Directors present: Chris Heintz, Paul Brown, Dave Pearson, Rob Geiszler, Eric Solsaa, Deborah Morse, and Andrew Salamon
Others present: No visitors. Our meeting was called to order a 7:08PM Paul made a motion to accept past meeting’s minutes of the 4-11-2015 meeting. Dave seconded the motion. Motion passed unanimously. Treasurer’s Report Chris Heintz led the discussion in Christina Gilman’s absence. • The Treasurer’s Report has a balance of $38,543.29. No Raffle revenue was posted. Chris will discuss the Raffle revenue with Christina and if necessary discuss it with Casselton State College. Family Selection Committee Rob Geiszler led the discussion. · The Habitat Family Candidate withdrew from the formal Habitat financial qualification process. The reason for their withdrawal was that the process took too long. · Jessica Cecot of the Family Selection Committee is this candidate’s contact. Jessica and/or Rob will investigate the applicant’s withdrawal and hopefully will learn additional reasons why they withdrew. · The Family Selection Committee needs help finding new Habitat Family candidates. · Chris will speak to the Fairhaven Rotary Club and Impact Fairhaven Organization. He will discuss with each of them Habitat’s organization, mission, and then solicit for volunteers to the Board of Directors and solicit for Habitat Family Candidates. · Dave and Deborah will speak to the Poultney Rotary Club. They will discuss Habitat’s organization, mission, and then solicit them for help for the Board of Directors solicit for Habitat Family Candidates. · Andy will speak to the Killington Rotary Club. He will discuss Habitat’s organization, mission, and then solicit them for volunteers to the Board of Directors and solicit for Habitat Family Candidates. · Chris will send the PPT that Rob created to Dave, Deborah, and Andy to use as the basis of their presentations to the Rotary Clubs. Construction Committee Rob Geiszler and Eric Solsaa led the discussion of the 30 West Street, Fairhaven property. Eric described the construction activities and costs would be to rehabilitate the existing building. · Rehabilitate the existing building – estimated cost = $80,000 o Eric and Al Williams, Habitat’s Construction Manager, reviewed the property several times. o The small rear addition will be removed from the main house. o Move staircase going upstairs to the center portion of the exterior wall. The staircase will have a landing and a switch-back going up. A new staircase to the basement will be located under the switch-back of the upstairs staircase. o Remove the front porch and its roof. Note, the porch is not connected to the main house. o Construct a back porch, possibly using the materials from the front porch. o The kitchen will be enlarged due to the relocation of the staircase. o The chimneys on the roof serve no purpose and will be removed. o Some internal walls on the first floor will be moved to enhance the space. o There are plaster walls upstairs that will have to be removed and replaced with sheet rock walls. o Triple glazed windows will replace the older windows. o New plumbing and electrical services will be required in some areas. o A new foundation wall will be poured along the side where the new staircases will be. This will be done by a local contractor, Don Smith. o The entire foundation will be sprayed with foundation insulation. o New plumbing from city water and sewer to the house is required. o The old slate roof will be removed and a new roof will be installed. o A new furnace will be installed o New exterior siding will be installed. o Flooring will be refinished or new installed as required. o New exterior siding will be installed. o New Kitchen appliances and cabinets will be installed. o New trim work where needed will be installed. o All rooms will be painted. Rob Geiszler described the construction activities and costs to tear-down (demolish) the existing building and start from scratch and why that may be a viable alternative. · Tear-Down (demolish) existing building – estimated cost = $80,000 to $90,000 o There will be no hidden surprises. The new building would be entirely new. o A complete new foundation will be poured. o The new building would be pre-fabricated modular wall sections. o This will eliminate the need for hazardous materials safety precautions taken on the job (lead paint, asbestos, mold, etc.) · This building will be our showcase home until more are built. · Work days on this property will be on Wednesdays and Saturdays · Castleton State University’s Habitat Club will volunteer on