PHYLLIS T. LEWIS, CCR, CRCR

Transcription

1 X REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD : OF COMMISSIONERS OF THE HOBOKEN : Thursday HOUSING AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF : April, 0 HOBOKEN : Six p.m X B E F O R E: Held At: Fox Hill Gardens Community Room th Street Hoboken, New Jersey Carmelo G. Garcia, Executive Director Chairwoman Jean Rodriguez Vice Chair Robert Davis, III Commissioner Michael Russo Commissioner Jake Stuiver Commissioner Eduardo Gonzalez Commissioner Mariann Camporeale Commissioner Judith Burrell A P P E A R A N C E S: CHARLES P. DAGLIAN, ESQ. Attorney for the Board. A L S O P R E S E N T: Lourdes Priestly, Acting Secretary PHYLLIS T. LEWIS CERTIFIED COURT REPORTER CERTIFIED REALTIME COURT REPORTER P.O. Box Newark, New Jersey, 0 Phone: () - CHAIRWOMAN RODRIGUEZ: Would everybody please rise to salute the flag? (Pledge of Allegiance recited.) Good evening, everyone. Madam Chair, m y apologies for running a little bit late, but unfortunately my mom had surgery today, and yesterday my godfather had passed away, so it has been a rough week. But you have a quorum, Madam Chair. Do you want me to do the roll call now? Chair. CHAIRWOMAN RODRIGUEZ: Yes. Okay, Madam Commissioner Burrell? COMMISSIONER BURRELL: Here. Commissioner Camporeale? COMMISSIONER CAPOREALE: Here. Commissioner Gonzalez? COMMISSIONER GONZALEZ: Here. Commissioner Stuiver? COMMISSIONER STUIVER: Here. of sheets Page to of 0//0 0:0: PM 0 0 Commissioner Russo? Davis? Rodriguez? COMMISSIONER RUSSO: Here. Vice Chair VICE CHAIR DAVIS: Here. Chairwoman CHAIRWOMAN RODRIGUEZ: Here. I would like to advise those present that notice of this Regular Meeting of the Hoboken Housing Authority of the City of Hoboken has been provided to the public in accordance with the provisions of the Open Public Meetings Act. Notice of this Regular Monthly April Board meeting that was scheduled for Thursday, April th, 0, was sent to The Hoboken Reporter as a public notice on Tuesday, April rd, 0, as notification to the general public of the said meeting and sent to the City Clerk of Hoboken on Tuesday, April rd, 0, with a copy of the agenda to be posted on the aforementioned bulletin board. I direct the minutes of this meeting to state that I have announced that adequate notice of this meeting has been given as required by the Open Public Meetings Act. Motion to accept the minutes of the regular meeting of Thursday, March th, 0. COMMISSIONER CAMPOREALE: Motion. COMMISSIONER STUIVER: Second. On the roll call, Commissioner Burrell? COMMISSIONER BURRELL: Yes. Commissioner Camporeale? COMMISSIONER CAPOREALE: Yes. Commissioner Gonzalez? COMMISSIONER GONZALEZ: Yes. Commissioner Stuiver? COMMISSIONER STUIVER: Yes. Commissioner Russo? Davis? Rodriguez? COMMISSIONER RUSSO: Abstain. Vice Chair VICE CHAIR DAVIS: Yes. Chairwoman

2 0 0 CHAIRWOMAN RODRIGUEZ: Yes. Resolution 0-., authorizing the payment of the monthly list of bills for the Hoboken Housing Authority. COMMISSIONER RUSSO: Motion. COMMISSIONER BURRELL: Second. COMMISSIONER GONZALEZ: Question. Yes, Commissioner Gonzalez. question. COMMISSIONER GONZALEZ: Just a I see we installed the awning outside of the police precinct. Is it, I guess, more durable than the last one? That is correct. It is metal and definitely more durable. I appreciate you recognizing that. As we are all aware, unfortunately, there was an incident where some of the police officers were coming out of the precinct or the Housing Bureau, and some derelicts or criminals tried to throw items off the rooftop onto the police officers coming out of the bureau, so therefore it was an imminent request and safety situation that we wanted to protect our Housing Bureau officers and Commander Campbell over there, so we immediately moved forward to order a new awning, which is metal framed, so it's definitely much more durable than the old wooden one we had. present. shortly. I believe Lieutenant Campbell is No, not yet. He should be joining us Any other questions, Commissioners? COMMISSIONER GONZALEZ: No. Something also to point out, a couple of things. As you know, I mean, we are continuously moving forward with our capital improvement plan to renovate more apartments in Harrison Gardens. We have an aggressive project, and we are doing our best to turn over as many units as possible. We continue to receive our invoices from the City of Hoboken with respect to the police department bureau. We have also -- this is great news. We have a waterproofed 0 Marshall Drive as we were having some issues where there has been seepage on the -- through the brick. Therefore, we have to continuously look at the aged buildings and do brick 0//0 0:0: PM Page to of of sheets 0 0 repointing on it or waterproof the exterior. We have recently taken care of a few cracks in our sidewalks for the purposes of avoiding any liability, so we are continuously using our mason contractors to come in and do a phenomenal job on our steps and on our staircases with respect especially to those that are ADA compliant, the ramps, and we have been taking care of that. We installed that railing. I am not sure Latrinda is here, but we installed that railing at 00 Marshall Drive. Thank you, Latrinda, for bringing that to our attention. It was unfortunately removed and pretty much sold. Right now, you know, scrap metal is I guess pretty expensive. Therefore, people are paying a good price for it, and sometimes that is what happens. They unfortunately rip off the railing and then sell it for scrap. And that is pretty much it, other than we fixed the stadium lighting over at our field. One of the bulbs was out on the field. We took care of that matter, and we have replaced all of the wall packs for the exterior lights of the 00 series buildings over in Andrew Jackson Gardens. So if you drive by there at night, it is illuminated like Shea Stadium, since the Mets are on a winning record, and pretty much that was it. The next project -- the next phase of that project will be the 00 series, 00 series and 00 series, so we are moving from sodium lighting to metal halide lighting, which is also energy efficient, and the installation of the awning. That is about it, Madam Chair. On the roll call -- on the roll call Commissioner Burrell? COMMISSIONER BURRELL: Yes. Commissioner Camporeale? COMMISSIONER CAPOREALE: Yes. Commissioner Gonzalez? COMMISSIONER GONZALEZ: Yes. Commissioner Stuiver? COMMISSIONER STUIVER: Yes. Commissioner Russo? COMMISSIONER RUSSO: Yes. Vice Chair

