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HomeMy WebLinkAboutKit Housing - 2009-01-28KITCHENER HOUSING INC MINiJTES OF THE MEETING OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS HELD: Schmalz Room, City hall, 200 King Street West, Kitchener DATE: January 28, 2009 TIME: 4:00 p.m. PRESENT: De-nny Cybalski, Corrine- Cash, Mike- Se-fling, Carl Z~hr, Jamie hill Paul Ilolowaty RESOURCE STAFF: Karen Kwiatkowski, Christine- Wilson, Susan Campbell-Emans, Camelia Suciu ABSENT: Andrew head, Kelly Galloway, John Gazzola 1. Opening Remarks De-nny Cybalski, Chair called the- meeting to order at 4:00 p.m. The- notice- of the- meeting was submitted with the- information that the- notice- had been marled to the- Directors in terms of the- By-laws. 2. Conflict of Interest -nil 3. Approval of Agenda On a motion by J. hill, seconded by P. Ilolowaty and CARRIED, the agenda be approved. 4. Approval of the Board Minutes -November 26th, 2008 The- minutes of the- Board of Directors Meeting of Nove-mber 26th, 2008 had been circulated with the- agenda. On a motion by P. Ilolowaty, seCOnded by J. hill and CARRIED, it was resolved that the- minutes of the- Board Meeting of Nove-mber 26th, 2008 be accepted as a true and correct record of the meeting. 5 Property Business 5.1 Tenant Placement Rebort The- Tenant Placement Re-port had been circulated with the- agenda. Christine- gave- an overview of the- re-port Tenant Turnover For the- period of Dece-mber 31 to January 31, 2009, there are- 7 RGI and 5 market units available. Promotional Efforts Applicants were- very slow during Nove-mber and Dece-mber. Ads in Renters News and Viewit.ca had very little- response. In the- first week of January inquires incre-ased significantly. Website Christine- will restart this project during February. KHI Statistics 2 re-ports had been attached to Christine's re-port. The- first re-port shows the- age- breakdown of our tonants as of Dece-mber 2008 and the- second re-port, CM~IC Rental Market Re-port Summary as of Dece-mber 2008 which shows the- vacancy rate in the- Region. The- Unit Turnover Activity Re-port was handed out. The- re-port from Nove-mber 1 to 30, 2008 and from Dece-mber 1 to 31, 2008 shows the- unit type, vacate- dates, le-ase- dates, issues etc for units that tonants moved out of. Christine- explained for the- new board members the- rental process and how it is not always possible to rent back to back. Our priority is to rent our units in a timely fashion and meet the- Region expectation, which is to rent back to back. We encounter de-lays when tonants leave stuff be-hind (for example, a tenant at Waldau Woods left 5 couches in the- backyard, furniture in the- basement, etc) Paul asked if we have a person in charge- for Conant relations and Conant programs or some-body to run activities for the- children at our properties, now that we have- the demographics. Unfortunately, we have- no financial support for activities with the- tenants. We had some- activities in the- past, for example- the- Festival of Neighbourhoods and the summer program at Gage- Green which were- successful, however they rewired a great deal of supervision, and financial support from KHI to insure- success. Paul suggested we might want to consider fund raising in order to have- funds for activities with the- tenants; the- goal should be to make- our buildings the- place- where- people- want to live- and not where- they have to. Request for Review No request for re-view at this time. Leal Action under the RTA 3 Applications to evict for non-payment of rent - 1 is RGI non-compliant. 5.2 Property Maintenance Report The- Property Maintenance Re-port for January had been circulated with the- agenda. Susan Campbell-Emans gave- an overview of the- re-port. Victoria School Cathy met with Calvin at Delta Air Systems to Check the- boilers system and make- a recommendation. Calvin was confident with ~Iammond's findings and afireed that the boilers need replacing. ~Ie-will be writing a specification for boiler replacement and along with revie-wing the- past 2 years heating bills, will determine- the- most cost effe-dive system. Once- the- specification is received, it will go to tonder. Gaye Green & Waldau Woods Roof replacement will be going to to-nder the- beginning of February with work beginning late- March or e-arty April, weather permitting. Roof Inspections -Preventative Maintenance Cathy is looking into a roof inspe-coon program for those- sites which have- had roof replacements. Shantz, Linden