July 17, 2025 Board Meeting Minutes

REGULAR BOARD MEETING
Elkhart Housing Authority
July 17, 2025

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

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

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, Redginald Norris, Terrance Trotter, Teri Ivory, and Morgan Gibson-Day. Marsha Parham-Green was present via Ascension Meeting.

Harris Law Firm Attorney Present: Nick Snow via Ascension Meeting

Audience Members Present: None.

Audience Concerns:
None.
Approval of Minutes
- Exhibit A - Approval of Meeting Minutes - June 27, 2025, Regular Meeting
  All commissioners present voted to approve the June 27, 2025, meeting minutes.
June Financial Report
- AMPS Year to Date (YTD)
  - AMP 261 Rosedale
    Decrease in Unrestricted Operating Reserve of $44,950.08
    - Reason for Decrease:
      - Higher Fee For Service Costs: Unit turnaround, plumbing, and janitorial
      - Higher Contract Costs: Elevator
    - Prior Months:
      - Doors and Bearing Assembly costs resulted in more expenses (April 2025)
  - AMP 262 Washington Gardens
    Decrease in Unrestricted Operating Reserve of $60,436.69
    - Reason for Decrease:
      - Rental Revenue is negative due to Utility Reimbursement Payments being greater than rental revenue received. Employment of an FSS Coordinator with emphasis on public housing residents will help increase rental revenue as their income increases.
      - Higher Fee For Service Costs: Janitorial
      - Garbage & Trash Removal: Higher costs than estimated.
  - AMP 263 Waterfall
    Decrease in Unrestricted Operating Reserve of $40,936.77
    - Reason for Decrease:
      - Collection Losses were high for April and May. Evictions (See Prior Write Off Report for Reference if needed)
      - Higher Fee For Service Costs: Synonymous with increased Evictions are increased Unit Turnover Costs
      - Utilities are higher due to maintaining heat being billed in May, resulting from usage during - March-April months.
  - AMP 264 Scattered Sites
    Increase in Unrestricted Operating Reserve of $6,231.06
    - Reason for Increase:
      - Good dwelling rent
      - Less Unit Turnovers
  - AMP 267 Riverside
    Decrease in Unrestricted Operating Reserve of $29,241.30
    - Reason for Decrease:
      - The main reason for the decrease in the bottom line was the prior month's Gas and electric costs for the main hallways, which are high. Gas is used to heat up the main Hallways, which often have an issue in colder months keeping the place cold. For the current month, the utility costs will decrease (based on spring billing).
      - Utilities for May are based on a higher basis of March-April heating activity (Gas)
  - COCC
    Decrease in Unrestricted Operating Reserve $55,563.58
    - Reason for Decrease:
      - Higher Administrative Salary due to a long-term employee departure, which includes accumulated leave benefits (vacation and sick leave).
      - Higher Legal Expenses due to administrative matters
- Exhibit C - Department Directors' Reports
  - Human Resources:
    Teri stated that for June, the EHA had 40 total employees, 38 full-time, two parttime, one vacancy, three new hires, and one separation. Vacancy Comments: 1 Finance Director job offer was made and accepted; start date July 21, 2025, 1 General Maintenance Technician job offer was accepted; start date was July 9, 2025, 1 Custodian job offer was made with an anticipated start date of July 14, 2025, 1 promotion from Custodian to General Maintenance Technician; start date July 21, 2025, 1 transfer from in-house Exterminator to Custodian, effective July 21, 2025, 1 General Maintenance Technician job offer made July 10, 2025; start date July 21, 2025. Commissioner Billings asked if we would ever consider hiring part-time employees for maintenance and custodial positions. Teri stated that a float position was created, so now we do not need part-time work in those areas. Marsha added that we also have the opportunity under the regulations to employ residents and provide them with a stipend of no more than $200 per month. She said that she and Teri would look into that along with Erik to see if there are any other opportunities that we can use a resident for a short-term assignment, and then they would be eligible for the stipend. Commissioner Billings asked how she would be informed. Marsha stated that once they have figured it out, they will post it and update the board as to what those opportunities are.
  - Comprehensive Improvements:
    - Scattered Sites:
      Exhaust Fan Replacement, Range Hood Install, and Tuckpointing of Exterior Brick. Undergoing work to compile the specs and requirements to bid out the above work in July.
    - Riverside Terrace:
      KCS Construction has completed 15 of the 66 kitchen cabinet upgrades. Positive feedback has been received by residents on both the quality of the product and the professionalism provided by the firm.
      
