April 17, 2025 Board Meeting Minutes

REGULAR BOARD MEETING
Elkhart Housing Authority
April 17, 2025

The Board of Commissioners for the Housing Authority, City of Elkhart, met in regular attendance at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 17, 2025.

Board Members Present: Willie Brown, Kristen Smole, Loria Mayes, Dan Boecher, and Synthia Billings

Board Members Present Via Dial-In: None,

Staff Members Present: Amy Gonzalez, Erik Mathavan, Todd Fielder, Julie Stebbins, Alicia Kimble, Nekisha Roberson, Tiphany Travet, Olesia Melnyk, Danielle Gilbert, Redginald Norris, Teri Ivory and Morgan Gibson-Day.

Harris Law Firm Attorney Present: Jewell Harris

Audience Members Present: Marsha Parham-Green, Diona Jones

Audience Concerns:
Commissioner Brown explained to the staff and attendees that the EHA will not be moving forward with Executive Director Angelia Washington. He said we will be bringing in Marsha for the interim. Marsha Parham- Green introduced herself as Executive Director of the South Bend Housing Authority since January 2024, prior to that she was the Executive Director of Baltimore County Housing Authority and she was also the Maryland County Director of Finance. She said that she has a wealth of knowledge about how hosing authorities are ran and she is very happy to be here. Commissioner Brown further said that there will be a corporate shift for the better. He asked staff if they had any questions or concerns. No one expressed any.
- Commissioner Smole made a motion to amend the agenda to add update from our attorney under Old Business, underneath Resident Concerns Update. All commissioners present voted to amend the agenda. Commissioner Smole made another motion to amend the agenda to add three resolutions; Resolution 25:08, Resolution 25:09 and Resolution 25:10 under New Business following Resolution 25:07. All commissioners present voted to amend the agenda.
Approval of Minutes
- Exhibit A - Approval of Meeting Minutes - March 27, 2025, Regular Meeting
  All commissioners present voted to approve the March 27, 2025, meeting minutes.
Approval of Vouchers
- Exhibit B - Approval of Vouchers - March 27, 2025
  All commissioners present voted to approve the March 27, 2025, vouchers.
Executive Director's Report:
Commissioner Brown asked the commissioners to read the executive director's report on their own and if they have any questions, they can bring them up at the next meeting.
- Exhibit C- Executive Director's Report
  - Human Resources:
    One Milestone, Kenneth Clark for 15 years of service, two new hires, Lori Pittman, PH Resident Coordinator and Davan Newton, Asset property manager.
  - Comprehensive Improvements:
    - Scattered Sites:
      ElectriCorpe upgraded the GCFI's to comply with the latest NSPIRE guidelines.
    - Riverside Terrace:
      No work during this time.
    - Washington Gardens:
      Monroe Restoration completed the rehabilitation work on 335-A Chapman Ave (Car Vs. Building) insurance claim.
    - Waterfall High-Rise:
      Schwartz Electric continued work on the removal of the old fire panel system and the old conduit.
      