3 0 0 Davis? Rodriguez? VICE CHAIR DAVIS: Yes. Chairwoman CHAIRWOMAN RODRIGUEZ: Yes. Yes. Our resolutions for tonight, as you know, we basically had authorized about a year ago to enter into a partnership, or it didn't have to go into a partnership with Local for what is called a LIUNA Residential Construction and General Service maintenance agreement, so that we may have our residents be trained as apprentices in the trades and come back and retrofit those units that are vacant. We are now taking the next step, and this was historical because we were one of the first in the State of New Jersey to do this, where 0 percent of any contract basically over a hundred thousand dollars would go to residents of the Housing Authority to work as part of that project, similar to what we do under Section. But what we are doing with the maintenance agreement that is on the agenda for tonight is very simple. We had applicants participate. They have attended the first orientation and then the second interview, and now they are going to be certified to start learning the trade. It is a two-week program, 00 hours, and once they complete that, they become an apprentice in the union, in Local. Therefore, once they are done with the Hoboken Housing Authority, since we will be utilizing them on an as per diem basis, they now can be now carted as a union apprentice and go to any job that the union will have. Let's say right now they have some big jobs in New York City, Local, so that person, that resident now is, you know, full-time employed with that local. And on top of that, it helps the Authority out on the revenue end because if right now that resident has no income coming into the household because he was unemployed, now he is receiving income, and therefore the rent will go up. So it is a win-win situation all around, and this is one of the most powerful tools I believe for job creation. It's a great vehicle, and we are proud, and I thank this Board for their continuous support on hopefully getting our residents to be certified in an area of tradesman, of sheets Page to of 0//0 0:0: PM 0 0 in an area of energy efficiency and weatherization. I do have, I believe -- is Mr. Fuentes here tonight from Local? Okay. They were going to come to the meeting. I thought they were in the back somewhere. Okay. The second resolution, which I am very, very proud of and finally we had an aggressive schedule with respect to getting our Mama Johnson field resurfaced. April th was the bid opening. I do have Jackie from Remington and Vernick. Jackie, we would like you to come up, so that she can discuss and highlight for my Board of Commissioners some of the great advances we have made with respect to the bid specification, and you should have the resolution. If you do not, please let me know now. MR. DAGLIAN: In the front of every package, there should be the resolution and my opinion letter. I was told that has been distributed. Which is LandTek, who was the lowest bidder, but I will let Jackie discuss the process and actually the selection. Also, Jackie, as part of the architect and engineer, Remington and Vernick, you know, they tabulated the bids. They are the ones who handled the process, and at that point we sent a separate set to Mr. Daglian who reviewed the legalities of it, and in most cases also the architect and engineer have reviewed the same, so LandTek in fact was the lowest bidder. However, I will let Jackie have the floor. F-o-u-s-h-e-e. Here you go, Jackie. MS. FOUSHEE: Jackie Foushee, Good evening. Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to discuss this project with you, Commissioners. Is this on? I think I am doing something wrong. You can't hear? Okay. Let me be the sound guy, here, too. do that. MS. FOUSHEE: I can talk louder. I can Try now,

4 Jackie. one month, two months, three months? MS. FOUSHEE: Hello? Is that better? MS. FOUSHEE: About two months, but the Okay. Good. goal is to have everything done for your grand Thank you, Director Garcia. opening around the Fourth of the July, and they are You're aware of that schedule already. welcome. If I can MS. FOUSHEE: As you are aware, the interject, in recent conversations with the City, Housing Authority has undertaken the new project of the Director of Recreation advised, though, that the resurfacing Mama Johnson Field. they may need to delay it on the basis that the Our firm, Remington, Vernick and girls' softball program will not be done probably Arango, have prepared drawings to include the until mid July, which we have been in communication artificial turf installed for a multi-purpose field, trying to discern whether or not yes, they can, you a combination baseball, football and soccer field know -- but we don't want to take away from the because we have to take advantage of everything that girls and cut their season short, so basically we we put down at this point. agreed that, if necessary, we would wait until the The scope of the work includes the season ends in order to begin. construction of batting cages, dugout areas, the As long as we have all of our ducks in relocation of some of the lighting because the order, and we will address everything at the lighting was in good condition, so we didn't have to preconstruction meeting, you know, we will be 0 remove and replace it, also a combination 0 insured at that point everything is buttoned up, and scoreboard. And as with an all turf field, we when we give them the go-ahead, also there may be include the underlying drainage system, so we can some materials that they would have to order, and actually make sure that there is no runoff building that also can delay the process, so in the interim up on the site for use for an extended period, much they could order whatever they need to have it on longer than you could with a regular field because standby, so when they begin the excavation. when it rains, you know, you are not able to use it Another thing to add to that is that I until it drains off. But with these fields, the have reached out to Mr. Pochi from the North Hudson water is gone within a half hour, so it won't deter Sewerage Authority because one of the main concerns any of your sporting activity. that Remington & Vernick, and to Jackie's credit, As the Director Garcia mentioned, the they have done extensive research with respect to lowest responsible bidder that we received