So do I just move for the thing?

Alderman O'Neill present.

Alderman Smith Brown.

Present.

Next on the agenda, I'm making a motion to approve the agenda.

So moved.

Second.

All in favor.

Aye.

Motion passes.

Next up.

Next on the agenda is the election of chair.

I nominate Daisha Conte as chair of Housing and Human Welfare Committee.

I second that.

All in favor?

Aye.

Aye.

Motion passed.

Motion passes.

And then the next one appointments are next on the agenda is the appointments and reappointments.

And then you read them.

This is the I gotta see the AP 1026 appointment.

Miss Sharon Elliott for the Housing Authority.

Is she I don't know?

Is Miss Sharon Elliott here?

Do I have a motion to approve?

Favorable motion to approve.

I'll give a favorable recommendation for the reappointment of Miss Sharon Elliott.

I will second that reappointment.

Okay.

All in favor, say aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Motion pass.

Motion passes.

Yes.

General discussion.

So you can say ID.

Bloomsbury Square.

Is anybody in there?

I don't know if anybody is somebody in.

I don't know.

Oh, we're going to ask.

Okay.

Next on the agenda is Ivy eight eighteen twenty-six Bloomsbury Square briefing.

Is anyone here from Bloomsbury Square?

Oh, welcome, Miss Medic Evans.

If you can state your name and who you're representing.

Thank you for inviting me here today.

I'm Melissa Maddox Evans, Executive Director, CEO of the Housing Authority City of Annapolis.

Welcome.

Thank you.

You're here to talk about you're here to talk about Bloomsbury Square, correct?

Correct.

Um, so I just wanted to uh provide the commission with a update on our redevelopment activities for Bloomsbury Square.

Um the housing authority uh intends to redevelop the property, which is 51 units from the project-based housing model to the uh uh rather the public housing model to the project-based housing model, which is under the housing choice voucher program.

So we're moving from public housing to the voucher program.

HUD allows housing authorities to do that.

Um in doing that, we are allowed to pursue different measures to help provide upgrades to the properties as needed because the properties are in relatively good condition, although uh they are uh getting older now.

We will be pursuing a moderate rehabilitation of the site rather than a substantial rehabilitation, so it will encompass upgrades to the interior of the units, uh the entire um inside of the units.

So for example, uh countertops, counter tree, cabinetry, flooring, um, uh any of the uh bathroom items that may need to be upgraded.

We will also be upgrading structural issues, windows, for example, exterior, uh, any of the uh brickwork that's there, um dealing with uh any erosion issues, uh tree work, for example.

So there'll be a number of things on the sites that we will be uh addressing, and um all of uh what determines what we will be addressing uh are a number of surveys that we conduct.

We conduct environmental surveys, which we're in the process of doing and have already done some resident surveys, which we've had a number of resident meetings in which we incorporate input from the residents that live there about items that they would like to see upgraded.

And um we conduct surveys uh that are uh required by the state.

Uh state officials come to and have already come to tour the site.

They provide recommendations as to what uh needs to be upgraded.

So, for example, they have mentioned all of the things I have already mentioned, but in addition, they provided input about upgrading the uh playground equipment, for example, for the children.

Um we receive input from the city from the county.

These are all of the entities that will be providing uh assistance in some way, shape, or form of uh through our redevelopment process.

The county has committed one million dollars of funding, um home funding, which is great uh towards this redevelopment effort.

Um we keep the city informed on a weekly basis about our um our upgrades and our progress in our redevelopment.

Um we have partnered with the community housing partners to enter into this redevelopment program.

They're a nonprofit entity.

Uh they are also assisting us with redeveloping uh the Robinwood uh site.

And um so they uh last year they applied for tax credits.

We applied for 4% tax credits on this property, and we were awarded.

So we will be pursuing 4% tax credits with this project, and as well as a number of uh uh sources of funding.

Um so once the uh redevelopment is finished, the entire site will be, like I said, uh on the voucher program.

We anticipate it taking at least maybe a couple years uh to do this type of redevelopment.

Our hope is to close on this uh on the financial aspects of this deal towards the end of this year.

Um so that it's very ambitious plan, but is a plan that the state and all the entities the county is on board with and supports.

Umce we close on the property, the new uh development partner, they have their own management entity that is part of their firm.

They will be managing the day-to-day aspects of the property.

So HACA would no longer be managing, doing the property management aspect.

We would still be administering the vouchers that are on the site.

So similar to how we are still connected to Obrey Courts, Annapolis Gardens, Mars H.

Blum, and uh Wilburne Estates would be a similar affiliation that we would have for uh with Bloomsbury Square.

And uh I'd be happy to answer any questions you may have, but that's a broad overview of uh of where we are.

Once we do close on the property, about 90 days after that is the earliest we would be able to engage in the actual renovations of the project.

And so um, so we anticipate starting renovations next year, maybe sometime in the spring, early, uh, as the winter um uh ends ends.

So this will be a uh in terms of resident relocation, um we are exploring a number of options right now.

Usually at a site, there uh there can be a number of vacancies that you can move residents to while you're um renovating units, but at Bloomsbury Square, it's a very popular site.

And so we have most times zero vacancy or at most maybe one unit that's vacant and being turned, and then we'll ultimately ultimately be leased up.

And so residents will be able to temporarily relocate to a number of different options to either another one of our public housing sites temporarily, or they can stay with relatives if they'd like, or uh we are also now looking at different um extended stay options for residents.

So we hope the actual resident uh renovations for any particular unit doesn't take more than maybe six to eight weeks.

Um so it's not a very long time, but it is some time that they would be out of their unit.

We asked residents uh about the type of arrangements that they would like or prefer.

Most of them wanted to uh uh preferred to be relocated off site while the renovations were taking place.

