10.12.2022 Housing Authority

good evening everyone welcome to the four of a Housing Authority meeting it was the postponed regular session it's Wednesday October 12 2022 and it's 4 30 P.M um attorney Souza the open meeting law please thank you madam chairman the required language for the open meeting law is as follows a person went to the open meeting law any person may make an audio or video recording of this public

meeting or may transmit the meeting through any medium attendees are therefore advised that such recordings or Transmissions are being made whether perceived or unperceived by those present and are deemed acknowledged and permissible thank you thank you show them the sahadi here Vice chairman on the hill here commissioner Burns yep commissioner Bentley here commissioner Medeiros here

thank you the first item on our agenda this evening is Citizens input I see none um the second item is residence input input also it's not seeing none item two is the minutes of the regular meeting held on September 12 2022 the recommended action is to accept the minutes as presented motion accept second thank you all in favor aye item two is bills and Communications the vouchers are in your packet the

recommended action is to accept the vouchers as presented solution to accept second all in favor all right item four other management reports in your packet is the applications report the occupancy report the tenants accounts receivable report the work order report number five is the monthly Section 8 vouchers activity report six is the monthly Personnel count report seven is the director of modernization

monthly report and eight is the Bank investment in bond debt balance report do I have a motion to accept these reports motion to accept second any questions regarding these reports as presented hearing no questions all in favor aye item five is the financial reports from the Director of Finance it's the monthly financial report for the month of June that was not available at the time so

it's it's on your table I believe yeah but it's actually oh and it's actually July I'm sorry no yeah we didn't know until today do I have a motion to approve the July monthly reports

do I have a motion oh I'm improved do you have a second second any questions with regard to these these reports you have the operating statement in various other reports included in your packet hearing none all in favor aye number six is an update from the executive director good afternoon everyone thank you madam chairwoman few things to mention included in your packet will be a drug

an alcohol policy as well as a vehicle policy for your review and or approval this was given some months ago we were collaborating with the Union to get their input um two of the three units approved the drug and alcohol policy the vehicle policy kind of went back and forth attorney Souza had put that together feels that it's it's a solid policy and we want to move forward and make these

two policies Fall River Housing Authority policies and not just Union policies that would represent all employees all units and non-union as well so you'll you'll see that a little bit later on in the packet the um also you'll see a consent order from the Department of Public Utilities many housing authorities across the state of Massachusetts as well as some large apartment complexes that don't

have individually gas metered to each unit are kind of considered purveyors of gas and have to comply with a safety plan that the Department of Public Utilities is outlining in the consent order so we did sign the consent order and that gives us 180 days to put together a safety plan and in your packet is a little more detailed on that as well we had a react inspection earlier in the month for father deferio Village

unfortunately we went down three points there were a few items that were not picked up on ever in the past by previous inspectors one being the security screens that protect the tenant selection offices for vandalism and they inspected that and felt that the screens didn't open properly and we lost a few points on that earlier uh or late last month myself Tim McCoy met with Chief Gavin and Mr

resendy's just to discuss the Housing Authority sites Safety and Security at our sites the contract that you'll vote on tonight it was a very productive meeting a positive dialogue and then later that week uh two of the Commissioners commissioner Medeiros commissioner on the hill myself Deb marissette we also met with the housing unit and I believe commissioner Medeiros had sent out an

email reassuring everyone that it was a positive meeting and a lot of a lot of questions were answered at that time we do have a signed memorandum of understanding for unit a which is clerical and the last thing I have we had a very nice dedication at Cardinal madera's Towers we dedicated a garden in memory of Bill King former joint tenants Council director so it was a good

turnout it was a nice day and it was a good event to honor his memory that's all I have okay thank you you're welcome

next is new new business item one is modernization a is a certificate of final completion for tree removal and building repairs at chair Bishop Eve Apartments the recommended action is approval of the final presentation you have a motion to approve a certificate of final completion emotional approval second any questions or concerns hearing none all in favor aye B is a change order number one for the

gazebo at Oak Village change order number one is an increase in the project duration of 63 days due to a manufacturing of the gazebo recommended action is approval motion or approved in favor certificate of substantial completion for the gazebo at Oak Village the recommended action is approval motion to improve second any questions all in favor aye aye aye item D is certificate of

