MINUTES
Willington Housing Authority
Regular Meeting
6 p.m., November 18, 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; Recording Secretary Brenda Sullivan.
1. Call to order – 6:04 p.m.
2. Present to speak – No members of the public present.
3. Old Business – Senior Housing “Button Hill”
R. Campbell reported on his meeting with Ed LaChance of the DOH about the CHAMP 3 application and said that overall, it was an encouraging meeting.
D. Berto also talked about this meeting and noted that the reviewer of the WHA application had retired and apparently some parts of the WHA application were not properly scored. However, the fact that the FHLB funding hasn’t yet been approved also weighed in the CHAMP 3 decision, he said. The WHA application received 103 points; a minimum of 110 points was required in order to be funded.
D. Berto said he will use suggestions made by LaChance as he rewrites the application to be submitted for CHAMP 4 funding, which is due Dec. 16, 2013. He noted that LaChance suggested the WHA increase its request from $1.8 million to $2.7 million.
B. Campbell reported on the process of requesting proposals from contractors. He said that additional information was requested from three of the four bidders selected by the WHA. He said one bidder withdrew because the company is too busy at this time to take on a project of this size.
D. Berg asked if it’s possible to make any changes to the RFQ. D. Berto said any potential changes can be discussed with the contractor that’s finally selected. D. Berto said he’d like to include the WHA’s choice of contractor when he submits the CHAMP 4 application due Dec. 16… so this would need to be discussed at the Dec. 9 meeting.
There was continued discussion about hiring Gardner and Peterson to oversee the infrastructure work and questions about following the town’s procurement procedures. D. Berto said the WHA has to advertise and accept bids, but isn’t required to hire a firm simply because it is the lowest bidder – the WHA would be able to consider whether a bidder has the necessary experience.
R. Campbell said he’d like D. Berto to look for other predevelopment funds to pay the balance on the Gardner and Peterson bill and Mayo-Crowe legal expenses.
C. D’Agata said Mayo-Crowe has been paid about $13,000 to date. The balances due for Gardner and Peterson and Mayo-Crowe are $4,063.33 and $3,606.
R. Campbell said $650 was returned to the WHA by the town for an overpayment to a building estimating service – it had been paid twice.
D. Berto said other sources of predevelopment funds might include CHIF, and LISK – which gives funds to small nonprofits, as well as community reinvestment grants from the foundation arm of local banks such as the Savings Institute.
R. Campbell said the WHA should ask for about $25,000. And maybe the WHA should ask the town to pay for the Directors Insurance. He said the WHA could also use some of the developer’s funding because it’s returnable.
D. Berto said if the WHA knows in a month that it is going to get funded, then the WHA can guarantee that any money deducted from the developer’s fund would be returned.
D. Berto reiterated that for WHA to get access to its money currently held by the town, it will have to work with the town’s procurement rules.
C. D’Agata asked about the possibility of approaching private donors. R. Campbell said he’d rather not; if there’s positive feedback from the FHLB, then the project will move forward.
W. Gangaway asked if the WHA should approach the Board of Finance for assistance. R. Campbell said that would require the support of the Board of Selectmen. W. Gangaway said that approaching the Board of Finance might also make them aware of the roadblocks WHA has encountered from the Board of Selectmen when it comes to using WHA funds. D. Berg said the Board of Finance would probably just refer this back to the Selectmen.
4. New Business – none.
5. Approval of Minutes – C. D’Agata moved to accept the Oct. 21, 2013 minutes, L. Millix seconded the motion, motion passed unanimously.
6. Treasurer’s Report – C. D’Agata submitted the report and said there is a remaining balance of $1,353.95 with a payment for secretarial services of $53.82 and a refund of the aforementioned duplicated $650 charge.
7. Correspondence –
1. Letter dated Oct. 18, 2013 from Eastern Savings Bank, Norwich, CT signed by Robert Miller, AVP Business Development, regarding why the bank declined to process the FHLB application.
2. Invoice dated Sept. 30, 2013 from Mayo-Crowe.
3. Statement from Rockville Bank.
8. Adjourn – C. D’Agata moved to adjourn, seconded by L. Millix; meeting adjourned at 6:55 p.m.
Submitted by Recording Secretary Brenda Sullivan
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