Minutes, April 21, 2020 Monthly Meeting
Minutes from the April 21, 2020 Clarksville CDC Monthly Meeting
Board members in (virtual) attendance: Aly Byatt, Aubrey Carter, BJ Friedman, Malcolm Greenstein, Paula Hern, Kim O’Brien, Mary Reed, Chris Thomas, and Gregory Tran.
Others (virtually) attending: Rose Gabriel, CCDC Property Manager and Financial Manager, Kathy Doyle.
In support of citywide efforts to reduce the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19), the April 21, 2020 monthly meeting was virtual.
1. On a motion by BJ, seconded by Chris, the minutes from the March 17, 2020 were approved.
2. BJ and Rose presented the monthly financial report. Rental income for March was down slightly (1 tenant moved to another location and another was late in paying.) Fun Fest sponsorship income showing on the report will be returned due to the cancellation of Fun Fest. Expenses for 1611 W. 10th of $3100 were for soil boring and an engineer’s report. The month showed a net gain of $268. Checking account balance was $4775, savings $137,656.
A question about utility expenses led to a discussion regarding shared water meters at some of our properties. There is a significant expense associated with splitting these meters so that tenants would be responsible for these costs. The board talked about the merits of charging back the costs to tenants, but it’s difficult since there is no way to monitor actual use. Rose will report back to the board on options to address this problem.
Rose and BJ also presented a 6-month Financial Report. This report, a new requirement of recently adopted Policies and Procedures, provides a side-by-side comparison of income and expenditures from the first 6 months of this fiscal year to the current budget, as well as the past year’s budget and actual annual expenditures. The Board found the report to be a useful “big picture” document.
Minutes from the April 14, 2020 Finance Committee are included at the end of these minutes.
3. Rose presented the property management report. Due to work cut-backs or job loss due to coronavirus, at least half of our tenants required either a partial or full rent waiver in April and will likely need it again in May. Additionally, one tenant is a month behind, but is expected to catch up. A few leases are up for renewal and will be discussed in Executive Session.
4. BJ led a discussion of the fiscal effects on the CCDC due to the coronavirus. Our tenants are in a vulnerable situation, and this is putting us in a vulnerable situation. We have a PPP application into Frost, but funds are currently gone. Mary has been assured by Frost that our application is “in line” and ready to go when additional funds are made available. We have asked for $10,000. It was agreed that the Finance Committee meet sooner rather than later and come up with a plan for moving forward.
5. Mary reported on recent the affordable housing funds being managed by Home Base. This is the money that was made available to CCDC by OWANA approximately 6 years ago. It was originally administered by another concern, but then moved to Home Base, which is associated with Habitat for Humanity. Recently, Home Base said they weren’t interested anymore. Mary prepared a presentation to the OWANA Steering Committee to argue the logic for us to administer the funds, and argue for our stewardship of the funds and what we would use it for. The most recent Steering Committee meeting did not result in a decision. Since then, Mary has communicated with members of the Steering Committee. They will consider this again at their May meeting.
6. The Board agreed to a performance review process for Rose Gabriel, CCDC Property Manager and Financial Manager. At the end each fiscal year, Mary, Chris, and BJ (CCDC president, vice-president, and treasurer) will meet with Rose to review her job descriptions and her performance. Rose will have the opportunity to respond to their evaluation. Any necessary changes to the job descriptions will be discussed at that time, as well.
7. Kim reported that the virtual membership drive netted no new members. Information was posted at the Fresh Plus bulletin board, and at the Neighborhood Center and the Park. Also, an email went out to all members with a request to pass the word, as well as to Mary’s larger neighborhood list. Current membership stands at 112.
8. At the last board meeting, we decided to call a Special Meeting in April to approve amendments to the bylaws. Current bylaws, however, require the delivery of a door-to-door notice to announce a Special Meeting. Since we did not feel it safe to deliver door-to-door notices, and because the bylaws amendments we are considering are not needed immediately, the Special Meeting will be postponed until a time when we can announce the meeting properly.
There is a recognition that provision need to be added to the bylaws to authorize the board to hold virtual meetings. This will be addressed in the bylaws revision currently pending.
9. Rose reported on the CCDC house to be located at 1611 W. 10th Street. We are awaiting results of a survey to see where the front steps are in relation to power lines. Depending on the survey, we might have a real problem. Rose believes that if we are close (matter of inches) we might be okay. Otherwise we might have to redesign the whole house. We also are waiting on the title company to convey title.
10. Rose reported that there has been a delay on Haskell House repairs because the City needed an insurance certificate that we couldn’t provide (the time period to be covered extended beyond the term of our current insurance policy.) The City understands the issue, and may provide a waiver, but our insurance renews June 1, so it may be moot.
11. Mary reported that all scheduled tours of the Haskell House have been cancelled due to coronavirus.
12. Under Other Business: BJ has started to make a list of resources for our tenants. BJ will circulate the list to the board for inclusion of other known resources before sharing it with the tenants.
13. The Board met in Executive Session to discuss tenant matters. The board met in Executive Session.
Actions taken via Electronic Vote:
· On March 25, 2020, the board voted unanimously to conduct all annual membership drive activities online and via public postings—no door-to-door notices will be delivered. Information will be posted at Fresh Plus, the Neighborhood Center, and Mary Baylor Clarksville Park, as well as shared via email lists and the CCDC website. This item required immediate action and could not wait until the April meeting.
· On April 15, 2020, a majority of the board voted to approve the proposed scope of work ($5,000) for the make-ready at 1729B W. 11th Street. This item required immediate action and could not wait until the April meeting.
Minutes from the Finance Committee Meeting, April 14th, 2020
Attending: Mary Reed, CCDC president, BJ Friedman, CCDC Treasurer and Rose Gabriel, CCDC Financial Manager
BJ Friedman and Mary Reed reviewed the financials for March 2020 and asked Rose Gabriel about anything they did not understand.
BJ compared the CCDC’s March bank statement against deposit slips, debit transactions and receipts for that month.
Mary talked with BJ and Rose about the OWANA SC meeting and explained why no decision was made about the affordable housing money being administered by Home Base.