this project. Paul brought a motion to the floor to rehabilitate the existing structure, not tear it down. Dave seconded the motion. A discussion followed about energy efficiency including insulation and heating furnace efficiency. The motion passed with 6 for the motion, and 1 abstention by Rob Geiszler Deborah brought a motion to the floor to approve hiring Al Williams as a self-insured, independent contractor that would work 2 days on site (an average of 10 hours a day) as Habitat’s Construction Manager; and be paid a weekly stipend of $400.00. Paul seconded the motion. A discussion followed concerning a stipend for Al Williams, Habitat’s Construction Manager. The discussion addressed the question, “Should it be a stipend, an hourly wage, a weekly salary, how much money, and how many hours? Andy read highlights of a Construction Manager’s job description from Habitat of Burlington County, NJ so all have a feel for what this job entails. The motion unanimously passed. Other 30 West Street, Fairhaven Business Chris Heintz led the discussion. • We need to set a target date in June to hold a “kick-off event” at 30 West Street, Fairhaven. Chris suggested June 20th. We also have to plan this event. We will have a planning meeting for this event on Tuesday, May 26, 2015 @ 6:00pm. A description of the kick-off effort (raking the lot, building a storage shed, having a BBQ, hanging a Habitat banner, and other publicity activities) will be planned. Properties Stonegate Lots Dave led the discussion on this property. • Dave met with Caprice Hover, an original home owner in the Stonegate development. She indicated that there are absolutely no environmental concerns what-so-ever in the Stonegate development. There was a rumor about an oil spill. That oil spill occurred approximately 800 yards away from the development and best to our knowledge does not exist today. • Jeff Guvin, Habitat’s lawyer, will work out the details for Habitat to take ownership of the lots. Once that transfer takes place, then Habitat will be obliged to pay $3,000.00 of back taxes that Mr. Griswold, the owner will pass on to RHFH. Rob brought a motion to the floor to accept the home owner’s declaration that the environmental condition is sufficient for Habitat to proceed in acquiring these lots. Paul seconded the motion. The motion was unanimously approved. Other Business • Chris charges each member of the Board of Directors to bring forth the name of someone to be involved with the Board of Directors or on a Committee by next monthly Board meeting. Note—our next board meeting will be Tuesday, May 26, 2015 at 6:00pm. Chris adjourned the meeting at 9:02PM. Minutes respectfully submitted by Andrew Salamon
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Directors present: Dave Pearson, Christina Gilman, Rob Geiszler, Paul Brown, Eric Solsaa, and Andrew Salamon
Others present: No visitors. Dave filled in for Chris Heintz and called the meeting to order at 9:08 AM. Motion made by Dave to accept past meeting’s minutes of the 2-14-2015 meeting; Paul seconded the motion; Motion passed unanimously. Secretary position Dave informed us that Rebecca Woodard, the Board Secretary, has stepped down from that position. Dave was not sure if Rebecca was planning to stay on the Board. Dave made a motion to elect Andrew Salamon as Board Secretary, Paul seconded the motion. A brief acknowledgement by Andrew Salamon indicated he was willing to fill that position. A board vote was taken and Andrew Salamon was unanimously elected Board Secretary. Treasurer’s Report Christina Gilman reported that as of MARCH 14, 2015 our balance is $24,836.73 and provided a detailed report to all members. Raffle Tickets o Gross proceeds raised by RHFH = $440.00 o Gross proceeds raised by Castleton HFH Club = $1680.00 o Net proceeds to RHFH = $170.00 o Net proceeds to Castleton HFH Club = $650.00 o The cost of each gift card awarded raffle winners was $3.00, costing a total of nearly $100.00. For Future Reference: It was noted that the total cost of doing business should be known before embarking on another fund raising activity. · For a transparent Treasurer’s Report, Andrew suggested that the Treasurer’s Report be posted on line. During a brief discussion our board was not sure if this was the best thing to do. Rob said he would investigate this suggestion with other VT HFH organizations to see if this is an accepted practice and report back to the board. Dave made a motion to accept the Treasurer’s Report; Paul seconded the motion; Motion passed unanimously. Fairhaven Property Dave led