We were considering an option where we tried to do the majority of the renovations during the day and have a a host uh uh unit or a host, a um sort of uh accommodation for them to go to, convert the community center to a space people can stay in during a day, and then they can return to their homes, you know, in the evening.

Um, but most residents said they would not rather do that.

They would just rather leave off site and then come back when the unit is ready, which which we understand that too.

But we wanted to explain the different options to them and let them know what um was available.

So as with all of our um relocation projects, we uh the housing authority and developer are obligated to pay for relocation costs and pay for um like security deposits or anything else, moving expenses, anything that's involved in the actual move, and we have uh set stipends that are set by the federal government under the Uniform Relocation Act that specify, let's say how uh the amount of the stipend for a one bedroom or two bedroom, excuse me, or three bedroom family, for example.

So that's what we um we go by.

So, but having said that, I'll be um happy to answer any questions that you may have.

Yeah.

Thank you very much.

Um two questions.

You answered one, I think I was gonna ask you fiscal year, calendar year, but calendar year by the end of 2026, you will have to do that.

We're shooting by the end by November is our goal for closing.

Having said that, it's pretty ambitious, so it it may be more towards the beginning of the year.

If we don't meet a certain, there's a certain cutoff time in November of which we're allowed to close.

And so if we don't meet that deadline, then it'll be pushed to January or February by the state.

And as far as the residents that are currently there, do they have first options on spaces once everything's rented, or does it go into a lottery?

How does it work to fill them once they're all renovated?

Um in terms of the the new unit what they return to.

Correct.

So when we do uh what we do is individual surveys and and counseling with each resident to find out what the needs are of that particular family.

The first programmatic need is to right size the family, meaning to move them into a unit that correctly reflects their actual household size, because a lot of times household sizes change during the course of Tennessee.

If for whatever reason uh it's not likely that that is to be achieved, then we we move to uh ask the resident what is their preference in terms of would they like to return to their actual unit.

It is highly likely that many residents will be able to return to the unit that they have now just because the site is so small and there's not very many other units to move them to.

Um we also have to consider um disability and reasonable accommodation issues.

So for example, if someone's currently in what's called a 504 unit or an accessible unit, and they don't have a person with disabilities in their family, then they will be most likely required to move to a non-504 unit so that a person with disabilities can actually move to the unit that they are able to have the accommodation in.

So there may be slight uh changes.

So but because the site is so small, it's only 51 units, it's highly likely that the majority of folks will be able to move back to the unit they're in now, provided that's where they want to move.

And so we also take into account vacancies that happen.

Sometimes even when we do do the um renovations, uh there are some residents that don't want to return.

So if we have vacancies as as that happens, then we match the needs of the family according to the type of unit that it is, and we try to accommodate as best as possible while we're doing this move and in transition.

So a number of those of those things are happening while we do the relocation.

All right.

So somebody that's there basically under public housing and now it's being turned into voucher housing.

Do they automatically have a voucher now?

That's not work.

That's a great question.

They have a right to participate in the voucher program.

That is the right that is automatic when we do uh a um redevelopment program.

However, if during the course of this, someone no longer qualifies for public housing or the voucher program, they may not have the right to return because they have qualified out of the program in it in its entirety.

So they have to still meet the income criteria to participate in the program.

And those are things that we go over with residents, what their options are, should that be the case.

Once we identify if there are persons that no longer qualify for the program at all, then we uh explore help them explore um other options, which may be off site or at another another housing option, uh another uh development.

We help them and direct them to the type of housing that they actually do qualify for now.

So we still give them that counseling and guidance.

There are some units uh when we do the conversion that will be identified as a non-subsidized unit, meaning once we convert to the tax credit program, every single unit, not just the person but the actual unit must uh qualify and have income restrictions tied to it.

And so if for whatever reason the person doesn't, they'd still be allowed to return, but they would have to be uh they would be uh playing paying closer to a more of a fair market rate for that particular unit.

Once they move out, that unit is then added to the voucher program, and then a person that meets affordability criteria criteria is allowed to move in.

And so they will have housing regardless of their status, but there may be some differences, but it really all depends on if their income qualified or not.

And is that something you find out in this process of correct?

So now, as uh we're doing uh part of getting to the closing is conducting those analyses because all of that is tied into the financing of the project because investors finance the units depending on the income criteria of the occupants of the unit, not just of the other characteristics of the site itself.

So we have to provide the income qualifying information to the state, to HUD, um, to the county, to all of our uh stakeholders to the tax credit um investors in order for the um to qualify for the funding.

And so, yes, we have to conduct that analysis, and we try to determine that pretty early in the process because it could take a number of months working with a family to help them explore what are the next set of options for them during this process.

In fact, we're we're already we're starting the survey work now with the residents, and based on that information following the survey, then we conduct individual individual counseling sessions with each family, and uh a case worker helps them explore the different options available to them.

Thank you.

So do the thank you, Melissa.

Um, through this information that you've shared, I also um like to hear if you would be willing to share too.

Um how many have you already completed, maybe how many surveys you've already completed if you do know that number, as well as how many families may be impacted uh through this uh alteration from the voucher to this private public partnership, is what it sounds like.

So let's be clear about this.

This is a private public partnership.

Um if you can share that, as well as how many hack of properties at this point now that this is transitioning to a private public partnership will be under private public partnerships for the people.

Sure.

So there's 51 families at the site, and so that's the number of families that will be impacted by the transition.

Every uh resident meeting that we have had to date, we've survey the residents and we've collected their feedback.

Part of this process, HUD requires you to poll the residents, ask them questions, ask them for feedback, and to present that in writing to HUD, what the actual comments were, and to show that we've incorporated the comments into the planning of the project.

And so we've done a number of those.

Uh we're doing one now that is online.

