Disability Housing Network Board of Directors Meeting

September 28, 2010

Creative Housing, Incorporated

Columbus, Ohio

Present: Julie Bohl (Housing Resource Group), Deb Guilford (NOWAC), Monty Kerr (Belmont, Harrison and Noble County Boards of MRDD), Ben Hollinger (Hocking County Board of DD), Jill LaRock (Homecroft), Kim Linkinhoker (OACBDD), Steve McPeake (North Coast Community Homes), Pat Rafter (Creative Housing), and Steve Farrell (Staff).

Guest: Mike Donzella

President of the Board Steve McPeake called the meeting to order at 9:30am.

  1. President’s Update (Steve McPeake)

Approval of July Meeting Minutes

The motion to “APPROVE THE JULY MEETING MINUTES” was made by Deb Guilford and seconded by Jill LaRock. The motion passed unanimously.

November meeting date

Because the DHN conference/housing track at the Ohio Association of County Board of DD’s convention is Wednesday, December 1, the Board agreed to move the next Board meeting from November 23 to November 30, the night before the DHN conference. The meeting will start at 4pm at a room at the Hilton Easton with a dinner/social option for Board members to follow.

Future rotation of meetings

Following the discussion at the July Board meeting, the Executive Committee (McPeake, LaRock and Guilford) had a conversation about the options for rotating Board meetings among Board members’ home counties.

The Executive Committee also considered the Survey Monkey results compiled by Farrell after the last Board meeting, which included:

  • Respondents were open to multiple formats for future meetings
  • Respondents were willing to host future meetings
  • Respondents were open to social options, as long as they were optional and open to spouses/partners
  • Respondents were less interested in incorporating overnight options, due to family obligations

In conclusion, the Executive Committee suggested that starting in May 2011 every other Board meeting be in a different location. McPeake has agreed to host the May Board meeting in Cleveland. The specific agenda will be at the discretion of the host.

  1. Finance Update

Year to Date Financials

All expenses and revenue through August were within the expected range, with revenue over budget, and expenses under budget. Overall there were very few transactions over the past two months.

A Board member asked how the DD Council funds its grantees. Farrell did not know since he had not yet received that paperwork from the DD Council. Linkinhoker explained that the DD Council allows grantees to draw down funds ahead of anticipated expenses. He said they are very flexible and easy to work with.

Form 990 Review

The Finance Committee shared the recently-approved Form 990 with the Board for their review. It was completed by Michelle Marshall, CFO of North Coast Community Homes, as part of DHN’s administrative contract with NCCH. Following their November meeting, the Finance Committee approved the Form 990 and gave Farrell approval to submit the Form 990 to the IRS.

Updated 2010 Budget

Farrell presented an updated 2010 budget, including the projected revenue from the DD Council and the DODD state contract. Overall, the budget for CY2010 increased $20,000 with $10,000 of the increase to be directed to the costs for the Training Director as funded by the DD Council grant.

The motion to “APPROVE THE UPDATED CALENDAR YEAR 2010 BUDGET” was made by Patrick Rafter and seconded by Monty Kerr. The motion passed unanimously.

FY2011 Budget

The Finance Committee also wanted input from the Board as the Finance Committee prepares its discussions for DHN’s FY2011 budget.

Overview of Relevant Fiscal (Contract) Years

DHN / DD Council / DODD
FY2010 / January 1 to December 31, 2010 / N/A / July 1, 2009 to
June 30, 2010
($30,000)
FY2011 / January 1 to December 31, 2011 / October 1, 2010 to September 31, 2011 ($50,000) / July 1, 2010 to
June 30, 2011
($45,000)
FY2012 / January 1 to December 31, 2012 / October 1, 2011 to September 31, 2012 (Potentially $100,000) / July 1, 2011 to
June 30, 2012
(Unknown)

The Board made some assumptions about DHN’s current (FY11) financial status:

  • Finances and cash reserve are currently very strong;
  • Membership in 2011 among County Boards will likely remain solid because of DHN’s greater visibility; and
  • County Boards’ budgets are not all that different compared to this time last year, which is important because membership forms will be sent out by Farrell in the coming weeks.

