Hope Housing Authority Board Meets

The Hope Housing Authority Board met in the conference room at their Headquarters on Texas Street on Thursday (1-23).  The meeting started with the approval of the day’s agenda and approval of the minutes from the last meeting.

For old business, Resolution #24/12-5C, the family pet rule, was tabled as there will need to be public notice and a public hearing before the board can approve it.

The financial report included a total of $793,216.81 for cash with $293,135.78 for Low Income Public Housing, $436,040.20 for Kelly homes, and $64,040.83 for the Housing Choice Voucher Program.

LIPH and HCVP Operations both brought in more than budget and spent less while HCVP, HAP, and KELLY brought in less and spent more. Low-income public housing brought in $264,579 more than budget, HCVP Operations brought in $876 more, HCVP/HAP was $27,159 less and KELLY was $9,276 less.

Due to a change of procedures, Low Income Public Housing has a surplus of $301,241. HCVP Operations has a surplus of $1,006. HCVP/HAP had $59,812 which HUD will cover as they didn’t have the funding to cover the tenants. KELLY had a shortfall of $103,484 due to 30-40 years of deferred maintenance as well as one unit which was burned and another which had a pipe burst causing a ceiling to collapse. The Multifamily Kelly homes are at the end of their life and so a decision needs to be made whether to tear them down, renovate them, or rebuild them. The decision would affect the balance sheet if there is recapitalization.

For vacancies, out of 200 units there are 33 vacancies with 27 of them being Family and 6 Elderly. Kelly Homes have 11 vacancies out of 48 units. The high vacancies are due to the deferred maintenance of the units. The Hopewell site has 2 units which got burned. 267 are on the waiting list which is considerably more than the vacancies. It is seen as a positive to have more on the waiting list than vacancies. The Housing Authority is trying to minimize the time between the renovation and filling of the units.

The Housing Authority no longer feels as if they are an island without help as those running it know who to go to for help and what program they are dealing with. The contractor they are using has had a lot of experience and was said to have “seen it all”. On the administrative side, the Housing Authority is still waiting for quotes in terms of the fire damage and trying to get more information in terms of the fire.

The Board approved the renewal of Miss Espinoza’s term.

After an executive session there was a motion to work with the attorney Louise Trausch to help in the search for a new executive director. The motion passed.