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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMansfield Housing Authority 01/08/2018Minutes of the Regular Meeting of the Mansfield Housing Authority held at 15 Park Street on Monday, January 8, 2018 at 7:00 PM The Members of the Mansfield Housing Authority met in Regular Session at 15 Park Street, Mansfield, MA at 7:00 PM. The Meeting was called to order at 7:00 PM by Chairman Kevin Doyle and upon roll call, those present and absent were as follows: Present: Absent: c' Kevin Doyle - Debra Tatum I, n S' Mary Kate Flynn > G Elizabeth Dye C U�l err' Olivier Kozlowski =— ➢ _can �M Also present was Executive Director, Michael Forbes, Assistant Executwe Od Director, Andrea McDougall, Public Housing Coordinator, Sandra LaRo`�'ee, arid'' A several tenants. 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 at 7:00 PM on January 8, 2018 at 15 Park Street, Mansfield, MA 02048. 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 January 3, 2018, 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 10`h day of January 2018. Michael Forbes, Executive Director 9 Acting Secretary The Board and attendees recited the Pledge of Allegiance. A Motion was made by Ms. Flynn and seconded by Ms. Dye to approve Warrant #356 for the Month of December 2017 in the amount of $232,508.87. Upon Vote, the Motion passed by a Vote of 5-0. A Motion was made by Ms. Tatum and seconded by Ms. Flynn to approve the Minutes of the December 4, 2017 Board Meeting as presented. Upon Vote, the Motion passed by a Vote of 5-0. A Motion was made by Ms. Dye and seconded by Ms. Tatum to approve the Minutes of the December 15, 2017 Special Board Meeting as presented. Upon Vote, the Motion passed by a Vote of 5-0. The Chairman referred to Aaenda Item #4 Executive Director's Report. A Motion was made by Ms. Dye and seconded by Ms. Tatum to accept the Executive Director's Report dated January 3, 2018. Mr. Kozlowski referenced where Mr. Forbes had written that the results of DHCD's Performance Management Review (PMR) would not be made public and he asked what type of results the Public would be made aware of. Mr. Forbes stated that this is a planning year for the PMR but beginning next year, the review will have its results posted on the DHCD website. 2 Ms. Tatum asked if the pull cords located in the apartments at Bicentennial Court notified the Police directly when pulled. Mr. Forbes explained that the pull cords sound a bell, turn on an indicator light outside the apartment and unlock the apartment door so that assistance could gain entry or alert someone to call 911. There were no further questions or comments from the Board on the Executive Director's report. Upon Vote, the Motion passed by a Vote of 5-0. A Motion was made by Ms. Tatum and seconded by Ms. Flynn to accept the Balance Sheets and Financial Reports as of as November 30, 2017 as prepared by the Fee Accountant. Mr. Forbes stated that the Housing Authority does not have a budget in place yet as DHCD had just released the budget guidelines. Upon Vote, the Motion passed by a Vote of 5 to 0. Mr. Forbes explained that the state passed legislation that all Housing Authority Boards must have a tenant Board Member. Mr. Forbes explained that DHCD is seeking Board & Executive Director's opinions on how they would like to see the Law implemented and they have asked MassNAHRO to conduct the survey. The Board Members & Executive Director's survey results ranking them in order of preference were as follows: I. Board Size: Decision 1 1 st — 7 member 2nd — 5 member 2. If 7 members: Decision 2: How many tenants/how to seat on the Board? 1st —Add 1 tenant by election (vote-by-mail/online; administered by DHCD procured third party). 2nd - Add 1 tenant by appointment by Board of Selectman from list provided by LTC (if any). Yd — Add 2 tenants by tenant election (vote-by-mail/online; administered '` '; by DHCD procured third party). 4t" — Add 2 tenants by appointment by the Board of Selectman from a list provided by the LTO (if any). 3. If 5 members: Decision 2 — How to shrink from 4 to 3? 1$t — First expiring seat after effective date of corrective legislation. 2nd — Run-off election between 4 members. 4. If 5 members: Decision 3 - How to seat tenant on Board? 1$t - Vote-by-maii/online tenant election administered by DHCD procured third party election vendor. 2nd — Appointment by the Board of Selectmen from a list provided by LTO (if any), similar to Mayor in cities. 5. Decision 4: How to fill Seat if Waiver is Required Because No Eligible Public Housing Tenant is interested? 1st — BOS appoints any interested town resident until such time as eligible tenant expresses interest ( appointment to last not more than 5 years). 