      ElectriCorpe upgraded the smoke detectors to comply with the latest NSPIRE guidelines.
    - Rosedale High-Rise:
      ElectriCorpe upgraded the smoke detectors to comply with the latest NSPIRE guidelines.
    - COCC:
      No work during this time.
  - Housing Choice Voucher Program:
    It was reported for the month of March, 58 Annual Certifications were completed, 51 Interim Certifications Completed, 1 Unit transfers, 3 New Admissions and Absorbed Incoming Portabilities, 4 End of Participations, 1 Application Remaining in Process, 684 Lease Ups on the last day of February and 93% Lease-Up Percentage.
  - Family Self Sufficiency Programs:
    It was reported that the Family Self Sufficiency program is currently serving 56 participants of which 35 participants are currently employed, 4 participants are attending college, 5 participants are disabled or unable to work, 16 participants are currently earning escrow, $6,268 earned in escrow funds in March, and $179,720.65 total current escrow balance.
  - Public Housing:
    It was reported that Rosedale's Occupancy rate for the month of March is 98%, Washington Gardens Occupancy rate for the month of March is 99%, Waterfall Occupancy rate for the month of March is 98%, Scattered-Sites Occupancy rate for the month of March is 99% and Riverside's Occupancy rate for the month of March is 97%, Angelia went on to say Public Housing's overall Occupancy rate for the month of March is 98%. She also stated that public housing received 25 applications, mailed 70 orientation letters, processed 15 applications, approved 10 applications, denied five applications, and 0 applications were withdrawn. We received no homeless applications, and 10 application(s) were approved and waiting for an available unit. It was reported that there were 9 new admissions and 10 move-outs in March.
  - Maintenance:
    Angelia reported that 8 move-outs were received and 6 were completed, 5 emergency requests were received and completed, 656 tenant requests were received, and 646 were completed; and there were 32 annual inspections received and completed, totaling 689 completed work orders.
  - Financials and Write-Offs:
    Rick stated for the year to date loss is at $408,565.00 and this is before any fiscal year end adjustments that they do to be able to prepare the financials to submit to HUD by the end of May. He said that this report is preliminary and will be updated once we have the final reports. He said for March, that will be included in the submission that goes to HUD. He said that for the month of March, there is an additional loss of $142,000. Rick asked the commissioners if they had any questions about the year to date loss. Commissioner Boecher stated that he assumes that this does not include depreciation. Rick said that was correct, this report is just showing the operating reserve which is the amount that you have available to operate, depreciation affects your net investment and capital assets so that would be a separate bucket. He said that he is focusing on the amount that the EHA has to pay bills. Rick said that despite the loss, the EHA is still in a really good financial position. He said that the AMP's have sufficient reserves, at least 5-6 months a piece and AMP 264 has 35 months of reserves.
Old Business:
- Resident Concerns Update
  Commissioner Smole made a motion to table Resident Concerns Update until the next meeting. All commissioner present voted and agreed to table this discussion until next meeting.
- Attorney Harris Update
  Attorney Harris said that we will be going through a transition and luckily we have Marsha on board to help with the transition. He said that he wants to be sure that staff, the public and the residents are aware that Marsha will be meeting with key staff members to determine the status of things right now and what needs to happen next so that we can prioritize the needs of the agency. He asked staff to bear with them while they get their bearings. He said that the board will be considering three new resolutions, two are housekeeping and financial matters and the third is the designation of Mrs. Parham-Green as transition consultant so that she does have some capacity here within the agency in a consulting role. He said that after HUD has been updated on what is happening here and Marsha gets to see what the needs are, you may see that designation. Attorney Harris offered to answer questions that anyone had.
New Business:
- Annual Board Elections
  Commissioner Smole made a motion to table Annual Board Elections. All commissioners present voted to table this discussion until the next meeting.
- Resolutioп 25:05 - A Resolution to Award the Contract for Replacement of Water Piping (Basement) at Rosedale High Rise
  Erik stated that the contract was awarded to Edward J. White, bids came in at 180,000 and $265,000 He said that the pipes are starting to corrode, he said that since he started, we have had at least three leaks in a row lasting eight hours or more. He said that they had been patching the leaks on a one on one basis. He said that they also have the risers in each unit but we don't have the funds in the budget, only for the basement. Erik said they are funding the project with 2024 CFP grant funds. All commissioners present voted to approve resolution 25:05.
- Resolution 25:06-A Resolution Amending the Public Housing Utility Allowance
  Alicia stated that when a utility increases or decreases 10% or more, the utility allowance is adjusted to reflect the change. All commissioners present voted to approve resolution 25:06.
- Resolution 25:07 - A Resolution to Approve the Operating Budget for Fiscal Year Ending March 31, 2026
  Commissioner Smole made a motion to table Resolution 25:07. All commissioners present voted to table this resolution until the next meeting. Commissioner Brown informed the board that he would request an extension.
- Resolution 25:08-A Resolution Appointing a Transition Consultant
  Attorney Harris said that this resolution is consistent with what he explained to the board and the audience. He said that the resolution is the board's declaration that Marsha Parham-Green will serve as our transition consultant during the period of time when we are without an executive director. He said that Marsha would perform all of the duties of an executive director either herself or by designating key members of staff. She needs authorization by the board to direct the staff and that is what this resolution signifies. Attorney Harris said that he recommends approval. He further stated that HUD could change the verbiage later on but for now, we will use the term Transition Consultant. Commissioner Brown asked how long this resolution would be in effect. Attorney Harris said until an executive director is appointed. All commissioners present voted to approve resolution 25:08.
- Resolution 25:09 -A Resolution Designating Signatories for Retirement Plan and Deferred Compensation Plan
  Attorney Harris stated that this is another resolution for housekeeping. He said that normally the executive director would have been the signatory on these plans and the board needs to designate someone else instead by way of this resolution. He said that he has Teri Ivory, Human Resources Generalist and Willie Brown, Board Chair President listed as signatories for both the retirement plan and the deferred compensation plan. Attorney Harris recommended approval. All commissioners present voted to approve solution 25:09.
- Resolution 25:10 --A Resolution Designating Signatories for Financial Accounts
  Attorney Harris stated that we needed to designate someone who is authorized to be a signatory on the accounts, he said that this resolution designates our board president again, Willie Brown and our transition consultant, Marsha Parham-Green. Commissioner Boecher asked if this covered the instrumentality also. Attorney Harris said no, it would be the ECHC board that would need to take that action. All commissioners present voted to approve resolution 25:10.
Handouts:
None
Adjournment
Commissioner Willie Brown, without any objections, declared the April 17, 2025, Board of Commissioners' meeting adjourned at 4:50 P.М.

Signed May 15, 2025
Willie Brown, Commissioner
Angelia Washington, Executive Director