MAMMOTH LAKES HOUSING, INC.
Board of Directors Meeting
Monday, January 8, 2018
Regular meeting at 6 p.m.
COUNCIL CHAMBER, 437 OLD MAMMOTH ROAD
MINARET VILLAGE SHOPPING CENTER, SUITE Z
Minutes
I. Call to Order: The meeting was called to order at 6:01 PM.
II. Roll Call
Members present: Lindsay Barksdale, Stacy Corless, Jiselle Kenny, Kirk Stapp, John Wentworth
Members absent: Bill Taylor
Staff: Jennifer Halferty, Executive Director and Patricia Robertson, Grant & Financial Associate
III. Public Comments
Tom Hodges, Vice President Mountain Development for Mammoth Mountain reiterated that Mammoth Mountain was very happy to work collaboratively on the Community Housing Action Plan to find housing solutions.
IV. Approval of minutes from the December 4, 2017 regular Board Meeting
Stacy Corless made a motion to approve the minutes as presented. The motion passed 4-0. Lindsay Barksdale abstained.
V. Board Member reports
John Wentworth reported that Town staff would have a report out on February 7, 2018 regarding the progress made on an inventory of capacity at both the Town and Mammoth Lakes Housing to carry out the Action Plan as well as a preliminary scope of work for the new contract.
Stacy Corless reported that the Board of Supervisors extended the suspension of the Housing Mitigation Ordinance through August 30, 2018.
VI. MLH monthly status report
Jennifer Halferty announced that Stacy Corless was formally appointed as the Board of Supervisors’ representative to the Mammoth Lakes Housing Board of Directors. Bob Gardner will serve as the alternate.
Jennifer Halferty announced that MLH is working with two new households to purchase their first homes, one in Bridgeport and one in Mammoth Lakes.
She also noted that both Mono County and the Town of Mammoth Lakes will hear if they were awarded CDBG funds for homebuyer assistance in March.
VII. Review and adoption of the Mammoth Lakes Housing Tenant and Homeowner Grievance Procedures
Lindsay Barksdale commented that the policy should clearly state the MLH staff are not first responders in the event of an emergency. Jiselle Kenny noted that it would be easier to read if each step in the process was its own bullet point and then notes on each step should be sub-bullets. John Wentworth asked for a separate one-page document that explained the procedure in layman’s terms. Jiselle Kenny made a motion to approve the procedures with the amendments. Stacy Corless seconded the motion. The motion passed 5-0.
VIII. Discussion on MLH Executive Director’s intention to seek public office
The Board discussed the item.
IX. Review and adoption of the January 2018 – April 2018 Executive Director Performance Objectives
Lindsay Barksdale gave an overview of the process. She noted that a new objective heading was added: 3.0 Administrative Objectives. The period of these objectives only goes through April 2018 due to the timing of the Strategic Planning process that MLH will go through, which will outline new objectives for the organization and the Executive Director.
John Wentworth asked for a calendar, or timeline, of upcoming important milestones with objectives for the Board. He also asked for an additional Board meeting to discuss the scope of work for the new contract with the Town.
John Wentworth made a motion to accept the performance objectives as drafted with the 2nd bullet being moved to the top of the list, and further move that staff prepare a calendar/sequence of events from today through the following objectives with opportunities for Board engagement as needed: 1) contract with Town; 2) drafting the new MLH Strategic Plan; 3) recruitment of new board members, and; 4) recruitment of staff leadership.
Lindsay Barksdale seconded. The motion passed 5-0.
X. Update on the procurement of the Shady Rest Parcel by the Town of Mammoth Lakes – informational item
Lindsay Barksdale explained that she asked Jennifer Halferty to include this item on the meeting agenda as a standing item so that the Board could be informed about what is happening with the Town and the Shady Rest parcel.
Grady Dutton, Public Works Director, explained that the Town expects to enter escrow very soon. Once the Town’s purchase offer is accepted the Town will make a non-refundable deposit of $195,000. This will begin a 90-120 day escrow period.
