Norman Housing Authority Meeting

Legend: AGENDA - green MINUTES - white ATTACHM ENTS - blue RESOLUTIONS - yellow ,,~- HOUSING AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF NORMAN BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS REGULAR BOARD MEETING SEPTEMBER 16, 2019 12:30 p.m. (Board Member Lunch 12:00pm-12:30pm in Execut ive Offi ce) Administration/Resident Initiatives Building (Handicap Accessible) 700 North Berry Road Norman, Oklahom a 73069 MIN UTES ITEM 1. ROLL CALL I Chairman Jeff Cummins declared a quorum present and called the meeting to order at 12:30 P.M. I COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Jeff Cummins Chairman I Marianne Ratliff Rick McKinney Vice-Chairperson Commissioner Jan Hunter Commissioner I COMMISSIONERS ABSENT: I Paul Austin Commissioner STA FF PRESENT: I Karen Canavan Executive Director Sherri Hunt Deputy Executive Director I Barbra Ruth Bobbe Feher-Nist Executive Assistant Director of Public Housing James Henslee Maintenance Supervisor I Allison Failing Section 8 Supervisor VIS ITORS PRESENT: I I ITEM 2. PLEDGE OF ALL EG IANCE LED BY C HAIRMAN CUM MINS I  September 16, 2019 NHA Boa rd of Commissioners Regular Board Meeting Minutes Page 2 ITEM 3. APPROVAL OF AGENDA ,;. ACTION REQUES'rED: A motion to approve the Agenda for the September 16, 2019, Regular Board Meeting, as presented. ACTION TAKEN: A motion was made by Vice-Chairperson Ratliff and seconded by Commissioner McKinney to approve the Agenda for the September 16, 2019, Regular Board Meeting. The following vote was recorded: YEAS: All NAYS: None Chairman Cummins declared motion carried. ITEM 4. CONSENT DOCKET INFORMATION: This Item is placed on the Agenda so that the Board, by unanimous consent, can designate those routine Agenda Items that they wish to be approved or acknowledged by one motion. If any Item proposed does not meet with approval of all Board Members, z that Item will be heard in regular order. Staff recommends that Items § thru be placed on the Consent Docket. ACTION REQUESTED: A motion to place Items §_ thru z on the Consent Docket to be approved by one motion. ACTION TAKEN: A motion was made by Vice-Chairperson Ratliff and seconded by Commissioner McKinney to approve items §_ z thru on the Consent Docket for the September 16, 2019, Regular Board Meeting. The following vote was recorded : YEAS: All NAYS: None Chairman Cummins declared motion carried . ITEM 5. APPROVAL OF MINUTES FROM JULY 15, 2019, REGULAR BOARD MEETING. ACTION REQUESTED: A motion to approve the minutes from the July 15, 2019, Regular Board Meeting, as presented. ACTION TAKEN : Approved on Consent Docket.  September 16, 2019 NHA Board of Commissioners Regular Board Meeting Minutes Page 3 ITEM 6. CONSIDERATION OF FINANCIAL STATEMENTS JUNE, 2019 AND ROUTINE CLAIMS AND CREDIT CARD EXPENSES FOR AUGUST, 2019. v, The low-rent program had a net income of $9,436.53 for the month and $157,333.70 for the year. If you factor in the Housing Choice Voucher Program, net (admin) earnings, for the year, the NHA gained $189,443.70. It was a very good year! Maintenance overtime for the month was $224.08. Credit Card expense for the month was $83.15 ACTION REQUESTED: Approve as presented. ACTION TAKEN: Approved on Consent Docket. ITEM 7. CONSIDERATION OF ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT FOR THE MONTH OF AUGUST, 2019. Section 8 has a total of 1,099 vouchers under lease. Currently there are 469 families on the waiting list. Rose Rock Villa is 100% occupied. There are 9 approved applicants on the waiting list. General Occupancy (Scattered Sites) and Redbud Village are both 100% occupied with 9 approved applicants on the waiting list. ACTION REQUESTED: No action necessary. ACTION TAKEN: Approved on the Consent Docket. ITEM 8. CONSIDERATION OF 2020 HOLIDAY SCHEDULE AND 2020 SCHEDULED NHA BOARD MEETINGS. ACTION REQUESTED: Approve as presented. ACTION TAKEN: A motion was made by Vice-Chairperson Ratliff and seconded by Commissioner McKinney to approve the NHA 2020 Holiday Schedule and the 2020 Scheduled NHA Board Meetings. The following vote was recorded: YEAS: All NAYS: None Chairman Cummins declared the motion carried.  