      ElectriCorpe completed seven of the 11 resident unit electrical panel upgrades, as well as completed 11 of the 77 resident unit LED lighting upgrades scheduled for the year.
      
      EJ White completed the installation of the makeup air handler. Various parties are involved fine fine-tuning and determining if there is a good manner in which to increase the CFMs at night to bring down the temperature in the hallways while preserving the desired pressure throughout the building.
      
      Alliance is working on putting together specs for the replacement of USPS mailboxes that will also provide large parcel storage.
    - Washington Gardens:
      No work during this time.
    - Waterfall High-Rise:
      Shambaugh & Son continues to work on the retrofit of the fire sprinkler system throughout the building. They are currently working on the ground floor piping and coordinating the placement of the fire pump in the basement.
    - Rosedale High-Rise:
      R Yoder completed the work on the main vestibule. The new roof, storefront, fob system, and ADA door openers are installed and working with only a few minor spec items and defects to address. Commissioner Boecher stated that he would like to see the fluorescent lighting removed. He thinks that it looks institutional.
    - COCC:
      No work during this time.
  - Housing Choice Voucher Program:
    Amy reported for June, 46 Annual Certifications were completed, 71 Interim Certifications were completed, 4 Unit transfers, 0 New Admissions and Absorbed Incoming Portabilities, 1 End of Participation, 1 Application Remaining in Process, 650 Lease Ups on the last day of June, and 88% Lease-Up Percentage. The waitlist is closed. Commissioner Smole asked if the previous percentages could be listed on future reports so they can watch the trends. Commissioner Billings asked Amy what happened to the last group of voucher holders once the waitlist was closed. Amy stated that those individuals went back on the waitlist, and they will be the first to be called once the waitlist opens up again. Commissioner Billings stated that she was a little confused. She said she assumed that if you call a certain number of people from the waitlist, those participants will already have vouchers ready. Amy said that it was at that point that they realized that they were not going to have enough money, they met with HUD and realized they wouldn't have enough when they used the two year tool to add any additional vouchers so they had to put those applicants back on the waiting list and that is why they will be the first ones at the top of the list once we have more money to issue more vouchers. Commissioner Smole asked why we were only at 88%. Amy said that the money we have to spend is being utilized. She said that we have 738 vouchers available, but we are spending all the money on 650 participants because rent is so high. Marsha explained that the way the voucher issuance works, we go through a modeling tool to figure out, financially, how many vouchers we can issue from the waiting list that will get us to the utilization levels that we need. Marsha said that it sounds like we pulled from the waiting list before using the tool. She said that moving forward, they will be sure to use the tool and financial assessment first before pulling those families off the waiting list because that can be discouraging for those families who were pulled from the waiting list only to go back on it.
  - Family Self Sufficiency Programs:
    Amy reported that the Family Self Sufficiency program is currently serving 58 participants of which 41 participants are currently employed, 6 participants are attending college, 5 participants are disabled or unable to work, 22 participants are currently earning escrow, $9,218 earned in escrow funds in June, and $168,709.23 total current escrow balance.
  - Public Housing:
    Alicia reported that Rosedale's Occupancy rate for the month of June is 98%, Washington Gardens Occupancy rate for the month of June is 99%, Waterfall Occupancy rate for the month of June is 97%, Scattered-Sites Occupancy rate for the month of June is 100% and Riverside's Occupancy rate for the month of June is 97%. Alicia went on to say that Public Housing's overall Occupancy rate for the month of June is 98%. She also stated that public housing received zero applications, mailed 30 orientation letters, processed zero applications, approved eight applications, denied zero applications, and zero applications were withdrawn. The waitlist is closed. We received no homeless applications, and no application(s) were approved and waiting for an available unit. Alicia reported that there were nine new admissions and 11 move-outs in June. Commissioner Smole congratulated Alicia on her occupancy rates for this year compared to this day last year.
  - Maintenance:
    Todd reported that 11 move-outs were received and seven were completed, three emergency requests were received and completed, 763 tenant requests were received, and 753 were completed; and there were 48 annual inspections received and 48 were completed, totaling 811 completed work orders. Erik informed the board that we are in the middle of NSPIRE inspections. He said that so far, they only had about 6-7 items that had a 24-hour fix window.
  - Extermination Needs at Rosedale:
    Erik stated that last month, there were concerns about extermination at Rosedale. He said that since then, they have brought in Griffen Pest Control, a third-party contractor. He said that they did an assessment on all 127 units, the following week they tackled the most pressing 48 units, and now they are on a weekly 11-unit schedule. He said that they will probably move forward with the same third-party contractor for the other two high rises. He said that it may or may not be the same company, depending on whether or not Griffen can provide the resources.
  - Security at the High Rises:
    Erik stated that for the last two months, we have had a new security firm called Securus Protection Agency, and we now have one dedicated officer at each high-rise that works between the hours of 4-6 am. He said that they are doing a great job, and he has already received multiple calls for trespassing, and he has met with the Elkhart Police Department once. He said that he has received a lot of positive feedback from the tenants. Commissioner Smole asked how things were with the Elkhart Police. Erik stated that he has not spoken to them directly, but he has seen their presence more.
    
