Willington Housing Authority
MINUTES
October 19, 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, Housing Consultant David Berto.
1. Call to Order – The meeting was called to order at 6 p.m.
2. Present to speak – No member of the public present to speak.
3. Old Business – Button Hill senior housing project.
R. Campbell reported that the closing was supposed to be this week, but the Department of Housing wanted updated pricing from Zlotnick Construction, which was sent to the DOH this morning by D. Berto. R. Campbell said there has been no communication from the DOH, yet.
R. Campbell said there was a conference call with the DOH about two weeks ago and they asked for pricing without inclusion of the costs of installing solar equipment. He also noted that the DOH representative misquoted figures and made other factual errors during the conversation.
C. D'Agata asked if the price went down. R. Campbell said pricing originally increased after requested changes by about $550,000; now the increase is $355,000.
R. Campbell noted that some of the project's costs, labor costs in particular, have increased because of delays on the part of the DOH.
He said he was told that the DOH closes all projects within 90 days of acceptance of a term sheet, and now it's been more than a year. Wages have gone up for some of the trades as much as $2 an hour, since pricing was originally submitted last spring, he said.
In the meantime, Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB) has given the project an extension until the end of the year.
R. Campbell said State Rep. Sam Belsito's office has been calling the DOH to keep pressure on the department to reach closing.
He said he's copied DOH Commissioner Evonne Klein on recent emails, as well.
R. Campbell said the DOH called Putnam Bank and FHLB for a private conference call about the Button Hill project before meeting with the WHA. He said they were trying to get more money from the FHLB for the Willington project. FHLB told the DOH, if they close now, they can lock the interest at one point less. But the DOH does not seem to be moving toward closing, he said.
R. Campbell noted the DOH is now accepting CHAMP 8 applications, while the Button Hill project was approved for CHAMP 4 – indicating that the DOH appears to be falling behind.
R. Campbell said the plans are now back to the original scope of work, if it had been built last November – i.e. no solar, individual meters on each unit, no mini-split heat pumps, no back-up generators, back to propane heat, etc. The additional $355,000 reflects an approximate 8.5 percent cost increase over an 18-month period, due to DOH delays.
The DOH now has the information it requested. R. Campbell said he will email them Tuesday to verify they received it.
4. New Business – R. Campbell reported that D. Berg got approval from the Board of Selectmen to issue a building permit.
5. Correspondence – None.
6. Approval of Minutes – D. Berg moved to approve the September 14, 2015 minutes; R. Campbell seconded the motion; motion passed unanimously.
7. Treasurer's Report – C. D'Agata reported a balance of $xxxx, which includes payment of secretarial expenses and a deposit of $100 to in the Putnam Bank account.
8. Adjourn – The meeting adjourned at 6:40 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.
| 
