MINUTES
Willington Housing Authority
Regular Meeting Agenda
6 p.m., August 12 2013
Willington Senior Center Craft Room
60 Old Farms Road, Willington CT 06279
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Present: Chairman Robert Campbell; Vice-President Wilbur Gangaway; Secretary Don Berg; Treasurer Claudia D’Agata; Member Laurel Millix; First Selectman Christina Mailhos; Financial Consultant David Berto.
1. Call to order – 6:08 p.m.
2. Present to speak – no members of the public present
3. Old Business – Senior Housing “Button Hill”
R. Campbell said he spoke with the WHA’s lawyer Atty. Scaramossa today (Aug. 12) regarding the status of the town’s lease agreement. R. Campbell said that as of last Wednesday, the WHA is still waiting for follow-up by the town’s lawyer, Atty. Beck. C. Mailhos said she would contact Atty. Beck the following day.
R. Campbell addressed C. Mailhos regarding resolving the issue of paying Gardener & Peterson for work on the Button Hill project with funds from a closed-out EDI grant.
R. Campbell asked if the town had ever written a check from the EDI funds to Gardener & Peterson for work the firm did on the previously constructed septic system on the senior center/senior housing site – and if so, then the town should be able to pay the firm from the same funds for work it recently completed on the Button Hill project.
C. Mailhos said the issue isn’t regarding the funds but the fact that Gardener & Peterson apparently were initially hired without going through a competitive bidding process.
R. Campbell said, if the firm was previously paid from that account, the town should be able to pay them from that account now.
C. D’Agata said that if the town didn’t originally put the work out to bid, that’s not the WHA’s problem at this time. C. Mailhos said she feels it’s now become her problem as the current First Selectman.
R. Campbell said Gardener & Peterson has worked on the entire senior center/senior housing project from the beginning, from the time the property was purchased. D. Berto noted the firm has also done all the engineering.
C. Mailhos said she’s been advised to address this issue by consultant L. Wagner in his capacity as administrator of the original EDI grant, which came with certain requirements. R. Campbell said the closed out EDI is no longer subject to those requirements and L. Wagner no longer has any oversight of the remaining funds. C. D’Agata pointed out there are two separate accounts.
C. Mailhos said that she needs a document that explains the extenuating circumstances – to explain the continued participation of Gardener & Peterson with the knowledge that their hiring didn’t initially conform to the town’s rules (ordinance) regarding bidding – and then present that to someone (the town attorney, the Board of Selectmen) or at least put the document on file, in the event payments to Gardener & Peterson are questioned in future.
W. Gangaway pointed out that if the work is now put out to bid and a different firm is hired, it sets the Button Hill project back and would incur additional expenses. He said that’s it’s important that C. Mailhos decide what action she wants to take – after a delay on this issue of several months – so that the project can move forward.
C. Mailhos asked the WHA to draft a letter outlining the circumstances and in it, request that the town pay Gardener & Peterson – and she will take this letter to the town attorney.
D. Berto asked how C. Mailhos concluded that the engineering contract wasn’t competitively bid initially when the senior center/senior housing project began. He suggested contacting the former First Selectman (John Patton) to verify this. C. Mailhos said she would contact him, and that an explanatory letter from the WHA would probably be sufficient. W. Gangaway asked if there is a file dating to 1995-96 regarding the selection process? C. Mailhos said she would have to go back through Board of Selectmen minutes which would be time consuming. C. Mailhos said the letter from WHA would be acceptable.
R. Campbell said he’d also contact her as soon as the lease document is ready.
W. Gangaway said he wanted a deadline for resolving the Gardener & Peterson issue. R. Campbell said the letter would be sent to C. Mailhos within a week. She said she could respond to the letter within a couple of days.
D. Berto provided an update on the search for a bank to work on the Federal Home Loan Bank application. He talked to Farmington Bank – they have a branch in East Windsor – but they said WHA isn’t in their region.
He said he also talked to Liberty Bank, which does a lot of FHLB applications, but they determined Willington isn’t in their area – they deal with Windham, Middlesex, New London and New Haven Counties, but not Tolland County.
D. Berto said he also talked to Dime Bank (Norwich), and they aren’t familiar with FHLB and declined. So, he will now contact Putnam Bank.
D. Berto said he looked on the FHLB site for all of the Connecticut and Rhode Island banks they deal with, and there weren’t any in Rhode Island that indicated they would work with a project in this part of Connecticut. R. Campbell said he would also contact Theo Knoll at FHLB and tell him about the issues with the banks. D. Berg said Knoll also could be put in contact with any interested bank, i.e. Rockville Bank, that has questions.
D. Berto said that banks get involved in FHLB projects to get Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) credits when they invest in affordable housing. He said, one of the issues these banks have is they believe they’re not going to get full credit if they work on a project outside their defined region. He said that doesn’t seem to make sense; full credit should be applicable to the entire state. D. Berto suggested R. Campbell ask Theo Knoll about this. D. Berto said the FHLB applications are due Sept. 13.
D. Berg asked how the WHA project would be scored in the New York region. D. Berto said scoring criteria is different and WHA’s project doesn’t compete as well as in Connecticut, and applications are taken in the spring.
R. Campbell also asked about the CHAMP III funding application. D. Berto said he submitted responses to their questions but to date, has not heard further from them, but said that it is normal for there to be a long interlude while they review the pool of applications.
There also was discussion on work done by Fuss & O’Neill regarding an environmental evaluation.
D. Berto left the meeting at 6:40 p.m.
a. Update on contractor selection process – C. D’Agata said WHA members had received an email on that topic.
4. New Business – none.
5. Approval of minutes – C. D’Agata moved to accept the July 2013 minutes as submitted; W. Gangaway seconded the motion; motion passed unanimously.
6. Treasurer’s report –
7. Correspondence – none.
8. Adjourn – 6:42 p.m.
Respectfully submitted by Brenda Sullivan, Recording Secretary
The next regular meeting of the Willington Housing Authority is Monday, Sept. 9, 2013.
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