MINUTES. SOUTH PORTLAND HOUSING AUTHORITY 100 Waterman Drive, Suite 101 SOUTH PORTLAND, MAINE 04106

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1 Exhibit A MINUTES Regular Meeting SOUTH PORTLAND HOUSING AUTHORITY 100 Waterman Drive, Suite 101 SOUTH PORTLAND, MAINE Wednesday, July 31, 2013, 7:00 p.m. Location: 100 Waterman Drive I. ROLL CALL Chairman Glynn called the meeting to order at 7:30 PM. At Roll Call the following were present: Kevin Glynn, Chairman; Christine Dearborn, Vice Chairman; Elizabeth Ross; Frank Morong; Lolita Ball; Mary Jo Jakab; Michael Russell; Michael Hulsey, Executive Director. Staff Members and others present: Lisa Viola, Deputy Director; John Gerken, Director of Facilities & Maintenance; Doug Sabo, Director of Finance; Karen Dunfey, Exec. Asst. & HR Coordinator; Aimee Chretien, Receptionist; Gary Vogel, Esq.; Ron Worden, Otis Atwell. II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Approval of the Minutes of the June 26, 2013, Regular Meeting (Exhibit A) RESOLUTION #:6101 A Motion to approve the Minutes of the June 26, 2013, Regular Meeting was made by Commissioner Dearborn and seconded by Commissioner Morong. III. COMMENTS FROM THE RESIDENTS/PUBLIC IN ATTENDANCE None. Chairman Glynn requested that the Board to take Item VII out of order. 1

2 RESOLUTION #:6102 A Motion to take Item VII, Old Business, out of order was made by Commissioner Ross and seconded by Commissioner Morong. VII. OLD BUSINESS Review, discussion, and acceptance of Audit Report (Exhibit E) Auditor Ronald L. Worden, CPA, of Otis Atwell provided a handout to accompany the Audit report. Mr. Worden reviewed the Audit, and answered questions from the Commissioners. Mr. Worden said the opinion of the financial statements is Unqualifiied which means that the financial statements are presented in accordance with General Accepted Accounting Principles. The audit determined no internal control or compliance findings, no modifications to internal controls or compliance needed per auditors. The Housing Authority continues to do a great job with respect to these areas. Chairman Glynn: From your review of our internal controls and our policies, did you find any areas that should be strengthened or enhanced as a result of your audit? Mr. Worden responded that he did not at this point. He said when he arrived for the audit he was mindful of the Somersworth Housing Authority fraud that happened some years back; they have since recommended checks and balances to be put in place in all Housing Authorities that they audit. SPHA has checks and balances in place. Doug Sabo stated that SPHA has a three-step process for check reconciliation: finance staff members reconcile bank statements, then the Finance Director reviews the bank statements and signs off, then the Executive Director reviews the bank statements and signs off. Mr. Worden stated that this process was all we need, and all they are looking for, to have multiple people involved in reconciliation. RESOLUTION #:6103 A Motion to accept the Audit Report was made by Commissioner Morong and seconded by Commissioner Dearborn. IV. COMMISSIONERS BUSINESS a) Chairman Glynn: Welcome to new resident Commissioner Mike Russell, a resident of Landry Village. Chairman Glynn attended the City Council workshop on July 15 th as did Mike Hulsey, Lisa Viola, and John Gerken. They requested City support for SPHA s request to HUD to sell 20 existing Public Housing units to SPHDC and build 20 new Public Housing units at Landry Village. Existing residents in the units sold would receive HCV vouchers and would not be 2

