MHA Management Committee Minutes 9-26-05

Management Committee Meeting, October 24, 2005, plus

Infrastructure meeting notes from November 8, 2005

Back to minutes index

Present: MHA - Jonathan Machen Management Committee Chair, Paul Keaton President, Gene Langlois Management Committee member, Alex Wilson Management Committee member, Kabir Management Committee member, Mark Reeder Acting Secretary

Next meetings - Nov 13 5:00 Unity (Quarterly) Nov14 5:00, Kabirs (small meeting) Nov 28 6:00 Thistle (big meeting)

Jonathan noted that there now exists an on-line forum for residents: http://www.haikutimes.com/phpBB/

City ruled on variance requests and approved three unconditionally; two approved conditionally. What has not been approved is running water lines under sewer lines; want more information on tree variance look at them on a tree by tree basis. Other variances allow us to save trees, One variance allows us to run water and sewer side by side as they run into the trailers and to redefine which trees are at risk. Drexell needs to move forward with tech docs - has to be done before we can move forward on permits. Drexell is doing the final tweaks on the drawings, should be done by 2nd week of November. Bill will be straight-forward with the city this time, aggressively pressing for resolution.

HHS worked well with us on this issue, John, Cindy and Jeff met with city planner to move it forward.

Timing wise, hope to have approval by mid December, building permits only take two weeks, could start as early as later December to early January, most likely will start the end of January.

Advantages and disadvantages to both. Easier to trench in winter; much easier to put sewer and water lines under the Whiterock Irrigation Ditch; will be harder on residents. Work hard with the contractor to be least intrusive on residents. Infrastructure Committee will meet on October 31st (Moved to November 1st) to look at construction issues, and how to mitigate the impact on the residents.

Alex raised concerns on back filling the trenches to make certain they will be done correctly. Bill mentioned that the people working on the back filling are top notch individuals.

Western disposal trucks are breaking up the streets. Will the streets be built to withstand the trucks? Paving will be heavier than the what is there now, Bill reported.

A team will be looking at what the priorities for the infrastructure will be. Kabir asked where will we start first? We will be starting on the south portion first from Mapleton Avenue going north and west.

Jonathan asked when we should be giving this information to the residents. At the Quarterly meeting, Bill Windsor will make a presentation at the meeting. Phasing is based on road by road and available finances. Finances based on prices for asphalt and concrete.

Loretta asked if she could send the letter to Douglas Sullivan following up on the necessary repairs that have been needed since the Goose Creek project ended. Answer was yes.

Ten warning notices were placed on vehicles for expired licenses, six owners have removed the vehicles and four are scheduled to be towed this week.

Boulder Tree was called for a tree in lot #143 and trees across #40 and #41. The trees at 42 & 40 are growing outside of the retaining wall. One leans across the street and residents are fearful of it falling on their car. The tree at #143 is rotten and decayed at base of tree that poses a potential hazard.

The home in space 145 was removed and contents of home and yard are being stored until legal work is completed for an abandonment action.

We were informed that a party was planned to take place on October 8th. Because of the nature of the invitation warning notices were delivered to party hosts reminding them of the rules and regulations of the park regarding noise. Colorado Security was hired to observe the party from 10pm to 2am. The party was quiet with no complaints. The area was checked several times with no problems reported.

Remove the tree in lot 143 is $1800. $500 for the small trees across from 41 and 42. Resident of 143 asked if there would be a plan to replace trees that are taken out. Presently there is no plan to replace any trees that are removed. In fact none have been replaced at this time. Table this issue until after infrastructure has been completed. Residents can replace trees with permission. Any tree that has the potential to become a major player in the forests needs consideration and needs to have permission. A lot of trees do well and are insect resistant and attractive. Boulder Tree has a list of good trees for this area. MHA has no guidelines at this time. We want people to let us know what they want so we can run it by Boulder Tree or an arborist who can tell if it is suitable. MHA is responsible for the trees and we are paying to have them trimmed and removed when necessary.

A motion was made by Jonathan for trimming trees at 41 and 42 and removing tree at 143. Seconded by Kabir; passed.

Warning notices - four warning notices on cars, four to be towed; one person asked for an extension for three days, he’ll be leaving in a few days.

Home at #145: Loretta - got an order from the city to clean it up and then assigned the mobile home to the MHA and ordered it removed. Total cost is $1170 so far, including cleanup, moving, taxes, etc. It wasn’t the most palatable way to go but it was the easiest way to go. Nothing heard from the resident yet. Attempts to reach the resident for the past year have been fruitless. Resident has not responded to repeated efforts top contact him by mail, phone and in person.

We began the legal eviction process on another resident who was in significant arrears, and he came through with a check for all the back rent. Loretta made the point that we cannot let back rents go this long in the future; go only to the $1000 limit and then let them know their options. We want to help people stay in the Park.