Septembe r 16, 2019 NHA Board of Com missioners Regular Board Meeting Minutes Page 4 ITEM 9. CONSIDERATION OF CONTRACT FOR INDEPENDENT AUDITOR. p Twelve (12) firms were solicited for proposal of our 2020 independent audit needs; firms contacted were: Audit Solutions LLC Chesterfield, MO John Blakeway, CPA Kennedale, TX David A. Boring, CPA Lubbock, TX Eide Bailly LLP Tulsa, OK Barry E. Gaudette, CPA Traverse City, Ml Kriegel & Co., LTD Las Cruces, NM Niewedde & Wiens York, NE Rob Seay Denton, TX Smith & Klaczkiewicz, PC Saginaw, Ml John Vercher Jena, LA Cynthia Warren, CPA Eufaula, OK Wohlemberg Ritzman Co., CPA Madison, SD We received the following four (4) proposals. Copies were attached. 2020 2021 2022 Audit Solutions, LLC $11 ,800 $11,800 $11 ,800 Eide Bailly LLP (Tulsa) $18,075 $18,950 $19,875 Barry E. Gaudette, CPA $13,000 $13,000 $13,000 Wohlemberg Ritzman Co., CPA $26,000 $26,000 $26,000 We had asked that all proposals include a dollar amount for a one year, two year and three year contract to give the board some options. The Norman Housing Authority used (Sartain Fischbein) Eide Bailly LLP for our last several Annual Audits . Most recently they were approved for our 2017-2019 Annual Audits. Staff was very pleased with the working relationship during the past annual audits and would like to request approval of the contract with Eide Bailly LLP for the Norman Housing Authority's 2020, 2021 and 2022 Annual Audit. Although Eide Bailly LLP has performed several audits for us, we feel that they are still the best choice due to their auditing change ups. They always bring a new auditor each year, changing up the set of eyes that look over our paperwork. They also change out the departments, grants and projects, they look at each year. We do realize that Eide Bailly LLP is not the lowest bid but the additional cost is minimal when divided between the two programs, over three years . ACTION REQUESTED: Approve as presented. ,. J ACTION TAKEN: A motion was made by Commissioner Hunter and seconded by Vice-Chairperson Ratliff to contract with Eide Bailly for three years. The following vote was recorded : YEAS: All NAYS: None Ch airm an Cummins declared the motion carried.  September 16, 2019 NHA Board of Commissioners Regular Board Meeting Minutes Page 5 .,~­ ITEM 10. CONSIDERATION OF RESOLUTION NUMBER NHA 19-20-001 TO REVISE THE NHA FINANCE POLICY. Executive Director informed the Board that the direct deposit of the landlords HAP checks were going well and that it was quite the task to obtain the correct banking informati on from them . The NHA Finance Policy needed to be updated to clearly allow electronic fund transfers. The revised policy was attached. In addition, the policy has been revised to allow the Executive Director to complete EFT's for employee payroll without the NHA Chairperson's approval. (EFTs for payroll has become a routine operation within the business.) The new policy describes tracking and reporting requirements for all our expenses including EFTs. The methods should meet the auditor's req uirements and help prevent fraud. ACTION REQUESTED: Approve as presented. ACTION TAKEN: A motion was made by Vice-Chairperson Ratliff and seconded by Commissioner McKinney to approve Resolution Number NHA 19-20-001, a resolution to approve the NHA Finance Policy. The following vote was recorded: YEAS: All NAYS: None Chairman Cummins declared the motion carried. ITEM 11. CONSIDERATION OF RESOLUTION NUMBER NHA 19-20-002 TO REVISE THE HOUSING CHOICE VOUCHER PROGRAM FMR'S . The Department of Housing and Urban Development has published a listing of the final 2020 Fair Market Rents (FMR). The NHA must establish a Payment Standards (PS) within 90% to 110% of the published FMR. After reviewing the FMR increases, we must increase all PS. With these changes , our PS for all bedroom sizes, will be within 90% to 93% of the published FMR. We currently have an adequate pool of affordable units giving tenants more of a choice regard ing location and type of unit. We feel increasing the PS more would only encourage rents to be raised. The NHA has been unable to house our full voucher count of 1,198 due to our current funding and feel any higher I I' increase in the PS would only add to this problem. Also, with these minimal changes, it will give us a little room for a possible increase next summer in case we need to raise our utility allowance schedule to help our clients with increasing utility costs. Below you will find our current Payment Standards, new Fair Market Rents and Proposed Standards for you r review. If approved, the Payment Standards will be effective October 1, 2019.  ~ September 16, 201 9 NHA Board of Commissioners Regu lar Board Meeting Minutes Page 6 0Bdr 1 Bd r 2Bdr 3Bdr 4Bdr 5Bdr 6Bdr ,~- Cu rrent PS 574 641 806 1,066 1,317 1,514 1,712 FMR 684 724 906 1,231 1,506 1,732 1,958 Proposed PS 616 673 843 1,108 1,355 1,559 1,762 ACTION REQUESTED: Approve as presented. ACTION TAKEN : A motion was made by Vice-Chairperson Ratl iff and seconded by Commissioner McKinney to approve Resolution Number NHA 19-20-002 as presented. The following vote was recorded : YEAS : All NAYS: None Chairman Cummins declared motion carried. ITEM 12. SPECIAL PROGRAMS. There are 34 vouchers in the Section 8 FSS Program being utilized as of August 31, 2019. The escrow for the month of August wa·s- $3,390 Which gives· Os a total-escrow account balance of $79,800.62. The FSS Program had two participants graduate the program in August. One participant graduated receiving an escrow payment of $1,462.31. This graduate had goals to purchase a newer vehicle, finish her Bachelor's degree and enroll in Graduate school at the University of Oklahoma. All of those goals were met and the participant went to full rent graduating as of August 31, 20 19. The second participant graduated receiving an escrow payment of $16,581.17 . This graduate had goals to increase and grow their own cleaning business and build their credit in order to purchase a home. All of those goals were met and the participant graduated as of August 31, 2019. This graduate plans to use their escrow payment towards a down payment on purchasing a home. Congratulations to both graduates! Our Section 8 SEMAP (Section 8 Management Assessment Program) Certification was received for FYE June 30, 2019. The final SEMAP score was 97% and rated as a High Performer. Congratulations to the Section 8 Department, definitely a job well done. The letter was attached. f, The Section 8 Program went through a Remote Review for their SEMAP Certification for FYE June 30, 2018. Based on the review HUD found our initial rating for our original certification was warranted. Section 8 did receive a score of 100% and rated as a High Performer for that year. In order to meet all of the qualifications of the SEMAP Certification and be rated as a High Performer the program needs to be running very well, completing quality control reviews and maintaining all of the tenant informat ion in the online program called PIC. Those are just a few of the many items completed weekly/monthly to receive such an honor. Again , congratulations to Section 8.  September 16, 2019 NHA Board of Commissioners Regular Board Meeting Minutes Page 7 Public Housing has been very busy in August. The staff continues to go above and beyond providing for their residents. • They are partnering with ONG and Big Star Conservation to perform pre and post duct testing to determine the air tightness of the duct system here at Rose Rock Villa. This includes sealing all ductwork in the units, including registers and returns. • Rose Rock Villa participated in National Night Out again this year on August 5th . It was a great success. • They continue to provide Oklahoma Food Pantry for the residents here at Rose Rock Villa the 2 nd Friday of every month and the Pet Food Pantry the 3rd Thursday of every month. • Dave's Pharmacy will be at Rose Rock Villa September 15th at 9:30 a.m. to provide residents with flu and pneumonia shots. • They are also participating in United Way Day of Caring on September 20th here at Rose Rock Villa. Their partner company is Eide Bally. They will be painting the curbs out in the parking lot. Commissioner Hunter asked Bobbe Feher-Nist, Director of Public Housing, if