So the one that we're doing now, um, so I would say we've had at least uh three uh in-person survey information collecting sessions, just particular to redevelopment.

We're now doing an online one.

Um it's not just online, we're also handing out uh paper versions of the survey, which is a much more in-depth uh survey.

Uh and so after we collect that information, we'll then begin the case management, which will be more intensive and particular to certain families.

So once uh, in terms of the total number of properties that we have a private uh public partnership with so far, there's Wilburne est Obery Courts, Annapolis Gardens, Morris H.

Blum are the properties that have already converted.

In fact, we'll be planning our grand opening for Morris H.

Blum.

It gets a little warmer sometime in um early spring.

Um we are in the process of uh converting Robin Wood, Bloomsbury Square, also Eastport Terrace, Harbor House.

So all of our properties will be under some sort of private public partnership uh uh uh structure once we have uh converted all of our sites.

Yes.

Can I just jump in?

I just want to clarify these are all rad conversions, is that um the majority are the only site that is not a rad conversion but has similar uh rad rights attached to the site is Wilburne estates.

That is technically what's called a Section 18 um demolition disposition uh project.

And so we decided to adopt RAD conversion rights onto the site, even though it was technically not a RAD conversion.

RAD stands for rental assistance demonstration program, which is a program created by uh Congress and administered by HUD since 2012, which allows housing authorities to convert its public housing portfolio to uh a private public partnership in order to leverage the funding that is attached to these projects that we could not otherwise do so if it just stayed uh in the the public housing uh program because leveraging is not allowed once HUD has deeds of trust attached to properties.

So essentially it releases HUD's deed of trust, its lean on our properties to allow us the financial flexibility to capitalize on our property so we can keep them in good repair and in good shape.

As we're doing these uh these renovations, we are uh providing upgrades to the site and to the property.

So that's the ultimate goal is to improve the living conditions of the units for the residents.

And as you might have heard, um Congress is uh not funding the public housing program as it traditionally has had in prior decades, and um and so and with the new budget release today with a projected 14% decrease in the public housing operating budget, it is definitely uh not investing in public housing.

However, in the voucher program, that's a nine percent increase in funding.

So housing authority industry uh experts have tracked this funding allocation pattern for years to determine it's best to move from the traditional public housing model, if housing authorities are able to to move towards hopefully a more stable funding uh model under the voucher program.

It also allows residents the opportunity in this process to utilize a voucher on site, meaning the vouchers are tied to the new unit that they're moving back into, or to take a tenant-based voucher and move off-site and have what's called choice mobility and allow them to move wherever they please that will accept a voucher, which sometimes it is uh very uh difficult, even if someone is on the voucher wait list to receive a voucher just because one wait lists aren't open very often, and two uh it's very difficult to utilize a voucher um uh once uh you get one, and it even if you are on a wait list, it can take years to receive a voucher from a housing authority.

So because we do the relocation and because of the imposition it puts on the families, HUD allows us to issue to give them the right to request a tenant-based voucher through this process, and they can receive a voucher much more quickly than if even if they were on our regular voucher waitless.

I got a question.

Um, so I know that you are doing Robinwood along with Bloomsbury Square.

Is the processes and the surveys and all of those discussions going to be the same processes for Robin with who?

I know it's way bigger, and you got to do a lot more work.

So yes.

Yes, but essentially the process is the same, of which I described earlier.

And we're doing that also now at Robinwood.

I got one more question.

Um with the defunding and funds, how is that going to affect the residents that are already there, even with the transition of the new housing development?

Um, in terms of if the programs aren't funded the the way they uh through Congress, you mean or okay.

That's a really great question.

So what we do is once we receive definitiveness on what uh Congress is allocating for these programs and what HUD is going to distribute, that determines the speed in which we can redevelop and the staging.

So and depending on the level of outside funding we can receive from private investment, from local investment, state, county, city investment also determines the pace in which we can redevelop.

So let's say if we know that there could be significant concerns for funding on the federal level, then it's up to local partners to step up to bridge whatever gap is necessary to ensure that the redevelopment still happens.

As we go through this stage in which we're determining what is going to be in what's called the capital stack, um how much funding is being contributed by what entity, this is when those type of conversations are actually occurring.

Fortunately, the state of Maryland is has been very generally supportive of affordable housing programs, especially once we're engaged in one.

Like, for example, during COVID, we were in the midst of our um new town 20 to Wilburne States and redevelopment, and because of lumber costs that resulted in a three million dollar gap instantly that was not contemplated because COVID wasn't contemplated when we started redevelopment.

And so the state assisted us with that funding gap that no one could have contemplated in order for us to get that job done.

So I'm just using it as an example.

Um, but uh during this process, we meet very frequently to discuss all of the variables and changes funding-wise, political, anything um environmental, anything that can impact the pace of the overall redevelopment in our ability to complete it.

Yes.

Thank you.

Uh thanks so much for being here, Director Maddox Evans.

Really appreciate all the stuff you're doing to modernize and improve our residents' lives.

Um I got one boring question, and then mostly I want to focus on the relocation.

Umside architecturally, is it going to look different after it's rehabbed or more or less the same?

Not likely.

Okay, because we are in a historic area.

Yeah, and there are a number of approvals that we're going to have to obtain from the city's historic society, from the state historic society with regards to Bloomsbury Square.

We don't anticipate that there'll be significant changes to the style of the exterior.

Um most of what we're doing is uh integrity and structural related.

We we love the style, we think it's very beautiful.

Yeah, um, but it is uh over 20 years old, and there are things that need to be addressed uh now.

Um in order to ensure longevity.

Gotcha.

Um thank you.

Uh on the other side of things on um uh people moving.

So uh I think the most fundamental concern that I hear from people is this particular site, there's been so many kind of false starts, and are we gonna get it or are we not gonna get it?