LORETTA GAVE A RUN-DOWN ON PEOPLE WHO ARE BEHIND IN THEIR RENT. We now have 8 people who are over the $1000 limit. Below is a partial accounting:

One resident owes $1070 and has paid $270; he is still being fined late fees. Another resident, who "comes up with money from time to time" is now up to $1350 and is similarly late. This resident has come to Loretta and has reportedly agreed to sign over the deed to her mobile home, beginning the replevlin action. Another resident owes $645 on ___ and $1200 on ___ . One resident who owes back rents had begun making rent payments but is now not paying back rent payments . This resident has signed a replevlin that allows MHA to hold the deed to the home. Another resident has put together a payment plan and continues to pay off their arrears. Another resident owes over $5000; this resident has a deposit that would cover her arrears if overdue. We want to keep this resident from getting $1000 above, but if they cannot, we will make arrangements at that time. Another resident has become eligible for social security and is making rent payments. This resident owes $8,000, and "will pay back rent if he gets a job". He pays from time to time, but there are no eviction proceedings at this time. Loretta asked what we should do at this time for this resident. Another resident has moved to Nebraska, was hoping to have someone to move in and pay, that person has not moved in and the resident cannot pay for her home. The last person is behind on rent payments and late fees.

Another resident has made two payment so f $396 and to of $400 in 2005. This resident owes over $5000. He has no resources to help pay his back rent. He owes money on the home as well. He is another carry-over from when the city owned the Park. What to do? Affordable housing does not mean we are a shelter. We have to make certain that the parks runs as a business. Since the resident does not have the title he cannot sign it over in a replevlin action. The decision was made for Loretta to talk to resident and find out who owns the title. In addition, she will ask the resident to come up with the past due immediately or make other arrangements; or he has to leave the premises and the owner has to sell the place.

Yet another resident owes back rent but has said she will sign a replevlin agreement with the MHA. Loretta will recontact this person.

The party at #75, held in October, was going to be an all Park affair that could have undesirable consequences. A letter with the rules and regulations was sent to the party givers; also a Colorado Security agency person sat in an unmarked car to take care of any problems. The party was quiet and there were no problems.

A formal complaint was made by a party goer who thought that the security person was a bit bullying. Follow up did not produce any evidence that the security person did anything untoward.

Previous parties were mid summer and had a greater chance for getting out of hand. Some of the party people were upset that the security person was there.

IMPROVEMENT REQUESTS: A resident in the park has erected a shed, but without an MHA permit. He also has kept his old shed and has placed that along his back boundary. How do we deal with this situation? If people are building within guidelines that have no impact on the site plans, then we should still remind them of the rules. There is a reason we ask that permission be granted . One, there is a limit on space within each lot as far as how much it can be filled up. Two, if a resident constructs something that is in the way of future infrastructure improvements, that structure will have to be removed, at the owner's expense. Loretta will write a letter telling the resident why we ask people to request permission., and that he needs to understand that the second shed may have to be removed if any part of it was in the way of the infrastructure.

SPEED BUMPS. A continuing issue in the park is that drivers pass through at high rates of speed. Putting in speed bumps has been delayed since we know the roads are going to be re-paved once the infrastructure is done. It was agreed that we could try them on one road to see if they work. Kabir wondered if we should do it on the north side since infrastructure won't be starting there right away. Julie will check and see how wide the street is there and how long the speed bumps should be.

A report from Barbara at Thistle was given concerning a resident who owns two homes, as well as another resident who is contesting the lease and resale restrictions on their home. Details here have been withheld since these are active, on-going issues that have not been resolved.

Financially 1) MHA paid TCH their equity investment for $22,000 and Phase one Infrastructure for $75,000 for a total of $97,000 and that leaves MHA with $69,000 in income. MHA made a profit of $69,000. NOI was greater by $35,000 than was budgeted.

Actual income was up $13,000 than projected; administrative expenses down $4000 than projected. Maintenance and repair budgeted $31000 and we spent $9000. payroll was more than budgeted partly because payroll taxes were more than expected and workers comp was more based on last year’s input. Utilities were over by 2000, was mostly water some electric; insurance was $22000 less than budgeted.

The $69,000 is sitting in the money market reserve at Colorado Business bank. $500 is in cash account. MHA will have to meet to decide what to do with the profit for now. Some of it should be put into an operating reserve. Loretta recommends $30,0000 into the operating reserve.

Management recommends that Val Dingler be appointed to the management committee. She has legal background has interest in contracts and is interested in legal issues of the Park. Got recommendation from Management Committee.

Mark motioned to appoint her to committee; Paul seconded it and the motion passed.

Rewrite of the resident grievance and appeal procedure. Loretta had a question where to put information on resident times for presenting grievance on the 15 minute rule. MHA will look at the rewrite and get back to Loretta at the next meeting. Master plan has a general grievance procedure, this rewrite is for residents only.

