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Home My WebLink AboutOC Housing Authority minutes 072616 r i i I` ORANGE COUNTY HOUSING AUTHORITY BOARD Minutes July 27, 2016, 6:00 PM Southern Human Services Center, Conference Room D 2501 Homestead Road, Chapel Hill,NC 27514 t Members Present: Jean Bolduc, Chair; Diane Beecham, Vice Chair; Evelyn Johann; Mark Marcoplos, 4 Daniel Bullock, Tammy Jacobs Excused Absence: Gina James Unexcused Absence: Staff Present: Audrey Spencer-Horsley, Director/Secretary, and Angela Rockett, Administrative Assistant, Alicia Jones, Programs Manager, Stephanie Watkins-Cruz, Housing Intern c= i W elcome/Introduction The Chair, Jean Bolduc, called the meeting to order at 6:05 pm. Approval of Minutes G Diane Beecham made a motion to approve the minutes of Wednesday, May 18, 2016 and Mark I' Marcoplos seconded the motion and the minutes were approved unanimously. Jean reminded the Board N that the next meeting will be on August 17, 2016. t Department Re ort/County Report I= I Audrey Spencer-Horsley informed the board of the changes to staff. James Davis, Civil Rights Specialist is now in Durham County, Crystal Coble last day will be Friday, 7/29/2016 and Fred Walker, Housing Specialist relocated to another state. She introduced Alicia Jones the Housing Program ; Manager and Stephanie Watkins-Cruz, Housing Intern. Audrey Spencer-Horsley shared the HUD visit. They went through files and made site visits; everything seemed to be in order. HUD mentioned that the Board needs to use resolutions because the Board is an official body governed by state and federal regulations. They were generally pleased with record G keeping and the minutes and said they felt after reading them you could follow and know what has been going on. One area of discussion with HUD was about people paying more than 30% of their income and whether they should be required to move. Audrey Spencer-Horsley and Alicia Jones explained that tenants can pay up to 40% of their income,particularly when there is little to no other comparable housing options. HUD also expressed that the OCHA Board was underutilizing their full authority and powers in providing and being more involved in affordable housing development in the county. C { HUD also requested that the OCHA Board watch The Leading the Way training. Angela noted that if the training is completed, you will receive a certificate. Audrey Spencer-Horsley acknowledged Alicia Jones for her assistance and leadership with staff to get ready for HUD's visit which was short notice. Also,HUD was provided one of the Department's briefing packets; they were impressed with it and asked for a copy. Financial Report Audrey Spencer-Horsley reviewed the VMS report. The report showed that at the end of May there were 557 leased up and June 560. New vouchers issued but not under contract were 77. She explained that we now do group briefings before the client meets with the Housing Specialist so vouchers can be more efficiently issued at one time. The Fund Balance for the end of May was $283,605.47. The balance for the end of June was 234,589.12. The HUD financial center has requested a reconciliation because to align figures from the county with HUD's records. Ms. Spencer-Horsley said she had been working with the budget and accounting staff to revise the way the funding is itemized for better reporting and financial management. Affordable Housing Conference and Tour Discussion The Board opened discussion about planning for an affordable housing conference for Orange County. c Marls Marcopolos stated that he would still like to have the conference in October. Jean Bolduc suggested maybe 1/2 day. Tammy Jacobs stated that we should move forward instead of pushing the date f back. Mark stated that he would like to draw a lot of people for new ideas and make them more aware of what is going on. Jean suggested various speakers to speak on different subjects. Audrey asked the Board to submit anything that they would like to be included for the conference to our intern Stephanie Watson-Cruz. She mentioned that Stephanie's last day would be August 17tt' and to please send her any suggestions as soon as possible. r Audrey said that a couple of members had expressed interest in participating in the Affordable Housing Advisory Committee's (AHAB) Affordable Housing Tour. She asked the Board if they would like to join the AHAB for their tour scheduled for September 10, 2016. The bus will leave @8:30 a.m. and return @ 2:45 p.m. There will be a continental breakfast and Tour overview beforehand. Stephanie i said there will be a lot of stops. Some of the stops will include urgent repairs, family housing, mobile homes, senior houses and homeless shelters. There was discussion whether the public should be a part of the conference. Tammy Jacobs stated that the target audience should attend so they can understand Frc what goes into the decision making of affordable housing. The Board decided that the proposed conference should be on October 15th or 29th and that the venue should be between Hillsborough and Chapel Hill. A.L. Stanback Middle School was suggested as a possible venue. Education and Affordable Housing Bond Update Diane Beecham shared information on the education and affordable housing bond. They have hired a consultant to formulate the outreach and communication plan. It is a$50,000 contract. The tagline is "Our Schools Our Neighbors". Phase one is research and communication plan. The target audience is Northern and Southern Orange County, civic and community organizations, schools, senior citizens, second language voters,UNC,major Orange County employers, non-profits and organizations that r request information. The timeline is August-October. I E ;r Family Self Sufficiency Presentation E Audrey Spencer-Horsley stated that one of the OCHA Five Year goals is establishing a Family Self Sufficiency program for HCV participants. She said in beginning to think about that and plan for development of a program, she asked Stephanie to research some successful programs to brief the Board. Stephanie did a brief presentation on four family self-sufficiency programs. This program is to coordinate housing assistance with public and private resources to enable assisted families to achieve economic self-sufficiency. She researched three different programs in other areas and one in North Carolina, Charlotte. One of the programs was training residents in the labor field. The focus is on job training,placement and retention. Another program is geared toward educational and professional goals to help participants to develop a plan to transition out of subsidized housing. The New Century IDA program assists participants with building assets that will increase in value to help them achieve homeownership. Most of the programs have similar goals, but have some differences in the way they are structured depending on program goals. After the Board asked questions, Audrey and the Board thanked Stephanie for her work researching and preparing the presentation. Audrey said the Board should think about aspects of the programs they heard that they would like to consider for an OCHA program. i HUD Proposed Administrative Fee Change r Audrey Spencer-Horsley explained that HUD is looking at proposing a new administrative fee formula by the spring or summer of next year and Stephanie and Audrey shared information on a sample calculation. Audrey said she will keep the Board posted as this change develops among changes in other E program areas HUD has indicated. r Other Business There being no further business the meeting was adjourned at 7:38 p.m. Respectfully Submitted: Angela Rockett, Administrative Assistant Audrey Spencer-Horsley, Director Housing, Human Rights and Community Development Department i I` i F% I