East Windsor Housing Authority
Regular Meeting – October 15, 2007
Minutes
CALL TO ORDER AND ATTENDANCE
The meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. by Chairman Karen Boutin. Commissioners Mezzetti, Percoski and LaMay were in attendance, along with Ed Filipone First Selectman and our liaison to the Board of Selectman, Gil Hayes. Commissioner Legassie was not present.
ADDED AGENDA ITEMS
There were no added agenda items.
MEETING MINUTES OF:
Regular Meeting – September 17, 2007
The minutes of the regular meeting of September 17, 2007 were reviewed by all Commissioners present. A motion was made by Commissioner Percoski, seconded by Commissioner Mezzetti to accept the minutes of the regular meeting of September 17, 2007 as presented.
Percoski/Mezzetti Unanimous
PUBLIC COMMENTS
There were no public comments
BILLS AND COMMUNICATIONS
Check Register – September 19 – October 10, 2007
The check register for September 19 – October 10, 2007 was reviewed by all commissioners present and all questions answered. A motion was made by Commissioner Percoski, seconded by Commissioner LaMay to accept the check register of September 19 – October 10, 2007 as presented.
Percoski/LaMay Unanimous
Bank Reconciliation September, 2007
The Bank Reconciliation of September, 2007 from Enfield Federal Savings & Loan Association was reviewed by all Commissioners present.
REPORTS OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Vacant Apartments
We currently have three vacant apartments in different stages of remediation. Two singles and one double. All vacant apartments are spoken for.
We are anticipating two more apartments to become available in the next three months.
Tenant Passed Away
On Tuesday, 10/9/07, one of our tenants Maria Brown #9, passed away unexpectedly from what appears to be a heart attack. All attempts to revive her failed. She leaves her husband, Gene, still living in #9
Knox Box
I spoke with Fire Chief, Cal Myers, regarding his request for Knox Boxes to be installed at Park Hill to keep pass keys in for emergency access to apartments. I explained to him that at $200.00 per box this was cost prohibitive to us. He told me that only one box was needed and that it should be placed on the outside of the Community Hall/office building with all the keys in it.
We will place an order for this box as soon as possible. When it is installed we will notify all emergency services
IRS
IRS notified us that some of our tax returns were inconsistent and that we owed them more than $2,000.00.
With the assistance of our accountant, all returns, wage statements, and withholdings were reviewed for the year 2005. After three weeks the error was found within the old Chas accounting system. It was producing different figures for different forms using the same information. The end result was that we still owed the IRS but it was only $770.65.
The situation with the IRS was discussed among the commissioners present and it was a consensus that a letter should be forwarded to Management Computer Systems Inc. requesting a reimbursement of the monies expended to correct the problem caused by their software.
Resident Services Coordinator Program
We applied for and received a grant from the State of Connecticut in the amount of $17,183.00 to hire a part-time Resident Services Coordinator for Park Hill. This person would be responsible for (per State Statute 8-114d):
1. Facilitate conflict resolutions between residents.
2. Establish and maintain relationships with community service providers
3. Act as a liaison to assist in problem solving.
4. Assist residents of Park Hill to maintain an independent living status
5. Assess the individual needs of residents for the purpose of establishing and maintaining support services.
6. Provide orientation services to new residents and maintain regular contact with residents.
7. Monitor the delivery of support services to residents.
8. Organize resident activities and meetings that promote socialization among all residents.
9. Advocate changes in services sought or required by residents.
As soon as everything is in place, we will begin our search for a resident services
Coordinator.
Letters to residents
Letters have been sent out to four (4) residents on the first level due to conflicts
among them and with other residents on the first level. The letter
basically stated that this type of behavior would not be tolerated and if it
continued they would be in violation of their lease agreement.
Apt. 24
The Fire Department was called to this apartment in September due to the
resident setting off a “bug bomb”. Upon investigation it was discovered that this
apartment was unfit for habitation due to the excessive amount of trash and ants
in the apartment. It was impossible to even open the door, and the trash
was up to the window sills and in order to get to the bathroom you had to walk
on top of the trash. The resident was sent a letter on September 18,
2007 stating that this person had until October 4, 2007 to completely clean the
apartment. This apartment has been inspected twice October 4th and October
15th, and although there is a little improvement it is nowhere close to being
clean; this constitutes a health and safety issue. After viewing the pictures of this
apartment, it was a consensus of all commissioners present that this tenant be
sent a letter that they had until October 12, 2007 to completely clean the
apartment or eviction proceedings will be brought against them.
Apt. 32
This apartment has been inspected regularly and at the last inspection there was a 1000% difference from what it had been. The tenant is making every effort to keep this apartment clean and trash free.
Payment of electrical bills
There have been a couple of tenants who have been unable to keep their electric bill current and for one of the tenants we paid the electric company the balance of the bill. This tenant will enter into an agreement (written) with the Housing Authority to repay any and all monies expended on their behalf by the Housing Authority.
REPORTS OF COMMITTEES
There were no Reports of Committees
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
A) PILOT Payment
It is felt by a majority of the commissioners that the money paid by the Housing Authority to the Town of East Windsor for the Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) is a bit excessive due to the fact that the Town of East Windsor does not provide any services to the Housing Authority. The Housing Authority is responsible for the full payment of the trash pickup and we do all our own plowing (the town plows a path through the parking lot). These concerns were brought to the attention of the First Selectman, Ed Filipone, who listened and suggested that our grievance regarding the PILOT payment be brought to the Board of Selectman and the Housing Authority was invited to make a presentation to the Board of Selectman at their November meeting which is scheduled for Tuesday, November
20th. The First Selectman asked what we would like and the response was to drop the percentage of the PILOT payment down to either 5 – 7% (we are currently paying 10%) and to provide the trash pick-up free of charge to Park Hill. Mr. Filipone asked for additional documentation from the Housing Authority and said that he would look into the matter and get back to us at a later date. Mr. Filipone then exited the meeting.
B) Health Insurance
A break-down of the salaries and the amount of monies paid for each employee for health insurance was presented to the commissioners present. There was a general discussion among the commissioners present and the Executive Director regarding the issue and it was a general consensus of the commissioners present that this issue be looked into further by the Executive Director and that different insurance companies be looked at. The Executive Director agreed and will report back to the commission at a later date.
NEW BUSINESS
A) Letter from Accountant
A letter has been received by all the commissioners from our auditor, James Lagana. There was some confusion as to why these letters were necessary since they had never been done in the past; and it was explained that this is Standard Operating Procedure for any audit and the back-up documentation regarding this was presented to all commissioners present.
POLICY AND PROCEDURES
There were no new Policies and Procedures
EXECUTIVE SESSION
There was no Executive Session
ADJOURNMENT
A motion was made by Commissioner Percoski, seconded by Commissioner LaMay to adjourn the regular meeting of the East Windsor Housing Authority at 8:20 p.m.
Percoski/LaMay Unanimous
Respectfully submitted,
Steven D. Knibloe
Executive Director
Darlene H. Kelly
Recording Secretary
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