back to us.

 

            M. Barron stated that each member of the Authority should have a listing of the addresses and what was wrong at each address.  There are still seven files where they need to go through the entire file and there are five files that she is waiting for verification from 2006.  She is hoping to have the review of all the files completed by the end of January.  A few payments/partial payments have already been issued back to the tenants.  Also, once the final dollar amount is determined, Barron Rentals will be asking for some write offs from the Housing Authority because some of the tenants technically owe the money because of an error and they were supposed to be paying more rent, but because this is so far gone and the tenants were never notified, she does not believe we could go back and ask them to pay.  Any monies that need to be reimbursed to the tenant for errors and reimbursements for the utility allowances will be the dollar amount that the Housing Authority will be out because that is the money that the Authority should have been getting from HUD as a subsidy.  The tenant was paying this money and they should not have been paying it.

 

            Ald. Piton asked if the HUD requests could be amended to straighten this out.

 

            M. Barron stated that she does not know but believes that what she had been told in the past by A. May Steffel is that the HUD requests are a done deal.

 

            D. Dolan-Wallace asked how much money the Authority would be out.

 

            M. Barron stated that she does not have a total yet but would expect it to be somewhere around the $50,000.00 range. This would include the reimbursements and the write offs.  She thinks that she should have a dollar amount for the Authority at the January meeting.

 

            R. Strong stated that M. Barron should provide the Authority with a breakdown of what money needs to be paid and whether it should be paid to the tenant or WPS.  He stated that we would need to check to see if operating funds or operating reserves could be used to help cover these costs instead of using the unrestricted funds.

 

            R. Hallet stated that another consideration is that we could charge ICS for this. 

 

            Ald. Piton stated that we could do that, but it would be after everything has been sorted out and the Authority has made the reimbursements.

 

            A motion was made by Ald. Piton and seconded by D. Slater to receive and place on file.   Motion carried.          

 

            R. Hallet stated that items 5 and 6 under staff report relate to Barron Rentals so she would like those to be moved up on the agenda.

 

STAFF REPORT:

 

5.         Report from Barron Rentals regarding plan of action for deficiencies noted on REAC inspection

 

            M. Barron stated that at a prior meeting R. Hallet had distributed a listing of the deficiencies found during the REAC inspections.  The list that the Authority has received today is for repairs that will need to be contracted out.  All other repairs have been completed or will be completed by the end of January.  The ones listed on the top of the page by address are items that would need to be contracted out with a majority of those items being windows and siding.

 

6.         Monthly report from Barron Rentals of deficiencies found in previous month’s Scattered Site quarterly inspections.

 

M. Barron stated that quarterly inspections have been added to the report she provides to the Authority so that the Authority can see what was inspected for the prior month and what deficiencies were found.  

 

            M. Barron stated that they do have appointments set up to do some more inspections for windows and foundations with Tom Dennee from NeighborWorks® Green Bay. 

 

            R. Strong asked about unit vacancies.

 

            M. Barron stated that there are six vacant units.  One unit was vacated because the spouse was not a U.S. citizen and he is waiting for his green card to come through.  The tenant opted to move out.  Another unit was an eviction that Barron Rentals started because of illegal activity and in the meantime, the tenants decided to vacate on their own.  There was another eviction started for nonpayment and the tenants vacated that unit on their own.  There is another unit vacated because of medical reasons.  There is one vacant unit that does have damages because the Drug Task Force busted down the door.  In the past, the Drug Task Force would contact M. Barron for a master key and she would provide that. They did not inform her of what unit they would be going to until the next day when it was all done and they returned the key.  The Police Department pays for this so she is going to submit the bill for the door.  She will let the Drug Task Force know that they can still obtain master keys from her so that they do not have to break down the doors.

 

NEW BUSINESS

 

3.         Review of bids and awarding of contract for GBHA MM 09-02: MASON MANOR STORAGE BUILDING ADDITION to the lowest qualified bidder.

 

            R. Hallet stated that she has a summary of the bids, which she distributed to the members.  The lowest bid is Howard Immel with a base bid of $1,595,000.00.  The alternate bid to add in masonry work throughout the exterior of the building came in at $3,050.00.  The alternate bid to remove the stairwell was included in the base bid and that would be a deduction of $208,985.00.

 

            R. Strong stated that the next question is if we can afford it.

 

            R. Hallet stated that we have $1.4 million set aside for the Addition from capital improvement funds going back to 2003 as well as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act money.  When you add those together, we are at $1,403,987.00.  There is a bit of a shortage depending on what the Authority would like to do.  Based on previous discussions, she is thinking that we would leave the stairwell out. The masonry work came in at such a good price that it would be to our advantage to go forward with that work with this contract.  If we take out the $208,985.00 and add in the $3,050.00, we are looking at the total cost being $1,455,760.00 (which includes $66,695 for the architect).  We did take a look at other categories that we had budgeted money for throughout Mason Manor for capital improvement and if we held off on doing those projects and dedicated that money towards the expansion project, we would have enough money and be about $10,000.00 over what is needed.  The projects that would be placed on hold would include:  $30,000.00 that was budgeted for resurfacing the parking lot, which based on what she has heard it sounds like we could hold off on that; $10,000.00 budgeted for sidewalk repair and mud jacking; $5,000.00 budgeted for gazebo improvements; $6,400.00 budgeted for furniture in the common areas; and $9,200.00 budgeted for furniture in the community room.  The one other area that we do need to keep the money that has been budgeted is for coating the retaining wall.