There's this whole history behind it, I'm sure you're aware of.

And so I think there's a lot of sort of mistrust for this, you know, a lot of times it feels like, oh, but maybe to oversimplify in some other scenarios, it's like we're worried about our house is gonna get taken from us, and we're going to get put into some kind of public housing community.

This is almost like people are worried, but we're we're gonna get our public housing community taken from us and put into some other house.

Uh so I I guess my most fundamental question is how are you guys working to bridge that trust gap in this particular situation?

Yeah, that's a good question.

So, and those are similar concerns for every single project we have.

Maybe it's not as great as a single one, and they're they're understandable.

Um the history of Bloomsbury Square has been interesting because it this is the second time that it has undergone a major redevelopment.

The first time was because the state wanted to acquire the property for its uh parking facility for its workers.

So it initiated the um the move uh per se, and it significantly funded that moved in order to achieve that.

Um so this is the second time that a a major um upgrade is happening.

However, this time the site is not being moved.

The first time was actually more traumatic and more uh significant because the actual location moved.

Now we're just renovating the um the interior and the exterior.

So what we're trying to help residents understand that we have heard all of your complaints about conditions of the unit.

In order to actually renovate the unit to the extent that you want us to renovate the unit, you can't live there for a time.

We will have ceilings open, floors exposed, plumbing, electrical.

There's no way for you to physically live in the space.

That is the only reason why you have to temporarily relocate, because we're actually trying to do what you have been requesting all of these years, and that's why we try to help them be as involved in the planning of the process as possible so they can feel that it's their renovation, not something that's happening to them, but actually something that they have been requesting, and yes, that comes with a significant inconvenience of being out of your unit for a number of weeks or for several months, you know, while you're doing so.

We we get that part and all the all the uh the um the trouble that comes with uh uh those type of uh moves.

Um we try to help them understand what their rights are during this process.

We share with them what the federal regulations are about them having the right to return, what that that legally we cannot, we have to ensure that they have the right to return, that it's a legal requirement.

It's not something that the housing authority thinks is nice to do, or we do think it's nice to do, but that's not the reason why we're doing we are legally required to um as long as you're in good standing and you're you're doing all you need to do as a resident, you know, you're not currently violating the lease or subject to eviction or you know, not paying your rent, or you're you're doing your part as a resident, then yes, you have a right under our lease and program requirements to return.

Um that's what the rental assistance demonstration program is.

It's different than in years back, there was a program called Hope Six, in which there was which is sort of the predecessor of the RAD program.

And in that program, there were additional criteria that a resident had to meet or that uh project had to meet, and only a certain number of persons could come back.

And that's historically, though, Hope Six did not happen here in Annapolis, and so it happened in major cities, you know, other cities.

Um but because of the lessons learned in Hope Six, HUD made changes to the regulations under the RAD program and made the resident rights stronger through this.

So, for example, in the RAD program, residents still, even after the properties converted, they still have a right to a grievance, which you don't have a right to a grievance in a regular landlord-tenant relationship in the private market.

But at a RAD property, you do.

You have a right to a tenant council to create one.

You don't have a right to that necessarily in the private market, but at a rad property, you do.

So there are a number of things that are very uh similar and embedded in the public housing program and uh in the voucher program that are still available to tenants after conversion.

And so we try to help them understand those rights.

And the more vocal they are, and honestly, the more involved they are, the uh the more the fears are uh addressed.

Yeah in a straight.

So that really so we encourage residents if you're concerned about anything, please come to the tenant meetings and voice your concerns as we're rolling this information out because that's where we can hear what the concerns are, and to not presume that we know what all the concerns are as we're going through this process.

Can I just piggyback on this for a second, though?

Um it kind of goes back to my question or your discussion earlier about as they're going through the process, if they find that they're no longer eligible, income eligible or whatnot.

Where in the process do we are they finding that out?

Because the biggest concern I'm hearing from people is that I'm going through all of this and I'm you know being a part of this, and I'm gonna get to move back into this beautiful new unit that's completely renovated, and oh, by the way, at the very last minute, they pulled out from under me, and I'm no longer eligible.

That's what I hear over and over again.

So we have already spoken with residents that we consider to be um that we have concerns that are not compliant with our programs.

We try to reach out to those residents very early when we're starting this process, meaning we're two or three years out, way before we get to the closing.

So that for example, by the time we got to the Willborn closing, there was only one resident that didn't meet the income criteria.

And I think it was pretty much the same at um Blum, maybe one.

Because you moved them out prior to that, or no, no, no, not necessarily that we're informed that okay, you no longer qualify for the program, you're gonna have to let's talk about what other housing arrangements would work for you, or or whatever.

Um, I'm saying that to say the amount of work that we do and the amount of outreach and counseling that we do during this process is significant.

So the any resident that has any concern about their standing in our program or their own compliance issues, we encourage them to reach out to the management team right away.

We also we call each resident that we have any kind of concern about one-on-one, but there may be things that we don't know about that a resident is concerned about.

So we ask them to call us also, and to the worst thing a resident can do is not address a concern that they may have that that's that's not going to be helpful to them.

Now we have worked with pretty much every single issue under the sun that we have come across with regards to resident issues.

Um, because it's our goal for everybody to return and to not lose anyone, and so uh so we do that, but at every single meeting, we have a list and we you know have our management team and you say, please talk to us right now.

Let's set up a time so that you can talk with whomever you need to talk to to answer questions, and sometimes residents have concerns of things that are not of concern, like it's not they may think something is significant, but it's really not, you know, to their tenancy, and then we help them understand like no, that's not gonna disqualify you from the for from the program.

So sometimes there's just misunderstandings or misconceptions that need to be cleared up.