the discussion on this property. · A tentative date for closing on the Fairhaven Property is April 3, 2015. · RHFH will have to have Home Insurance in place at the closing. · Eric discussed the repair of the foundation with an experienced contractor he knows. Eric thought the costs were high. The estimated teardown costs were in the neighborhood of $70,000 (Note: Bob Chestnut’s estimate for teardown was $14,000.00). A second opinion brought up by Rob will be obtained from Steven Long. Steven Long will look into the feasibility of a concrete cellar floor and foundation with costs in mind. Rob stated that any crawl-space would have to be sealed for energy purposes and the entire foundation must be absolutely secure. Rob also said that Steven Long will evaluate the property for the best direction to go, either a building demolition or repairs to the building. No decisions will be made until the board hears Steven Long’s opinions. Andy suggested that a Press Release be sent to all Rutland County Newspapers once RHFH closes on this property. This is a free method of advertising. · The construction committee met at the Fair Haven property. Al Williams, a retired contractor, will be our site manager. His work days will be Wednesdays and Saturdays. He will schedule supplies and contractors. · A volunteer coordinator is still required. They will report to the construction committee. Andy is still considering this position, but must first determine what that job involves and he must weigh that against his current commitments to his other volunteer commitments and now being Board Secretary. · Dave suggested that RHFH take advantage of Public Service Notices in the newspapers with the heading “Rutland County Habitat For Humanity Needs…..” · Eric will contact Rebecca Woodard about her offer of a large garage/barn-type building that we might use to store materials and supplies. · Eric indicated that a stipend payment would be in order for our site manager. Rob mentioned that Addison County HFH pays their site manager. This might be in the order of 50% time position for his work. · The construction budget of this project has an old budget with a ballpark estimate of $100,000.00. This does not include a stipend. · Rob indicated that $17,000.00 grants are typical size from the state for projects like this. (an afterthought about this type of grant by Secretary while typing these meeting minutes—Who writes these grants and when is it timely to do so, so we receive the funds at the needed time?) Stonegate Lots Dave led the discussion on this property. · Mr. Griswold first indicated that he would use a “quick-claim” deeds to transfer the properties to RHFH. Jeff Guevin, RHFH attorney, will have warrantee deeds drawn-up, not quick-claim deeds. Rob suggested that we may want to have Title Insurance for this transaction. Most likely our attorney, Jeff, can arrange this if we decide it is needed. Family Selection Committee Report Rob Geiszler led the discussion. · Phone messages are checked daily. We need an alternate way to contact families besides calling from the habitat phone. A discussion followed that arrived at this Personal I-Phone feature restricts the calling phone’s number so it is not supplied to the receiving number. There is a simple code of *69 that enables this on most phones. Please check this out. Two applicants are in the application process. o The first applicant, named CW, has an income slightly higher than the 60% limit of Rutland County’s medium income. Their debt-income ratio is very large. The committee will continue to work with them. They have completed the pre-application. o The second applicant, named MP, owns a home and this application will be for repairs to that home. A pre-application is the next step. MP has an existing first mortgage. An appraisal of this property will be required to insure that if RHFH holds a second mortgage that the total of the first and second mortgages don’t exceed the total appraised value of the property. The credit review of MP should indicate how RHFH proceeds with this applicant. Questions were brought up by Rob that should be discussed at another Board Meeting. o Are we OK with holding a second mortgage? o What should the dollar ($) amount be for the second mortgage? o Do we still need to meet the debt-income ratio suggested as 30%? o What is the sweat equity formula that we should use for applicants? o If we do a home repair, what is the threshold that we would subject the low income covenant in perpetuity? RHFH should have a policy in place for residual, i.e. 95% and