is addressing the concern of whether or not the LandTek. Actually I am familiar with LandTek. We additional water, that acre of water basically, worked with them for at least four different fields would create a problem with the sewer system, and we for various agencies, county and municipal agencies, discussed that. at least four. They are great in giving a quick They have actually provided actually turn-around, so we are eager to get started and meet additional research and material to all parties the goals of the Housing Authority, and they came in involved to advise them of what our findings were, under budget, which is always a highlight to use the and how we addressed them. money somewhere else, right? Do you want to just kind of elaborate Are there any questions for me? on that a little bit? COMMISSIONER GONZALEZ: When would they MS. FOUSHEE: Primarily the way we are get started and when would they be done? addressing it is by detaining the water, we are just MS. FOUSHEE: Actually I scheduled a slowing down the flow of the water, so it is not preconstruction meeting for the th. They are just running directly into the system, and that's 0 eager to start, and they will mobilize quickly, so 0 what happens. we are thankful for that. I already sent the I think you have seen a lot times when contracts out, but I told them to hold them until I you have kind of like a flash flood, where rain call them after this meeting. downpours really quickly. All we are doing is COMMISSIONER GONZALEZ: I mean, how slowing down the speed that it actually enters the long -- once they start, how long should it take, system, so if it enters in drops instead of buckets, 0//0 0:0: PM Page to of of sheets

5 then the system can accommodate it, knowing that you could get this up, because I see Margie giving me won't have the water there. the signal in the back that she can't hear. The other thing we were trying to MS. BIARD: That is why I came to the accommodate or address, we know sometimes the sewer front, Baby. or stormwater will back up on the field, but we are Okay. Very installing black flow preventers, so that you won't well. have any damage done to the new field once it is in MS. FOUSHEE: As Director Garcia place. mentioned, the contractor can take advantage of the COMMISSIONER GONZALEZ: So by slowing downtime by ordering any other supplies, especially the flow of water, if there happens to be a lot of the field. I mean, that is what has the biggest rain, where does it go? thing for us at this point, so those things will be Is it just staying on the field and it out of the way. slowly goes into the field -- COMMISSIONER GONZALEZ: I have seen the MS. FOUSHEE: It is slowly released bills, that we have a couple of permits that we are into the water system. It is all by pipe. There is I guess -- actually a piping network that goes underneath the That is field, so the water is collected underneath and it correct. travels through the network and then it slows down COMMISSIONER GONZALEZ: -- permits we before it enters the stormwater system -- would use -- 0 COMMISSIONER GONZALEZ: But the field 0 Correct. wouldn't be flooded or anything? Jackie, want to talk about that? MS. FOUSHEE: No. There is enough He is referring to the two pertaining space. It won't be any place that we will be to the Hudson-Essex County -- disadvantaged by, either on the surface or -- MS. FOUSHEE: Soil conservation. COMMISSIONER GONZALEZ: So, Director Whenever you disturb,000 square feet Garcia, you mentioned they might not start until the 0 or greater of land, you are required to report to middle of July or something because of the softball? the soil conservation district. The idea is that What we are you don't want to disrupt -- they want to make sure hoping for, yes, because of the softball, it may you afford dust control, that you are stacking the take us into July or August basically, if in fact soil properly. You don't want any eroding into the they go beyond. stormwater system or on the side streets. We were hopeful to get started, you We detailed in the plans to provide a know, immediately as far as May. Unfortunately, at real tracking path. We don't want that dirt rolling this juncture if in fact, according to the director, into the roadway, and it would cause a maintenance that is going to be a definite problem, you know, as problem for something else. far as that they can't -- I don't want to take time So these measures, although we usually away from the girls and collapse their season and incorporate them into our plans, they are required the time frame that they would have allotted to to be reported to the soil conservation district, them. They have been out there. You know, every and every once in a while they will come out and day you see them at three o'clock practicing on the inspect, you know, and check on the contractor and field -- VICE CHAIR DAVIS: That would be unkind. -- it would 0 be, and it is a total problem. You're talking about teams, and you're talking about our travel teams that we sponsor, including our travel teams, the ones that we sponsor at the Hoboken Housing Authority. Excuse me. I am trying to make sure I make sure they're working up to par, so we have our inspection service in place there, so it shouldn't be a problem. COMMISSIONER STUIVER: I have one 0 question. A couple of the residents have asked me about some of the other recreational facilities adjacent to the ball field. I know this project is just for the ball field itself, but I remember discussing as part of the first phase of Vision of sheets Page to 0 of 0//0 0:0: PM

