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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04-03-2007 CHA MINUTESCaldwell Housing Authority Minutes of Meeting April 3, 2007 Board Members Present Roll Call: Andy Rodriguez, Dana Schuck, and Patricia Benedict, Sid Freeman, Rick Wells Staff Present: Mike Dittenber, Ayde Cortina Absent: Estella Zamora Quests: None In order of business: Roll call and call to order Estella and Sid had not arrived to the meeting by 12:00pm. Estella had indicated that she would not be able to attend the meeting because of a scheduling conflict. Andy calls the meeting to order at 12:00 and asked if there were any recommended changes to the agenda. He noted Lt. Daren Ward, the guest speaker would not be available for the meeting. 2 Review of March minutes Member present took approximately 2 minutes to further review the minutes before action was taken. At approximately 12 :03, Patti made a motion to accept the minutes; they were seconded by Dana and the minutes were approved by the board. The Executive Session was postponed to a later spot on the agenda. Financial Report Ayde Cortina gave financial reports for both January and February. January reports were postponed because of the annual audit. Andy asked where on the budget was workers compensation listed, and does CHA pay a year's worth up -front? Ayde indicated workers compensation bills monthly, similar to our health insurance policy. Dana asked how much we had in the bank after monthly bills were paid. Mike indicated there was approximately $17,000 in the bank after bills, but suggested much of that may be from rent deposits for the following month. Mike explained that the budget does not reflect cost associated with remodeling the store and that most of the expenses for the store were charged to credit cards and the bills would be showing up in the following months. Ayde explained that the $10,000 reserve payments were being made on time and in addition to a $5,000 back payment. Rick Wells asked if there was a process by which CHA could earmark, or anticipate future capital improvement costs. Rick indicated the City is in preliminary discussions about expanding sewer services and wanted to know if CHA could afford to hookup to city sewer services. Mike indicated that at $2,100 per household to hook up to the sewer line, it could cost CHA $520,000 or mare - -a cost Rural Development may not fund, making it financial impossible at this time to connect to city services. Mike suggested the City of Caldwell purchase our existing waste water treatment plant and expand its capacity and offer services to future development rather than tunneling the Boise River. Rick suggested it might only be a $100,000 to $200,000 to hook CHA main sewer line into a new sewer loop. Andy asked if there was any other discussion about the finances. There was none. 12:17pm Andy made a motion to accept the financial reports as provided. Seconded by Patti and the financial reports were approved. 4 Director's Report Mike explained the current situation with EPA and the waste water sampling issues. CHA had findings from the EPA inspection that Holladay Engineering is helping CHA address. One solution would be to contract with a company that specializes in waste water sampling. The annual cost would be $24,000, approximately $15,000 less than the wages and benefits of the maintenance worker that resigned. Mike indicated that it would be better to reassign Juan to do other maintenance activities, contract with someone to do the waste water sampling, and not re- hire someone for the vacant position. Andy asked if CHA would have enough personnel to perform all the required tasks. Bothe Ayde and Mike indicated there was enough personnel, and that it was a matter of making the proper assignments for existing personnel. Sid Freeman joined the meeting at 12:31pm. Mike spoke about some changes being made to the housing inspection and the lease agreements. CHA is going to have a more strict lease agreement and make tenants more responsible for the damages to their units. CHA was also going to take a Zero - Tolerance approach to gangs and criminal activity. Mike indicated he is still working with the Sheriff s Office to get an officer assigned to Farmway full -time. Mike indicated that several items have been removed from the asset inventory list and it might look like CHA had a net loss in the 2006 budget. Items removed from the asset list were old items that no longer existed or were incorrectly added to the list in the first place. Mike indicated the store remodeling was coming along nicely and that CHA anticipated a May 1 opening date. The reconstruction of the burnt buildings are on schedule and should be opened in late May or early June. Mike asked about attending training for his drinking water certification. There was training in both Coeur d'Alene and Idaho Falls. The cost of attending the training was approximately $924, including travel, hotel, meals, and other incidentals. The training is scheduled for May 15'" through the 17`". Andy noted the necessity of attending the training. Dana indicated that Mike should attend the training if it was required for certification, but had no preference on which training he should attend. Mike thought the May training in CDA would be more appropriate considering his schedule. Andy asked if this was an action item .... NOTE: this is the paint when the batteries in the tape recorder were dead and quit working. Board approved training, but the details were not recorded. 