ratchet down. We need a “bright line” or a “line in the sand” for all cases so that a repair project is limited by the percent of the total value of the home. This should be stated in our policy. A board discussion followed and another broader question arose, “Do we have good policies in place for any repairs. o We currently use the HUD income value for Rutland County. A new policy may be required. Resource Development Committee Christina led the discussion on this in Deborah Morse’s absence. · A regrouping meeting was held to gain some traction and identify new directions or strengthen current directions. · A “Who do you know” campaign is started. · A Facebook page has been set-up for RHFH. It is called HFHRutlandCounty-Vermont. Now that the page is established the next steps are to expand it. · The next “World Habitat Day” is in October 2015. Hopefully we can create some momentum as this date approaches. · The board discussed joining the Rutland Chamber of Commerce. During that discussion, Eric also mentioned possibly joining The Home Builders Association of Rutland County. Paul made a motion to join the Rutland Chamber of Commerce for a cost of $260.00. Rob seconded the motion. A discussion followed: It must be worthwhile to us. A vote to table this action until Chris is present for the discussion pass unanimously. · Castleton College opted not to allow the Twiddle Concert as they felt it was not in the best interest of the school. This was clearly stated in a letter to Chris. Faith Relations letter · Dave hand delivered the letter to his Priest at Christ The King Church. Dave will be the church’s RHFH information conduit so no phoning will be necessary. · Andy hand delivered the letter his Minister at the Little White Church in Killington, a United Church of Christ congregation. Andy will be the church’s RHFH information conduit so no phoning will be necessary. · Approximately 50 letters were mailed to churches in Rutland County. Follow-up calls will follow. Note—our next board meeting will be Saturday, April 11, 2015 at 9am. Dave Pearson adjourned the meeting at 10:55 AM. Minutes respectfully submitted by Andrew Salamon Habitat for Humanity of Rutland County, Vermont Inc.
6 Court Street, Rutland VT 05701 Minutes of Meeting Board of Directors February 14, 2015 Directors present: Chris Heintz, Dave Pearson, Christina Gilman, Rob Geiszler, Deborah Morse, Paul Brown, and Andrew Salamon Others present: No visitors. Chris called the meeting to order at 9:08 AM. Motion made by Paul to accept past meeting’s minutes of the 1-17-2015 meeting; Rob seconded the motion; Motion passed unanimously. Treasurer’s Report · Christina Gilman reported that as of January 17, 2015 our balance is $22,780.70. A $3000.00 check from Habit for Humanity (HFH) International was deposited in HFH Rutland County’s bank account. This money is a refund of HFH Rutland County’s money that was held in an escrow account by HFH International. This money put in escrow with HFH International when HFH Rutland County (HFHRC) began the certification process. · Christina is using “Quick Books” software for HFHRC accounting. She still requires a database management software package for accounting purposes. Dave made a motion to accept the Treasurer’s Report; Paul seconded the motion; Motion passed unanimously. · Christina requested that a check-and-balance-system (“a second set of eyes”) be put in place for deposits, withdrawals, and reviewing and bank statements. Chris Heintz agreed to be that reviewer. Raffle Tickets were sent out to all board members via email. Per Chris’ recommendation: Each board member should have at least twelve (12) tickets printed out and sold. Christina will be the Single Point of Contact for handling the money, completed tickets, and questions. Christina will check with Castleton State University about delivering the completed tickets to them. All collected funds will be retained by HFHRC at this time. Christina’s contact information for handing in raffle tickets and money is as follows: Christina Gilman Four Seasons Sotheby International Realities 85 North Main Street (on the left side before Crescent Street) Rutland Tel: 345-6679 Note: Andrew handed in $50 and 5 completed raffle tickets to Christina. Paul handed in $16 from a HFHRC contribution jug from the Whistle Stop Restaurant to Christina. Taxes—Rob informed the board that a S-1 State Tax form must be filed with the state. Training · Mortgage Companies that have paid employees must have Official Loan Compliance training. HFHRC is not mandated to take this training by