Um, one thing we do ask residents to do is to report every person you intend to be on your lease when we do this transition, because the only persons that are eligible for a voucher for that household are the persons that are listed on the lease.

So if you have someone that's been living with you, it's time to get them on your lease now.

If there you have someone whose uh income's not being captured, it's time to capture that income now.

So if your research has been a recertification has been delayed, or if you've not completed it yet, you need to complete that now because the subsidy that we determine for your unit is based on your recertification.

So if you haven't been providing current information, now's the time to get current as we're determining the amount of subsidies that are being attached to each unit.

So it's actually a great opportunity to clean up a lot of issues that might be outstanding for a particular family and household.

So we're not just physically moving people.

We're programmatically ensuring compliance on the housing authority and do you happen to have thanks again?

Do you happen to have, I know you mentioned 14% decrease in the budget, 9% increase for the vouchers.

What is your scope of understanding around this?

What concerns do you have?

Your team has, our team, um, as we're facing these budget cuts, as well as what asks do you have of us as city um older persons or government, if you will, as we transition to that too.

Yeah, well, great.

I appreciate you asking as with federally funded programs, there's always elements of uncertainty.

Um those elements have been heightened in um recent months.

Um of the most challenging aspects we have uh with regards to particularly our properties that may not be moving towards a financial closing in the next year or two is um uh support with regards to the capital needs of these properties until we can get to the point of significant um renovation, because the needs are still significant and will remain significant until we can do a wholesale uh renovation.

And so through through periodically, we will uh present either funding requests or requests for some sort of um support um to the uh to the city and other entities uh to assist us as we're going through the renovation and redevelopment process, because this process takes several years to do, and people have housing needs right now.

So the most significant thing I think a local municipality can do is embrace the fact that the federal government is not as stable as in prior years with regards to supporting public housing, and to have considerations of that as they're doing their budget, as they're doing, you know, the needs, even not just the housing needs, the physical housing needs, but programmatic needs associated with housing.

So rental assistance programs, for example, other social programs that could assist persons to be more stable in their housing situations, uh workforce programs.

Uh so for us, housing is uh what we do, um, but in the scope of the economic and socio socioeconomic spectrum, it is sort of the end um of the spectrum.

There's so many things that need to be working properly on the local level for persons to be able to have stable housing.

And I think oftentimes housing is looked at, you know, if we just redevelop the units, everything will be fine, and that's not the case.

Um, so we have to make sure that there are programs in place to support the people that are in the housing for the overall housing program to be successful.

And I know that's very vague, but we will definitely be coming before you uh more in the future with more specific asks as we go through this process.

But from our standpoint as housing providers, it would be helpful if local leaders understood housing as just infrastructure that needs to be supported, as it does, you know, our waste, you know, stormwater management and environmental issues, and it's just housing is just one of the things that need to be supported.

And so that would be something that I would ask for the commission to consider.

Sorry, I'm back.

Thanks for your answer before I I think you know people are worried to what Alder Roman O'Neill was saying.

But maybe what I'm hearing is part of our roles to tell them why they don't need to be worried and really amplifying that message rather than making sure we feed into those fears.

Or if they are worried, they can contact us.

Sure.

Yeah, and find out.

Uh hopefully the remaining questions are hopefully fairly straightforward.

Uh you mentioned it's gonna take six to eight weeks, roughly, for redoing each unit.

That's how long people are gonna be out.

About how many you think you're gonna how many people will be in that situation at any given time, or how many units I should ask will be in that situation?

Um, we're we're trying to do a building um at a time.

So I would say maybe 10 families or so.

Gotcha.

And that, yeah, around that number, sure.

Like some more.

Um I had one other thing.

Oh, just uh, and this is probably something that feels a little unique but isn't actually uh a lot of folks there have physical disabilities.

As you're thinking about relocation, how are you guys considering that?

Especially if you're you were mentioning like extended states, is that right in response to that?

How are you thinking about that?

So once we conduct the interviews with the individual families and find out what their accommodation needs are, we then determine the type of temporary housing that would be suitable.

So we would uh have to uh assist them with the type of accommodations that will meet their physical or any other type of challenge.

Um so we have to take that into consideration.

Thanks so much for uh uh having this Chairwoman County.

That was all my questions.

Thank you.

I just have one more question, and it's a little bit going to put you on the spot, and I'm sorry for it.

But one of the things that I keep hearing about is people being able to contact um hack offices and the amount of time that offices are open and available.

Um I've had several residents say that they've made appointments only to go and take off work to go and find out that nobody was there actually there during the appointment time.

Can you talk a little bit about the the office hours and the availability of your personnel for people to come and ask questions?

Is this just generally for sites or is it for Bluesbury Square or it's a little bit of both, some Harbor House, some Blueberry Square.

Um we've invited other property managers as well.

I know that on Obery Court, it's been a pretty major issue.

Yeah.

So the Bluesbury Square office is open twice a week.

It has been for um quite some time.

It is best that um residents do set an appointment if they have some important you know matters to discuss.

Um we'll make sure that if there are uh if there's an emergency uh a manager might be have have to be called away um for a moment, but they usually return or place signage on the door um to indicate um the return.

But I would make sure the management staff uh you know does a better job in making folks aware as to the office of availability.

We have had to do a point uh uh reduced walk-ins at Eastport Terrace and Harbor House for the time being since we started the Y Head Start program at the Eastport Community Center.

Um, there have been a few instances of some uh inappropriate conduct, I would say uh that has resulted uh uh in uh there being some uh threats issued to staff and to some of the workers at the Y Head Start program by uh uh some individuals.

So we have uh moved the appointments for Esport Terrace and Harbor House to the main office.

So if they would like to meet with their manager, they just contact the manager and they set an appointment.

And since the our main office is on the same site as Esport Terrace and Harbor House, and they can have the appointment at our main office, and we are doing that for the uh for the time being.

