Willington Housing Authority
40 Old Farms Road
February 9, 2009
Meeting Minutes
Members Present:
Robert Campbell
Claudia D’Agata
Wilbur Gangaway
Tyler Millix
Also present:
Dave Berto
Bill Crosskey
R. Campbell called the meeting to order at 6:06 PM.
Mr. Berto told the board that he would like to establish a plan tonight for getting started on the cottages. He stated that he has meet with Mr. Crosskey to go over the changes the board wanted to see in his contract and Mr. Crosskey has agreed to defer 40% of his fees until three months after the completion of the project. This will give Mr. Berto time to obtain funding for the project. Mr. Berto said that the board needs to find out when they will have some start up money from the town. R. Campbell said that the board needs to go to the board of finance to request that their money be moved from the general fund into the housing authorities’ line. Once that occurs then R. Campbell said he would feel comfortable signing a contract with Crosskey.
Mr. Berto handed out a project cost estimate sheet. He said that this would be a good document to bring to the board of finance as it shows what needs to be paid up front and what can be paid at the end.
Mr. Berto asked the board to decide how “green” they want to make the cottages. R. Campbell asked Mr. Crosskey what he suggested. Mr. Crosskey said he suggests not going all the way to net zero, but to 80%, he stated that this will add some extra cost to building but not a lot. Mr. Crosskey explained that the technology is still to expensive for it to be worth building to net zero. He suggested having geothermal heat and energy efficient shell but not having photo voltaic
R. Campbell asked about putting in low voltage LED lights. Mr. Crosskey said that LED is not ready for commercial buildings yet. He suggested using florescent lighting instead. The board discussed creating an array in the open space behind the cottages at a later date.
R. Campbell asked the board if they would like to move forward with Mr. Crosskey’s contract and go to the board of finance to get the monies approved.
W. Gangaway made a motion to move forward with the Crosskey contract and moved that the board set up a meeting with the board of finance to authorize that the money that is in the general fund be moved to the housing authorities line. C. D’Agata seconded the motion.
W. Gangaway asked when they need to decide which plan they want to use for the cottages. Mr. Crosskey said that they will need to decide soon but they don’t have to do it tonight. R. Campbell said he is thinking that they will most likely go with plan two.
Mr. Berto said that they board needs to create a schedule for how they will move forward. R. Campbell said he thinks that he can get on the next agenda for the board of finance. C. D’Agata said she will find out if they can be added. R. Campbell said that once the housing authority is on the agenda he will meet with the first selectman to make sure they will attend the meeting as well to support the housing authority. He said he will go over all of their plans thus far as well so the first selectman is up to date on what they are doing. R. Campbell went on to say that once they have approval from the board of finance he feels they can get started a few weeks later with getting the work underway. He stated that he hopes to be doing work on the infrastructure by
April.
Mr. Berto said that the STEEP grant money has already been received by the town and some of that money can be used for design and infrastructure. R. Campbell asked if Mr. Berto could talk to Mr. Wagner who is overseeing the STEEP grant to see exactly what that money is to be used for.
Mr. Crosskey asked how Gardener and Peterson need to separate their billing. R. Campbell said that some needs to be billed to the town and some to the housing authority depending on which grant is being used.
R. Campbell discussed the water system that is being run from the current senior housing to the school. Mr. Berto suggested giving the town a layout for the water system that would help them lead it towards the cottages so it will be more efficient to hook into the system when the time comes. R. Campbell said that he feels they will be able to hook into it no matter which way they choose to run it.
C. D’Agata made a motion to approve the minutes of January’s meeting. W. Gangaway seconded the motion.
W. Gangaway and T. Millex left the meeting at 6:35 PM.
C. D’Agata asked if the housing authority will need to go to a town meeting once the funds are reallocated by the board of finance. R. Campbell said he doesn’t think so, but they will go if they have to. R. Campbell asked C. D’Agata to find out what steps they will need to take.
Mr. Crosskey asked where they are getting the rest of the money for the project. Mr. Berto said that they will apply for some low interest loans possibly through the USDA. Then they will need to figure out what the rent structure will be to figure out how much of a gap they will have.
R. Campbell said that they should try to get a group like CHIF to match the money they already have. Mr. Berto said that is a possibility. He suggested go to DECD as well. R. Campbell asked Mr. Berto to make some calls to see what funds are available.
Mr. Berto asked Mr. Crosskey if he knew of any funds available for building green. Mr. Crosskey said there are only a few and it is not a lot of money and it seems to take a very long time for the money to come in. He suggested looking into Home Depot though. Mr. Berto asked Mr. Crosskey about the new LED building codes. Mr. Crosskey said that they have been postponed currently but it will be determined by when the building permits are applied for. Mr. Berto stated that they will need to follow the progress of the law.
Mr. Berto talked about a new grant from EDI that just came out. He said that he will look at the grant, but feels they will be able to apply for it. Mr. Berto asked the board how much they think he should apply for. R. Campbell said he thought between $300,000 and $400,000. Mr. Berto said the he needs to check and see what else the grant money can be used for besides infrastructure.
Mr. Berto asked when the housing authority has its regular meetings. C. D’Agata said they meet on the second Monday of each month.
C. D’Agata made a motion to adjourn at 7:00 PM.
Respectfully Submitted,
Melissa McDonough
Recording Clerk
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