law; however, Chris and Christina will take this course. It is a twelve (12) hour on-line course that must be completed within six (6) months. HFH International suggests that members of the Family Committee should take this course. · Andrew, Debra, and Christina are signed up for an United Way training program for new Board Members. This training program, 2015 Project Board Development Leadership Program will be given on Thursdays , noon to 1:30pm, beginning February 26 through March 26, 2015, at the Heritage Family Credit Union. Lunch will be provided at 11:45am. Site Selection Discussion Dave Pearson led the discussion. · Fairhaven site o Wells Fargo Bank is not participating in REO system anymore. Wells Fargo is now participating in The National Community Stabilization Trust(NCST). There is a question about the current property closing because of the bureaucratic changes within Wells Fargo. Dave has made a application for The National Community Stabilization Trust. Dave will have the complete story, clarifying our position with this property, next meeting. The anticipated closing on this property will be before summer. · Stonegate Lots o Jeff Guevin, HFHRC attorney, is looking into the liens on the Griswold properties. Construction Committee · March 8, 2015 the Construction Committee will review the Fair Haven site and building. · A Volunteer Coordinator or Volunteer Committee is needed to communicate volunteer hours to HFH International. Family Selection Committee Report Rob Geiszler led the discussion. · The Family Selection Committee meeting will be held on January 28th, 2015 at 10am at Neighbor Works of Western Vermont, located at 110 Marble Street, West Rutland, in their conference room, was a success. Representatives from approximately ten (10) agencies attended the meeting. The Habitat presentation by Rob informed and educated the groups on Habitat and Habitat Family Selection. The Dream Center recommended three (3) candidate families and the Homeless Prevention Project recommended one (1) family. All have been interviewed and 3-out- of- 4 families were given HFHRC applications to start the process. · Rob handed out the new color HFHRC brochure to all board members. This brochure is packed with information about Homeownership Opportunities, Applying for a Habitat Mortgage, Family Selection Process, Habitat Homeowner Benefits an Obligation, and Volunteering; all this supported by color photographs. · Rob also reminded all that candidates must have lived or worked in Rutland County for at least one (1) year and a selected candidate’s income cannot exceed 60% of the medium income for Rutland County according to family size. Single applicants may apply as well. · Rob informed us that the Family Committee’s work continues through the first two (2) years of the selection cycle through home ownership Resource Development and Fundraising Chris Heintz led this discussion. · Faith Relations Committee completed a HFHRC letter that introduces HFHRC and Opportunities for all. It will be sent to fifty (50) different Faith Communities and Houses of Worship. In addition, a Power Point Presentation to present to parishes is complete. · Resource Development Committee completed a letter for the Vermont Country Store introduces HFHRC and describes Opportunities for them to participate in our program. This letter will be mailed the week of February 23, 2015. · Fundraising o Bill Carris made a donation to HFHRC. o Dave and Paul will meet with Rob Noble, owner of ACE Hardware. He indicated that he would support HFHRC with hardware items when needed. · The Resource Development and Fundraising Committee-- Committee Coordinator, Debra has scheduled a committee meeting on Wednesday, March 4th, at noon, at Friendly’s Restaurant. This is their third meeting. All board members are invited. · Debra handed out a “Who do you know” spreadsheet for board members to review. Other · Doodle Poll – Chris mentioned that this might be a useful tool to use when setting up meetings. It is a free application (app) on the internet and can be found at doodle.com. · Chris said that according to our bylaws, an annual meeting is required in June. It is open to the public. It may be held at the Fair Haven property. Chris closed the meeting by letting us know that he is “tickled pink” because of where we are today and what we’ve been doing. Note—our next board meeting will be Saturday, March 14, 2015 at 9am. Chris Heintz adjourned the meeting at 10:14 AM. Minutes respectfully submitted by Andrew Salamon |
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