Willington Housing Authority
MINUTES
January 12, 2015
60 Old Farms Road – Senior Center
Willington, CT
PRESENT – Chairman Robert Campbell, Vice Chairman Wilbur Gangaway, Secretary Don Berg, Member Laurel Millix, Treasurer Claudia D'Agata, Financial Consultant David Berto.
1. Call to Order – The meeting was called to order at 6:02 p.m.
2. Present to speak – No member of the public present to speak.
3. Old Business – Button Hill senior housing project
D. Berto reported that Phase I has been completed and a final inspection by the engineer is expected to be done on Jan. 13. He added that this phase actually won't be 100 percent complete until grass has been planted in the spring. There will remain a 5 percent retainage requisition, about $17,000, which won't be processed until the grass is established. R. Campbell noted that grass should only be planted in areas that won't be disturbed by subsequent construction and site work; those areas will be seeded by the next contractor. There was discussion about whether, since the contractor for Phase I might be planting less grass than anticipated, if there might be a small surplus and whether it could be used, under town procurement requirements, in Phase II.
R. Campbell also spoke about a discussion with the First Selectmen about responsibility for costs for septic monitoring, and the town following town procurement requirements if it hires E. Peterson for consulting services. The town needs to follow certain DEEP requirements in order to renew its permit to discharge.
D. Berto reported that L. Wagner asked permission from HUD to move some budget items from engineering to construction and that has been approved. There is $973.80 left in the project account.
D. Berto said there's been some questions about Gardiner & Peterson's billing, because of the way it's formatted. Gardiner & Peterson was asked for clarification and an error was found, so they reduced one of their bills by $670. D. Berg noted that the documents sometimes refer to Button Hill and sometimes to Willington Senior Housing. D. Berto said there are two contracts: one is for Button Hill infrastructure coordination, and one is for Willington Senior Housing Old Farms Road, which is Phase II.
D. Berto reported on the request made about6-8 weeks ago to the Department of Housing about revised pricing so that progress can be made on a closing. About a week ago he received an email from the DOH with architect review comments and directions to take care of them. He said that and closing can be done in parallel, and Lynn got the name of the DOH closing attorney today, so now Atty. Scaramossa can begin to work with the DOH attorney to get the closing process started.
4. New Business
D. Berg reported CL&P is offering a webinar on their Small Tariff ZREC program and he expects this to be followed by an announcement of a two-week window of opportunity for submitting applications,
He also did some research and believes WHA could apply for a 20-year C-Pace loan paid for as special assessment.
He distributed a spreadsheet to compare the benefits of two kinds of incentive programs (CEFIA/Green Bank or The Small Tariff ZREC program) and there was further discussion about solar-generated power costs.
D. Berg said with the Small Tariff ZREC program incentive, the cost would be about $8,000 for the system over 20 years. The monetary benefit would be about $2,000. RECs (renewable energy credits) are paid over 15 years, the loan could be for up to 20 years. This means spending about $440 dollars a month for 4 units for heat and electric.
Discussion continued about adding more solar panels to cover more of the building’s power usage (owners panel, heat, etc). D. Berg said he will do more research and provide comments at the next meeting.
D. Berg said he'd like the WHA to authorize him to submit an application or applications to CL&P, since the window of opportunity will likely occur between WHA meeting dates.
He said that if the WHA is awarded an opportunity to enter into a ZREC contract with CL&P – but later chooses not to go this route – nothing happens. If the WHA does accept and complete a service agreement with CL&P, there will be a “bond” to pay for what is referred to as “performance assurance,” which is 5 percent of CL&P’s anticipated annual ZREC payment.
D. Berto said it may be possible to find a funding source to cover at least part of the balance if the Button Hill project is approved for the Small Tariff ZREC program.
D. Berg also noted that submetering units could lower the cost of CL&P's basic monthly service charge of about $19.50 (by utilizing one CL&P meter to service one building or one CL&P meter for all 4 buildings, versus a typical metering detail with 7 CL&P meters on each of 4 separate buildings).
C. D'Agata asked if there would be additional costs to make sure the roof is strong enough for solar panels. There was discussion about making sure to include the additional cost to increase the strength of the trusses (and any engineering costs) in order to support the solar panels, in any request for funding to cover all or a portion of the solar installation.
D. Berg said he emailed CL&P to ask if it's possible to apply for 4 separate buildings as 4 separate applications, and also apply as one application for the group of four buildings. He said there's a lot of competition for ZREC funds, but if the WHA isn't accepted this year, the authority can apply again in subsequent years.
D. Berg was directed to make the application.
D. Berto left the meeting.
5. Correspondence – None.
6. Approval of Minutes – C. D'Agata moved, and L. Millix seconded the motion, to accept the December minutes; motion passed unanimously.
6. Treasurer's Report
C. D'Agata reported an expenditure of $69.97 for recording secretary expenses, leaving a balance of $2,114.56
7. Adjourn – The meeting adjourned at 7:30 p.m.
Respectfully submitted by Recording Secretary Brenda Sullivan. Please note that minutes are posted prior to being officially approved – changes/corrections are indicated in the subsequent month’s meeting minutes.
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