completion Consolidated for the gazebo at Ocean at Oak Village recommended action is approval functional proof second any questions all in favor aye item e is a change order number one for the smoke alarm replacement project at Sunset Hill change order number one is an increase of 2 390.58 to the contract for the installation of 29 additional smoke detectors the recommended action is approval motion to approve second

any questions with regard to this change order all in favor aye item f is a certificate of substantial completion for the EMG fire pump replacement at your Bishop Eve Apartments the recommended action is approval promotional proof second questions all in favor aye item G is a certificate of final completion for the EMG fire pumped replacement at door Bishop Eve Apartments recommended action is approval

motion to approve second questions all in favor aye item H is certificate of completion Consolidated for the roof replacement phase four at buildings 1419 and the administrative building at Sunset Hill the recommended action is approval motion of proof second any questions all in favor aye item two on the agenda is the miscellaneous 2A is the supplemental Police Service contract the recommended

action is continuation of the contract for one year period beginning October 1 2022 to September 30 2023 for five offices in the amount not to exceed 410 thousand dollars a second questions not any questions just uh comments I did ask that that was table just so that um colleague here both of them could ask some questions and go through the process I'm told it was very helpful and

appreciative of obviously the work of our police and you know the answers and you know attention that they can both my colleagues in that meeting so I appreciate it I'll be supporting it all in favor all right Item B is the vehicle use policy this is the policy that our director just spoke about it's included in our packet on the recommended action is discussion and approval do I have a motion to approve it

to approve a second I'll second uh for discussion okay questions please uh or discussion this was not yet in an agreement with the uh Union right uh discussed volley back and forth but not the vehicle correct that's correct um do we have a sense of we're close to an agreement I obviously would prefer that everybody gets on the same page or do we feel like it's not well it it was kicked back saying that they had

questions on it that they wanted to run by their legal department I gave him this in May um a pretty straightforward kind of boil a plate uh vehicle policy that attorney Souza put together by researching other vehicle policies it's not that difficult it's it's a common sense policy we don't have a policy we know we've had some issues with employees and vehicles in the past I just felt that we should have

a policy in place I try to incorporate their their thoughts and but what do we do we keep give them two more months three more months that's a vehicle policy um so I have a question um regard um in reviewing the policy it seems very logical uh in terms of people who use Vehicles taking the necessary responsibilities for them but um are there any instances where their shared Vehicles amongst a couple of people so

if someone were to damage it and then the next person takes it not realizing that the previous person had damaged it like where like there's some uh way too uh safeguard that situation because I know in the language it says you damage a vehicle you're expected to take responsibility it could end in termination um so I was just well uh the the only time not the only time but most of

the time that occurs is our second shift um so for the days one staff member will have that truck and then the days they're off the other staff member will have that same truck so you may you could get a gray area there but we would hope that our staff are responsible if if I'm driving it and I banged into something I would report it and say hey Jack I that was on me and it's reported

to the director of facilities yeah um sure and I mean if everybody is uh honest and forthright then that doesn't present a problem but if someone doesn't and the next person takes the vehicle realizes it a day later and then becomes wait a minute oh wait but you've had it for a day that could have been you that did you know I I just didn't know if there was a way to clarify or Safeguard

against those situate types of situations um I guess it doesn't necessarily exist when it's a dedicated person driving their vehicle all the time commissioner if I could add something at the facility particularly it it mostly predominantly would occur in a second shift situation right we have two folks and and there may be someone who's weekend it is and and whatnot I can tell you this my experience from being at the

warehouse that second shift uh individual was coming on at four o'clock will typically do an inspection of the truck okay so there is some procedure and if there's an issue one if there's an issue one there and I'm sure our director facilities could elaborate but we we have had an instance in the past where we said hey you know I'm noticing a ding here and whatnot um before I go out on the shift I

haven't seen that before I mean obviously the other driver would be confronted I mean if the other driver is saying he also has no knowledge of it it could have been back to I mean you can't jump to a situation and impose discipline when obviously you can't prove that the other driver had knowledge or was that fault of this incident or whatever but typically the driver of a shared vehicle does an

inspection before they they take the vehicle so again they they take position and start on their shift so again I I know we have we've had a situation at some point in the last I believe two years where we had that exact situation and Mr Majewski was was notified now again I mean there was no discipline invoked anywhere because I mean how can you ultimately prove but I think there's