Terrace, Charles, Cedar Mill, 11 Weber and the- Granny Flat will be-part of an annual roof inspection. Additional sites will be added as roofs are replaced. Cathy is having difficulty in finding codependent inspectors to price- inspections. Mike- Se-fling will look into finding a few codependent roof inspector names and he will forward the- names to Cathy for follow up and quotation purposes. Snow removal Staff has had many challenges with the- snow clearing to date- and is working with the- new contractor to remedy the- concerns. Staff has identified the- need for additional "snow pile" areas and will be-using visitor parking areas to accommodate- the- heavy snowfalls. Signs will be posted and tonants will be notified of the- changes. Additional hauling of snow has been rewired. The- contractor has had difficulty fulfilling the- contract particularly with the clearing of side-walks and it has been afireed between ~Iumphries Lawn and Snow and KHI to terminate- the- Lawn & Snow Contract at the- end of the- first year. The- contract was a two year contract which was to end March 31, 2010. The- contract will end April 15, 2009 to ensure any snow /ice- accumulation will be addressed. The- to-nder will go out in e-arty February. It will be a one- year contract for possible- renewal for the second year. 5.3 2009 Unit Flooring Replacement Bids A summary of 2009 Unit Flooring Bids was circulated with the- agenda. For VCT and sheet flooring, the- price- includes the- price- per sq/ft to supply and install flooring, new subfloor if needed and removal of old material. The- price- for carpet includes the- price- per sq/ft to supply and install carpet, the- underlay and removal of old material. The- extra costs would be for baseboards, if needed, and the- cost of a plumber to re-move- and reinstall the- toilet. In most cases, this can be done- by our own Service- Technicians or Resident Managers. Staff has recommended that we accept the bid from The Carpet Department. They currently service- over 50 property management, restoration and similar commercial accounts and have- provided many references including Transglobe Property Management, Freston ~Ieights Mousing Co-op, London Town Co-operative Nomes and Nome-starts of Mississauga. On a motion by P. ~Iolowaty, seCOnded by M. Se-fling and CARRIED, it was resolved that The- Carpet Department be awarded the- 2009 Flooring Contract at their tendered price- of $398 per sq/ft for VCT Tile, $5.22 per sq/ft for Sheet Flooring, $1.63 per sq/ft for Carpet, $1.25 per lin/ft for Base-board and $ 65 for Plumber for the- period of February lit, 2009 to January 31 ~`, 2011. 5.4 Follow-up -nil 6. Finance & Administration Business 6.1 Rental Arrears Report -December 2008 The- Rental Arre-ars Re-port for Dece-tuber had been circulated with the- age-nda. Camelia Suciu gave- the- re-port. The acre-ars for Dece-tuber was 3 ~Io, with 5 vacancies and we-were- over the- market target by 12. The- year to date- vacancy percentage is 0.89. 6.2 Follow-up -nil 7. Minutes -December 18, 2008 to Re-view V.S tonder submissions had been circulated with the- age-nda 8. Minutes -January 12t~~, 2009 -Victoria School Reme-dial Work had been circulated with the- age-nda 9. General Manager's Report The- General Manager's re-port for January was a hand out 1. Victoria School Update & Planning Schedule • RJC has sent a letter of rotent to Triumph • RJC is completing the- building permit application along with stamped drawings to the-City of Kitchener • RJC will be-gin the- shop drawings now for the- doors & siding -the lead time- will work to our advantage- s Samples of siding colour and a photo of the- door as well as a contract in triplicate should arrive- shortly • Once- the- construction sche-dine- has been completed, a residents meeting will be arranged to apprise them of the work. • The- Tenant's Lounge, in the- basement of the- school, has been rented to the- Centre for Family Medicine-for the- past two years providing them with a little more- space during the day and KHI with additional revenue. With the- pending construction of the- balconies, Karen has indicated to the- Centre-that the Lounge- will not be available- to them during the- reme-dial work. This area will offer tonants a quiet air conditioned space- away from noisy work this summer. • When work commences, Karen will draw on the- ROW $ 300,000 approved loan Mike- Se-fling will weak with RJC in regards to the- procedure of the- watereroofing of the- balconies at Victoria School. 