And so it is not likely that someone will be able to walk up to the Eastport Community Center and just go in because we're running a school there, um, and or the why is rather, um, but they can make an appointment and information about that is on the door if they'd like to set up an appointment.

And they can always um our main office is always open, and there's always someone there answering the the phone um at the front desk.

So if anyone has any problem contacting a local management office, they can always call our main office um and um submit their question or request to meet with somebody or file their complaint or or get a message to whomever.

Um and our because our line is always being uh manned, and they can always walk in to our main office that is open most every day except to the public, um, except um Fridays.

We're still open, we're not open to the public on Fridays.

So Monday through Thursday, they can also walk in and say I'd like to set an appointment with whomever in the front desk um person will connect them to um to do so.

Thank you, Melissa.

All right, well, thank you very much.

Okay.

Next on the agenda is ID 2926 affordable housing.

Thank you.

Uh I'm uh not Terry Bond.

I'm sitting in for her, so she couldn't make it.

My name is Patrick Sheridan.

My name is Patrick Sheridan.

I'm one of the other uh six members of the uh affordable housing and community equity equity development commission, which is one of the longest commission names I've seen.

Uh but uh I just wanted to let you uh know a little bit about what our commission does, uh, which serves at the pleasure of your committee, uh, and also some of the things we've been working on and and things we see coming up.

Uh just a little bit of background on it.

There's uh as I mentioned, there's six of us on the committee, we're all Napolis residents.

Uh all of us have backgrounds in housing policy, housing development, resident services, uh, government affordable housing programs, both state and federal, and also in community development programs.

Uh generally we're appointed by uh the council and the mayor, but recommendation from the uh uh housing and human welfare committee.

So uh again, we serve at your your pleasure, uh quite frankly.

Um what we've done or what we've seen as far as our purpose goes has been to assist your committee in reviewing and providing comment on proposed legislation.

Uh we also provide comments and on some of the proposed awards for uh city received HUD CDBG funding.

Uh and we also work on uh researching and keeping abreast of affordable housing and community development trends, uh also then aiding in developing legislation that furthers affordable housing and community development goals, and in particular also helping implement the Napolis comprehensive uh plan that's been just uh within the last year finalized.

Um what we can do is of course provide assistance to you and and the committee on uh current proposal legislation that it does come before the council uh and the committee uh such as uh assisted uh uh accessory dwelling units, ADUs or even short-term rentals, something along that line.

That we could assist in developing an educational reach out program or campaign about affordable housing that we could use with the public to help explain the benefits of achieving you know higher density or slightly higher density in housing and uh also providing examples of places where that has happened before.

And one of the things that uh your committee may want to uh consider too is uh revisiting uh it was uh workforce housing legislation that happened uh probably about two, three years ago.

That was uh uh Bill 40-22.

And uh what it did would provide incentives to build housing that would be affordable to those with incomes between 60 and 100 percent of median income.

Uh it did make it as far as the first reading.

There were comments both from public and uh uh city staff that we were working on incorporating, uh, but the uh legislation was subsequently uh cabled for uh uh the projected release of the comprehensive plan to make sure that it did meet what some of the goals of the plan were.

So uh it is something we see some benefit there.

Uh tracked pretty closely with a lot of other types of programs, such as ADUs and that, but you know, what we were contemplating would be more along the lines of infill type housing that would be uh duplexes, triplexes, something so something along those lines rather than large scale multifamily housing.

But uh those are just some examples of some of the things that we generally look at.

Uh we work closely with the city staff on making sure we're keeping abreast of what's going on and also providing suggestions, and uh we're open to anything else the committee would like to have us work on.

So have any questions?

I'd be happy to answer them.

Hey, well, welcome.

Uh thank you so much for your um volunteerism serving uh on this uh and to the other members who are not here.

Thank you all as well.

Uh did you have any thoughts or feedback thus far from your meetings?

Have you already met prior to this?

Um, to discuss some of the things you want to bring to our attention thus far, as well as uh aside from the out go ahead with that question that way I could just come back.

Um I think you know the workforce housing legislation was something we thought would would be good to bring up, but also uh whether there were ways that we could assist with uh uh reviewing the uh ADU proposals that had been uh uh proposed.

Uh I know we've also looked at the county's programs, a lot of them track very closely, of course, with what the city's been doing.

So, you know, it's been a situation where we've been able to look at some of those programs and make suggestions as to how it could be used here in Annapolis, and again, we've worked with the county also in providing them with some suggestions uh, you know, so it's we're not matched perfectly either with each other, but uh we did see some some big benefits there.

And what one thing I should also mention too, though, uh another role I also have is I'm vice chairman of the housing authorities board of commissioners.

So uh I'm sort of the liaison between this committee and the housing authority also.

Okay.

Um the other piece to that was gonna be uh do you all have any thoughts or plans surrounding a vision uh to bring more equity into the housing developments here in the city or just in general for housing equity?

Do you all have maybe a uh layout of what you'd like to see over the next two to three, four years?

You know, your terms are I'm not too extensive, but they're pretty decent amount of time of terms.

So do you have that at all aside from the reports that you provide to us on an annual basis?

Well, I think in that regard, we're more uh reacting to what you know your committee proposals, what we've seen in the comprehensive plan to try to you know make sure that we uh can help you meet those goals in doing that.

Okay, we're gonna thank you.

Thank you.

We'll update you on those things.

Next on the agenda is ID 2226 Woodside Gardens update.

Good evening.

Hello.

Welcome.

Thank you.

My name is Kenneth Hart.

I'm the senior regional for Fairstead.

And one of the communities in my region is Woodside Gardens.

And I'll let you introduce yourself.

Sure.

Good afternoon, everyone.

My name is Diane Rampasson.