6 0 0 0/0, also there will be some adjustments made to some of the other recreational facilities. Can we just clarify what all of that is? I want to make sure because I know that -- I -- Mrs. Biard actually asked me -- which facility -- MS. BIARD: The park -- (People in the audience talking) She is referring to the splash and spray park. TCIP, correct. Thank you. We love to use acronyms. TCIP was the Capital Improvement Plan, and the splash and spray park right now, and thank you, that is a great segua. Jackie, just to address the one aspect that will be effective is the half basketball court. That is being removed in order for us to have the 0 yards for a legitimate sized football field and soccer field. Okay? On top of that, we have residents who have complained from the Marshall Drive building that unfortunately, it is a nuisance at night when teenagers and individuals at two and three o'clock in the morning are playing on that half basketball court. And I promised Vanessa, I said, "Can I use you as a witness for that," Vanessa Davis, and she said, "Absolutely, it's done." So if anybody would have contended with that, and say, oh, no, you know, we wanted to have a half basketball court for the kids, you know, it would have been indicative of those residents to come out and say, no, we really don't want it there. So we had that support, which was great, you know, so that is why I mentioned that. We had the support of the residents saying, you have a full basketball court, we would prefer to have the basketball court removed, so you could get the PAL Grunts to have games on our field, so we will be hosting games in the future with the PAL Grunts and the Lightweights, which is great news. So the TCIP now, to talk about that, by the end of this month, we will have our new tee ballpark established, built. We have already done the concrete work. They have already removed the old soil there, and now they are going to be laying, as you guys know, the rubberized tee ballpark, and that will be done by the end of this month. The rock climbing park will be done by the end of this month, so both of those projects will be done by the end of this month. 0//0 0:0: PM Page to of of sheets 0 0 The splash and spray project, that right now the engineers are looking at that because we are looking at the water quality management system as far as how will the water flow. I have shown you guys the actual plan. If anybody wants to look at it, I will be more than happy to send it to you. What it will do is we are going to add more swings. We are going to convert that whole area to add a lot of the sprinklers, new sprinklers with, you know, different types of animals, a theme. It is going to be like a water theme, so that one will be done probably, I'd say, I am hopeful, I think -- I am going to shoot for September. Hopefully for the Labor Day weekend, we can have that splash and spray park built. We have a few, few steps that we are trying to iron out with the engineer and with the company, Safe-T-Site, and once we do that, then hopefully by the ending of August, if not September, we should have that park up and running. Jackie, thank you very much. I greatly appreciate your coming down and great job. MS. FOUSHEE: Thank you. Of course, you know, also part of Remington and Vernick's participation as our professional, they will also be the construction administrator on this project. And we have already requested, you know, getting charged once we sit with the contractor, LandTek, and again the amount on that with the resolution was $,. That was the complete amount, also including the alternate, which is the replacement of the existing fences, which is, you know, dilapidated in certain areas and quite a hazard in others. COMMISSIONER GONZALEZ: Is this -- this is what we -- in terms of the money, some of it is coming from the city as well, right? question. Great $00,000 is what the city has agreed to give us in partnership. So for me, I was budgeting somewhere around the 0, $00,000 mark, so this came, as Jackie said, below what we originally thought it would go over, you know, but definitely came right within reach, which I was very excited when I saw those numbers. COMMISSIONER GONZALEZ: Do you have the money from the city already?

7 No, not know, anything else, I mean, if they determined yet. Remmington and Vernick that there might be a credit We had followed -- we had a meeting that could be given for a change, that we change our with the mayor and with the director. They are mind along the way, the change order would come back banking on a grant that they received through the not for a change in our monetary expenses, but for a county, and then the rest would be the bond change in the plan. That is pretty much it. But at ordinance money, so we already have been in touch this point, we make it very clear, no change orders. with Susan Burns from the county. She's the COMMISSIONER GONZALEZ: 0 percent of Director of Planning at the county level. this number is a lot. We received a checklist to follow, and Yes, I all of the expenses pretty much now, you know, part agree. of the seed money is out of the 00,000 as well, so COMMISSIONER STUIVER: This number is a a lot of that will be reimbursed against the city's lot lower than what we originally heard. This is caucus at this juncture, once the engineer basically great. reviews everything and the county reviews Correct. everything. With the facilities committee, we did So they are looking at, you know, it is discuss what we thought originally the amount would double work for us but, you know, it is worth what be, which we thought somewhere around 00. At one we are getting in return, so we will do it, you point we thought a million dollars, so we knew it 0 know, at this juncture, but we have to go through 0 would be very competitive, and it was. You know, it the county and the city. was in line with some of the other competitors, you I mean, the easiest way would be know, who were probably 0,000 higher than this eventually for them to say, okay, put 00,000 in a number. trust account, and then we could -- they would COMMISSIONER STUIVER: That's great. review everything, and they would still authorize Don't the payment, but in concert we would be the ones, forget that we're going to have two batting cages you know, expensing it from that account. with the resurfacing of the field. It is not just COMMISSIONER GONZALEZ: That is not resurfacing field. We will have two batting cages, what is happening? brand new fencing. The scoreboard remains and the Not yet. lighting remains, and eventually Phase II would be It hasn't happened yet, but it will. I am confident to pursue the build-out of an announcer's booth and that once now we award it tonight, now we go back to a concession stand for the residents. You know, the the city, and say, okay, we have our contractor, resident services, similar to what they did in the this is the amount, this is what you committed to, high school when they have events going on, which is and now here are the steps or the process that we always successful there, so -- hope that we can all agree upon to make it seamless. COMMISSIONER GONZALEZ: That is not Because then you know what happens with contractors, part of the -- but we do have, and I will say this, we have a No, that is clause in there that for every day that they exceed not. That would be Phase II and III. the deadline or don't meet the deadline, it is a With that, Madam Chair, I do have the thousand-dollar fine, or did I go, yes, representatives just to take five minutes from LIUNA $,000. I don't think any contractor wants that. Local here. I would like to introduce the COMMISSIONER GONZALEZ: How about, they business manager, Mr. Hector Fuentes, Siberto could put in a change order? Simorelli, and Martinique Wally. 