2nd - BOS appoints resident with a tenant based or project based voucher issued by the LHA. 3td — BOS appoints resident with a tenant based or project based voucher living in the town. 4th — BOS appoints resident of privately owned, rent restricted low income rental housing in town. 5th — BOS appoints any interested town resident who lives in privately owned, non -rent -restricted housing in town and has income less than public housing income limit. 6. Do you currently have tenant on Board that was elected by town electioO No. 7. If yes, when does his/her term expire? N/A. "The survey results listed above are the result of the consensus of the Board. The ratings do not reflect unanimous agreement of all Board Members*" Mr. Forbes stated that he felt it would be best to leave the decision of whether or not an employee can get to work safely when it snows, up to the employee. Mr. Forbes stated that the proposed policy allows the employee the option to take a vacation day, personal day or to not be paid if they have no available vacation or personal time, should they choose not to come to work in inclement weather. The Chairman stated that it should be the Executive Director's responsibility to determine if the office should remain open or not due to weather. Commissioner Kozlowski stated that the budgetary impact of an office closure is magnified in a smaller agency like the Housing Authority. Commissioner Flynn stated that she felt if the Governor declared a "State of Emergency" employees should be paid for the day. A Motion was made by Chairman Doyle and seconded by Ms. Tatum to approve the Policy as presented and add that the office would also close if the Governor declared a State - of -Emergency and that the Policy be reviewed annually. Upon Vote, the Motion passed by a Vote of 5- 0 and the policy was approved as follows: Mansfield Housing Authority Administrative Staff Inclement Weather Policy It shall be the policy of the Mansfield Housing Authority that administrative staff be allowed not to report work due to inclement weather should the employee determine that they are unable to report to work. If the employee decides not to report to work due to inclement weather, they must use vacation or personal time or if they have no vacation or personal time they will not be paid for the hours not worked. Any administrative staff person who decides not to report to work due to inclement weather must notify the Executive Director or Assistant Executive Director via telephone call, text message or email prior to the time they are scheduled to report to work. The Housing Authority office will make every effort to remain open during inclement weather. Any decision to close the office would require extreme circumstances and the Executive Director is the only person who would make that decision. Should the decision be made to close the office due to inclement weather, or if the Governor declares a State -of Emergency, the employees would be paid for the time off without the use of their vacation or personal time. Maintenance staff is considered emergency personnel and are required to report to work for snow & ice removal and other inclement weather conditions. Mr. Forbes stated that the Housing Authority currently has four very good part- time employees and they are not currently receiving any benefits. A Motion was made by Ms. Flynn and seconded by Ms D e to approve Holiday, Vacation, and Personal Time for part-y time employees as presented. Mr. Kozlowski asked if other Housing Authorities offer benefits to their part time employees. Mr. Forbes stated that he did not know of specific benefit policies for other Housing Authorities. Mr. Forbes said that the Housing Authority was not required to do anything, but pointed out that he felt that the approval of these benefits would help in retaining good employees for the Housing Authority. Upon Vote, the Motion passed by a Vote of 4-0-1 with Commissioner Kozlowski abstaining and the benefits were approved as follows: All part-time Housing Authority employees working up to 18'/2 hours per week will receive the following benefits, effective February 1, 2108: 1. After 6 months of service, two 18'/2 hour weeks of paid vacation time per calendar year, earned at 3.084 hours per month. Part-time employees who already have 6 months of service will be credited with 18 '/2 hours of vacation time on February 1, 2018 and will begin earning vacation time at 3.084 hours per month on March 1, 2018. 2. Two 4-hour personal days per calendar year. All part-time employees will be credited with 8 hours personal time on February 1, 2018. 3. All part-time employees are to be paid 4 hours for each of the full -day paid Holidays listed within the Mansfield Housing Authority's Personnel Policy or any other Holidays granted by the Board of Commissioners. (See attached copy of page 6 of the MHA Personnel Policy). 