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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2003-06-18 - Minutes - Archive• • • MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE HOUSING AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF FAYETTEVILLE, ARKANSAS The Housing Authority of the City of Fayetteville, Arkansas met in Regular Session at 8:00 a.m., Wednesday June 18th, 2003 in the office of the Authonty #1 North School Ave., Fayetteville, AR. Gary Garton, Chairperson, called the meeting to order. Commissioners Present: Garton, Watson, Bolin, Richardson, Coleman Commissioners Absent: None Others Present: Fredia Sawin and Laura Higgins The Minutes of the May 21s`, 2003 Regular Meeting were approved by motion, seconded and carried unanimously. Mr. Garton asked if the budget was done month to month. Ms. Sawin advised that the budget was done on a yearly basis on or about September 301h of each year. The budget is then reviewed during the year to see if you are where you need to be. Ms. Sawin commented that Lindsey out of Searcy, Arkansas did the Housing Authority's budget. The May 2003 Financial Statement was reviewed, approved by motion, seconded and carried unanimously. Mr. Garton advised that Bruce Johanson with Johanson Consulting, Inc. was unable to be at the meeting today. "He just Tacks a little bit more in getting everything done." According to Mr. Garton he should have it all done by sometime next week. "We will decide at that time if we need to call a special meeting and I will make sure I touch base with everybody." Ms. Watson asked if he had given any kind of indication at all and according to Mr. Garton he wanted it to be a complete package before presenting it. Ms. Watson brought up the progress of the gazebo to be laid out on the south side of the Hillcrest Towers building. "The concrete pad for the gazebo has already been laid out and if you get a chance please go out and look at it." The gazebo's opening will be facing west and also plans are to make it handicapped accessible. Ms. Watson also asked everyone to go look at the courtyard as Ms Terrell (resident of Hillcrest Towers) and another young lady in a wheelchair had dug up and planted some beautiful flower beds. Ms. Watson stated she thought that financially they did this work on their own. Ms. Sawin replied that the Housing Authority did cover their expenses. Ms. Watson stated that when the gazebo was completed, they were planning on having a dedication ceremony. It was planned that the gazebo would be dedicated to the Hillcrest Tower residents. Ms. Watson will be inviting the mayor and his council to come. Ms. • • • Watson thought this would give the Towers good publicity and let people know we are out here. Ms. Bolin offered through someone she knew to provide some kind of picnic or ice cream for the dedication ceremony. Ms. Bolin stated she would get with Ms. Watson to discuss this issue later. Ms. Richardson was excused to take a phone call from Jesse Westover from the HUD Little Rock office. Mr. Garton mentioned the status of their process to hire a new executive director. Mr. Garton stated that they had performed numerous interviews, some interviews for the second time and that the process had been completed. The board is getting their notes together and are Intending to make a decision by the end of the week. Ms. Watson conveyed that she appreciated the office digging in and helping out where they were needed. Ms. Richardson returned to the meeting and asked if anything was said about the hiring of the executive director. Ms. Richardson stated that they needed to have a executive session after regular meeting to discuss some changes that were brought up by Jesse Westover from HUD. Ms. Watson then brought up some questions about certain payments on the May 2003 Financial Statement. This issues where explained by Ms. Sawin. Ms Watson reported that while Cox Cable was updating to digital, they cut the electrical lines to the outside lights on the 12th floor. However, this issue will be taken care of by Cox Cable. Ms. Watson brought up some of the trash/recycling problems and the fact that the recycling people have not come up with any feasible solutions for apartment complexes. The Housing Authority's current trash hauler, Butch Drain has offered to take newspapers and plastic jugs for the residents once a week. Mr. Garton asked why we have not been able to get the recycling program. Ms. Watson advised that they hadn't made any decisions yet as to how to handle this issue. Mr. Garton conveyed that he would talk with the mayor's office concerning this problem. Per Ms. Watson trash alone in the Highrise has nearly doubled and consequently we must pay more for trash hauling. Ms Bolin asked who was responsible for the contract for the trash. Ms. Sawin stated that there was no contract at this time. Ms. Bolin wanted to know if there were any bids taken or if there were any other options. Ms. Watson conveyed that as far as we knew there are not many independent trash haulers in the city. Ms. Sawin explained the problem with hauling off large items that are dropped or dumped around our dumpsters on our public housing sites. As the city will not pick up these items we must pay someone to do it. Mr. Garton thought that there was a program that would do that but he didn't know the cost. Ms. Bolin mentioned that they do it free, but only quarterly. Ms. Watson felt that trash would pile up to much under this method. However, Ms. Sawin will look into pricing. Mr. Garton again thought that the city should figure something out and offer some kind of cooperation. Ms. Sawin reiterated again that the City has not been able to • figure out exactly how they want to take care of the problem. It was agreed that hopefully a solution would be found soon. Ms. Sawin advised that she had a couple of items to go over with the board. According to Ms. Sawin HUD will now be recapturing some of our reserves and taking away some future funding. This report was handed out to everyone on the board for their review. Ms. Bolin questioned whether the budget could be adjusted and whether we were using all of our money. Mr. Garton stated it certainly appeared that all money was being utilized. Ms. Sawin replied that this is HUD's way of making sure we use all of our reserves. Ms. Richardson asked why we had a lot of reserves and Ms. Sawin explained that it was to be used for emergencies. Ms. Sawin handed out several more notifications concerning future changes and also our Section 8 Rental Assistance SEMAP score, which was 100% for the past year. The Public Housing score was an 89% which is good. These are items to think about for our future and Ms Sawin felt it was important for the board to have copies of these possible changes. Ms. Bolin brought up that changes are always being made for all different types of housing programs and that this was pretty normal. Ms. Richardson said that this is true but it is still important to us and needs to be brought out. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned. THE USING AUTHORITY OF THE • CITY F FAYETTE$ ARKANSAS • ATTEST: IRPERSON SECRETARY