SHA MAY 22, 2023 Board of Commissioners Meeting Minutes

MINUTES
REGULAR MEETING OF THE
BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS OF THE
SANFORD HOUSING AUTHORITY
MONDAY, MAY 22, 2023, AT 6:00 P.M.
317 CHATHAM STREET SANFORD, NC 27330

Board of Commissioners Meeting Monday May 22, 2023

A meeting of the Board of Commissioners for Sanford Housing Authority was held on Monday May 22, 2023 , at 6 :05 pm at SHA Central Office, 1000 Carthage Street, Sanford, NC 27330. Notice of this meeting was duly posted.

1. Roll Call:

ATTENDANCE:

Commissioner Hope White, Chairperson
Commissioner William Newby, Vice Chairperson
Commissioner Erin Britton
Commissioner Carolyn Gilchrist

ABSENT:

Commissioner PJ Patel
Commissioner Karen Wicker

2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES:

Ms. White asked for a motion to be made to approve the board minutes from the April 24, 2023, regular board minutes. Mr. Newby moved to approve the April 24, 2023 , board minutes. Ms. Gilchrist seconded the motion; all were in favor. The motion passed unanimously.

3. Financial Report

Mr. Goodson stated that we would not have a financial report for this board meeting but would have one at the next board meeting.

4. Public Housing and Maintenance Reports

Linden Heights, Utley Plaza, Foushee Heights

Michelle stated that with the total units we are at 90%. She said that there has been a delay for getting the units turned. The company finished at Harris Court so soon they will be coming back to Foushee Heights. Michelle said that we have people who want to move in, but we just need the units turned. Ms. White asked what was done about the waitlist and Michelle said that she was able to generate the waiting list from Yardi and she has called the first 25 on the list as well as agencies that were listed on their application because a lot of them were in homeless shelters and so none have responded. Tonya had a suggestion that we send letters out to everyone who was on the waiting list to make sure that we have not missed anyone. Michelle said that she has not had success with phone calls so she will also start going through the waiting list and when she does not receive a response back, she will check them as inactive in Yardi. Mr. Goodson stated that we would be purging the waiting list. Ms. White asked how many people approximately is on the waiting list. Tonya said that about 7 5 were on that waiting list and some of them have been housed. Michelle said that she had a handicapped accessible unit and now has someone who wants the unit who is handicapped. Ms. White asked if it is time to open back up the waiting list and Michelle said no because she still has some people who applied in the past two years, and she is calling those people first.

Michelle said that they are continuing to charge tenants for repairs to units. Ms. White asked how the properties are getting the work orders done so quickly. Mr. Goodson said that we hired a company to turn units and so now maintenance can concentrate on work orders and there was a change in the leader of the maintenance department. Ms. White said that she is just used to work orders being outstanding for about 14 days. Michelle said that she also stays on maintenance by showing that their work orders are completed, even calling the tenants to follow up to make sure that the work was done. Michelle stressed that she tells the maintenance staff that they need to have good customer service and get the work done. Mr. Goodson stated that at every staff meeting he talks about customer service. He also stated that we have good Property Managers and Michelle is very conscientious. He said that Danielle and La Toya are relatively new and walked into a difficult position but are doing well. He also stated that we already have Tonya in Resident Services; what she did at Stewart Manor was remarkable.

Stewart Manor & Harris Court

Ms. White asked if they had finished the plumbing at Harris Court and Tonya Davis-Buie replied, yes.

RAD (LIHTC) Housing & Maintenance Reports

Danielle stated that Matthews Court only has 1 vacancy, but she must get that from the courts. She said that someone passed away and no one got the items out of the unit. Ms. White asked if the Banks Law firm said that we had to go through the court and Danielle replied yes.

Therefore, Matthews court is at 98%

Garden-Gilmore Terrace is up to 80% occupied and there are 24 vacant units. She said that we have been having some issues with getting the units inspected. She said that we just had about 9 or 10 that passed so we will have some move-ins this week because the units have already been assigned.

Danielle said that all units remaining are 3-bedroom units. Ms. White asked that Danielle check the police report because she has heard about shootings in Garden and Gilmore Terrace. Danielle said that the police officer came to her about an Amber alert but not a shooting. Ms. White said that on April 28, there was a shooting and that's a fact. Mr. Goodson asked if they had painted over the graffiti, Danielle said that she did not know but would check into it. Ms. White asked what the graffiti said and where it was. Milton Toomer, Maintenance Supervisor said that it was whatever their group name is and it's on Clark Circle. Mr. Goodson said that you must be careful when covering it because of gangs.

Ms. White asked if there was a waiting list for the properties and Danielle said yes. She has qualified some who applied but others did not qualify. She tries to get the units to pass inspection first so now she can move in people who qualify.

There were no additional questions.

HCV Report

Keren asked if there were any questions. Ms. White said that we are almost there. Ms. White asked if we had started to work on the new applications, Keren replied yes. She said that they must go by the preferences first and verify them first. Ms. White said that we are almost there. There were no additional questions.

