okay good morning everybody we're going to call the meeting to order and before we start I just want to remind everybody that we are being videotaped so let's please start with the uh roll call by manager then we'll get a
presentation andrew's coming in uh roll call uh uh Tim Kaitton here uh Liz Collins here pauline Broador here andrew here and uh Henry
Laneir that's the roll call Mr chair okay thank you let's uh get Let's do the pledge of allegiance allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands one nation
under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all okay um approval for the minutes of February 19th 2025 is there a motion is there a motion
motion made is there a second second all in favor i I Okay so move an approval for warrant number eight which um fairly st uh fairly
standard month uh no real no real earth shattering amounts there okay okay is there a motion i have a question i thought you I thought you were changing you change banks but how come we still have mechanics in there uh
because we are we are still working on getting the um the uh EOHLC to to move their vendor web from the mechanics account to the Rocklin account if if we shut the mechanics account down and and you know they
haven't made the record of it it you know the monies for state projects will be it'll bounce back to them so we just want to make sure okay so is there a motion to approve the warrant number eight motion to approve the warrant
second all in favor i so move okay we'll let the ch uh we'll let the director go to the approval of the annual plan oh we need that right you you have a copy of the annual plan and in uh That's right you got a hard copy there and uh if you
remember probably about 45 days or so ago um uh you also got an email copy of it there's a you know there's a process that has to be that has to be followed the uh town of Westport got a copy of it um and they had posted it on on their
website they also have a hard copy posted at the town um board members got a copy of it and uh there's been copies available here in um in the community room for any residents that that want a copy of it this is basically um you know
for the you know lack of an explanation it's the it's the bible of the housing authority it's um you know essentially what we have going on it's a it's an effort to be very transparent uh in this plan there's uh you know there's a copy of the budget there's a copy of the
maintenance plan there's a copy of the um uh preventative maintenance and deferred maintenance policies and there's also a um a copy of the of the upcoming projects on the capital plan um
so you know each each year according to the um to the uh legislation that was passed back in 2014 under the Patrick administration um in in return for not regionalizing
all the housing authorities throughout the state this is something that that uh that has to be filed on an annual basis okay and uh we did have a public hearing uh that was advertised we had that at 9:30 there were uh there were no public comments um so the board the board
doesn't have any objection i would just move for an approval once the board approves it will go into EOHLC for their review and approval and then it'll it'll be published okay is there a motion to approve motion to approve second second all in
favor i any opposed hearing none it's approved managing the board thank you very much thank you Mr chairman um in your in your board packet um on page 10 just a summary of uh what we have going on as far as vacancies are concerned
you'll notice we have we have three units that are vacant um you know uh not a really bad you know not a really bad place to be um we have unit 6B uh is being offered to a
resident to to transfer uh and that resident has accepted the unit so that so so 6B uh probably next week will be off the off the board but the unit that they're transferring to the uh the unit that
they're transferring out of will be on the report next month as a vacant so it's uh you know basically you know one for the other uh one F is is ready to rent uh we do have an approved applicant right now uh so we're just we're just
going through the final stages of the of the paperwork and then we'll get them we'll get them in to to schedule a lease up and then um our our remaining unit um unfortunately was left in uh in extremely poor condition um so um that
is in the works right now to be um to to be turned okay okay so uh so there are there are three vacants there um I've included uh just as a you know as an FYI I' I've included the the maintenance
report uh ages 11 through um 14 again it's all that is is a summary of all the completed work orders uh that uh that Dave has been working on
during the course of last month um the um what page was that that was that was on pages uh 10 through 14 uh 11 through 14 oh okay all right and um I just
um our our entry door lock project has been done for a while now um that's that's project number on your agenda it's project number 334049 um the the project took a little
longer than they anticipated um so the uh in order for the the the substantial and the final completions to be to be acted upon uh they needed to do a change order to to reflect the extension of
time so there's a letter in your in your board packet on page 15 um from our the um the vendor there uh who was asking who was asking for an extension um the
architect and myself the job is done so obviously we had we had no problem with the request so I I just need um I just need two motions i need a motion just to approve the change order and then I need a motion to
approve substantial and final completion of the project so move second second all in favor i any opposed see none so move
okay i appreciate that and um just on page 16 and again I've I've I've explained this in the past that it is kind of silly that we have to have the board vote to approve you know monies coming
in uh but on that project um uh EOHLC has offered the the housing authority a $3400 administrative fee on that um so I I'd like to uh you know submit that so
so Westport Housing gets that money i just need a I I just need a motion and a second to approve that it's so moved second second all right all in favor any opposed hearing none so voted okay
appreciate that and um I I don't um I don't have any old business um I don't I don't have any new business either except to recognize Andrew i just want to recognize Andrew uh he he's uh he has served with us for the past year uh he
um he is not seeking another term uh so this will be his last board meeting and I just want to thank him for his service over the past year and wish him well i understand you're moving out of the town eventually uh yes so so just want to thank you for your service and uh you
know we appreciate all all your efforts i I have a question going back to to the maintenance and stuff dr you make your best effort when this project's being done on this site that
you're trying to use local contractors or contractors from the surrounding areas um what happens is the the project goes out to bid and it's advertised on on combis and it's advertised in in the
newspaper and um and then we you know we offer a you know walk through for any contractor that wants to look at the job before bidding to decide if they want to bid or not and then there's a bid deadline and then when the deadline
comes we we simply go you know not me but the you know the architect or the project manager from the state goes to the the website and sees you know you know see the list of you know folks that bid if there's if there's you know if
there's five biders whoever the lowest bidder is okay will will be assumed to get the contract lowest qualified the lowest qualified bidder so then what we do after that is we we focus on the low bidder and we get reference checks and