2. Region of Waterloo -Expression of Interest In preparation for the- anticipated rele-ase- of new funding allocations from the- Federal and Provincial governments, the- Region of Waterloo is inviting Expressions of Interest from both the- private- sector and non-profit groups to provide- proposals for rental and supportive- affordable- housing that meets the- Region's new Affordable Mousing Strategy objectives. Fe-decal and Provincial funding previously received from senior levels of government has already been allocated and this time- the- Region of Waterloo does not have-anew funding allocation, from either Fe-decal or Provincial governments. This Expression of Interest is being rele-ased in anticipation of future announcements by Fe-decal and Provincial government that will bring new funding to the Region of Waterloo. Fro~ram Obiedives & Affordability To build new sustainable- affordable- rental housing available- to lower income house-holds (those- house-holds whose- primary income- source is Ontario Works, Ontario Disability Support Payments, minimum or low wages, or seniors on fixed income) Rents at 65 ~Io of the CM~IC average- market rents are- considered affordable- - 40°Io of the- units must be at this targeted rent and the- balance of 60 ~Io must be at 80°Io of the CM~IC average- market rents. Rent for each unit is inclusive- of all utilities, parking and other related fees. Funding Assistance Funding will be tailored to meet specific project conditions and is expected to be structured as a forgivable- loan with a minimum 20-year term. Forgivable-loans may generally be provided up to $ 80,000 per unit, although preference will be given to proposals which de-liver affordable- housing that meets the- program obje-dives at considerably less than the- maximum allocation. The- closing date is February 13t~~. The- Board opinion is that there- will be more opportunities to open a new project. We-can't build in the- Downtown core anymore so it would have to go to other sides of the- city. This will be an agenda item at the- February 20t~~ meeting. 3. Proposed Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act Information and Communication Standard -for information purposes. • Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act established in 2005 • Goal is to achieve accessibility for Ontarians with disabilities with respect to goods, services, facilities, accommodation, employment, buildings, structures and premises on or before January 1, 2025. • Standards developed or under development for: customer service, information and communications, transportation, built environment and employment Information and Communication draft Standard • Mainly affects organization with 20 or more- employees • The- rewirements relate to software- systems and communications • Software- -software- used to de-liver or receive information purchased after Dec 31, 2012 to have- an accessible- user roterface -business enterprise systems acquired after the- above- date- will have to have- an accessible- user interface- s Communications -organizations will be required to have- the- ability to produce- information and communications in a format that meets their needs -print information will be rewired to also be available in electronic format, Braille-- ready electronic format, Braille- printout, audio format, enlarged print format and an electronic version with supports for comprehension • Projected costs -based on assumption from KPMG, a medium sized municipality would have- an increase in operation costs between 1 and 3~Io -developing the- capacity to provide- documents in the- formats above by Jan 1, 2013 may be difficult as there- may not be e-nough consulting resources or e-nough available- equipment to produce- the rewired materials. -the current draft communication standard places an unmanageable annual cost burden on social housing providers which must operate in a highly regulatory environment which prevents them from increasing their revenues and, because of who they house, does not enable their tonants to pay additional rent even if they could charge more. -phase-in of government assistance to implement the- changes in communication standards is needed. 9.1 Ontario Apartment Vacaney Rates -was circulated with the- agenda 10. Open Forum 11. Other 12. Caucus - nii 13. Adjournment On a motion by P. ~Iolowaty, seCOnded by J. Mill and CARRIED, the- meeting adjourned at 5:00 p.m. ACCEPTANCE OF MINUTES Chairman Secretary