0 No. We 0 Hector, if you could come up to the will not allow change orders. At this point, there front. will be no change orders. Absolutely not, no change Just to reaffirm what I was sharing orders. with you guys earlier, I would like Mr. Fuentes, I mean, we added everything that we Hector Fuentes, to basically highlight what we are wanted in the actual scope of work in the plan. You pioneering here with this partnership. of sheets Page to of 0//0 0:0: PM

8 0 0 microphone. welcome. Hector, hold on. You need the MR. FUENTES: Sure. Thank you. You're MR. FUENTES: Good evening, fellow Commissioners, Executive Director Carmelo: It is my pleasure to be here tonight and everybody in the room. Yes. Laborers Local have commenced an apprenticeship program that will give people, residents of the Housing Authority of Hoboken, an opportunity to actually serve as construction workers on the projects that can actually be -- that -- projects in the Housing Authority, just for the Housing Authority. Just about -- just about four weeks, you know, we have done an interview process where about residents of the Housing Authority came into our training center, did the interview process, and we are actually in the process of getting people into our union. Just to give you a quick background, our union does residential construction work anywhere from renovation, maintenance agreements, 0 light commercial work, and we have actually looked forward to going to different Housing Authorities throughout the state, and I got to say Hoboken Housing Authority is one of the pioneers as far as creating opportunities for the residents. You know, if you produce job opportunities for contractors and people, we believe that the residents of the Housing Authority should have an opportunity to actually work on those projects. I think this resolution will actually allow people from the Housing Authority not only to work on the projects, on the work that you can produce as an agency, but I believe that it is a decision where we can actually have people working on the Housing Authority, but actually moving out to different projects. Laborers Local covers the whole State of New Jersey and Delaware. We are currently going out to private construction projects that would allow the residents of our Authority, but also residents of Hoboken and Hudson County an opportunity to enter a career, a career opportunity, that will allow people to actually make livable wages and benefits and, you know, to move on in 0//0 0:0: PM Page to of of sheets 0 0 life. So it is my pleasure to work with you. I think this is a great opportunity. We actually had conversations about vacant units that your residents along with people that we represent from Laborers Local can actually come in and retrofit. You know, as one thing, we are going to leave this money here in Hoboken. That is the idea, you know, so we can stimulate the economy, not only of Laborers Local members, but also the residents of the Housing Authority. It is a real pleasure for us to work with you all, and our training facility, which is a certified training facility by the U.S. Department of Labor, is willing to do anything in our power to make sure, you know, that those members and prospective members have an opportunity that any kind of training, any certifications that they have, that we have available, you know, so they could be a qualified work force, not only, as I said before, to work on the projects that you can provide, but also on all of the projects that the Laborers International Union Local will provide to all contractors as well. So thank you very much for the opportunity, and we're looking forward to working with you all. indeed. VICE CHAIR DAVIS: Thank you. (Applause) Yes, One of the great things is that they will have a journeyman and a foreman assigned to that team of apprentices, so there will be a coach and a working journeyman on site with them, you know, leading that charge. Somebody like Rodney will be a part of that program, which is exceptional, you know, and this is what we have been talking about, and you as Commissioners have very much supported, and again, I take my hat off to you guys understanding what it takes as a vehicle to really not only create jobs, but also to infuse, you know, that into our Housing Authority by way of having our residents become employed, receive a trade and be certified in areas like scaffolding, you know, energy efficiency, weatherization, plumbing and electrical and then remain as a member of that union for other jobs that I have highlighted. I mean, that is big stuff. That's pretty much very important for our Authority,

9 0 0 so I appreciate that. I had. COMMISSIONER GONZALEZ: Just a question We would use them on an as-needed basis, right? And then the person would be considered like a full-time employee or part-time or do they get benefits or whatever? question. Good Hector, do you want to address it? MR. FUENTES: Absolutely. So your question, Commissioner, absolutely, you will be absolutely requesting people on an as-needed basis. So say hypothetically speaking, you have three or four different units that you need to recondition, you know, the following -- say the next two weeks. You will call Laborers Local, and you will say, you know, we want to require that 0 percent of the manpower that actually -- actually does that work to recondition those units, are Housing Authority residents. Those Housing Authority residents will be on call. We are going to put them out to work with experienced journeymen that we have in place to make sure that they get the training. And, yes, they will not be considered -- they would not be considered full-time employees. These members will actually earn five dollars in benefits that they will have actually access to through our funds, and so they can actually pull those funds, you know, whenever they feel that they actually