the results were back yet for the ductwork. Bobbe informed her that they were not. Executive Director Canavan mentioned that OG&E has a program that they will come out and inspect your home for cost saving energy tips as well as up to $400 in free supplies. ITEM 13. EXECUTIVE SESSION TO DISCUSS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AND STAFF YEAR END INCENTIVES. ACTION REQUESTED: A motion to go into executive session. ACTION TAKEN: A motion was made by Commissioner McKinney and seconded by Vice-Chairperson Ratliff to go into executive session. The following vote was recorded: YEAS: All NAYS: None Chairman Cummins declared motion carried .  September 16, 2019 NHA Board of Commissioners Regu lar Board Meeting Minutes Page 8 ITEM 14. OPEN SESSION.~ Back from open session at 1: 13pm. For the record, there was a discussion but no votes were cast. Executive Director Canavan was asked to stay for part of the discussion. ACTION REQUESTED: A motion to conclude executive session and go into open session. I ACTION TAKEN: A motion was made by Vice-Chairperson Ratliff and seconded by Commissioner McKinney to go into open I session. The following vote was recorded: YEAS: All I NAYS: None I Chairman Cummins declared motion carried. I ITEM 15. APPROVAL OF EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AND STAFF YEAR END INCENTIVES. I Executive Director Canavan wanted to recognize and give praise to the outstanding professionals of the NHA team. The NHA continues to run a "High Performing" and very well managed Public Housing I and Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program; as acknowledged by HUD's rating factors and our annual independent auditors. This can only be accomplished through the outstanding leadership of the NHA Board of Commissioners and the I professional staff of the NHA. Although the 6/30/2019 budget projected a net income of $65,864, we actually came in I at $157,333.70. Approximately $40,000 came from the ONG utility credits when we replaced furnaces. The remaining $51,000 is a result of reevaluating our purchasing methods/vendors, negotiating some of our routine expenses such as worker's comp I insurance, lower utility costs and earning more interest on our cash deposits. I ACTION REQUESTED: ACTION TAKEN: As desired by the Board. A motion was made by Vice-Chairperson Ratliff and I f, seconded by Commissio ner Hunter to increase the budget for YE Incentives for staff and Executive Director by 13.5%. The following vote was recorded: I YEAS: All NAYS: None I Chairman Cumm ins declared motion carried. I  September 16, 2019 NHA Board of Commissioners Regular Board Meeting Minutes Page 9 ITEM 16. NEW BUSINESS None ACTION REQUESTED: As desired by the Board. ACTION TAKEN: None ITEM 17. RECOGNITION OF VISITORS There were no visitors. ACTION REQUESTED: No action necessary. ACTION TAKEN: None ITEM 18. COMMISSIONER'S COMMENTS Deputy Executive Director Sherri Hunt thanked the Board of Commissioners for for the YE Incentives and gave recognition to the staff for all their hard work. Vice-Chairperson Ratliff and Commissioner McKinney congratulated the staff for their high scores. Executive Director Canavan gave praise to the Board of Commissioners for all of their hard work and let them know that they are appreciated. Chairman Cummins gave his appreciation to the NHA staff and what they do for the Norman Housing Authority. INFORMATION: This item appears on the Authority's Agenda for the Board to make comments and to afford an opportunity for citizens to address the Board. f. As desired by the Board. ACTION REQUESTED: ACTION TAKEN: None  S eptember 16, 201 9 NHA Board of Commissioners Regu lar Board Meeting Minutes Page 1O ITEM 19. ADJOURNMENT ACTION REQUESTED: A motion to adjourn the September 16, 2019, Regular Board Meeting. ACTION TAKEN: A motion was made by Commissioner McKinney and seconded by Commissioner Hunter to adjourn the September 16, 2019, Regular Board Meeting . The following vote was recorded: YEAS: All NAYS: None Chairman Jeff Cummins declared motion carried. ADJOURNED AT 1 :20 PM PASSED AND ADOPTED THIS 18th DAY OF NOVEMBER 2019. SEAL Attest By: f.