    Commissioner Billings said that she and the other residents like working in the garden and beautifying the grounds, but they would like to have a little support. She said that they just need supplies, and they do not mind doing the upkeep themselves. Erik said that we do have landscapers, and they do typical tasks such as grass cutting, hedging, and pulling weeds. He said that they plow in the winter. He said that he can look into capital improvements for the landscaping project. Alicia added that she and her team would like to do something like that with the residents.
Old Business:
- Annual Board Elections
  Commissioner Brown asked the board if there were any nominations for board chair, and Commissioner Boecher nominated Kristen Smole, and Commissioner Mayes seconded. A vote was taken, and Kristen Smole was elected board chair by majority vote. Commissioner Smole asked for nominations for vice chair. Commissioner Boecher nominated Willie Brown for vice chair, and Commissioner Smole seconded. A vote was taken, and Willie Brown was elected vice chair by majority vote.
New Business:
- Transition Consultant's Fee Schedule
  Commissioner Smole requested to table this resolution as they have only received the document hours ago and had not had a chance to review it. Commissioner Smole also had a concern about requirements that state that you are not supposed to pay for services that have already been rendered. Attorney Snow said that he was not familiar with this, and he would need to research it. He said he would have an answer for the board by tomorrow morning. Commissioner Brown stated that they will schedule a special meeting for next week to discuss the fee schedule and vote on the interlocal agreement between the EHA and the Housing Authority of South Bend.
- Resolution 25:15 - A Resolution Approving Interlocal Agreement Between the EHA and The Housing Authority of South Bend
  This resolution was tabled so that the board would have an opportunity to look over the agreement. The board has agreed to have a Special Meeting to discuss this resolution. The Special Meeting was scheduled for July 24, 2025, via Teams.
- Yardi Proposal - Tabled until next Board meeting.
Handouts:
None
Adjournment
Commissioner Kristen Smole, without any objections, declared July 17, 2025, Board of Commissioners' meeting adjourned at 5:32 P.M.

Signed August 21, 2025
Kristen Smole, Commissioner
Marsha Parham-Green, Transition Consultant