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
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