East Windsor Housing Authority
Regular Meeting - May 15, 2006
Minutes
CALL TO ORDER AND ATTENDANCE
The meeting was called to order at 7:02 p.m. by Chairman Karen Boutin. Commissioners LaMay, Mezzetti and Legassie were in attendance. Commissioner Percoski was not in attendance
ADDED AGENDA ITEMS
The following items were added to the agenda:
Under New Business:
C) Letters received from tenants
D) Fees for rental of community hall
E) Cancellation of June/July Commission Meeting
MEETING MINUTES OF:
Regular Meeting - April 17, 2006
The minutes of the regular meeting of April 17, 2006 were reviewed by all commissioners present. A motion was made by Commissioner Legassie, seconded by Commissioner LaMay to accept the minutes of the regular meeting of April 17, 2006 as presented.
Legassie/LaMay Unanimous
Annual Meeting - April 17, 2006
The minutes of the Annual Meeting of April 17, 2006 were reviewed by all commissioners present. A motion was made by Commissioner Mezzetti, seconded by Commissioner Legassie to accept the minutes of the annual meeting of April 17, 2006 as presented.
Mezzetti/Legassie Unanimous
PUBLIC COMMENTS
There were no public comments.
BILLS AND COMMUNICATIONS
Check Register - April 19 - May 10, 2006
The check register for April 19 - May 10, 2006 was reviewed by all commissioners present and all questions answered. A motion was made by Commissioner LaMay, seconded by Commissioner Mezzetti to accept the check register of April 19 - May 10, 2006 as presented.
LaMay/Mezzetti Unanimous
Bank Reconciliation April, 2006
The Bank Reconciliation of March, 2006 was reviewed by all Commissioners present
REPORTS OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Apartments
We had another resident pass away over the weekend. With his passing, that gives us 5 apartments vacant - 4 singles and 1 double. The double apartment is still being used as a temporary office and the 4 singles will be leased as soon as the refurbishment of these apartments is finished.
Part-time Maintenance Assistance
We have hired a part-time maintenance assistant to help with the clean-up in the apartments and around the complex. He will be working no more than 20 hours a week at $7.50/hr and will be working with us for approximately the next 15 weeks.
Vacations
Darlene will be on vacation from June 7 - June 16, 2006.
REPORTS OF COMMITTEES
There were no Reports of Committees
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
A) Community Hall/Office Expansion
We have received our CO (Certificate of Occupancy) from the Town. All necessary inspections have been made and have been accepted. There are some minor things that need to be corrected and repaired.
We are in the process of contacting various companies to professionally clean the carpeting in the “old” section of the community hall. Stanley Steamer is one of the companies contacted and as soon as they give us an estimate, we will have the work done.
The laundry room is completed and up and running.
Although the hall is completed, there are still things that have to be accomplished before we can officially move back. At this time, we are coordinating the installation of the telephone and computer system. If everything goes as planned, we should be back in the community hall no later than the 1st of July.
NEW BUSINESS
A) Quarterly Report - quarter ending 3/31/06
The quarterly report for the quarter ending 3/31/06 was reviewed by all commissioners present and all questions answered. No action necessary as this is for informational purposes.
B) Alarm Ordinance
We have been contacted by Off. Ray Fahey of the East Windsor Police Department regarding the recently adopted Alarm Ordinance. It appears that the “Life-Line” medical alarms have to be registered with the Town at a cost of $15.00 per alarm. There was a lengthy discussion among the commissioners present regarding this and a request was made of the Executive Director that he approach the Town regarding waiving the alarm fee for our residents and that he check into Life-Line to see if this system goes through the Police Department. The Executive Director agreed to look into this matter and report back to the Commission at a later date.
C) Letters from tenants
The Chairman, Karen Boutin, presented a series of anonymous letters that she had received regarding various subjects of concern to the residents here such as:
Smoking in the offices
Need for the expansion of the community hall and the costs of the expansion
Repairs to the Apartments
Cracks in the sidewalks
Stray cats.
The first issue of smoking in the offices was addressed and there will be a strict no smoking policy in effect once the new offices are opened. Anyone desiring to smoke will have to go outside - no exceptions.
The need for the expansion and the costs associated with same was also discussed and explained at length. Before the expansion of the Community Hall we were not ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) compliant - the hallways and the bathrooms as well as the entrance were too small to allow easy access for anyone using a walker or wheelchair; also, since the Community Hall was originally built back in the 70’s, the population at Park Hill has increased and the size of the original meeting hall was not big enough to accommodate all of our residents. The grant monies received for this expansion filtered down from the Federal government, to the State government and then to the Town of East Windsor for disbursement and according to the letter of agreement, the monies were to be used for the expansion of the
Community Hall only.
The issue of repairs to the apartments, i.e. repainting and fixing the windows, was also discussed at length and any resident wishing for repairs to be done to their apartment only need to contact the office and these requests will be reviewed, and if at all possible, taken care of in a timely manner.
There are definitely cracks in the sidewalks and the Executive Director along with the Maintenance Staff is looking into ways of correcting this problem. This past winter has been very difficult with regards to the asphalt cracking and as soon as a viable solution is reached, the problem will be taken care of.
The issue of the stray cats, and the feeding of same, is an on-going issue which has been discussed at previous commission meetings and will continue to be discussed until such time as a fair and equitable solution to the problem is reached.
D) Fees for rental of community hall
This was discussed and a motion was made by Commissioner LaMay, seconded by Commissioner Mezzetti that we charge $100.00 per rental ($150.00 for use of kitchen) for anyone other than non-residents. The monies to be put into a special fund.
LaMay/Mezzetti Unanimous
As for use of the hall by other agencies within the Town of East Windsor, it was a consensus that the Town officials be approached and that, if possible, our pilot payment be renegotiated to incorporate the usage of our community hall by other town agencies.
E) Cancellation of June/July/August Commission Meetings
This was discussed in length by the commissioners present, and it was a consensus of all that the meetings in June, July and August be cancelled due to vacations, etc. If something comes up that needs to be addressed, a special meeting will be called.
POLICY AND PROCEDURES
06-0033 Eviction Policy and Procedures
This policy was originally instituted in 1999, but has been changed to incorporate the following:
Page 2 - Paragraph 5
“Should the problem(s) be resolved after legal proceedings have been initiated, the tenant will reimburse the Housing Authority for all legal costs pertaining to this issue”.
A motion was made by Commissioner LaMay, seconded by Commissioner Legassie to accept the addition to the Eviction Policy and Procedures and to make it a permanent part of the policy.
LaMay/Legassie Unanimous
EXECUTIVE SESSION
There was no Executive Session.
ADJOURNMENT
A motion was made by Commissioner Legassie, seconded by Commissioner LaMay to adjourn the regular meeting of the East Windsor Housing Authority at 8:35 p.m.
Legassie/LaMay Unanimous
Respectfully submitted,
Steven D. Knibloe
Executive Director
Darlene H. Kelly
Recording Secretary
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