The Regular meeting of the Board of the WEST HAVEN HOUSING AUTHORITY was held on

June 27, 2017at Meadow Landing, 397 Meadowbrook Court, West Haven, CT 06516.

Chairwoman Paine called the meeting to order at 8:00 AM.

Present were: Chairwoman Paine, Vice Chairman O’Connor, Commissioner Nugent, Commissioner Orio and Commissioner Mooney. Also in attendance were West Haven Housing Authority Executive Director John Counter, Attorney Kravetz Kravetzof Susman, Duffy & Segaloff, CPA Tom Pistilli of Simione & Macca & Larrow LLP, Eric Stokes and Jessie Fennell.

Absent and Excused: None.

  1. Approval of the Minutes

Chairwoman Paine called for a motion to move that the Board approve the minutes of the May 30, 2017 Regular meeting. Commissioner O’Connor made the motion. Seconded by Commissioner Orio. Chairwoman Paine noted typos on sections III and IV of the minutes. Chairwoman Paine called for a motion to accept the minutes as amended. Seconded by Commissioner O’Connor. All in favor. Motion carried unanimously.

  1. Committee Reports

Finance Committee:

Executive Director John P. Counter provided the Board with a summary of the finance report. Mr. Counter informed the Board the Housing Authority has a surplus of 87k for the beginning of the fiscal year, and on track with adequate operating reserves by the end of the fiscal year. Mr. Counter addressed questions from the Board regarding the Housing Authority’s surplus, indicating the increase in operating subsidy from HUD as a factor. Mr. Counter also informed the Board of the new health insurance with the CT Partnership plan for the July 1 renewal, and the increase in premium with sufficient resources to cover the increase. Lastly, Mr. Counter addressed concerns from the Board on the unfunded liability of the pension plan and informed the Board that the Housing Authority is not responsible for funding the state’s pension liability fund.

Human Resource Committee

Organizational Structure Committee

Development

Executive Session

Executive Director Report

Executive Director John P. Counter provided review and update on the public and leased housing indicators report that measure unit turnovers, and work order completions. All are well within the HUD standards.

Mr. Counter also informed the Board of the Housing Authority’s recent MOD rating for the Workers’ Compensation insurance plan, which represents either a credit or debit that's applied to the workers' compensation premium, used by the insurance company to gauge both past cost of injuries and future chances of risk, and indicated the lower rating represents a favorable premium for the Housing Authority. In 2014 the Housing Authority’s rating was at approximately 1.5, with annual reductions since 2014. In 2017 the Housing Authority’s rating reduced to 0.07. In 2014 the annual cost of premium was 140k, and reduced to 58k in 2017 the annual premium is now 58k.

Mr. Counter discussed the accounts receivable for doubtful accounts; non-payment of rent from tenants. Mr. Counter, along with attorney Karen Kravetz discussed the eviction process and informed the Board that eviction due to non-payment of rent follows the tenant’s file and the Housing Authority may deny housing to applicants with non-payment history.

Mr. Counter and attorney Karen Kravetz reviewed changes to amend the Criminal History policy. The amendment is due to efforts from Yale Law School’s re-entry program, a focus issue for Housing Authority’s nationwide in getting an incarcerated population released back into society without going back into prison. Yale Law Schoolcreated a draft of the policyafter reviewing the Housing Authority’s existing policy. The Housing Authority’s amended policy will include a discretion to deny housing to an applicant with a criminal history after a formal hearing is conducted. The amendment will also be included in the ADMIN and ACOP Plans and both plans will be advertised in the general circulation 45 days prior to becoming effective.

Chairwoman Paine called for a motion to move that the Board approve the Criminal History Review policy with the amendment as described by attorney Karen Kravetz. Commissioner Orio made the motion. Seconded by Commissioner O’Connor. All in favor. Motion carried unanimously.

Mr. Counter informed the Board of the WHHA loan for Meadow Landing. Chairwoman called for a motion to move that the Board authorize Executive Director John P. Counter to sign the Subordination Agreement. Commissioner O’Connor made the motion. Seconded by Commissioner Mooney. All in favor. Motion carried unanimously.

Mr. Counter discussed the new No Smoking Policy enforced by HUD. The Housing Authority has provided smoking cessation to Housing Authority tenants due to this new policy. Chairwoman Paine called for a motion to move that the Board adopt the new Smoking Policy, effective July 1, 2017, and making it effective in all Housing Authority public housing properties, effective January 1, 2018. Commissioner Mooney made the motion. Seconded by Commissioner Orio. All in favor. Motion carried unanimously.

Attorney Karen Kravetz discussed the amended transfer policy mandated by HUD and federal law for residents in domestic violence. Chairwoman Paine called for a motion to move that the Board approve the Proposed Resolution re Violence Against Women Act Emergency Transfer Policy. Commissioner Orio made the motion. Seconded by Commissioner Nugent. All in favor. Motion carried unanimously.

Mr. Counter informed the Board of the new bingo machine for Surfside. The Housing Authority will have a ribbon cutting event on Thursday, June 29th and extended the invitation to the Board.

  1. Legal Counsel
  1. Unfinished Business
  1. New Business
  1. Executive Session

The Board entered into executive session at 8:32 AM. The Board came out of executive session at 8:54AM

  1. Possible action on executive session issues

None.

  1. Adjourn meeting:

As there was no other business to come before the, Chairwoman Paine adjourned the meeting at 8:55AM

Attest:______

John P. Counter

Executive Director / Secretary

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