CU is waiting for the structural engineer to sign off on the plans, some of which include more wind-load figurings. Everything has been priced out. We are under budget, even without getting donated/recycled materials. When the structural engineer has signed off, we will need to pull a permit. For that, MHA actually has to write the check that will cover the permit costs ($450) plus a tax fee that needs to amount to 4.6% of the selling cost, which we are setting somewhat arbitrarily at this point at $30,000. Bill suggested that we invoice Thistle for a sum that includes the money that we are being paid back for the moving costs for the home on lot 81, plus the amounts needed to complete the permit. The permit has to be in MHA's name.

Bill brought up the question - how do we prepare residents for the construction? He also wanted to make sure we are apprised of the scope and where things are going - if we need to make adjustments, we should do it now, before we get started. We need to be in agreement about what is getting done, and if we are coordinating our communications with the residents. He things there should be weekly on-site meetings, to find out if there are problems, etc.

Bill has re-done the proforma based on Wyatt's most recent bid for doing the work based on excluding the work on the rows, E, F and H. - There is some confusion about what roads will be included in the first pass, and Bill was going to clear that up with Tim on Thursday November 10. Bill originally thought we would be leaving out road F and the cul-de-sac (road H)?

We are several hundred thousand dollars short, apparently, though that is enough to do some streets in the south half of the park, but not all. There have been increasing costs because of the hurricane, but prices are also dropping. (Bill Windsor notes: In pricing work at other projects, I have seen a substantial increase in construction costs the past few months. Any product that needs energy to produce or is petroleum based has increased with the greatest increases taking place in Asphalt, Concrete and Lumber. We have seen Lumber prices coming down just this month so maybe others will as well).

(Also: Jonathan is correct that there currently is not enough money in the budget to improve all of the roads and units on the South side. However, it is important to note that where we will perform the work it does include ALL of the infrastructure: Roads, sidewalks, sewer, water, gas, electric and cable. If we can negotiate a cost reduction from Excel, then we will apply that to adding more road(s)/units to the phase one scope.

"moving existing utilities' means getting rid of the above ground utilities, abandoning in place many of the lines that go below the homes,

Bill suggested - A good exercise would be to get together with the contractor, Tim, and the full MHA crew to start looking at these numbers at a line-item by line-item basis, considering alternatives. Bill wants us to meet first amongst ourselves, Bill could come along if needed, but when we meet with Tim we should have some solid ideas. We need to have alternatives in mind if somehow Excel grants us money. Aaron is going to Minneapolis sometime soon to appear in person before the Xcel corporate office to request this funding, to waive the $400,000 fee of adding electrical.Nothing is set in ink yet. So at least MHA as an entity concurs with the path that we are about to go down.

For future funding for the rest of the park, we have to get more money - additional grants, sources, at which point we can go into the next phase. The timeline for this is dependent on raising the funds.

The developer fee for thistle shows up in at least three places - as Park NOI, development fee, and NOI for equity. these things are still under discussion.

(Bill Windsor notes: In regards to Thistle’s fee, it is important to note that we have not increased the amount of the fee. The Fee is shown in the budget only once. Thistle equity is a separate item and it does show up in the budget three times. The first entry is the amount of money that we have put into the property that has not been reimbursed from any sources. The amount is $180,612 which is our current ‘out-of-pocket’ dollars. In addition there are two lines that show a reimbursement of equity in the amount of $45,612. This reflects Thistle’s commitment to MHA that we would invest $135,000 of our money into the acquisition. One line shows a positive $45k and one line shows a negative -$45k so that the total equity of $180,612 remains the same with $135k from Thistle and $45k from NOI. I understand that Thistle’s fee and Equity are still being discussed but one important note on this is that both numbers do not contribute towards the current infrastructure budget as they were envisioned as long-term reimbursements from NOI.)

The city did not give us a variance for a line along goose creek, between roads F and E. There is 700 lineal feet of pipe that must be replaced since it is too high. Bill is going to ask the city to fund that replacement, as the assumption was that we were going to be able to use that pipe. He mentioned he might approach John Pollack about this.

It seems that we will have to 'tag trees' as the time gets closer to when the work actually starts. Residents will then know what is being considered. We will need to tag all trees that are potentially at risk, at least in the southern section. - maybe yellow for trees in the way of wet utilities, red in the way of dry utilities. With the trees that we can't avoid, we get the arborist in here, so the residents will know ahead of time what is being considered, and an arborist can make suggestions or look at trees that could potentially be saved. So, at some point some of us will have to do that. We would need a big, free-standing ladder. Also, Kurt wanted to make sure he knew who the liason between the residents and the construction people would be, and Bill said he would be that liason. Meeting with Tim at Wyatt at first is important to identify our scope, then once we do that we identify the trees in a given section.

Kurt also wondered if we should re-instigate the 'block captains' idea as a way of directly communicating to residents. At the very least, some of us should talk to residents if we cant get that organized. Alex organized the block captains last time...maybe he would do it again.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••