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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHousing & Redevelopment Authority Minutes 08-16-2007MINUTES PLYMOUTH HOUSING AND REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY August 16, 2007 PRESENT: Chairman Steve Ludovissie, Commissioners Jim Kovach, Jeff Kulaszewicz and Bob Stein ABSENT: Commissioner Jenny Flansburg STAFF PRESENT: Community Development Director Steve Juetten, Housing Program Manager Jim Barnes, Support Services Manager Denise Hutt and Office Support Representative Barb Peterson OTHERS PRESENT: 1- 0 M 111XII:1 D] Chair Ludovissie called the Plymouth Housing and Redevelopment Authority meeting to order at 7:05 P.M. 2. CONSENT AGENDA A. Approve July 19, 2007 HRA Meeting Minutes B. Plymouth Towne Square. Accept monthly housing reports. C. Vicksburg Crossing. Accept monthly housing reports. Commissioner Ludovissie asked to pull Item 2C, Vicksburg Crossing, from the Consent Agenda and make it Item 3A. MOTION by Commissioner Kulaszewicz, seconded by Commissioner Kovach, to approve the consent agenda excluding Item 2C. Vote. 4 Ayes. MOTION approved unanimously. 3. NEW BUSINESS A. Vicksburg Crossing. Accept monthly housing reports. Commissioner Ludovissie stated he is concerned about the marketing aspect of the Vicksburg Crossing. He inquired about the one bedroom units which seem to be slow to lease up. Grace Management Representative Boedigheimer said most people prefer the one plus den units or the two bedroom units. Commissioner Ludovissie stated he is concerned because the slow rental season will begin soon. Grace Management Representative Boedigheimer said the original interest list contained over two hundred names and about 80 of those were on the affordable list. Plymouth Housing and Redevelopment Authority August 16, 2007 Page 2 Those on the affordable list thought Vicksburg Crossing would be like Plymouth Towne Square which is subsidized. Housing Program Manager Barnes discussed the differences between the two buildings. Discussion took place regarding additional marketing suggestions. Commissioner Ludovissie asked if some type of incentive might help convince those who have put down deposits to sign a lease and move in. Grace Management Representative Boedigheimer said most apartment complexes are currently offering some type of incentive. Discussion took place regarding what type of incentive to offer. Housing Program Manager Barnes said if the Board decided tonight what type of incentive to offer it could be implemented immediately. Grace Management Representative Boedigheimer stated that staffing at Vicksburg Crossing is an issue. She stated it is difficult for one person to manage the property and be effective with marketing at the same time. Housing Program Manager Barnes suggested staff could put some ideas together for getting extra help in the office so the manager can spend more time doing off-site marketing. Commissioner Ludovissie brought up the fact that the building is only 63% leased. Grace Management Representative Boedigheimer feels that this is not unusual for market rate senior buildings. She said based on the first interest list they felt the building would fill right away. Commissioner Stein asked whether feed -back has been received from the people who expressed an interest and then backed out. Grace Management Representative Boedigheimer said most of them were not ready to make a move yet. She addressed the fact that people seem to be expecting more amenities to be offered at the building. She recommended that Vicksburg Crossing set up its own web site. Commissioner Stein asked what the difference was between number of units rented and physically occupied. Grace Management Representative Boedigheimer said they have a 500 deposit for the number of units rented. Commissioner Stein asked if the people who have deposits on the 15 units have homes to sell. Grace Management Representative Boedigheimer stated there are ten that they know of. Commissioner Kulaszewicz asked if other units could be turned into affordable units. Housing Program Manager Barnes said there would be a problem with unit size and it would require a policy shift for the HRA to be able to subsidize more units. The funding would have to come from the tax levy. Commissioner Ludovissie feels we need to pursue the market rate rentals for a longer period. Support Services Manager Denise Hutt suggested doing a mailing to people on the original interest list informing them of the incentive which will be offered. Discussion occurred regarding the type of incentive to offer. The Board decided to offer one month's free rent to a new tenant that signs a 12 -month lease. The Board also requested that Grace Management identify additional marketing activities that could be undertaken and report back to the Board in September with a revised marketing plan including potential costs. Plymouth Housing and Redevelopment Authority August 16, 2007 Page 3 MOTION by Commissioner Ludovissie, seconded by Commissioner Kovach, allowing staff to explore additional marketing activities for Vicksburg Crossing and offer one month of free rent to a new resident that signs a 12 -month lease. Vote. 4 Ayes. MOTION approved unanimously. B. Plymouth Towne Square. Re -roofing project — Consider Change Order #2 Housing Program Manager Barnes gave an overview of the staff report. He reported that during the recent heavy rain the roof showed no indication of water intrusion. MOTION by Commissioner Kulaszewicz, seconded by Commissioner Kovach, approving Change Order Number 2 in the amount of $11,111. Vote. 4 Ayes. MOTION approved unanimously. C. 2008 and 2009 Draft HRA Budgets. Housing Program Manager Barnes gave an overview of the staff report and also explained the two year budget process. He clarified the fact that the Board is preliminarily adopting the 2009 budget. Commissioner Stein inquired about Fox Forest Apartments. Housing Program Manager Barnes explained that Fox Forest received a housing bond issue a number of years ago and did not wish to meet the bond policy providing 15-20% of their units at affordable rent levels. In lieu of offering affordable units the City required a payment of $30,000 per year which is now being satisfied. Support Services Manager Hutt presented a brief overview of the Section 8 budget. She explained how difficult it is to predict the allocation amount that will be received from HUD for 2008 or 2009. Section 8 just got the additional allocation for 2007. She said they will be purchasing additional software to complement the software package they purchased last year. Commissioner Ludovissie inquired about the allocations and why they had been reduced. Housing Programs Manager Barnes stated that the finance department had done a comprehensive review of all of the city allocations and made adjustments reflecting their review. MOTION by Commissioner Ludovissie, seconded by Commissioner Kulaszewicz, recommending that the City Council adopt the 2008 and 2009 HRA preliminary budgets. Vote. 4 Ayes. MOTION approved unanimously. 5. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 8:05 P.M.