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HomeMy WebLinkAbout02.23.12 HA MinutesMEETING OF THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS OF THE HOUSING AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF PASCO & FRANKLIN COUNTY (HACPFC) February 23,2012 4:00 p.m. The Commissioners of the Authority met in regular session at the Housing Authority of the City of Pasco & Franklin County administration office, 2505 W. Lewis Street, Pasco, Washington at 4:00 p.m., February 23,2012. 1. CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order at 4:01 p.m. 2. COMISSIONER ROLL CALL Upon roll call, those present were as follows: Present: Domingos, Clark, Quintanilla, Kuffel (anived at 4:20 p.m. - excused, detained at work) Absent: nla STAFF AND EX OFFICIO MEMBERS Present: Andy Anderson, Executive Director Kathy Jones, Chief Financial Officer Brett Sanders, Director of Maintenance/Capital Fund Adella Salinas, Director of Housing Services Scott Moore, Security Specialist/HQS Inspector Lisa Richwine, Administrative Assistant/Recording Secretary VISITORS * Karla Carlisle, Northwest Justice Project 3. APPROVAL OF AGF,NDA: Ms. Clark made a motion to approve the agenda as presented. Ms. Quintanilla seconded the motion and it passed unanimously, 3 ayes, 0 nays. 4. CONSENT AGENDA The consent agenda was approved as submitted. Included were the minutes of the regular meeting of January 26,2012, and the checks listings - Bank of the West General Operating Account checks numbered 47242- 47434 totaling $257 ,071, Bank of the West Petty Cash check numbered 1691 totaling $30, and bad debt write offs for rent, utility billing, and miscellaneous in the amount of $653.50. Of that amount, $653.50, will be tumed over for collection. 5. STAFF REPORTS (a) Executive (Mr. Anderson)./ Final response to SEMAP findings completed.,/ HACPFC has partnered with Community Action Connections for administration ofthe City's HOME funds. Stated proposals have yet to go before the City Council. Board of Commissioners Meeting Minutes February 23r2012 Page2 of 4 Proposed changes to HOME funds all but make it impossible for housing authorities to become Community Housing Development Organizations (CHDOs). In light of this, our 501(c)(3) application for RAHA (Regional Affordable Housing Alliance) is now on hold. At the recent AWHA (Association of Washington Housing Authorities) meeting, a brochure template was distributed along with new AWHA brochures. This template allows housing authorities to individualizethe template to tout their particular agency's achievements and points of interest. Met with Karla Carlisle ofNorthwest Justice regarding forms translation. More on that later in the meeting. Representatives of Beacon Development and Zeck Butler Architects came for a walk- through of the land HACPFC owns at 4th & Pearl Streets to assess its suitability for an affordable housing project. The representatives are excited about the site's possibilities and speculate that 3-4 phases of development could occur onthe (approximately) 10 acres. Beacon Development staff will be at the March board meeting. Will need a special meeting on April 12,2012, for PHA Plan adoption. The public meeting will be held in conjunction with the board meeting. Finance (Ms. Jones)./ The recent VMS remote review went fine../ The audit will be wrapped up soon. The exit interviewhas notyetbeen scheduled. The report should arrive shortly and will be uploaded to REAC (Real Estate Assessment Center). Maintenance and Capital Fund (Mr. Sanders) / Lawn mowing services bid opening is February 28, at 3:00 p.m. / The laundry services contract was renewed with Hainsworth. / The administration building's time clock is out of order and a replacement was ordered. This project has been taking up a great deal of time because of software and hardware glitches. A solution is in sight.,/ HACPFC qualifies for a PUD rebate for the high rise lighting retrofit project. The paperwork is being completed. The high rise interior hallways, unit doors and storage doors are being painted. We're starting at the 6th floor and working our way down. This is a 3-4 week project. 48 bathroom heaters were replaced in Octave Street and 800 block units on N. l't Avenue. 