 

            R. Strong stated that this does not include any type of contingency.  We could use our unrestricted monies and set aside a certain amount for any overrun.  Ideally, he would like to only use the capital funds but we may have to use the reserve funds.  At this point, in order to award the contract, we would need to obligate the unrestricted funds for a contingency with the understanding that we are not going to do the stairwell.

 

            D. Dolan-Wallace asked if there are any hidden costs, if the storage lockers, painting, landscaping, etc is all included.

 

            D. Johnson, the architect, replied that yes, these costs are all included in the base bid.

 

            R. Hallet clarified that the cost for a new gazebo will be an additional cost, but can be added at a later date.

 

            Ald. Piton asked the city engineer, Ray Kurth what his recommendation would be.

 

            Ray Kurth stated that his recommendation is to award the contract for the base bid plus the outside masonry work, take off the stairwell, and allow for contingency money. 

 

            Ald. Piton clarified that this is the plan where basically we left a gap in the building so we could put the stairwell in later if needed.

 

            R. Hallet asked how the building would look from the exterior having a notch-out.  She is concerned if it would look strange because we could easily go some 20 years without adding the stairwell.

           

            D. Johnson stated that it would depend on how much improvement is done to the existing building.  If there is a more than 50% improvement done to the building then the stairwell will have to be added. 

 

            R. Strong questioned if there was some way that the stairwell on the other side could somehow be incorporated to meet the requirement.

 

            D. Johnson stated that the existing stairs do not meet the proper height requirement because they are too tall.  Also, the code requires an area rescue by the stairwell. 

 

            R. Hallet inquired again if this would look strange to have the building without a stairwell.

 

            Ray Kurth stated that it will be an angular wall that looks a little bit different than the rest of the building but will be finished with brick. 

 

            R. Strong stated that the Authority would need to authorize the elimination of the projects that were summarized by R. Hallet and instead be used for this addition, to award this contract, and $100,000.00 of unrestricted funds to be obligated for the contingency fund.

 

            Ald. Piton asked A. Monday what she thought of the reallocation of the funds.

 

            A. Monday stated that she and R. Hallet did discuss this and they both agree that everything could wait except for the retaining wall and the back patio area. 

 

            R. Hallet stated that there are a couple of other options that the Authority could consider.  Instead of removing the money from these different projects to utilize capital funds, we could use money from the unrestricted funds but that has its draw backs as well.  Another option would be to delay installing the epoxy flooring and the lockers, which would save money now but would cost more later when they are added back in. 

 

            A motion was made by Ald. Piton and seconded by D. Slater to award the GBHA MM 09-02: MASON MANOR STORAGE BUILDING ADDITION to the lowest qualified bidder, Howard Immel, Inc. with Alternate Bids AB (adding masonry repairs to the existing building) and AC (deduction for elimination of new stairwell), and to authorize the movement of funds as discussed to the Mason Manor project and to obligate $100,000.00 for contingency out of the unrestricted funds.  Motion carried.

 

INFORMATIONAL:

 

4.         Admissions and Continued Occupancy Policies have been updated to indicate Barron Rentals as the property manager instead of Integrated Community Services, Inc.  Also, over next year ACOP will be completely revised to ensure compliance with all HUD requirements, inclusion of all local practices and consistency where needed between practices of Scattered Sites and Mason Manor.

 

            R. Hallet stated that after looking at the ACOP, we updated it to indicate Barron Rentals as the manager of the Scattered Sites.  Also, over the next year or so the ACOP will be completely overhauled as parts of it are outdated and we want to also include our current practices which may not be part of the ACOP. 

 

FINANCIAL REPORT AND BILLS:

 

            R. Hallet distributed the financial reports and bills. 

 

A motion was made by D. Slater and seconded by Ald. Piton to approve the financial report and bills and place the report on file.  Motion carried.

 

STAFF REPORT:

 

7.         Ramp repair update on costs.      

 

R. Hallet stated that there was an additional cost for electrical during the ramp repair.  The conduit was eroded and so it needed to be upgraded.  The cost was $527.95, in addition to the original contract of $55,620.00.  This had to be taken care of quickly so that the contractors could continue with their ramp repair work.

 

8.         The bonds for University Village Housing, Inc. have been completed.

 

R. Hallet stated that the bond issue for University Village Housing, Inc. has been completed.  She thanked the Authority for their effort to make that project possible.

 

9.         Discussion on changing the date of the January 21, 2010, GBHA meeting.  

 

R. Hallet stated that the next meeting is currently scheduled for January 21st but both and her R. Strong will not be available to attend.  She will be in training and R. Strong will be out of state on vacation. 

 

The Authority has agreed to reschedule the January 21, 2010, meeting to January 28, 2010.  Motion carried.

 

A motion was made by D. Slater and seconded by Ald. Piton to adjourn the meeting at 12:32 p.m.  Motion carried.

 

:dr