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Home My WebLink AboutMHA 10/07/2020r, 1 Minutes of the Regular Meeting of the Mansfield Housing Authority held via GoToMeetingon Wednesday, October 7, 2020 at 7:00 Pik,� The Members of the Mansfield Housing Authority met in Regular Session at 22 Bicentennial Court and by video conference at 7:00 PM. The Meeting was called to order by Chairman Kevin Doyle at 7:00 PM and upon roll call, those present and absent were as follows: Present: Absent: Kevin Doyle Olivier Kozlowski Debra Tatum Mary Kate Flynn *William Snyder entered the meeting at 7:08PM Also present was the Executive Director, Andrea McDougall and four additional callers attending remotely. A copy of the Notice of Meeting, pursuant to Section 23A of Chapter 39 of the General Laws, with the Certificate as to Service of Notice of Meeting attached thereto was read and ordered spread upon the Minutes of the Meeting and filed for record. NOTICE OF MEETING Notice is hereby given in accordance with Section 23A of Chapter 39 of the General Laws that a Meeting of the Mansfield Housing Authority will be held online via GoToMeeting at 7:00 PM on October 7, 2020. CERTIFICATE AS TO NOTICE OF MEETING (Section 23A, Chapter 39, General Laws) I, the undersigned, the duly appointed qualified Executive Director of the Mansfield Housing Authority do hereby certify that on October 2, 2020 1 caused to be filed, in the manner provided by Section 23A, Chapter 39, General Laws, with the Clerk of the Town of Mansfield, Massachusetts, a Notice of Meeting of which the foregoing is a true and correct copy. IN TESTIMONY HEREOF, I have set my hand this 9'4 day of September 2020. Andrea McDougall; exe6utive Director & Acting A Motion was made by Ms. Flynn and seconded by Mr. Kozlowski to Approve Warrant #389 in the amount of $216,691.95. Upon Vote the Motion passed by a Vote of 4 to 0. A Motion was made by Ms. Flynn and seconded by Ms. Tatum to approve the Minutes of the September 2, 2020 Regular Board Meeting. Upon Vote, the Motion passed by a Vote of 4-0. The Chairman referred to Agenda item #3 Executive Director's Report. A Motion was made by Ms. Tatum and seconded by Ms. Flynn to accept the Executive Director's Report. Upon Vote, the Motion passed by a Vote of 4 to 0. A Motion was made by Ms. Flynn and seconded by Ms. Tatum to accept the Balance Sheets and Financial Reports as of August 31, 2020 as prepared by the Fee Accountant. Upon Vote, the Motion passed by a Vote of 4 to 0. `j A Motion was made by Ms. Tatum and seconded by Ms. Flynn to Approve the Proposed Section 8 Payment Standards Effective November 1, 2020. Upon Vote, the Motion Passed by a Vote of 4-0 *At 7:08 Commissioner William Snyder joined the meeting remotely via the GoTo Meeting platform. The Board was presented with a copy of the bid results along with a copy of an email from Randy Jarvis of E. Randy Jarvis Architects in which Mr. Jarvis states that he has attempted to verify references for the apparent low bidder, Diversified Construction Services, LLC and has not been successful. Mr. Jarvis stated that he currently does not have sufficient information to make a recommendation, but he is expecting messages left to be returned to him. A Motion was made by Ms. Flynn and seconded by Mr. Kozlowski to award the Base bid and Alternate #1 contract for the Exterior Door Replacement at Cedar Court, Project #167086 to the lowest eligible, responsible bidder Diversified Construction Services LLC. in the amount of $132,986.00, pending the submission of a formal recommendation from the Architect. Upon roll call the "Ayes" and "Nays" were as follows: Aves: Nays: Kevin Doyle Mary Kate Flynn Olivier Kozlowski Debra Tatum William Snyder And it was unanimously Voted to award the Base Bid and Alternate #1 Contract for the Exterior Door Replacement at Cedar Court, Project #167086 to the lowest eligible, responsible bidder Diversified Construction Services LLC. in the amount of $132,985.00, pending the submission of a formal recommendation from the Architect. 