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HRA 08/04/2011 - 30016CITY OF FRIDLEY HOUSING AND REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY COMMISSION AUGUST 4, 2011 CALL TO ORDER: Chairperson Commers called the HRA Meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. ROLL CALL: MEMBERS PRESENT: NONMEMBERS PRESENT: ACTION ITEMS: 1. Approval of Expenditures Larry Commers William Holm Stephen Eggert John Meyer Pat Gabel Paul Bolin, HRA Assistant Executive Director Becky Kiernan, Accountant MOTION by Commissioner Gabel to approve the expenditures as presented. Seconded by Commissioner Eggert. UPON VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON COMMERS DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY 2. Approval of June 2, 2011 Meeting Minutes Commissioner Gabel asked to amend page three Jim Casserly statement as follows: Jim Casserly, Development Consultant, said that when this was amended it was very clearly stated that the 6499 University Group were deemed to have prepaid rent owing on parcel B for the remainder of the lease term. No further rent shall be required and there is no entitlement to rebate in regazd to the rent payment. MOTION by Commissioner Meyer to approve the June 2, 2011 minutes as amended. Seconded by Commissioner Holm. UPON VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON COMMERS DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY 3. Election of Officers Paul Bolin, HRA Executive Assistant Director, said that the HRA by-laws require the Commissioners to elect a Chair and Vice-Chair to one-year terms. Staff recommends that the Authority hold election of a Chair and Vice-Chair. MOTION by Commissioner Holm to nominate Larry Commers as Chair and Pat Gabel as Vice Chair. Seconded by Commissioner Meyer. UPON VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON COMMERS DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY 4. Consideration of Resolution — Purchase of Sale of Property — Housing Replacement Program (HRP) Paul Bolin, HRA Assistant Executive Director, said that as Staff has worked to acquire properties for program, different sellers request different information / question authority of sta.ff / HRA funding, etc. A resolution was drafted to more clearly state what is already in HRA by- laws addressing these concerns. Staff recommends approval of resolution found in Authority packet. Chairperson Commers said that there is no change to what is currently being done in the purchase of properties. Mr. Bolin said that is correct, this just states in one sentence that the HRA Assistant Executive Director has the authority to sign purchase agreements rather than referring to the by-laws. MOTION by Commissioner Gabel to approve the Consideration of Resolution — Purchase of Sale of Property — Housing Replacement Program (HRP). Seconded by Commissioner Holm. Commissioner Meyer asked if there was anything in the resolution that bypasses the Commissioners participation. Mr. Bolin said no, this is just in regards to signing the purchase agreements. INFORMATIONAL ITEMS: 1. Home Improvement Demonstration Project Update Paul Bolin, HRA Assistant Executive Director, said that a closing date of August 10�' has been set for 465 Mississippi Street. It was purchased for $56,500 and will be demolished. The demolition RFP's / Blight Resolutions / Phase VII documents are being prepared for September's meeting. This is for the properties at 465 Mississippi Street, 511 Hugo Street, and 3 81 Ironton Street. Mr. Bolin said that HRA will award a contractor to do the demolition work at the October 6�' Authority Meeting. The demolition is to be completed in October / November. Mr. Bolin� said that the home on 4757 2"d Street will be holding open houses every Wednesday for the month of August from 4:30-6:30 PM; other dates and times to be determined. Chairperson Commers asked if staff would consider using Lenox again. Mr. BoGn answered Lenox could be used again. Commissioner Holm asked if recycled supplies or equipment were used in this project like the one on Mississippi Street. Mr. Bolin said that the kitchen cabinets were reused and refinished. New doors were built to go on the old cabinets. There were not enough cabinets for the new kitchen so some new cabinets were purchased from liquidators. Commissioner Gabel asked if the remodel exceeded the budget. Mr. Bolin answered no; the contract was written as a"not to exceed" agreement. Commissioner Meyer asked about the fiarnace. Mr. Bolin said that the original furnace was old and outdated and the duct work was oversized. A new furnace and air conditioner were installed and duct work was redone. Commissioner Eggert thought that Lenox provided a tremendous amount of value on this home. There was a lot of work done for the amount of money. 