an expectation of when there's some sort of uh you put some sort of a ding in an asset that you should be required to tell your you know you tell your supervisor you put the attorney on notice and you you know so we let our insurance insurance company know whatever I don't know if you'd like Mr Majewski to elaborate yeah sure so on the second on the second shift we

have a camera centralized two of them in the shop that would happen when one person is leaving the other person's coming and we can always check the cameras to see if it's the physical damage on the vehicle happened during that shift um that's usually the easiest way to do it we've had one instance at our shop that we actually thought somebody had damaged one of our our warehouseman's cars and

using the cameras it was actually a reflection off of somebody that where he lives that's a mirror on a car if you've seen it on houses that it's actually melting vinyl siding on houses and its Reflections off of it and it actually he thought somebody actually hit his car and it's actually plastic pots on his car that actually getting melted by a reflection where he Parks his car in his

house and the camera showed because the day that he pulled in he said somebody damaged my car in the parking lot it was not on the street it was in our parking lot but we were lucky enough to have camera footage it was there when he pulled in in the morning he just didn't realize it so that we depend on the cameras a lot to actually research that

we would never do it if we could as Tim said if we can't prove it then that's a different story somebody could hit run wherever yeah but usually on the second shift we only have the two guys that are on shift running that truck we use a separate truck for anybody that fills in on on safer overtime okay the new truck is only used by the two guys on second

shift if if I could to commissioner I I think the meat and potatoes of the policy is if someone were to get into an accident how it's going to be reported uh we certainly don't want anybody using our vehicles that may be under the influence um driving recklessly smoking in our vehicles we never had a policy so we just tried to put something together and I think attorney Souza just put a lot of

common sense into it and commissioner Burns I I agree and I try to for months reach out but um when you just how long do we go back and forth with language that they want to put in where I think we can impose our own policy anyway I don't need them the buy-in of the of the Union I tried to have them collaborate with us on it but it's it's five months now

so I'm not trying to discount what they want to put in but at some point we just have to say Hey you had five months to add what you wanted to it but say that oh we want to run it by a our legal team or legal that's a quick phone call so I've been involved in negotiations once or twice and if you have information you can get a fairly quickly five months seems like enough

time so but whatever your your pleasure is if you want me to reach out to them further and give them more time or I mean it sounds sounds like you've done your part I just have to acknowledge that obviously my my best case scenario is that we're finding a collectively bargained the only thing I would add is maybe that you know the cameras are great but you you jog something in my my brain that

doesn't happen often but um maybe there is something where we have a form that is either a daily you know weekly monthly vehicle check that could help us with regular maintenance but it also could play into this it would protect the employee and it would protect the employer what you're kind of signing off saying hey my vehicle is clear of any obvious signs of so I don't know just a

thought but I think that could protect all parties so it's made a very excuse me Kevin but it's made it very easy to keep only the second shift employed guys in that truck everybody else uses another van that we have in fact it comes the ships that is not new and it's already quite banged up yeah that's not our intention the intention was to keep the second shift truck pristine and

after running into it and not banged up as long as possible and those two guys with responsible parties of it which helps out substantially can I just add as well though we did excuse me Mr spadella did receive a uh Redline copy from the union we would gone through it the last time as we had tried to see what their receptiveness to the policy would be and there were changes that were proposed

that they redlined I reviewed them with Mr spuddell and I believe Timmy Tim McCoy was there as well but um if the changes were reasonable we did consider and made the changes if they were not reasonable I mean I'm writing this on behalf of the Housing Authority as general counsel so um and and I just wanted you to know that there was that interaction with them and then we gave that finalized

copy that you're receiving tonight to them so that they reviewed it and I haven't heard back from them and and also we we received several different vehicle policies from they were forwarded to me very courteously to other uh individuals and and I was able to look through those and we're on target with it and it seemed like a pretty straightforward policy yes I can support it I just wanted to say

that I just look at it I love everybody to be on the same page pulling on the same End of the Road that's all anyone else I have a first and a second all in favor all right item C is the drug and alcohol testing policy the recommended action is discussion slash approval do I have a motion a motion to discuss improve second second any questions or discussion on this on this item

in my various roles I have been involved with testing I was shocked to learn how creative some people could be throughout this process so I would if you have any questions down the line you know with whatever working or not working I would love to offer some insight if I have it and also it's not just about testing so if somebody has a problem I want to be able to you know wrap our