I'm the regional for Woodside Gardens.

I just came aboard about maybe two weeks ago.

Thank you.

Thanks for coming.

So we had a meeting with you guys, I think about two, three months ago.

There was a list of things that residents brought to our attention.

And I'm happy to say that for the most part, those are all done with the exception of one item.

We got on them right away, took care of what needed to be taken care of, kept the resident informed of the progress.

We continue our partnership with the Annapolis Police Department and our security team on site to maintain the property, the grounds, and we've hired uh full-time dedicated recertification specialists to handle the research so that one person is handling all the recertifications at the community as opposed to multiple people.

And that seems to be going well with our residents too.

And of course, we have a very great and productive uh resident service program that put on some really great programs this past fall and and winter for residents and continue to do so going forward.

Um, any questions?

More than happy to answer them.

My first question is I'm having a hard time hearing you.

Could you move them up?

Sure.

Is that better?

Thank you.

Better um my next question is the three of us are brand new to this committee.

Okay.

Um, one of us has served on the on the council in the past.

Could you give us a little overview of um your property?

Um, how many units, um, do you have empty units?

Are you do you have can you give us those kind of um I joined Fairstad in April of this year, so my my information may not be as uh concrete.

We we have um whereas tax credit tax credit section eight combined unit community.

Um we have 130 units on the property, um one to one bedroom, two bedrooms, and three bedroom apartments.

We currently have about nine vacant units that we're trying to fill.

We have applications on all units, but we're just working through the process of getting them qualified to move in onto the property.

Um you wanted to know occupancy, vacancy.

What was the other thing you wanted to know?

That was it, thank you.

That was it, okay.

Oh, and thirty units.

Nine baking.

Thank you.

Um I wanted to know.

Um, what is the price?

I know you guys don't deal with them on like a regular basis because y'all are regional, but um I get a lot of questions and concerns from Woodside.

So I was asking about what is the protocol when a resident puts in like maintenance stuff that is like unresolved for a long time.

That's like should be emergency situations, and how are um you guys addressing the communication between the residents and your property manager when um a lot you had um I think at least two town halls where I was present, and the residents came there with a lot of questions and concerns as far as the disconnect between the property managers and them, and none of the things were being addressed.

So um we have a senior property manager on site, um, Shine Whitfield is her name.

Take the work orders and process them through our system.

Emergency work orders should be dealt with immediately if they're emergency.

Other things are put into a queue to be dealt with as time allows.

Communication between the the office and the residents, from my point of view, has gotten better.

It's not perfect, but it's gotten better.

We I invite residents to talk to the admin, the manager, and if they don't get any satisfaction there, you know, there's me, this is the regional that they can also come to.

I keep business cards at the property so that they can they can reach out to me should they need to.

I haven't gotten very many complaints in the past couple of months since our last meeting.

So it's my understanding that things are going well, the communication is going well.

But other than that, I haven't gotten many more, haven't received many more complaints like that.

Um we we understood or I understood that there were issues prior with prior management, and so we're trying to work through those.

Can't undo those situations and those as problems.

We can take take them on today and try our best to um resolve them, which is always my goal.

My goal is to take the situation, stop it from going any higher, and resolve that issue as best I can at my level.

Um I also have um gotten a lot of calls about like balances owed.

Yeah.

And um not knowing where the balances is coming from, and they have reached out to find out from the property manager, and it was no clarity there.

So a lot of people are calling me like in crisis mode, basically saying, I got a letter and um it's saying that I owe $10,000 or $12,000, and just recently I didn't have this, so I'm trying to figure out why I'm going through this, and then they go to the property manager, and she's either not addressing it or maybe not to their liking or what they're thinking.

What is like what type of things are they putting in place so that they can um properly assist the residents that are having these issues, or if they really are those issues.

So the thing that's in place is that one person that we have to do your recertifications.

Typically, when a resident comes in to recertify, that's when their rent is adjusted based on their current income, right?

Um the goal, the the the in the perfect world, they should do that annually and timely.

Um it's when they don't do it, when they're in April 1st move in and they they don't complete their research until July 1st, then there's a retroactive adjustment that goes there.

Or if you know the longer they wait, the longer the adjustment period going back to.

Because when we when we put in our system what their income is, you know, HUD is gonna send us back a discrepancy.

If we say it was as of this date, and HUS says no, our record shows as of this date, we need to investigate it, verify when they did start work or when they switched jobs, and at that point we have to make that adjustment on their rent.

Um and report it back to HUD that it was corrected.

So that's where a lot of the discrepancies are coming from.

The late research, the non-researts, um, and the misreporting of income or underreporting of income.

Um when you look at a ledger in August that in August of 25 that's talking about a rent adjustment from September of 24, it's kind of convoluted and kind of difficult to understand, let alone explain it to the to the to the point.

And we run into the the fact that uh prior management didn't do adjustments timely or correctly.

And in that instance, or the resident will say, I've supplied you that information when you ask for it.

So in that instance, when they they say they supplied us the information, we then will go back and say, okay, give us the information again so that we can go back to that period and make the correct adjustments.

And that's where the the break comes.

They they don't want to, they refuse to.

Um, you know, we we have to do something at that point because HUD's telling us they made $25,000 that year, and they're saying no, I only made 12,000 that year.

So we have to make that adjustment retroactively.

In some cases, um, when they can demonstrate that the error was on our our behalf, then we'll we'll eat those charges going backwards to make them to make the ledges right.

But you know, when they're reluctant to provide us with the information or or to prove to us that this did happen or didn't happen, then we have to go with what HUD is reporting back to us as an error in income.

All right.

Well, welcome, as you mentioned, you just joined in April of last year.

Last year.

Obviously, because we're in the new year.

Um, so it's almost about a year or so.

Almost yeah.