3 A Motion was made by Ms. Flynn and seconded by Ms. Tatum to approve the Executive Director's Performance Evaluation. Mr. Kozlowski stated that some of the Board Members had received reports, emails, and communications regarding events surrounding apartment inspections. He asked the other Board Members if they felt it made more sense to table this agenda item to next month's Board meeting. Ms. Flynn responded by saying that the performance evaluation was based on the Executive Director's performance from September of 2019 through August 2020. Ms. Flynn added that anything that became know to the Board today should be reflected in next year's Executive Director's Performance Evaluation. The Chairman asked the other Board members for their comments and there were none. The Chairman then asked for a vote. Upon Vote, the Motion passed by a Vote of 4 — 0 -1 with Mr. Kozlowski abstaining. Mr. Kozlowski stated that there was a Facebook post complaining about the Housing Authority's annual apartment inspections. Mr. Kozlowski stated that he posted a comment which read as follows: "I serve on the Housing Authority Board of Commissioners. We have our monthly meeting tonight at 7:00pm. While members of the public still cannot attend in person, questions or concerns can be emailed this afternoon and people can log in and listen. Public comments usually are addressed at the end of our meetings. That said, individual tenant concerns are confidential and need to be directed to the Executive Director. Again, contact info is in the link below. If a tenant isn't satisfied with the result, there are next steps that can be taken. Finally, as to the issue of unit inspections, the state has required that we resume with annual inspections of the units and we must comply. I will add that since Covid, all of the units in that particular development had their windows replaced and many have had maintenance requests completed. I am not aware of any complaints during those operations." Mr. Kozlowski also stated that one resident had requested to speak with him and when he spoke with that resident, he encouraged the resident to email the Executive Director so that all concerns could be discussed at the meeting. Ms. McDougall stated that as of that moment no emails had been received. 0 Mr. Kozlowski expressed concerns regarding the comments that had been recorded online about the inspections held at Cedar Court. He asked the other Board Members for input. Ms. Flynn responded that she too had viewed the online post and noted that very few who made commentary were Mansfield Housing Authority residents. Ms. Flynn said that she also believed that anyone who had concerns or complaints put something in writing and submit it to the Housing Authority. She asked the Executive Director if the residents had been notified that the inspections were going to be held. Ms. McDougall replied that the tenants were notified on August 26, 2020 giving them more than a month's notice. She added that she takes the health and safety of the Housing Authority employees as seriously as she takes the health and safety of the residents. She stated that when requested, other residents' unit inspections had been postponed due to COVID and that sending the Housing Authority Personnel into a unit where the resident exhibits Covid symptoms would not be something she would authorize. Ms. McDougall added that the Department of Housing and Community Development issued a Public Housing Notice that detailed the Housing Authority's responsibility when entering a unit. She added that the Maintenance Department had been following the DHCD directives to the letter and that she would stand behind their actions 100%. She commended the work of the Maintenance Staff. Mr. Doyle stated that there is a complaint procedure in place and that commenting on a public site does not follow procedure and is not something that he will accept. Mr. Doyle said that all concerns should be submitted in writing and only then will the Board discuss. Mr. Kozlowski stated that he made contact with one resident at their request and was very clear that he could not be a spokesperson for this resident, that it is the responsibility of the resident to place the complaint in writing and submit it to the Housing Authority. Ms. McDougall asked the Board to provide clarification on what action or changes she should apply to the protocol that is currently in place. Mr. Doyle stated that he thought if the Maintenance Department was not currently changing their gloves between entering units, they should be. Ms. Flynn added that if they were not wearing gloves, they should be washing hands, or at the very least, apply hand sanitizer between apartments. The Chairman referred to Agenda Item #9. Correspondence. The Chairman referenced a DHCD email to the Executive Director on the approval of the Mansfield Housing Authority Capital Improvement Plan. There being no further business to come before the Board, a Motion was made by Ms. Flynn and seconded by Ms. Tatum to Adjourn at 7:32 PM. Upon Vote, the Motion passed by a Vote of 5 to 0. Approved on November 18, 2020 - Board of Commissioners: iJ