Fitchburg Housing Authority

FITCHBURG CITY CLERK Fitchburg Housing Authority Jul 24 2024 8:43 am Minutes of FHA Regular Board Meeting, May 15, 2024 Canton Valley Community Room, 24 Valley Street, Fitchburg, MA A Regular Meeting of the Fitchburg Housing Authority was called to order by Chair, Linda Byrne at 8:30 AM on Wednesday, May 15, 2024, in the Canton Valley Community Room at 24 Valley Street in the City of Fitchburg, Massachusetts. Present: Absent: FHA Board Members: FHA Board Members: Linda Byrne, Chair Adam Goodwin, Vice Chair David Basilio, Treasurer David Rousseau, Member-Tenant Representative (Arrived at 8:35am) Thomas Hughes, Member-State Appointee FHA Staff: Douglas M. Bushman, Esq., Executive Director & CPO, FHA Board Secretary FHA Staff: Andrew Skoog, Deputy Director Yoko Ishii, Executive Clerical Assistant Genesis Ruiz, Director of Public & Community Housing Bruce Budrick, Director of Maintenance and Facilities Alicia Santucci, Executive Clerical Assistant Marci Haneisen, FSS Coordinator & resident service Coordinator (left at 8:55am) Brianna Boulay, Resident Service Coordinator (left at 8:55am) Jonathan Hughes, FSU College Intern Ada Alvarado, Director of Shelter Services (arrived at 10am) Mayor’s Office Myles Phillips-Wilcox, Deputy Chief of Staff, Fitchburg Mayor’s office FHA Tenants: None Quorum: Yes (Quorum Requirement: Three FHA Board Members) 1. Motion to Open Meeting Chair, Linda Byrne opened the meeting at 8:30 am Move: Adam Goodwin Second: David Basilio All in favor 2. Motion to Open Public Comment on Agenda Items, Maintenance, & Occupancy Issues Move: David Rousseau Second: David Basilio All in favor No Public Attended. 3. Motion to Approve Minutes as amended of Regular Session Meeting held on April 17, 2024 Move: Thomas Hughes Second: Adam Goodwin All in favor 4. Motion to Approve Minutes of Executive Session Meeting held on April 17, 2024 Move: Adam Goodwin Second: David Basilio All in favor 5. Motion to Approve FHA Payables for April -May FY 24 (Attachment A) Move: Adam Goodwin Second: David Basilio All in favor The Chair requested to add staff names to the payroll Register page on Attachment A. Also, she asked what is the attorney fee in revolving account, and about OFH rent payable. The Board discussed Housing Authority inspection matters. David Basilio, Treasurer, asked about Maintenance payment for Opportunities for Hope. 6. New RSC Staff- Brianna Boulay & New College Intern Jordan Hughes The Executive Director introduced the New Resident Service Coordinator, Brianna Boulay, to the Board. Marci Haneisen, FSS Coordinator & Resident Service Coordinator stated that Brianna came to the FHA with tremendous “Teamwork, Excellence and Ability for Your Home and Family”  experience. Jordan Hughes, FSU College Intern, was introduced by Bruce Budrick, Director of Maintenance & Facilities, stating that he is doing fantastic, and is a self-starter. 7. Motion to Approve January -February FY2024 Financial/Budget (Attachment B) Move: Thomas Hughes Second: Adam Goodwin All in favor Douglas Bushman, Executive Director, stated that the HLC has authorized 10 Maintenance employees, which is great. The Board discussed the 689c program rent fee. The Executive Director stated that the shelter is contracted with HLC, and maintenance is limited. Open Sky is responsible for the day-to-day maintenance issues. The Executive Director explained the reimbursement with Force Account. He added that the Budget has not been approved yet and submitted 225K extra exemption. The Board discussed the other budget line items. 8. Tenant Account Receivable (TAR) Updates (Attachment C) The Executive Director explained briefly about TAR and write-off. 9. Audit and Management Reviews (Attachment D) The Executive Director stated that the RMR was approved. Corrective action for TAR. Also, Expenses for Mod as not reported to CPA properly. The CPA is now booking month-to Month for this reimbursement properly. Another corrective action was for the adjusted net income due to the FHA’s unexpended budget at the end of FY2023 which was 17% while the EOHLC PMR standard only allows for 15% unexpended budget amount. Motion to Accept 2023 Performance management Review (PMR) Move: Thomas Hughes Second: David Basilio All in favor 10. Eviction Andrew Skoog, Deputy Director, updated that there were 9 evictions served recently, 4 requested grievance hearings, 10 14-Day notice cases, 11 30-Day Notice cases, 1 Court case for May scheduled for this Friday. A total of 14 evictions served and 1 Forced eviction this year. The Board discussed the eviction cases. 11. Vacancy The Deputy Director said that there was a large drop in vacancies. 