need that, so -- COMMISSIONER GONZALEZ: We are the ones paying their salary and benefits -- MR. FUENTES: That's exactly right. COMMISSIONER GONZALEZ: -- or say if we only need them two weeks, we pay them for two weeks and then -- MR. FUENTES: If you need them for two days, you need them for two days, and then you will lay them off. And what Local does, we have an out-of-work list, that if those people came to work two days on your properties, and there is more projects available for them, more jobs available, we will send them out on different contractors. Laborers Local for your information has about contractors that work throughout the State of New Jersey doing not just Housing Authority or public housing work, but obviously doing light commercial work, you know, and private residential of sheets Page to of 0//0 0:0: PM 0 0 construction work, and we are sincerely looking forward to actually mentor and develop and train people, so that they have can actually get in the career path for themselves, you know. As we always say, Housing Authorities actually are transitional housing, and we believe that if people are given an opportunity, they will take those opportunities and work hard, you know, to actually move on in life. COMMISSIONER GONZALEZ: You mentioned you have an out-of-work list? MR. FUENTES: Yes. COMMISSIONER GONZALEZ: So is that list pretty long now or short? MR. FUENTES: No. Actually that is a very good question. I think the beauty of Laborers Local is we do construction work. We belong to the Laborers International Union, but we -- one of the things we do is that if a Housing Authority requests 0 percent of those workers have to be -- that have to be residents of that particular Housing Authority, we will definitely make sure that the contractor or whoever the employer is, you know, asking to abide by those requirements, so it does not matter whether your Housing Authority residents are number 0 on the out-of-work list. If the request is that the work is going to be taking place in the Hoboken Housing Authority, they will have priority over anybody else on the list. And, yes, in addition to that, a relatively new local union created back in late 00 specifically to address the residential market, light construction work, and obviously to give people an opportunity that have not been given an opportunity, you know, to traditional building trade unions out there, so we know that a lot of programs from different unions have a lot of restrictions, you know, and that is not what Laborers Local does. As a matter of fact, our criteria for people to get into an apprenticeship program is that they have to, number one, they have to be drug tested. They have to be years old, and they have to be physically able to do the work that actually is required, so there is no apprentice license requirement. There is no high school diploma requirement, not that we do not encourage people to have a driver's license, not that we don't want

10 0 0 people to get educated. We definitely encourage people to do that, you know, but we don't want to make that as an obstacle for people to get into the trades and do the work and benefit from that. Thank you. MS. BIARD: Can I ask a question? How do people know about this opportunity right now? I will address it. We actually advertised. We absolutely did. Louis, who unfortunately could not be here tonight because of a death in the family, would have addressed the fact, the whole process. We advertised it for a period of time, and we had about originally individuals who had signed up. And unfortunately, you know, as time passed, they dropped out. Whether or not they didn't want to do it, or they couldn't meet the standards of the rigor of the process or their responsibility wasn't there, they just dropped out, but we did advertise and had people originally interested. MS. BIARD: I'm glad -- Thank you, my Dear. Thank you, Hector, so much. Thank you, guys. I appreciate you guys coming down tonight. COMMISSIONER STUIVER: Thank you. The next resolution is with respect to our computer maintenance service contract is expired, and now we need to go out for an RFP on that. The fire alarm maintenance services contract is expired as well -- or is expiring, and we need to go out for an RFP on that as well. Item E is a requirement of HUD on the approval of our annual statement budget for the 0 CFP grant. Normally in January we are informed of what we have been awarded, and this year was. -- $,0,. Unfortunately, as you may recollect, we still have a bond debt that I inherited going back to 00 or actually, excuse me, 00 actually, and we -- automatically HUD takes $00,000 right off the top of our capital fund to pay for that bond debt that is still in effect, as we speak. Other than that, the last one is the RFQ for a financial specialist to produce a pro forma with respect to Phase I on Vision 0/0, which as you know, we are looking forward to trying to 0//0 0:0: PM Page to 0 of of sheets 0 0 build additional affordable housing. Therefore, this would allow the financial specialist to come in and pretty much produce a pro forma on what the formula would be for the funds that are available, such as home funds, such as a CBG fund, such as the low income housing tax credit, and presently the RAD, so that person, that expert, would come in as the financial specialist, produce the pro forma to say, okay, the Hoboken Housing Authority wants to build units, which we identified the parcel of land nearest adjacent to our Jackson site. So they would say, this is feasible by way of, you know, having a -- excuse me -- this is feasible by way of having your home funds, having your CBG funds, having your low income housing tax credit, and of course, a developer to come in and say, okay, these are the concessions that we are willing to offer to build that particular project. So we have to first do like a feasibility study, and that is what this process, this first step is in our process to really explore the substance of Vision 0/0. This will be pretty much our spring 0 board for Vision 0/0 in its reconfiguration process. COMMISSIONER GONZALEZ: And it is not going to exceed $, No not at this juncture. It will be on an hourly basis. That financial specialist will work on an hourly basis. And the benefit -- I would say the bonuses that we need -- when they come in and put the pro forma together, and they say, okay, here is your comparable grid, here is what the formula needs to be in order to successfully do this project, then we go out, and we would put out an RFQ for a developer who would be interested to build that first phase of the project. They would then pay for whatever our expense was to that financial specialist. So it is a contingency where then this basically gets eaten up or gets paid by the developer, so it becomes pretty much a wash for the Housing Authority. Now, if he turns around and says, oh, it is not feasible, but we know at this juncture it is feasible, so that is why I need to take this step to go forward and get the pro forma prepared. Okay. Now, there are two or three more

