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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHousing & Redevelopment Authority - Minutes - 12/18/2023HOUSING AND REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY OTTERTAIL COUNTY· MINNESOTA The Otter Tail County HRA Board of Commissioners Met for a regular meeting on December 18, 2023 at 11 :50am At the Otter Tail County Government Services Center Board Members Present: Wayne Johnson, Chairperson Kurt Mortenson Leland Rogness, Vice Chairperson Others Present: 510 W Fir Ave, Fergus Falls, MN Amy Baldwin, OTC HRA Executive Director Barbara Dacy, Independent Contractor Tanya Westra, OTC HRA Housing Program Supervisor Julie Bakken, OTC HRA Accounting Specialist Paula Grunewald, OTC HRA Administrative Assistant Via Teams Sarah Schake, CDA Project Manager 1. CALL TO ORDER Chairperson Johnson called the meeting to order at 11 :45 am. 2. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Government Services Center 500 West Fir Avenue Fergus Falls, MN 56537 Motion made by Kurt Mortenson, second by Lee Rogness to approve the December 18, 2023 Agenda with no changes noted. Motion passed unanimously. 3. APPROVAL OF CONSENT AGENDA ITEMS Motion made by Lee Rogness, second by Kurt Mortenson to approve the Consent Agenda. Resolutions included in the Consent Agenda: F. Resolution No. 264 Adopting Bank Reconciliation Financial Close Out and Reporting Policy G. Resolution No. 265 Adopting Board Meeting Policy H. Resolution No. 266 Adopting General Internal Controls Policy I. Resolution No. 267 Adopting Uncashed and Voiding of Checks Policy No items were pulled for additional consideration and the motions passed unanimously. Due to timing -Moved up New Business item: B. Resolution No. 269 Award 2024 Public Housing Insurance Bid; Authorize Execution of Insurance Documents Tanya Westra, reported that our Public Housing units are under-covered for insurance. A Request for Bids was made on November 8, 2023. Two firms requested bid packets with State Farm submitting a bid. The bid included: • Building coverage of $4 ,897,000 with supplementary $101,000 in coverage for detached garages and a deductible for $5,000 per occurrence. Noting that wind and hail deductible changed to 1 % of building value with a maximum of $5,000 per occurrence. The premium quoted was $26,073.13 which included a discount for having previous coverage with them. 218-998-8730 @ OTTER TAIL COUNTY IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER @ ottertailcounty.gov LIVE YOUR best life HERE. ---------~ • Renew our current policy which offers $2 ,273,000 in blanket coverage with $5,000 per occurrence deductible at a premium of $16,647.58 Discussion included replacement values and risk factors. Motion made by Kurt Mortenson, second by Lee Rogness to approve the premium quoted at $26,073.13. Motion passed unanimously. 4. Public Hearing Tanya Westra, Housing Program Supervisor, reported that the HRA had received a proposal from Patty Thorson to purchase the HRA owned parcel at 1174 NW 1st Avenue, Pelican Rapids for $7,100. The amount was $700 higher than the current County assessed land value and similar to two vacant lots to the west of the parcel. Chair Johnson opened the Public Hearing regarding the sale of 117 NW 1st Avenue, Pelican Rapids at 12:06pm. Nobody was present in person to make comments. Ms. Thorson was present online. She reported that she intends to build a small house or have a home moved in. She questioned if the home could be included in the tax rebate program if a home was moved in. Amy Baldwin, OTC HRA Executive Director, said it would be dependent on where the house is to be moved from -if the house is in the County's current tax base then no but if it is not in the County's tax base then yes. Ms. Thorson was asked if she would have any problems with the time and she replied no. Chairperson Johnson asked 3 times if there were any additional comments. No additional comments were made. The Public Hearing was closed at 12:10pm. 5. NEW BUSINESS A. Resolution No. 268 Approving Sale of Property at 117 1st NW Avenue in Pelican Rapids Tanya Westra, Housing Program Supervisor, reported that she had discussed contingencies with Patty Thorson, and that the closing will be scheduled upon verification that the purchaser has financing in place, the owner's gross income does not exceed $117,000 for a household of one or two people or $128,455 for three or more people and the City of Pelican Rapids approved the construction plans of single-family home and garage. The purchase agreement will contain a repurchase provision: should the purchaser not