7 vacant, 14 leased up due to the relocation. There will be more in May. The Executive Director recognized Genesis Ruiz, Director of Public and Community Housing and Bruce Budrick, Director of Maintenance and Facilities for their labor toward the vacancy rate. The Board discussed the CHAMP system. The Board discussed the inspection matters if it would be better to outsource 3 rd party inspection company for the state inspection. The Director of Maintenance and Facilities stated the maintenance crews report if a safety issue was founded upon entering the unit to repair. The Chair was concerned about the safety issues. The Board discussed how the inspection was conducted. The Executive Director explained that Marci Haneisen, RSC, has been working on hoarding issues. The Board discussed a pilot program for reducing the TAR and evictions. Adam Goodwin, Vice Chair, mentioned that a 3rd party inspection company is still an option. Motion to Authorize Executive Director to Get Funding to Create 3-Year Pilot Program of Professional Dedicated Inspection Employee to Determine if the Inspection Reduce the TAR , Evictions and Lease Compliant Issues Move: David Rousseau Second: David Basilio All in favor 12. Union Agreement Mediation (Attachment F - Motion to Approve Final Collective Bargaining Agreement FHA & Local 2034 This motion was tabled due to delay of reviewing by the Union. The Board will discuss this topic at the Executive Session. Resident Services The Executive Director said that ASHP Completion Event at Wallace Tower went well, also he mentioned RSC department was busy doing the different events this month. “Teamwork, Excellence and Ability for Your Home and Family” Construction 13. Project# 097120 Daniels Heights Parking & Curb Replacement Project The Deputy Director updated the status. An engineer has been selected and is currently working on schematic design. 14. Project# 097132 Wallace Tower Bidding State(Attachment H, I J) The Executive Director discussed the Bid result which is 8.89 million over than expected. The Board discussed whether the 22 million bid is reasonable. Motion to Accept Lowest Responsive Bid-Interior Project#097132 $22,577,881-G.V.W., Inc Move: Thomas Hughes Second: David Basilio All in favor The Executive Director spoke about the fact that a private citizen contacted many officials in the City of Fitchburg about the exterior ramp. The Fitchburg Building Department conducted the Occupancy Permit Inspection of the building. The result of the inspection was a failure and the Building Department indicated it would not issue an occupancy permit and may seek to take the building and relocate all residents. A meeting was held at the mayor’s office on May 7, 2024, to discuss the issue with Fitchburg Fire Department, Building Department and the FHA Executive Director, Deputy Director, and Director of Maintenance & Facilities. The FHA presented the documentation that shows the code issue will be addressed in the upcoming MODPhase project (Project#097132) and it was agreed that most critical items, such as the fire pump, will be corrected immediately. The Executive Director stated that these issues could help us to fill the gap in funding between the construction budget and the bid amount which was $8 million higher. The Director of Maintenance & Facilities spoke about the background of Fire pump issues. And he mentioned that Fire Watch by FHA maintenance staff will be conducted with 2-hour shift until Fire pump is tested, adding that pump will be replaced in the project 097132. 15. Project# 097156 Creative Placemaking, C. J. Durkin The Executive Director said that the Bid went out. Site visit is May 14, and Bid opening will be May 31. 16. Project# 097161-76 Mechanic Street This is going to be rebid. 17. Project# 097181 Storm Door Replacement Project-Green Acres, Force Account On going. 18. Project# 097189 Underground Drainage Repair at Durkin The Director of Maintenance and Facilities spoke about the pipe collapsed on the 4th floor of Durkin building. Luckily the contractors were able to find the cause and make a temporary repair by May 2, 2024. The tenants affected by this issue did not need to be evacuated. The full Scope of work of this project will be found today. 19. Motion to Approve Project 097165-ASHP at Wallace Tower -Certificate of Substantial Completion & Partial Release of Retainage Move: Adam Goodwin Second: David Basilio All in favor 20. Motion to Pause the FHA Regular Meeting (at 10:13 am) Move: Adam Goodwin Second: Thomas Hughes All in favor The FHA regular meeting was paused due to the OFH Board meeting entering. 21. Motion to Reopen the FHA Regular Meeting (at 10:48 am) Move: Adam Goodwin Second: David Basilio All in favor 22. Recognized Mr. Rousseau’s 10-Year Service to the FHA as a Board Member. Mr. David Rousseau was recognized his 10-year services as a Board member & president of C. J. Durkin LTO to the FHA. The certificate was given to him. “Teamwork, Excellence and Ability for Your Home and Family” Dave Rousseau left at 10:53 am. 23. Motion to Enter to the Executive Session (at 10:54 am) Move: Adam Goodwin Second: Thomas Hughes All in favor 24. Motion to Close to the Executive Session (at 11:44 am) Move: Adam Goodwin Second: Dave Basilio All in favor 25. Motion to Adjourn Regular Session (at 11:45 am) Move: Tom Hughes Second: Adam Goodwin All in favor “Teamwork, Excellence and Ability for Your Home and Family”