4. All part-time employees are paid 2 hours each for any'/2 day Holiday granted to full-time employees. There will be no accumulation allowed of personal time into the next calendar year. 18142hours of vacation time will be allowed to be accumulated and carried into the following year if not used within the calendar year. Part-time employees are not allowed to exceed 18'/2 hours per week with the exception of maintenance employees who may exceed 18'/2 hours a week due to snow removal or emergency calls. Weeks when part-time employees are paid Holiday pay, they must reduce their hours so as not to exceed 18'/2 hours in a week. The reduced hours schedule is to be arranged with the Executive Director or the Assistant Executive Director prior to the week in which the Holiday would occur. A Motion was made by Ms. Dye and seconded by Ms. Tatum to approve the revised Mansfield Housing Authority Vehicle Policy as presented. *This Motion was not Voted on ** The Chairman asked the Executive Director if there had been a problem with parking. Mr. Forbes stated that the proposed policy revisions are an attempt to cleanup and add clarification to the existing policy. Mr. Kozlowski asked if some of the over -sized parking spaces could afford to be made smaller in order to gain additional parking spots. Mr. Forbes stated that there may be some additional room in the visitor parking lot as Mr. Kozlowski noted, but not for the other parking spots throughout the property. Mr. Kozlowski pointed out that the policy stated that the Housing Authority could tow inoperable vehicles, which is not specified within the Law that is cited within the policy. Mr. Kozlowski stated that he fears that section of the policy could be challenged in court should the Housing Authority tow an inoperable vehicle. A Motion was then made by Chairman Doyle and seconded by Ms. Dye to seek the Housing Authority's Attorney's opinion on the towing of inoperable vehicles and table the consideration of approval of the revised Policy to the February Board Meeting. Upon Vote, Mr. Doyle's Motion passed by a Vote of 5-0 The Chairman referred to agenda item #10 Correspondences The Chairman read off the list of correspondences that were as follows: A copy of a 12/29/17 email regarding the closeout of HUD's Voucher Management System (VMS) review, a copy of the FY 2018 DHCD Budget Guidelines and a copy of DHCD Public Housing Notice 2018-01 regarding FY2018 Executive Director Salary Schedule. Mr. Forbes stated that he will be meeting with the Fee Accountant on January 17, 2018 to prepare the new budget and he wanted to provide copies of the guidelines to the Board for their peruse. The Chairman referred to agenda item RI Questions and Comments Mr. Kozlowski said that he was involved in a situation that required emergency housing for a resident of the town and asked what resources are made available for emergency shelter. Mr. Forbes stated the Housing Authority does not provide emergency shelter but does grant Emergency status for eligible applicants on the state waitlist. Park Court resident, William Rehill stated that there are holes in the paved street outside of Park Street. Mr. Forbes advised Mr. Rehill to make the Housing Authority aware of any holes and the maintenance department would patch them. Park Court resident, Elvira Rose, told the Board that she had fallen down in the Park Court parking lot in the midst of the January 4`" blizzard while attempting to shovel out her car and stated that the area around her car had not been shoveled. Mr. Forbes stated that there was a major snow storm on January 4th with subzero temperatures, wind gusts in excess of 60 miles per hour and over a foot of snow. Mr. Forbes explained that the maintenance staff is directed to clear the front and rear entrances and walkways of the building first to ensure emergency response access. Mr. Forbes stated that plowing the tenant's individual parking spaces is not a priority in these types of storms. Mr. Forbes advised Ms. Rose that there are three additional properties that need plowing, salting, and sanding. Mr. Forbes apologized for the difficulties Ms. Rose had encountered and hopes the new machine the Housing Authority recently purchased will yield better results for the next storm. The Chairman advised that tenants wanting to go out in a storm should not be alone and for safety purposes, should bring their cell phone and notify a friend or a neighbor of their intentions. There being no further business to come before the Board, a Motion was made by Ms. Tatum and seconded by Ms. Flynn to Adjourn at 8:26 PM. Upon Vote, the Motion passed by a Vote of 5 to 0. Approved on February 12, 2018 - Board of Commissioners: