Annual Meeting agenda, April 20, 2021
Agenda for Clarksville CDC Annual Meeting
April 20, 2021
6:30 p.m.
In support of citywide efforts to reduce the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19), the April 20, 2021 Annual and Monthly Meetings will be held via Zoom.
Anyone interested in joining the meeting must contact CCDC Secretary Kim O’Brien (kkronzer@aol.com) for instructions no later than Monday, April 19.
1. Presentation of the “State of the CCDC” Annual Report.
Mary Reed, President.
Posted below.
2. Presentation regarding the CCDC’s Financial Status.
BJ Friedman, Treasurer.
Posted below.
3. Presentation regarding the CCDC’s housing program.
Rose Gabriel, Director of Property and Finance.
Posted below.
4. Announcement of Election Results.
Kim O’Brien, acting as Election Administrator.
Annual Report from Mary Reed, CCDC Board President
Last year, Covid upended many, if not most, of the CCDC’s plans and activities in the neighborhood and changed the way it operated. For example, the CCDC board ceased all in-person meetings and conducted its business on Zoom instead. In addition, the CCDC:
• Cancelled what would have been our 12th Family Fun Fest
• Did not host our annual ice cream social or Christmas party
• Cancelled all tours of the Haskell House and of the neighborhood
Also, because of Covid, the CCDC was unable to make much progress meeting its City of Austin Historic Tourism Grant obligations. However, the City extended the term of our grant so our lack of progress is not a problem.
Before we shut down all tours however, I hosted 25 UT history and architecture graduate students at the Haskell House and took them on the tour of the neighborhood. In addition, I met more than 200 very enthusiastic cyclists of all ages plus some nearby neighbors outside the House and talked with them about the history of Clarksville. The cyclists were visiting several African American historic sites in Austin in conjunction with Juneteenth. My presentation to the cyclists was one of the most fun events I’ve been involved in primarily because the crowd was large and there was so much positive energy.
Also in conjunction with Juneteenth, I worked with the director of The Neill-Cochran House Museum on the development of a driving tour of significant African American sites, some of which were in Clarksville. Among other things, I made a short video about the history of the Haskell House for the tour.
Other things of note that occurred last year:
• The board decided that the Fest had run its course and that it was time for some new neighborhood events. I had planned on organizing a committee to identify some ideas for events last year, but as the pandemic wore on with no end in sight, assembling a committee did not seem like a good use of anyone’s time.
• OWANA agreed to let us have the remaining $50,000 in affordable housing funds after Home Base decided it no longer wanted to administer the money. The board voted to add additional ingresses/egresses at 1011A&B Charlotte and at 1821B Waterston, and to reconfigure the staircases at 1708 West 10th with the money. Initially, we had wanted to use some of the funds to install water meter splitters on the meters at the properties for which the CCDC was paying the bills, but that turned out to be cost-prohibitive.
• The CCDC received a Community Vision Award from the Austin Chapter of the American Institute of Architects for its affordable housing program and its preservation efforts. Although I was scheduled to accept the award at an event that was supposed to take place at a downtown hotel last Spring, a much different event happened virtually in November because of Covid.
• For the first time we conducted a formal performance review of Rose Gabriel, the CCDC’s property and finance manager. The idea of a performance review was a product of our board retreat in 2019.
• At the board’s request, Rose expanded the kinds of information she now includes in her monthly report to the board.
• The board agreed to expand the mission of the Finance Committee so that it could consider issues related to the CCDC’s operations. Therefore, we changed its name to the Finance and Operations Committee. The board also agreed to enlarge the committee and as a result Chris and Paula joined BJ, Rose and me as committee members.
• Malcolm and I revamped the CCDC’s tenant application and lease, although in truth, Malcolm did the heavy lifting when it came to the new lease.
In closing, I look forward to the CCDC’s having the opportunity to host events and be a more visible part of Clarksville again. I hope that time comes soon.
CCDC Treasurer’s Report for Fiscal Year 2019-20 (October thru September)
It is an understatement to say that 2019-20 was a difficult fiscal year for the Clarksville Community Development Corporation. What with the pandemic causing tenants to lose income, several vacancies that required unusual amounts of work for make-readies, and more than usual maintenance, we were lucky to do as well as we did, financially. With the help of a PPP loan for $7500, we were able to cover much of our lost income from rents. That loan has been repaid. We also applied for a EIDL loan for $7500, which we returned since we didn’t need the money. Interest on that loan cost was $66.11, but we were given a $1000 grant as part of this loan.
Another bright spot occurred when OWANA agreed to roll over the Home Base loan money to CCDC. Not only did this add $52,000 to our bank account, but it saved us almost $385 in interest for the remainder of the fiscal year. Total debt forgiveness amounted to $296,950.63
We continue to wait for the Heritage Grant to renovate the Haskell House to be funded. The grant is for $48,400. Some obstacles encountered so far have been a need to reorder roofing materials to meet PARD requirements to keep the house historically accurate. It has also been difficult to find contractors who are available and affordable to perform the renovations. Rose is working with Kim McKnight from PARD to resolve these issues.
If we look at CCDC income for the last fiscal year, we are slightly ahead of budget if we consider that $200,000 that was budgeted for grants for renovations at the Haskell House and for the new construction at 1611 W 10th have not yet been awarded.
Rental income was slightly lower due to several factors. Due to loss of employment from CoVID, the board voted to forgive rent for several of our tenants. Rent forgiveness amounted to about $9000 in lost income. We also had several properties that were vacant for a few months due to difficulty getting make-readies accomplished during the pandemic, as well as difficulty finding tenants. Overall, rental income was about $11,000 less than budgeted.
Expenses were lower than projected, resulting in net income of $6,498.
Savings were realized from
· PPP Grant
· EIDL Grant
· Reduced expenses for FunFest
· Rebates for HVAC
· Reduced interest payments for forgiveable loans
Expenses greater than budgeted were related to
· Property manager needed to work more hours due to many make ready’s with higher than usual tenant turnover, more maintenance, and additional work to prepare grant applications and reports.
· Greater expenses were required for repairs and make ready’s.
Compared to previous 2 years; 2019-20 was pretty typical.
· Income is down slightly due to more tenant turnover than seen in the past, lower rents being charged, and CoVID rent forgiveness.
· Income from Fun Fest was down since it was voted to eliminate holding a FunFest.
· Utilities and maintenance are higher for properties and at Haskell House. Several stoves, HVAC units, and water heaters had to be replaced in our rental units. Several units had to have extensive make ready’s.
Please see the attached 2019-20 Budget to Actual Report and the 3 Year Lookback Report for details regarding CCDC finances.
Annual Report from the Director of Property and Finance
October 2019- September 2020
Tenant Selection/Turnover
• Began partnership with Casa Marianella working to house their refugee families
• New family at 1729 B W 11th Street in May 2020
• New family at 1009 A Charlotte Street in August 2020
1611 W 10th
• Entered into an agreement with American YouthWorks to partner in building 1611 W 10th
• Board approved $100,000 of the OWANA funds to serve as a match for building 1611 W 10th
• Applied to the City of Austin Housing Finance Corporation for partial funding to build 1611 W 10th
• Received $77,950 in funds to build 1611 W 10th
• Soil test was done to determine foundation design
• Worked with architect and GC from AYW do develop architectural plans to submit to the Board for approval
• Board approved plans were submitted to the COA Development review
Haskell House
Received notice that the COA PARD Department would be sending out grant applications for repairs to the exterior Historic Buildings
Created scope of work
Received bids from several contractors
Submitted application
Received $46,253 for roof replacement, new gutters, siding repair/replacement, new doors and work on chimney flashing and cap
OWANA
Building Improvements
• New HVAC at 1807 W 11th street
• New HVAC at 1708 A W 10th street
• New HVAC at 1708 B W 10th street
• New HVAC at 1007 A Charlotte
Finance
• Worked with accountant to complete annual audit. There were no findings.
• Worked with accountant to complete annual tax filing
• Began new reporting style of financials to F&O committee and Board that includes more detail