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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021.08.19 - Minutes, Housing Authority R:Administrative/Board Meeting Minutes/2021 Board Meeting Minutes August 19, 2021 Chairman – Nicholas V. Hill, Sr. Members Present Members Absent Staff Present Nicholas V. Hill, Sr. Ayodeji Badaki Corinne Guglielmini Ronnie Brezler Comm. Burkett Keith McMunn Bill Beard Marlene Benson Amanda Gregg David Pool Tasha Walls 1. The Regular meeting was called to order by Chair Nicholas V. Hill, Sr. at 12:03 pm. 2. There were no public comments noted. 3. There were no changes to the August 19, 2021 agenda. 4. A motion to approve the June 2021 minutes (no meeting in July) with no changes was made by Mr. Pool and it was seconded by Mr. Beard. Motion passed. 5. Washington County Housing Solutions (WCHS) - We are working through a grant at Blue Mountain Estates (BME) for hot water heaters, LED lighting, low flow shower heads and a new p-tac unit in the community center for approximately $13,000. 6. The HAWC Retreat that was scheduled for September 14, 2021 has been postponed with a date to be determined. 7. Mr. Hill welcomed our two new board members: Amanda Gregg and Commissioner Charles Burkett. 8. We had two FSS graduates in June. 9. Open Meeting Act – Upon advice from our lawyer, Ms. Guglielmini is now certified in the Open Meeting Act 2021. Our agency is required to follow this act. At the beginning of a closed session a statement needs to be read. There is a checklist available to follow. In addition, advanced notice and proper advertising needs to be given before the meeting is closed. An agenda must be provided and minutes are to be kept. This is all for transparency. The key here is don’t go to closed session unless absolutely necessary. The only reasons to close a meeting for HAWC would be a national disaster or an Executive Director issue. There could be compliance fines for not following the procedures. In addition to Ms. Guglielmini, someone else from the Board needs to become certified. Discussion held that Mr. Badaki get certified with Mr. Brezler as the backup. A motion to move forward with the Board to get certified was made by Mr. Beard and it was seconded by Ms. Gregg. Motion passed. 10. There is no update regarding Francis Murphy. 11. Financial Report – • For the month of August 31, 2021, first month of the new fiscal year, net revenue was favorable to budget. A shortfall in the budgeted BME grant revenue was offset by HUD overpayment of funding used for disbursement to our landlords. The energy grant for BME was budgeted in its entirety in FY2022 while the first payment was received and booked in June 2021. Maintenance costs continue to run under budgeted levels due to high occupancy rates and reduced turnover. Net income was favorable to budget. This is a strong start for FY2022 and will allow us to absorb the YTD corrections HUD will make later in the year. The new auditors were here in August for the HCV portion and will return in September for the financial portion. • Francis Murphy’s revenue for the month is favorable to budget. Expenditures were also favorable to budget. YTD income continues to run favorable to budget. Both YTD revenue and expenditures are very consistent with the previous year’s results. • Currently we have $1.9M in the money market account. A motion was made by Mr. Beard to accept the financial report with a second by Mr. Pool. Motion passed. 12. Executive Director’s Report – • The Community Action Council (CAC) received $6 million for the Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP). • The new payment standard goes into effective January 1, 2022 and the amount for rental assistance increased over last year. Hopefully this will help with the vouchers to be utilized. • Our voucher utilization is down by about 30. Typically HAWC issues 60 vouchers a year and there are 1700 people on the waitlist for a voucher. HAWC has never closed our waitlist but at this point we are considering doing so for the following reasons: 1. There will not be a stampede when we reopen due to the waitlist applications online 2. Don’t want to give applicants false hope 3. It’s costly and time consuming to manage such a waitlist 4. Out-of-staters from applying • SEMAP reporting is due on August 28. • Fraud recovery efforts are mandatory and time sensitive. HAWC is dealing with many more fraud cases than usual due to the lowering of verification requirements issued by HUD during the beginning of Covid-19. • YARDI is the new housing software and the conversion is ongoing. • Looking into the possibility of developing our property next to Tanglewood. A motion was made by Mr. Beard to adjourn the Board meeting with a second by Mr. Pool. Motion passed. 13. The regular meeting adjourned at approximately 1:16 pm. 14. Next meeting on Thursday, September 16, 2021 at 12:00 pm.