Lindsay Barksdale asked what type of community involvement the Town is planning to facilitate. Grady Dutton explained that there will be public meetings, and potential interview of MLH clients.
Jiselle Kenny asked when development will start. Grady Dutton noted that it will depend on the market cycles. The Town may wish to sell smaller parcels to developers. There will be a lot of studies regarding utilities and traffic. It could start happening in three to four years.
Kirk Stapp asked if the zoning would remain as affordable housing. Grady Dutton explained that the purchase contract is predicated on the current zoning. Any change to the zoning would be a subsequent decision made by the Town Council.
Stacy Corless noted that there are a lot of myths floating around about the purchase price and why the Town did not procure an appraisal. Grady Dutton explained that some FAQs will be published very shortly.
XI. Review of Second Quarter Financial Statements for Mammoth Lakes Housing and Sierra Housing Advocates
The Board reviewed the financial statements.
XII. Recap and next steps from the December 18th Board Development Workshop
Jennifer Halferty explained that Jeff Bills gave a presentation on Board Governance on December 18, 2017. He provided some evaluation tools for the Board to review.
John Wentworth stated that he thought the assessment tools might be useful in the coming months during strategic planning and recruiting new Board members.
Lindsay Barksdale stated that she thought the Board Governance Task exercise was interesting. These tools could promote really good open and productive dialogue on how we are doing, how we can do better, and how we can support each other.
Stacy Corless suggested using Survey Monkey as a tool to ask Board members how Board meetings went each month. She suggested forming a subcommittee to customize the questionnaire.
Kirk Stapp explained that the real meaning of democracy is arguing for your ideas, and that the Board won’t always be unanimous. He does agree that feedback loops are very important.
Jiselle Kenny stated that she thinks these discussions can add to productivity.
XIII. Implementation discussion and acceptance of the Mammoth Lakes Community Housing Action Plan: Live, Work, Thrive “Foundation Structure”
Jennifer Halferty explained that the Town Council accepted the Action Plan on December 6, 2017. On February 7, 2018, the Town Council will receive a staff report on the transition period.
She explained that the foundational structure is just one component of the Action Plan which includes: goals and objectives, foundational structure, and action strategies.
The Foundation Structure gets the community to a place where the Action Plan can be implemented. There are five components of this piece, which are prescribed to be completed within the first year of the Action Plan to create a solid foundation:
1. Plan Governance
2. Capacity
3. Program Management
4. Financing
5. Public Outreach/Education
John Wentworth noted that in the past MLH has been a developer. Kirk Stapp explained that MLH has created 130 units. John Wentworth explains that the development responsibilities will be moved to the Town according to the Action Plan. Kirk Stapp explained that MLH is a Community Housing Development Organization (CHDO) and also does work regionally, in Bishop and in Mono County.
John Wentworth stated that he believes there will be a lot of capacity needed on the program side. There will need to be more discussions around the capacity necessary and prioritization of these programs. He explained that he sees MLH as becoming the first-stop-shop for all housing-related programs.
Lindsay Barksdale asked how do you really assess capacity levels, and how does this relate to funding levels. Is the Housing Coordinator an additional staff member to be added at the Town? Grady Dutton explained that currently someone existing will take on that role. John Wentworth explained that a potential dedicated tax initiative for housing could potentially help to add additional staff capacity. Lindsay Barksdale asked how negotiations with the Town should go, considering current capacities or the sky is the limit? We should understand this because we need to be very realistic.
Kirk Stapp noted that a November initiative means that it will be another year before any new funding will be available. Therefore, adding staff may not be reasonable at this time. He explained that the contract should be realistic in light of the current budgetary constraints today and in the near future.
Jennifer Halferty explained that Town staff will present a very preliminary scope for the contract with MLH to the Town Council on February 7th.
John Wentworth made a motion to accept the Foundational Structure as presented. Stacy Corless seconded the motion. The motion passed 5-0.
XIV. Adjourn: The meeting was adjourned at 8:18 PM.