1:15pm Entered Executive Session 1:26pm Exited Executive Session Adjourned: 1:28pm Caldwell Housing Authority Minutes of Meeting August 7, 2007 Board Members Present: Andy Rodriguez, Dana Schuck, Patricia Benedict, Estella Zamora, Sid Freeman Staff Present: Mike Dittenber Absent: Rick Wells Quests: None In order of business: Roll call and call to order Estella Zamora called the meeting to order at 12:13pm. 2 Review of July minutes Mike provided minutes to the Board members at the meeting after he told them that they would not likely be available because of time constraints and Ayde's absence on bereavement leave. Estella asked if everyone had a chance to review the minutes. Sid indicated he had not read the minutes. Estella asked if there was anything in the minutes that needed to be discussed. Mike indicated there was nothing to review in the minutes but indicated that changes to the June minutes were made to reflect Andy's absence and Lt. Wards participation at the meeting. Andy suggested everyone take a few minutes reading the minutes and just proceed with approving the minutest approximately At 12:16 Andy made a motion to accept the minutes, seconded by Sid; July minutes approved. 3 Guest presentation —NONE 4 Financial Report [Postponed because of Ayde's absence] Directors Report Mike indicated he did not have time to complete the usual director's report. Estella commented that the whole meeting is considered the Director's report. Estella understood Mike's busy schedule and Sid agreed and said he appreciated Mike's diligent work. 6 New Business Mike spoke of the vendors who visit the housing authority. He indicated he has asked the vendors, via letter in both English and Spanish, asking them not to vend anymore at the housing authority. The vendors stopped coming during the day, but started coming in the evenings after staff had retired for the day. Rather than fighting the vendors, Mike indicated he asked the vendors to register (for lack of better explanation) with the office before vending. Mike suspected many of the products vended are either stolen or pirated materials. However, some are legitimate items such as the La Pinata bread company. Mike said he had sought advice from the CHA attorney and Steve from RD but neither one of them weighed in yet. Mike had a discussion earlier in the week with Estella and was of the same opinion that we can restrict vendors at CHA. Sid mentioned the board had this discussion 2 years ago and had decided then to prohibit vending. He commented that he had no idea there were that many vendors. Sid also indicated that the bread -man could sell his bread through the store. Mike said he explained to the bread -man but he was unwilling to sell to a 3` party —it takes a cut of his profits. Andy said we need to operate as a business and as long as the store is paying rent, we will give the store exclusive selling right at CHA. Estella indicated liability is the greatest concern. Estella said she did some research and the county vendor agreement has $1 million Iiability and $2 million aggregate. However, the commissioners run the housing authority and can set whatever policy the commissioners so desire. The board passed a resolution (reaffirming): Dana made a motion that the Board set policy prohibiting vending by anyone other than tenants of the store; seconded by Andy; unanimously approved. Drinking water problem. Mike shared with the board the e-mail correspondence with DEQ with regards to the drinking water violations. Mike indicated CHA received several positive tests and was given an MCL violation. Mike also indicated CHA is on the DEQ's serious non - compliers list and are on the verge of being turned over to EPA for enforcement. If that was the case, CHA could receive a $10,000 a day fine and be required to treat the water. As it is now, CHA treats the water voluntarily. Mike provided further explanation about what is going on with the drinking water system. Mike indicated he has received training on using the chlorine testing equipment and is actively testing the water on a daily basis. Sid indicated the necessity to keep accurate records, including logbooks, about the chlorination system. He also indicated that the board was always told that "everything is being taken care of. " Estella also indicated that she understood that "everything was taken care of " Mike commented that Holladay does a good job of "patching" an inadequate system, but really isn't providing the long -term attention needed for CHA's delicate water system. Over the years, CHA has abdicated its responsibility to maintain its own water system. Mike also told the board no one really knew where all the water line were and there are no known plans that identifies the locations. What needs to happen is the water lines need to be looped, but CHA would need approximately $100,000 to complete the waterline loops. Estella asked about the history of MCL violations. Mike explained that CHA has had several violations over the years and they were primarily issued because CHA failed to send the required samples. Andy asked if Juan was required to do the samples during that time period. Mike said he (or someone at CHA) was required to do the sampling, but would withhold judgment because he was not the director during that time. Mike indicated that Mike Holladay will be retiring next year and that might be a good time to send engineering services out to bid. Estella asked if we were required to notify the residents of the MCL drinking water violation. Mike said CHA was required to notify the tenants but only after the problem has been corrected. Sid remembers being in this situation before, but never understood the severity of the issue. Offices for the Sheriff's Deputies. Mike indicated he was going to start the construction of the offices for the deputies, and that the sheriff indicated he was willing to assign 2 deputies at the housing authority. Estella said CHA would want to negotiate the terms of their presence, especially if there was a fiscal impact. Estella wanted to make sure LE presence at CHA does not create a martial law environment. 7 Executive Session At 1:15pm, Sid made a motion to go into executive session, Andy seconded —executive session. Atl :25pm the board exited executive session. Estella asked if CHA was going to contribute to Farm Worker Appreciation. Mike indicated that CHA had budgeted for the expense. Donation was affirmed in a motion by Andy, seconded by Sid, unanimously approved. Adjourn: 1:30pm