11 resolutions that Madam Chairwoman has distributed Guttenberg policy that you found that had some -- before you. The first resolution -- the first MR. DAGLIAN: It is basically a resolution is actually -- well, this one is.. combination, but it mostly follows the Hoboken, City Yes, this one would be., and the next one would of Hoboken's pay to play. be.. COMMISSIONER STUIVER: Right, right. Do you have that in front of you? I remember finding a couple of -- I've Okay. So these resolutions were actually seen a couple of statements in here where actually discussed in governance and finance. the language was even stricter than the City of Commissioner Stuiver and Madam Chair Hoboken's and essentially a pretty -- a very sound can elaborate, but at this juncture, there were two policy. things. One, why it is being presented as a live So, again, as Director Garcia said, it item is because there had to some clearance, and Mr. is a live item because there was a lot of additional Daglian was working on the pay to play disclosure research that had to be done before it could be sent statements and the actual provision that I would out, but I am very proud to present it tonight, and need in order to have an addendum, which we are I strongly hope my fellow Commissioners will vote desirous of this resolution and policy. And what we for it. had to do was incorporate the provision that says: Thank you. Here is the addendum to the RFP bid process, which COMMISSIONER GONZALEZ: The question I would be a document that would ask that participant, have is just why is it a live item -- just why 0 contractor or whomever to disclose whether or not 0 weren't we given more notice of it other than -- they have given any contribution to any municipal (Board members confer and talking at candidates. once.) It is similar to what the City of Well, I Hoboken had adopted with respect to that. I will mean, on my part, and I think again, Madam Chair and let Madam Chair and Commissioner Stuiver talk about Commissioner Stuiver could address this a little bit that. more, but for me personally, it is a good policy, COMMISSIONER STUIVER: This is you know, to protect good government, but at the basically a resolution to implement a pay to play same time it was something that I know we were reform policy -- working on to the th hour. You know what I mean. THE REPORTER: Wait a second, Mr. That was the only thing that, you know, I have to Stuiver. Can you start over and talk a little put on the record that we kept working on it to slower? tweak -- there were some tweaks that were being made COMMISSIONER STUIVER: Yes. I'm sorry, to ensure again the substance of it met with, you Phyllis. know, with not only your standards, but at least had This is a resolution that is a distinction to what was already in place. essentially modeled on the City of Hoboken's pay to COMMISSIONER STUIVER: There were some play perform ordinance, which was initially passed elements that we had to make sure that they applied by referendum in 00, and then an addendum was to the Housing Autohrity. We are not a municipal passed last year limiting a practice notice. government. That would apply to the Housing And what this essentially establishes Authority and a couple of things to make sure what is that any vendor that wants to do business with it was -- the Hoboken Housing Authority cannot have made COMMISSIONER GONZALEZ: Right. I mean political contributions to any municipal campaign in I agree. I think it is a good idea. the City of Hoboken within the past year. My question is: Why do we have to vote 0 If you make a political contribution 0 on it today? Why can't we digest it and -- over a certain threshold, there is a cooling off COMMISSIONER STUIVER: I just period of one year when you cannot do business with personally think it's a great policy to make us a the Hoboken Housing Authority. better agency and improve the integrity -- Mr. Daglian, I know that you also COMMISSIONER GONZALEZ: I agree -- implemented a couple of provisions I think from a COMMISSIONER STUIVER: -- we have a lot of sheets Page to of 0//0 0:0: PM

12 0 0 of, you know -- that we are about to put out -- once.) (Board members confer and talking at COMISSIONER STUIVER: -- for business to do business with us. I pretty much am in support of it -- COMMISSIONER GONZALEZ: Right. I am not saying I don't support it. It is just the fact we didn't have time, you know, other times -- THE AUDIENCE: We can't hear. COMMISSIONER GONZALEZ: -- other times Director Garcia -- I mean, I brought up the fact that I got the budget a day or two before, and it's not enough time to digest the whole budget, not to say that I am not in favor of the budget, but I just need more time to digest it -- (Commissioner Stuiver and Commissioner Gonzalez confer out of hearing range.) here. THE REPORTER: I can't hear you over We are going to use this microphone, so you guys can be heard. COMMISSIONER STUIVER: Commissioner Gonzalez, I appreciate your concern. I would just say that in the end, it turns out that there is very little, if anything, in here that isn't in the existing municipal ordnance, so there are no surprises. There's nothing that you are voting on that you will wind up regretting. If you have any questions for me now, but there is nothing in it -- COMMISSIONER GONZALEZ: I want to read it. I just got it now. COMMISSIONER STUIVER: -- then read it. COMMISSIONER GONZALEZ: No. I just got it now. That's my point. Again, I am not saying that I'm not for it. I am just saying I just got it now, and I didn't have time to read it. That is all. Chair. COMMISSIONER RUSSO: Thank you, Madam A couple of questions. Again, I didn't have the opportunity to read it either. We all got it here tonight. With the pay to play reform both at the city and