complete construction within 6 months from date of sale that the HRA has the option to buy back the property in the amount of $7,100. Motion made by Kurt Mortenson, second by Lee Rogness to approve. Motion passed unanimously. C. Resolution No. 270 Approving the Write Off of Outstanding Debts from Vacated Tenants Tanya Westra, Housing Program Supervisor, stated that certain unpaid balances associated with repairing damages to Public Housing units that had been vacated will need to be a Write Off. The Write Off does not relieve the tenant's responsibility to pay but is needed for HUD Scoring and accounting purposes. These balances will be attempted to be collected by using the Revenue Recapture program administered by the State's Department of Revenue. The balance is $201 .58. Motion made by Lee Rogness, second by Kurt Mortenson to approve. Motion passed unanimously. D. Resolution No. 271 Authorizing the Housing Program Supervisor and Project Manager to Execute Loan and Grant Documents for the Community Housing Investment Programs and Small City Development Programs; Rescinding Resolution No. 196 Amy Baldwin, OTC HRA Executive Director, reported that there is a need to execute required loan documents related to certain HRA programs in a timely manner. In 2023, a Housing Program Supervisor role was created. This resolution reflects that in the absence of the Executive Director that the Housing Program Supervisor is authorized to sign required loan documents and in the absence of both the Executive Director and Housing Program Supervisor, Pg. 2 the Program Manager is authorized to sign required loan documents. This resolution rescinds Resolution No. 196 which repeals initial authority for the Project Manager. Motion made by Lee Rogness, second by Kurt Mortenson to approve. Motion passed unanimously. E. Resolution No. 272 Authorizing Application to Minnesota Cities Participation Program; Authorizing Execution of Commitment Agreement with Minnesota Housing. Amy Baldwin, OTC HRA Executive Director, requested that an application to the Minnesota Cities Participation Program be submitted by staff. The program sets aside dedicated funding for local lenders to provide first time homebuyer assistance in the county. This is an annual application that is submitted in January. In 2023 the allocation to the county was $759,710 in first time homebuyer loans and as of November 30, 2023, five households utilized $679,641 . Motion made by Kurt Mortenson, second by Lee Rogness to approve the filing of the required application and execution of the Commitment Agreement by the Executive Director for 2024. Motion passed unanimously. F. Resolution No. 273 Reassigning Committed Funds Barbara Dacy reported that $375,000 was committed to the Hidden Meadows project in case the sales of homes were significantly delayed. As we did not need to tap into these funds, we are able to reassign the funds to "Unassigned" which is defined as "General Fund balance that is available for any purpose". No additional discussion. Motion made by Lee Rogness second by Kurt Mortenson to approve. Motion passed unanimously. 6. EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR REPORT • Director Amy Baldwin reported that the HRA Board has conflicting meeting dates with the County Board on May 21 , November 19, and December 17. Suggested dates to move the meeting to are either a Monday or Wednesday of the same week and to try to keep the dates the same between CDA and HRA. A survey will be sent to the Commissioners. • Barbara Dacy, Independent Contractor, reported that December and January financial reports will be available at the February meeting. Commissioner Rogness asked if any board authorization is needed in this time frame and the answer was no. • Director Baldwin reported that the HRA's FM Bank credit card has been closed out. • Director Baldwin also discussed that the Minnesota Housing 2023 Consolidated Super RFP Selections in which CDA applied for in Pelican Rapids were approved for construction financing and value gap for three homes. She also noted that Josh Hanson was awarded Value Gap funds as a private developer in Vergas. • Director Baldwin thanked Barbara Dacy again for her knowledge, effort and commitment. "We are light years ahead with her having been here". Barbara Dacy responded with "Thank you to Board and fellow staff." Director Wayne Johnson said, "We have made leaps and bounds." 7. GENERAL DISCUSSION -TOPICS BY COMMISSIONERS Kurt Mortenson expressed again a "Huge Thank you" to Barbara Dacy. 8. ADJOURNMENT At 12:36 p.m. a motion was unanimously carried to adjourn the meeting. o /u~i~i!.4- Date 1 ' Pg. 3