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Bellingham Housing Authority
Meeting Minutes
January 12, 2016 held at Wrentham Manor
- Call to Order at 6:00 p.m.; Announcement: recording of meeting
- Roll Call: ~all present
- Public Input
- Tenants asked if public input could be placed back to end of meeting; Board agreed to keep public input at the beginning of the meeting. The Board indicated that any concerns should be directed to the Executive Director prior to presenting to the Board.
- Minutes of October 20, 2015 meeting
- Discussion regarding minutes in reference to editorializing and/or sanitizing detail. The Board suggested that, in the future, the main points of discussion be presented in the minutes. Mr. Sposato made a motion to accept the minutes with the addition of the transcription composed by Mrs. Lavallee and the original minutes (on file) as documentation. Second by Mrs. Lavallee, all in favor, motion carried.
- Minutes of December 8, 2015 meeting
- Discussion regarding insufficient information presented in the minutes; possibly adding bulleting for additional pertinent points. Discussion regarding additional information from Accountant. Minutes will be revised. Motion to accept minutes tabled.
- Discussion regarding Executive Session form and past procedure; question of whether form should be included or attached to minutes. Any further executive session points will be made during executive session. Mrs. Bergeron will research executive session information for the next meeting.
- Resolution 2015-19 Write-off of Tenant Accounts Receivable amendment. Mrs. Bergeron noted that this was announced at the last meeting and explained by Mr. Conlon. Previously motion carries.
- Resolution 2016-01 Revised FMR/Payment Standards for HCV Program
- Motion made by Mrs. Sacco, seconded by Mr. Sposato. Discussion regarding purpose and scope; mandated by HUD on an annual basis. All in favor, motion carried.
- Resolution 2016-02 Contact Information Policy.
- Discussion regarding the justification of a policy, that any telephone number may be used (member’s preference), will the new policy be included in Table of Contents, and telephone number
- Motion made by Mrs. Sacco with addition of “of the member’s choosing” after sentence three, seconded by Mr. Sposato, all in favor, motion carried.
- Resolution 2016-03 Board-Staff Committee Draft
- Mrs. Bergeron presented a draft of a possible policy to ensure the safeguarding of particular events from occurring in the future.
- Discussion regarding that salary of maintenance staff is set by state regulation, possibility of a committee and the grievance policy; suggested that any staff changes should be discussed the Board, the accountant and the executive director to avoid any future issues.
- Resolution tabled.
- Approval of AFL-CIO Public Employee Maintenance Staff Contract
- Presented by Mrs. Bergeron; no actual changes from the last contract; just formality. Question of appropriate signatures that are required; suggested that Chairman and Executive Director will sign. Question regarding on-call pay, maintenance hours, and accumulated sick time (maximum number of days are 105 per year and paid out at 10% upon resignation, retirement, or termination).
- Motion made by Mrs. Sacco, seconded by Mrs. Lavallee, all in favor, motion carried.
- Mrs. Bergeron presented budget narrative which has been prepared in advance of Mr. Conlon’s preparation of the budget. Mr. Conlon will be available for the March meeting to present the budget and will meet with the Director at the end of February to gather information for the budget.
- No significant changes to the budget from last year. Budget has a carry-over for lights, sidewalks and sealcoating/striping especially for Depot Court.
- Mrs. Bergeron explained, off-topic, that, with the assistance of DHCD and National Grid, the Authority is attempting to replace exterior light poles with LED fixtures.
- Mrs. Bergeron stated that Mr. Conlon wanted to remind the Board about any salary changes need to be discussed.
- No approval is needed for the budget narrative.
- Mrs. Cartier inquired about if Part-time staff receive holidays. Mrs. Bergeron explained that the Personnel Policy has been updated to reflect that part-time staff do not receive any holiday pay. However, the subject may be addressed in the future.
- Executive Director evaluation
- Board instructed Mrs. Bergeron to distribute the Tenant Survey. Discussion ensued in regard to Center St residents; surveys will be distributed to all tenants.
- Evaluation tabled.
- Treasurer’s Report
- Monthly update presented.
- Mrs. Bergeron revealed that there was a breach of internal control. A check was issued twice to the same vendor for a large sum. The vendor was contacted immediately, who apologized for even cashing the duplicate check and returned the duplicate payment within a few days. The error occurred due to haste in processing the vendor’s payment in conjunction with DHCD. Mrs. Bergeron stated that the breach will not occur in the future; time will be taken to ensure no frenzy takes places to pay a vendor.
- Accountant’s Report
- Monthly reports were presented.
- Questions were asked about installation of the backflow preventers and the correlation with the flood. Mrs. Bergeron explained that the flood was caused by a failed gasket when the same company installed a new ball valve.
- Mrs. Bergeron pointed out that the budgets are in the positive. However, we have not had high electric bills and that may change the scope of the budget. The tenants at Depot Court have indicated that since the installation of vinyl siding, the units are much warmer.
- Executive Director’s Report
- Mrs. Bergeron presented the Executive Director’s report with the following highlight(s):
Unit |
Vacancy date |
Anticipated turnaround |
Anticipated rental |
Notes |
63WM |
12/10/2015 |
|
1/1/2016 |
|
65WM |
12/15/2015 |
1/8/2016 |
1/15/2016 |
|
41DC |
12/7/2015 |
1/8/2016 |
1/15/2016 |
|
- Mrs. Bergeron presented a new Emergency Contact list for staff and vendors.
- Mrs. Bergeron presented “The State of Being: DHCD Update” which was obtained from the MassNAHRO Fall Conference. Discussion regarding time table and where the document came from.
- Discussed tenant accounts receivable in regard to two paid, several new, and the amount of money owed. Non-payment could be unreported income or lack of planning on the tenant’s part (i.e. repairing a car and not paying the rent).
- Any other business that may legally come before the board
- No other business discussed
- Next meeting will be February 9, 2016.
- Executive Session
- Motion made by Mrs. Cartier to adjourn to executive session, seconded by Mr. Sposato. Roll call was taken and Mr. Hall, Mr. Sposato, Mrs. Sacco, Mrs. Lavallee and Mrs. Cartier were present.
- Motion to adjourn made by Mrs. Cartier, seconded by Mrs. Lavallee, all in favor, motion carried.
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