at the Board of Education, those are specific to those bodies. Why is this not specific to this body? Meaning if there was a political contribution by a member of this Board or somebody being pointed to 0//0 0:0: PM Page to of of sheets 0 0 this Board, that is not in this, as far as I can see, and correct me if I am wrong. And also it doesn't make any mention about elected members to the Hoboken School Board. This just strictly states candidates for elected municipal office, so I think you kind of fall short. If we are going to do it, I think we should do it across the board, meaning elected school board members should be included and then anybody who is being appointed to this Board or who is being appointed to this Board being a contributor or receiving a contribution I think should be included as well. MR. DAGLIAN: What I think, Commissioner, respectfully I think you are viewing it too narrowly. It says specifically elected municipal positions, so that would be, in my opinion, the school board. If you disagree, I can always -- COMMISSIONER RUSSO: That's fine, if it is going to be interpreted that way. I don't have a problem with that -- MR. DAGLIAN: As far as your point about contributions to individuals on this Board -- campaign -- COMMISSIONER RUSSO: Correct. MR. DAGLIAN: -- this Board doesn't COMMISSIONER RUSSO: No. But contributions from members who would be appointed to this Board is a whole different issue. MR. DAGLIAN: But that issue goes to different constitutional issues. I don't think there is -- that -- as far as I know, that in the Hoboken pay to play, that a councilman could contribute to anybody he wants. Understand what I am saying? COMMISSIONER RUSSO: Yes. MR. DAGLIAN: The idea is pay to play in that if a company or organization wants to play with us, they don't have to pay. COMMISSIONER RUSSO: Right. MR. DAGLIAN: Where an individual, to tell an individual that she, Commissioner, for example, couldn't contribute to anybody they want and not be a member of this Board, I think would be declared unconstitutional, but again, I can research that further -- COMMISSIONER RUSSO: Sure. Again, I think it would be something

13 0 0 above and beyond this. But I think it is something that we should look at. MR. DAGLIAN: I am here. COMMISSIONER RUSSO: I appreciate it. Thank you. So members of the Board, again, this is your prerogative and your decision on what you guys want to do with this, and at any time with any resolution, so I am just sharing what has been brought before you with respect to Madam Chair and Commissioner Stuiver and what was discussed pretty much at the governance and finance committee meeting. The second one that you have in front of you, which is with respect to amending the ACOP, I mean, one of the things we were talking about and you guys have heard me speak about this, and it was discussed again in the committee, we want to move into the next level with our management information system, we want to move into the next level of automating everything. We talked about automation, and we talked about streamlining, and of course, in the spirit of again transparency and protecting the government and basically espousing that, we need to 0 amend the ACOP in order to allow me to put the wait list online. So what we are intending to do, the goal is to basically place the wait list online, where an applicant can go online with a user I.D. and a password, which would be their address and hopefully their last four digits of their social security number. They could go online and view their ranking, because everything is computerized. Make no mistake about it, that the Gilson software solution is the solution that we have that is our information, our management information system that pretty much computes everything and produces the rankings by the wait list. So therefore, that person now can go online and see their ranking, and it would tell them when did they apply, what their status is, how many records did they have, and what their ranking is. This is, again, someone that is -- this is something that the policy again is forward thinking, very much a discussion that this Board has had for months, and actually going back to a year ago, so I think this is appropriate, and if we are going to do it from May st, which is the goal right now to have our software provider put this wait list of sheets Page to of 0//0 0:0: PM 0 0 online for May st. The reason why it is being brought to you at this moment, and again, my apology on it, but with respect to this one is because Gilson, I wanted assurances that they could actually make this happen by May st. COMMISSIONER STUIVER: How high -- I mean, I am sure it is very high, but the security to be giving the type of information that they are going to be managing on behalf of our residents, is it secure? absolutely. Yes, I mean, Gilson is a national company, who basically at this juncture has multiple fire walls in order to protect and preserve that resident, because we have the Privacy Act. We always have to be conscientious of the Privacy Act. So what happens is the security is topnotch, and one of the things, I mean, you have Ten Mass that does it. You have Happy that does it, but they do it for their clients because what happens is that data is propriety to that information system that you have basically. So P&J Partner is our management information system. So if P&J Partner, which belongs to Gilson Software, they are the only ones that have access to that information, so the applicant will go through, let's say, Gilson.com, or there would be a u-r-l link on our web site that would take them to their server, because we are not going to house it on our server because we already have our internal server for our existing data in-house. So Gilson would house it themselves. They host the server. They house it themselves, so when that applicant goes via the web, they are going directly to Gilson. They are not coming through the Hoboken Housing Authority. It is going directly to Gilson. Gilson says, here is where you are. Here is your data, and that is pretty much it. questions on that. COMMISSIONER STUIVER: Now I have two So the first thing is when somebody logs in and checks their status on the wait list, I know that there are various situations that come up, like the Jackson Street fire where you have an emergency situation, where somebody will be expedited up. How detailed will the explanation be