5. Resident Services Report

Ms. White asked if Shkera was going to do anything for Father's Day, Shkera replied no but she is planning a Family Day that will invite the whole family and community to participate. She said that the event would be held on Thursday June 24, 2023, at the Gilmore Terrace baseball field. She said that she has received confirmations from Blue Cross Blue Shield and other companies. Mr. Goodson said that they would need to speak about the field because it is under contract. Shkera said that she called the contact that Mr. Goodson gave her for the organization and got clearance for that date. Ms. White asked if she considered the Burke Center; Shkera replied that part of the issue with the Burke Center is their driveway is not paved and the Food Bank cannot deliver on the driveway. She said that the Food Bank did a site visit and did approve the baseball field and for us to have a food pantry at First Street. Ms. White said that she was asking because June is hot, and it may be raining. Shkera said that she would reach out to the vendors to see if they could bring tents. She said that she had to send pictures and then the Food Bank came out to conduct a site visit before approving the location. Ms. White said that she is concerned about it being in June at 1 :00 pm because of the heat, especially because we have seniors coming out. Ms. Britton said that June probably is better than July or August, which is the latter part of the summer. Shkera said that she will try to collaborate with Danielle to allow the seniors to cool off in the community center at Gilmore Terrace. Mr. Goodson said that we do need to at least have a big tent for the event. Ms. White asked if she considered Matthews Court Community Center and Shkera said that for all the vendors and participants coming, there is not enough space. Mr. Goodson asked about how big the event is and would there be cookout food. Ms. White said that it is amazing and a big turnout. Shkera said that she has asked for sponsors from restaurants for items for cook out food. Mr. Goodson said that now people have Food Trucks to come out and give discounts.

6. Development & Modernization Report

Mr. Goodson stated that we need to focus all our development efforts on Stewart Manor. He is working with Stogner & A and E Firm to develop a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) done by the middle of June or sooner. Ms. White asked if we had one for Matthews Garden & Gillmore. Mr. Goodson said that he did a search of Shannon's email to see if he could find it, but he did not find anything. Ms. White said that she would see if she has it. Mr. Goodson said that this one would be different because Stewart Manor is a preservation project and not a Section 18 project which is demolition. He said that we must get Stewart Manor back because we need the 99 units. He said that we'll get the RFQ out so that we can get a co-developer that we choose that will work within the split that we would like and the ownership structure. Mr. Goodson explained that we should get proposals in from developers. Mr. Haire asked if this was a request for proposal and how much money it would bring in. Mr. Goodson said that it would at least be about $50,000 per door or more. He said that we would get developer fees at closing, when we get to a certain part of renovation, when we close out the project, and when we get to stabilization. Mr. Goodson said that we'll get our share, and the co-developer will get their fee. Mr. Goodson said that Stogner said that some developers only get about a 10% developer fee and Mr. Goodson said that we are starting off the negotiations at a 50/50 split; we are bringing the property to the table as well as Section 8 vouchers if HUD approves them. If we go RAD conversion, we'll get Section 8 vouchers or Section 8 rents like MGG. He said that whoever we select will know what we are doing. He said that he is hoping that we could have some serious talks with the City and County about funding.

Mr. Haire said that there is a new company that is coming which will generate a lot of revenue. Sanford has a direct connection to the Cape Fear River water supply and will now start selling some to Pittsboro. He said, once the money starts coming in, then you can start asking for help. Mr. Goodson said that he is also working on the HUD emergency grant with Stogner as well to resubmit it for Stewart Manor. He said that Stewart Manor is boarded up, but we must get it back online as quickly and strategically as possible because of vagrants who are trying to steal copper and other valuable components.

7. Interim CEO's Report

Mr. Goodson reiterated that we are scheduled to move out this week, and we are boxed up but there is a delay because of the internet connection with Spectrum. Ms. White asked if we (additional content missing)

Ms. White asked whose responsibility it would be to change out the letterhead and Mr. Goodson said that we would work on that. He also said that he would contact HUD himself to update the address.

Mr. Goodson said that we will be speaking with the landlord about putting a drop box on the side door. Mr. Goodson stated that Sherri Campanale, the new Director of Operations, would be starting June 22, 2023. He said that Sherri worked for about 16 years in Florida and took over when he left the agency. He said that she is excellent, has experience in public housing, Section 8, and RAD; she is a go-getter and no-nonsense person, and the board and staff will like her. He said that she is a hard worker and will get the job done.

8. New Business

Ms. White asked for a motion to approve health dental and vision insurance renewal. Mr. Newby motioned to approve; Ms. Gilchrist seconded the motion; All were in favor. The motion passed unanimously.

Mr. Goodson pointed out that everything that we do is to the benefit of the employees but also for the company. He said that typically the agency does not cover spouse and child; the employee covers that.

Mr. Goodson said that he met with the staff, and we are being fair but conducting business the way that it needs to be conducted. Ms. White asked if we got any kickback for it. Mr. Goodson said that the Benefits Coordinator came out and offered some other solutions so he thinks everyone is ok now.

Ms. White said that most companies pay for the benefits for the employee, and they can add their family at a flat rate.

Anesha spoke said that we conducted a survey where employees could voice their opinion about which company that they wanted to go through between Blue Cross Blue Shield and Aetna and 13 out of 18 employees who responded by the deadline and the results were unanimous that we remain with Blue Cross Blue Shield.

Ms. White asked for someone to make a motion to adjourn. Mr. Newby motioned to adjourn. Ms. Gilchrist seconded the motion; All were in favor. The motion passed unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at approximately 6:50 pm.

9. Closed Session

There was no close session.

10. Adjournment

Attest: Marcus D. Goodson