The Board also made some assumptions about FY12 finances:

  • A potential change in the executive office administration could result in a very different relationship as it relates to an FY12 contract; and
  • Even with the current administration, an $8 billion deficit may affect an FY12 contract, as well as a potential work stoppage of the FY11 contract.

Therefore, the Board directed the Finance Committee to put together a conservative budget for consideration at the November 2010 Board meeting. It was further agreed that the DD Council grant and its successful implementation should be the organization’s focus in 2011.

  1. DD Council

Farrell presented the final text of the proposal to the DD Council, explaining in short that the project will focus on a series of low-intensity trainings to a broad array of housing corporations through state and regional meetings, and higher-intensity trainings to a smaller number of geographically representative housing corporations.

Farrell also presented the list of applicants for the Training Director position. Applications for the position were due on Monday, September 27. After reviewing the eight names on the list, the Board recommended that Farrell talk with two of the applicants.

Based in part on the relatively quick narrowing of the field, Farrell requested that the Board refer additional individuals that may be appropriate candidates for this position to him by Tuesday, October 5.

  1. State Contract

Farrell provided an update on the FY12 contract with DODD. Since July 1, DHN has invoiced DODD for $10,000 of the $45,000 contract. Farrell will be vigilant to invoice DODD for any and all work completed, especially if there is a change in administration after the November elections.

  1. Programming Update

County Housing Plan Template

Farrell presented the final summary of the 28 county housing plans that have been completed by County Board and housing corporations across the state. He reported that he made a presentation on the 2010 County Housing Plan to the Superintendent’s Executive Committee on September 10. Board member Hollinger, who was in attendance at the Executive Committee meeting, stated that the report was well received. Further, it was Farrell’s impression that the Superintendents were receptive to the upcoming 2011 County Housing Plan Template. It was neither his nor Hollinger’s perspective that Superintendents resented or otherwise were not responsive to the request that this tool be completed.

In fact, Farrell finalized the 2011 County Housing Plan Template and distributed it to County Boards and Housing Corporations on the request of the Superintendents. While it was Farrell’s intention to present the 2011 Template to the DHN Board prior to sending it out, the Superintendents requested that they receive copies of it as soon as possible so that it could be included in their local planning meetings.

Further, Farrell had been asked by one County Board – that completed the 2010 plan in May – if they had to complete the 2011 plan since there likely would not be much change. The Board felt very strongly that no matter when 2010 Housing Plans were completed, counties should still complete the 2011 Housing Plan by the deadline given.

Finally, the Board directed Farrell to ask Kevin Aldridge if DODD would consider making completion of the Housing Plan a prerequisite of getting CCA funding. Farrell said he would make that request to Aldridge and let the Board know his response.

However, one Board member remarked that while the current tool may be useful for the state to do planning, it does not necessarily require conversations at the local level to complete. She said that one of her staff could complete 90% of the tool alone. Moving forward, the question remains how a tool can best prompt conversation at the local level.

Website update

Farrell gave a quick overview of the DHN website under development. Some of the highlights include a map of all DHN members, video compatibility, and simpler back-end updates.

  1. Fall Conference

DHN’s fall conference will once again be a track at the OACBDD annual convention on Wednesday, December 1. He presented the sessions under development and got some feedback from Board members about the ordering and content of the sessions.

Farrell also reported that his and Rafter’s recent conversation with Karen Banyai of the Ohio Housing Finance Agency, related to available funding streams for housing corporations, went well. She stated that OHFA would be willing to participate in the Spring 2011 conference and talk about funding options for housing corporations. Additionally, DHN member Medina Creative Housing is currently going through OHFA’s application process. Diane DePasquale-Hegarty said she will also participate in the Spring 2011 OHFA session and give the housing corporation perspective.

  1. New Business

None.

  1. Next Meeting

The next DHN Board meeting will be at 4pm on Tuesday, November 30 at the Hilton Easton.

Disability Housing Network, Board of Directors Meeting, September 28, 2010

Board Meeting Notes – Page 1 of 4