2. Housing Loan Program Update Paul Bolin, HRA Assistant Executive Director, said that in June/July two loans were closed which makes the total six year to date. There were a total of three Remodeling Advisor� Visits also making a total of six yeaz to date. Mr. Bolin said that residents have had a lot of water problems and staff has sent quite a few people to CEE to see what programs are out there. One home had 25" of water in the basement; water is seeping into the homes and insurance isn't covering flood damage. T'his leaves people in a tough spot. Some people do not qualify for our loan program because their income is too high. Paul encourages anyone who has had a flooded basement to call him and he will get them in contact with some assistance. Non Agenda Items Mr. Bolin said that a new Guidebook has been distributed to the Authority. Becky has updated the tax increment finance book. Copies will be at the library and City Hall if people would like to see it. Northstar Rail Schedule Chairperson Commers asked if HRA had an agreement on how many stops the rail should be making. Mr. Bolin said that there are a number of agreements in place between the different parties. When it comes to the actual operations of the train and scheduling, it is just like the bus service and is a Metro Transits schedule. They have the right to make adjustments as needed. Local communities do not have a say in the changes of bus or train schedules. There was a problem at the Fridley station because the third rail has not been installed yet so it doesn't a11ow them to move more trains through this area. A lot of train traffic goes through the Fridley Station and the North 5tar trains meet up at the same time, one has to wait before the next one can unload. This was happening at 6:20 am and 5:40 pm; these two stops have now been eliminated. Commissioner Gabel asked how a two minute delay can be a problem. Mr. Bolin stated where it causes problems is that the train is two minutes late and people end up missing connections on other transit systems like the bus and light rail. It all comes down to scheduling and there is no other way to make it work. Once the third rail is put in place we will be back on a more frequent schedule. They also looked at the number of riders and in the morning there were only five people getting on and six people getting off in the evening. Commissioner Gabel asked what will happen during Twins and Viking games. Mr. Bolin said this will not affect that schedule. Commissioner Holm said that if people are downtown and want to go to Fridley and the train doesn't stop in Fridley, it will be frustrating for people who don't ride every day because they can't rely on where it will stop. Mr. Bolin agreed it could be a problem. Chairperson Commers asked what the Anoka Authority had to say about this. Mr. Bolin said people getting off further down the line think this is great because their trip is shorter; those further south see it as a real inconvenience. Chairperson Commers asked if there would be a review of the decision or a process of review. Mr. Bolin answered no; unfortunately Metro Transit has the last say in scheduling. They know that Fridley is not happy with this. They will work on the third line and further look at other ways to increase ridership. Commissioner Gabel asked what the status was on the third line Mr. Bolin said he did not know much but it is extremely expensive. The reason some of the people with North Star and Anoka County were so in favor of the Duluth line is because that requires the third rail to go in. Staff will keep working on this as HRA has a huge investment on the rail. Faulkner Proiect Mr. Bolin said that Faulkner has completed the first building and people are moving in already. Faulkner hopes to start phase two in September. If people don't fill up the first building he may delay phase two until spring and take all equipment off site. Sandee's Site Building plans have been turned in to the city and MN Pollution Control information has been received to continue with demolition. Demolition, tree clearing and digging of the pond will begin on the 17�' of this month. The pond will not be a regional pond; it will just serve their site. HRP Update Mr. Bolin said that the home on 465 Mississippi Street was purchased for $56,500. This is a foreclosure and the homeowner demolished the interior of this home and it is not safe. It will need to be demolished. Review of Prouertv and Liabilitv Insurance Mr. Bolin said he has tried compiling questions the Authority had into one packet. League of MN Cities does a nice job of annually going in and updating insurance information on insurance for city volunteers and elected officials. Commissioner Gabel said that a tornado is such a unique occurrence. It is wise to look into other insurance but she didn't see the need to carry insurance on something that doesn't happen very often. Mr. Bolin said that most properties HRA purchases are torn down. Regarding the tornado damage, FEMA will pay for 75% of cost to fix up the home affected by tornado. Staff is trying to get the state to cover the other 25%. There is a good chance that damage will be covered 100%. Commissioner Meyer said that in general HRA is at no more risk than any other Commission in the city. They too are under the same insurance coverage. Chairperson Commers said that HRA's biggest claim is if there was an inverse condemnation claim. These are excluded from the insurance policy. HRA will have to view the service agreement and see what it says. ADJOURNMENT: MOTION by Commissioner Gabel to adjourn. Seconded by Commissioner Eggert. UPON VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON COMMERS DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY AND THE MEETING ADJOURNED AT 8:15 P.M. Respectfully Submitted, ����� � Krista Monsrud, Recording Secretary CITY OF FRIDLEY SIGN-IN SHEET HOUSING & DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY MEETING _ �` --------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Name and Address Agenda Item of Interest