3 required to move. The City supported the proposal and spoke favorably about the Housing Authority. At the NAHRO Conference in Denver, much attention paid to the Massachusetts plan to merge all existing housing authorities into 16 regional housing authorities; an alternative proposal was presented by NERC-NAHRO that utilizes collaboration and other methods to provide savings. More budget cuts to HUD are expected from Congress, making additional sources of revenue, and efforts to economize very needed. b) Vice-Chairman Dearborn: Watched the workshop on TV, appreciated that the Council was actively interested and positive toward the Housing Authority s plans. c) Commissioner Morong: Thank you to Doug Sabo for all the work on financial documents. The church on Church St. off of Ridgeland Avenue is now closed, very dilapidated. d) Commissioner Ross: Attended the NAHRO Conference in Denver, and visited a new development site with parking underneath the structure. The unexpected savings resulting from underground parking allowed them to install central A/C in all of the units. e) Commissioner Ball: Appreciated being able to participate in the meeting via telephone last month. She could hear everything anyone said very clearly, and was heard by the attendees as though she were in the room. f) Commissioner Jakab: Nothing. g) Commissioner Russell: Pleased to be a Commissioner. Enjoys life at Landry Village very much, serves as co-chair of Resident Council. V. REPORT OF THE COMMITTEES a) Technology Committee update (Exhibit B) b) Scholarship Committee update: Awards will be sent to the recipients respective schools soon. Chairman Glynn asked if a ceremonial presentation could be arranged. c) Finance Committee update (Exhibit C) d) Regional Housing Authorities Committee update: Chairman Glynn and Executive Director Mike Hulsey attended the meeting of 7/31/2013. The Central Waiting List currently has 3,015 applicants, with 160 new in July. They are working on an online application for the fall. The Committee is looking at sharing the costs of a Development staff person, as all three HAs have projects in the works. That person may be an Independent Contractor, or may be a staff member. Anticipated total costs would be in the $80,000 salary and $40,000 fringe benefits range, to be divided according to time utilized. He asked for feedback from the Board. Commissioner Ball suggested that a trial period might be advisable; Commissioner Morong is cautiously opposed at this point; Commissioner Ross said the concept sounds good but that there may be many potential problems to work out and we should be very cautious. Commissioner Ball asked if an in-house person would give us more control; Executive Director Hulsey responded that we cannot afford a staff person on our own. Chairman Glynn recommended giving the shared person a try, as we have a cooperative and collaborative group who wants this to work. Commissioner Morong noted that both Portland and Westbrook are assisted by their city-based Economic Development department; SPHA is not. 3

4 In polling the board, all Commissioners except Commissioner Morong were in support of moving forward. Commissioner Jakab questioned the competitive nature of the three HAs projects, and would that be a conflict that might result in our needs not being addressed? Executive Director Hulsey responded that we always have competition, that our staff would also be involved, and we would address any problems that arose. A formal vote on hiring a Development Director will take place when necessary. e) Naming Committee update (Exhibit D): The naming committee met at 425 Broadway to meet with residents about the signage for the building. They shared with residents a new design for the sign, and the residents preferred the new design overwhelmingly. The residents expressed appreciation that their opinions were listened to and that action was taken. Timing for the installation of the new sign will be determined, and a date set at the September meeting. VI. REPORT OF THE SECRETARY E.D. Update: 1. Ridgeland Gardens: we will apply for the next round of tax-credit and FHLB- Boston funding in September. 2. Landry Village: we are working with the DEP on storm water treatment issues; this has resulted in a delay for the project. 3. Roosevelt School: formerly a Spurwink School, this property is being sold by the City of South Portland; property must have 30% open space at completion of development. We are working with architect Rick Goduti, his plan would accommodate 15 units in the existing building and 18 units in an additional building to be constructed. 4. St. John s Church: this property is under contract, no other details available. 5. Waterman Drive 2 nd floor: we have sent a Letter of Intent to a prospective tenant, who would utilize 5,000 s.f. +/-. 6. Lincoln School: owner/occupier Greater Portland Christian School is fixing up the property, will stay there for a few years. VIII. NEW BUSINESS Presentation of proposed budget Doug Sabo, Michael Hulsey (Exhibit F) Next year s budget was discussed, with no certainty of funding levels from Congress a very big concern. Operating subsidy is 69% of previous levels. Executive Director Hulsey noted that staff raises this year are not requested. He suggested that the Board provide staff with two designated holidays for FY14. The offices would be closed for these holidays. Dates for these holidays would be determined by the Executive Director. RESOLUTION #:6104 A Motion to approve the Budget as proposed was made by Commissioner Morong and seconded by Commissioner Dearborn. 4

5 RESOLUTION #:6105 A Motion to approve two paid holidays for staff for FY2014 only, on dates to be determined by the Executive Director, in recognition that no pay raises are scheduled for FY2014 was made by Chairman Glynn and seconded by Commissioner Ross. IX. LEGAL AND FINANCIAL BUSINESS a) Acceptance of the legal communications from Gary Vogel, Esq., and Wendy Paradis, Esq. (Exhibit G) RESOLUTION#: 6106 A Motion to accept the legal communications from Gary Vogel, Esq., and Wendy Paradis, Esq., was made by Commissioner Morong and seconded by Commissioner Dearborn. b) Acceptance of financial report from Doug Sabo (Exhibit H) RESOLUTION#: 6107 A Motion to accept the financial report from Doug Sabo was made by Commissioner Morong and seconded by Commissioner Dearborn. X. INFORMATION AND CORRESPONDENCE a) Commissioners Newsletter (Exhibit I) b) Activities Schedule for August (Exhibit J) XI. ADJOURNMENT RESOLUTION#:6108 A Motion to Adjourn was made by Commissioner Dearborn and seconded by Commissioner Ball. Time: 9:11 PM. Respectfully Submitted, Michael Hulsey, Secretary 5