45 more heaters have been ordered to replace those in the high rise. MaintenancelCapital Fund's portion of the PHA Plan was given to Ms. Richwine for inclusion in the review documentation. This information will be presented at the Resident Advisory Board (RAB) meeting on Thursday, April 5,2012, at2:00 p.m. Received a $29,000 grant of state monies for building and site upgrades at the Cullum House in Richland (transitional housing for the chronically mentally ilD. Will begin the upgrades in the spring. Have been going through our existing policies and procedures manuals (Safety, Key, Procurement, etc.) to ensure they are current with practices and regulations. (b) (c) F :\ExecutivdrMain\WPDATA\N4INUTES\20 i 2\0223 12. docx (d) Board of Commissioners Meeting Minutes February 23,2012 Page3 of4 Housing Programs (Ms. Salinas),/ Training staff on the changes in the Section 8 Administrative Plan and the Public Housing Admissions and Continued Occupancy Policy.,/ Staff has attended on-line training for EIV (Enterprise Income Verification). Security (Mr. Moore)./ As a result of staying on top of Comply Nacate & PaylYacate notices, one seriously delinquent account is now caught up and paid through March../ A 3-Day Termination was issued for illegal drug activity.,/ Have started work on the FY2013 FSS Grant. It's due on April 24,2012. ,/ We have had no incidents of gang activity or graffiti in the last month. Community Service (Ms. Richwine),/ Working on the PHA Plan. Ad goes in the paper this weekend:,/ Distributed updated sections of Section 8 Administrative Plan and the entire new Public Housing Admissions and Continued Occupancy Policy to staff. (e) NEW BUSINESS (a) Resolution #llll2-882 Approving Changes to Bank of the West Signature Cards Ms. Clark made the motion to approve the changes to the bank signature cards. Mr. Kuffel seconded the motion and it passed unanimously,4 ayes,0 nays. (b) Resolution #IIl12-883 Tax Credit Project Development Mr. Kuffel moved to adopt the resolution regarding tax credit project development. Ms. Quintanilla seconded and it passed unanimously, 4 ayes, 0 nays. OTHER BUSINESS Ms. Carlisle asked to update the commissioners on the meeting she had with Mr. Anderson regarding the translation of documents into Spanish. ("Translate" : written word, "lnterptet": spoken word.) Ms. Carlisle provided Mr. Anderson with a list of 147 Washington State court certihed interpreters. Mr. Anderson stated that he received a quote for document translation at $ 1.00 per word. Ms. Carlisle believes that cost is high and said Northwest Justice's document translator charges $0.22 per word. She urged Mr. Anderson to obtain bids for document translation and said she would provide the name of her agency's translator. Ms. Carlisle read from the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) regarding LEP (Limited English Proficiency) and said that the translation of "vital" documents is imperative for HACPFC as the agency does not fall under the "Safe Harbor" provision of the CFR sited. Mr. Anderson agreed that HACPFC does not fall under the "Safe Harbor" provision. Discussion of what constifutes a "vital" document was held. Mr. Anderson will find out how many of the following communications are produced by this agency per month: Leases, Comply/Vacate notices ,PayNacate Notices, Terminations (3-day, I$-day, 30-day). (0 6. 7. F :\ExecutivdMain\WPDATA\lr4INUTESU0 I 2\0223 1 2. do cx Board of Commissioners Meeting Minutes February 23,2012 Page 4 of 4 Mr. Kuffel asked for a copy of the CFR regarding LEP and Mr. Anderson stated he would provide it. Mr. Anderson pointed out that HUD's guidance regarding LEP has an "FAQ" (Frequently Asked Questions) piece. One of the questions reads as follows: Question: Areleases,rentalagreementsandotherhousingdocumentsofalegalnatureenforceableinU.S.courtswhenthey are in languages other than English? Answer: Generally, the English document prevails. The HUD translated documents may caffy the disclaimer, "This document is a translation of a HUD-issued legal document. HUD provides this translation to you merely as a convenience to assist in your understanding of yourrights and obligations. The English language version of this document is the official, legal, controlling document. The translated documentis not an official document." Mr. Kuffel asked Ms. Carlisle to provide the board with more data regarding the literacy level of monolingual Spanish speakers in our population. Our lease, a legal document, is written at a high school reading level. He asked if the targeted population would be able to understand it if it were translated into Spanish at ahigh school reading level. Ms. Carlisle suggestedthatthe lease betranslated at a 6th or 7th grade reading level. Discussion was also held regarding the validity of a document that was not prepared by a state-certified translator. Mr. Kuffel asked Ms. Carlisle if it is her opinion that the law states it is mandatory for HACPFC to translate all documents into Spanish. She stated that is her opinion. Mr. Kuffel then asked Ms. Carlisle and Mr. Anderson to provide more data to the board so it can make an iniormed decision. Mr. Domingos asked Mr. Anderson to explore the $0.22 per word translation option. EXECUTIVE SESSION No Executive Session was held. ADJOURNMENT Mr. Domingos adjoumed the meeting at 5:11 p.m. The Board of Commissioners will next meet in regular session on March 29,2012, at 4:00 p.m. 8. 9. Chair, Board of Commrssloners , Board of Commissioners , CMH F :\ExecurivdMain\wPDATA\IT4INUTES\20 1 2\0223 12. do cx