we you know we do our due diligence before approving it uh but anybody local assuming that that you know that they're qualified well they have to go through a qualification process to bid on public projects but there's public money involved that is correct and and so so
that that yeah that being said there's different levels of that so if you had a small contractor in town um they could probably get to to that level but isn't there any um rules or regulations that say if the
project you know if you just had to replace a window we'll say and it's under a certain amount you can call someone in oh of course we you know we do that all the time yeah local that's Yes yes that's not that's not you know that's not state projects anything
usually anything under $10,000 is you know at the discretion of the housing authority okay it's you know uh sound business practices is what it's called if you you know if you have a vendor that you use pretty regularly and you're very comfortable with with their service
and um let's say that they you know you know they're going to charge you $5,000 to do something and you have another you have another vendor that's going to charge you $4,000 that you're not familiar with you you have the you have the
leeway if it's under $10,000 to go with who you feel comfortable with as long as you know if it's over if it's over a certain amount though there are certain things that you have to follow through on you've got to go you you have to bid it you have to you have to follow the
regulations certainly anything over over $50,000 that you got to have three or more bids advertising and and things like that two or three places correct correct usually it goes on combis which is the the Massachusetts centralized you
know buying list then uh you have um you have the the uh central register which is maintained by the secretary of state's office you you put it on that and then you you are required to put a copy here at the office or on the
bulletin board and then you're also required to uh to run an ad in in in the local newspaper i think that might be going away eventually because you know hardly anybody reads newspapers anymore it's a thing of the past unfortunately
but I do too but um but yeah there's you know there's certain regulations that uh when you're dealing with you know taxpayer money that you're expected to follow yep okay moving on nothing under old business right nope anything under new business
no i thank Andrew for his service that's all I had and commissioners comment any comments no comments hearing none okay excuse me i said no oh moving on to uh tenant
comments any comments from the tenants go right ahead have a question about the uh 334049 entry door locks the um extensions is that just the locks or is that also the security system that goes to the doors well that that's the job
that's already been done i think it's it's the locks themselves because mine doesn't work mine too doesn't work what uh what doesn't work that's the color what that's different that's different yeah that's that's a different thing i'm
I'm I'm working on that right now this is just the locks okay themselves yeah that that was the only um that that was you know that was what the project was okay next question since she brought up
that I mean you said the intercom when I looked online and I read everything about that the book there on the table part of it said something about the intercom system did they just do buildings one and two that according to what I read it they
only did buildings two buildings at a time two buildings at a time buildings at a time did they complete any of them they haven't done anything yet nothing okay yeah so that that's that'll be in the works All right yep any other questions i have a comment
sure as you know I turned down the apartment on in building six on the first floor yep i need the first wall because I hurt my back and uh it's a long process anyway I went to inspect it it's
done it looks very nice i walked across the floor and I got vertigo and I thought it was me my daughter was with me she's a realtor she said "Mom this floor is so slanted i don't know how you can walk on
it that's how far it tilted to the sink." Now I can't have a slip and fall so I refuse the apartment because they evidently they're not going to fix it so I'm still on the second floor but
I'm having a laundry service well you're you're you're back on the list to get another to get another you know I don't that's what I wanted because I don't want to just be put to the wayside because I refuse the apartment no you're not because I refuse
it for a reason you're not You're not going to be put to the wayside definitely not that's true about the floors i can vouch for that when I first walked in my apartment when I was shown the apartment I said "Gee like I'm walking downhill and oh no no no." They
kept saying "No no no no." Well I put a pencil and it was It does it the floor is slanted i got used to it but yeah if you got vertigo that could be a problem i'll I'll take a look at that nobody's going to fix it for me i got I got used
to it but like I said I can vouch for the floor and I know another tenant i won't mention that name but I know of another tenant that has that problem too just curious how old is the buildings 1972 i think they Yeah they're they're
quite they're up there yeah right right up there just curious yeah cuz I mean it will shift and things that's what's happened almost all the first floors are like that second floor cuz the first floor is sitting on a slab
the second floor is a you know they the the uh I beams and stuff they probably all wood but they'll move i knew I wanted to make a comment about something else and I don't know if I ever did it in any other meetings but when you do a second floor if you have to do floors I
read online something about because of the creaking and all that that if you put down cork floors before you put anything else if you put down a a cork floor it reduces the sound on the first floor just to let you
know I saw that good yeah i don't know what a cork floor is but Yeah any other tenant comments and I wasn't going to say anything today any other tenant comments i'm sorry go ahead
well when did they do the first floor i'm assuming all the first floors when did they do the last uh when did they do the what exactly
asbestos remove the asbestous i don't I don't believe I don't believe they have when we when we redid when uh when we redid the unit that Mary was referring to we did we did have um asbestous abatement in there but it's it's as we
go so that was it but when they did the kitchens when they did the big 24 units when Can was here they took the kitchen and the living room it's a combination they took the walls down to the studs left the asis in the ceiling to the
floor right excuse me i've been in my apartment 22 years they have never done anything to my apartment um I still have the original counters cabinets
floors everything they haven't touched Oh yeah they gave me a new kitchen uh a new bathroom sink when they gave out the new ones that's it i still have all everything i think they put new toilets
and sinks in didn't they i think so yeah i mean there's you know there's no question that the you know that there's upgrading that you know that's needed and that's and that's something um now that the now that the bond bill you know you know was passed on on the state
level um you know we're sort of waiting for that for that money to kind of trickle down to the housing authority level once once that happens we we should be able to um you know initiate you know a a fair you know fairly um
large you know renovation project for all these things we we understand some units are very old okay all right is there a motion to adjurnn so move second
all right all in favor i any opposed hearing none meeting thank you