I'm sorry.

So I'm sure I'm a s I'm sure you've already heard or seen the history of the issues that we face here in Annapolis, particularly in our public housing communities.

And um, I'm not certain if they gave you a packet, a pamphlet, a book or whatever that may have been about the issues that our residents, particularly at um this property have faced.

Um, but I will bring up the uh mold infestation and the pest infestation, aside from just crime, pollution, tra those types of things.

Uh, do you all have uh a plan to address that uh long term?

Um what is your vision here in the city of Annapolis for us and providing the best housing possible for those residents, our residents.

So Fairstead's uh policy is to provide the best possible housing, the best housing for all of our residents.

Um when we are made aware of a problem, we we jump on it as quickly as we can.

Something as um as as big as mold, we try to jump on as quickly as we know about it.

Often we're not informed about it until we encounter it via an inspection or some other occurrence happening in the unit.

But once we determine that there is mold, we determine the source and remediate it and make whatever repairs necessary so that it doesn't occur further.

Pest control, we have a regular rotating pest control program at Woodside.

Um every two weeks, we get so many units treated, plus any big issues that or reported issues that are not on our regular rotation cycle.

So we try to tackle pest control that that way.

A lot of our pest control issues are household um the word I want.

Housekeeping related.

So we then we loop in our resident services people to kind of work with that resident to um improve their housekeeping as well.

The two go hand in hand.

Um but we try.

And and if it's a really bad issue, uh for example, a bed bug issue, we don't use our regular pest control company for that.

We get an expert in the treat the bed bugs.

They come in, they inspect that unit, the two units are joining it above above and below as well, so that we we don't see that they spread.

If they do spread, then we repeat up and down and left and right as well too, to try to take care of the issue with bed bugs as quickly as possible.

And security, we have a great uh uh reputation and relationship with the Annapolis Police Department.

Um we have our own security on property, and they work in conjunction with the police department um if they need additional assistance on site.

We actually have a meeting every week with both security and Annapolis PD to discuss any current issues or problem areas that we as management would like them to pay attention to on the site.

All right.

Um, just so that the people are aware, you said um Fair said they're new to this.

No, no, no.

Okay, just because I'm not saying that at all.

I'd want to make sure you were talking about just yourself and nothing.

Yeah, just me.

Um I've been here since April, so I'm not that new, but I'm new.

Okay.

New to Fairstead, not new to the business.

Okay.

Yeah, hopefully not.

We need some experience around here.

Right.

So um when it go comes to a concern that I heard from a resident, they said that they're not allowed to sit on outside of their property on the the st steps, if you will.

Um is that true?

Is or is that not true?

Because that's a little concerning that families are not allowed or able, if this is true, to enjoy their space.

Um they may not be allowed.

We to sit on the steps because it impedes people from coming and going.

You know, often um when I visit and I walk a building or go to a unit to look at something, you know, I'm climbing over someone.

So we we don't let them sit on the steps, but a benches outside, yes, they can they can sit.

We have playgrounds and areas for them to sit that they're more than welcome to sit on.

Are you referring to the steps outside of the property?

The steps to get into the building, yes, to get into the building.

Okay.

Um I will say that if someone is in the way, I think saying excuse me, or hey, may I get by without making a family feel that they're not allowed to in a um not welcoming way would be great, especially since that was brought to our attention.

I do want to just make sure that they feel um still that they can enjoy their space.

No, absolutely.

We have um a playground, we have a garden, basketball courts, um, we have a community room they can come into a little kitchenette that's stocked with cold water and beverages.

We have a computer lab, um, an after school program with the classroom.

We have a lot of amenities that residents can participate in.

Um and we do that so that they're not sitting on the steps, um, impeding the the entry and exit of the building.

Okay, one last question.

Um, do we have anything?

Do you guys have anything in place for um when you do get the uh um EIV reports from HUD about a concern and resident, and um they have all the paperwork to say that it wasn't them and it was definitely the property manager's fault.

Um, do you all have anything in place to like make that less like the problem from continuing?

Because if you have 15 here and it continues to be 15 every time, versus putting something in place that it could reduce it to like maybe 10 from the 15.

I think that's part of our dedicated compliance person on site.

You're dealing with the one person, everybody's dealing with the same person, giving their information to the same person, um, which should go into their file so they can be entered into the system to assure that you know I didn't give it to her.

I can't come in and say I gave it to uh Diana three weeks ago, and you know, where is it?

Where did she put it?

So it's going to one person, it makes it into their file, um, and um we can enter it in the system that way, and we also give them copies of what they give us so that they have it, and we can stamp and initial that we received it on a specific date so that they know that we have it as well, too.

So that should minimize um if not eliminate any miscommunications or misguided paperwork.

Okay, thank you all.

That questions can are those rules listed anywhere and maybe a tenant rights or any agreements so that residents know that they are this is just one example that they're not quote unquote allowed to sit on those steps.

I believe it is in our house rules.

Okay, so they're in the house rules, then that's something that we will direct them to.

Yes, and I take it that's um information.

The house rules are part of their lease agreement.

Okay, so look in their lease and you'll see you're not allowed.

Okay, thank you.

Yes, sir.

Can we get y'all information?

Sure.

Please I have some business, I have some business cards.

We can get a car due.

Sure.

And thank you both.

You know, if I may, madam chair.

Thank you both for uh joining us today and being a part of what we're bringing here for our residents in Annapolis.

Absolutely.

Thank you for having us.

Absolutely.

My card has a New York number, two and two number, but I am local, the company's headquartered in New York.

So if you call me, I'll I'll answer anything.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Have a good night.

Thank you.

Thank you again.

Saying that we have no further business, I'll take a motion to adjourn it.

So moved.

Seconded.

All in favor?

Aye.

Blessing.

Yeah.