arms around the employee to make sure they get the help that they need and and you know I could help with that too so as long as you know that's all part of the conversation I'm you know cognizant they agree to it I agree to it but um there's a lot a lot so it is when you go through it all right the union per unit c and b approved of this we're still um

waiting on Unit A and then obviously this would cover non-union employees as well and and to your point prior to even having a policy we had someone where we had a situation we impose discipline but first and foremost Tim Burke we reached out with how we can help in any way that's always get them healthy is more important than the job get them the help they need obviously if it were to continue at some point you

know you make a decision with a with a staff member but always to assist to help to support in any way never to pile on by adding more stress in their life by them losing their job or sometimes discipline and support so I'm not saying I can't be disciplined I'm just I like I don't want to forget support um that's all so I'm glad absolutely we won't and I support the policy has been

agreed upon it I appreciate it I think you know it's a good policy excellent we have a first and a second all in favor for the drug and alcohol testing policy hi thank you item D is the Department of Public Utilities consent order director spadella you spoke of this briefly so yes spoke a little bit about this again the state of Massachusetts is now enforcing some of these federal regulations and

many housing authorities across the state uh impacted by this as well as some large private landlords the short of it is if you don't have individual gas meters for each unit you're kind of considered a purveyor of gas so you have to have some sort of safety plan in place we were working with the officials from the hcd they were more engaged our heart officials not so much but in review they

recommended as well as the hcd that we signed the consent order of course reviewed by our general counsel um so I did sign that consent order once I did it allowed us 180 days to put together a safety plan Mr Majewski our director of facilities has been in contact with Liberty Utilities Engineers over there and we're working diligently to put a safety plan together that will get submitted to the dpu and

hopefully accept it and we'll have a plan in place um I do I would would this plan require additional Personnel or as if something that's just a procedures type so uh I don't believe it will require additional Personnel on our end because I don't we don't have anybody internally that would have the expertise of testing or repairing gas lines um what we're hoping I believe is to treat

this like some of the other services that we receive where we go out to bid and we have a vendor on the contract and Ed is working with Engineers to put together a scope of work so to meet the state and federal requirements whether that be testing yearly or or biannual repair work I'm still a little ignorant on exactly what they want they don't give you a whole lot of details initially they just kind of

bully you into sign this and then we'll give you 180 days so kind of one of those things you gotta sign it and then you can read it later so but based on the recommendation from dhcd HUD general counsel myself we felt that and speaking with other housing authorities that mostly all of them signed it we we got on board as well and we did that so it will know more as time

goes on Ed will be able to fill us in on how he's making progress with the engineer thank you any other questions moving on to item e Section 8 payment standards it's effective for December 1st 2022 the recommended action is approval

I have a motion to accept the payment standards for section 8. motion approved second any questions with regard to this payment standards hearing none all in favor all right item three is personnel you have in your packet a purchasing agent position the recommended action is to approve the job description and provide provision permission to post in-house motion to approve the job description

and permission to post in-house do I have a second second stuff would you like to describe this position so V since I need a description before purchase an agent position is not anything new to the Housing Authority uh it's just it went away uh the past 10 plus years we use we the Housing Authority always had a purchasing agent and procurement responsibilities which is is different than a purchasing agent

uh was always uh the deputy director was always tasked with those responsibilities in the past Mr McDonald would handle that and we had a couple of purchasing agents a new Administration came on decided to eliminate the purchasing agent position and create a procurement office of position hired someone previous to Mr McCoy that person left Mr McCoy was hired what we're looking to do is kind of

revert back to past practice the procurement officer will remain but it will be vacant and we will go back and create if you will or bring back a purchasing agent position and we'll keep the procurement um duly streamlined with the deputy and I believe it will be a substantial savings to the Housing Authority with this model reverting back somewhat thank you any questions from the director

all in favor for approval of the job description and the permission to post in-house the purchasing agent position hi hi Item B is um the union negotiation update with Unit A h this is anticipated executive session pursuant to Mass General Law chapter 30A section 21 A3 to discuss strategy with respect to collective bargaining or litigation in if an open meeting may have a detrimental effect on the

bargaining or litigating positions of the public body in the chair so declares do I have a motion to go into executive recession executive session a cheers and the chair is so declares I I missed it I'm sorry it's okay commissioner Bentley yes commissioner Burns yes commissioner Underhill yes commissioner Medeiros yes yes at this time we will be going into executive session we do not anticipate

coming back into or back into Open session so this will be the end of our Housing Authority meeting this evening