AHA Board Fields Tenant Representation, Menotomy Manor Issues

Your Arlington

Last Updated: 30 March 2021

Written by Melanie Gilbert

The selection process for the tenant board member appointment, currently held by Fiorella Badilla of Menotomy Manor, opened a lively – and sometimes contentious - board meeting of the Arlington Housing Authority (AHA) on Tuesday, March 23.

In addition to the five board members and one tenant association president, more than 15 Arlington residents tuned into the online meeting featuring a wide range of issues, including a lengthy public-comment section, budget and funding updates, Covid vaccines for seniors, and karate classes for Menotomy Manor youth.

Additionally, the board voted unanimously to rename the Menotomy Manor Life and Skills Community Center for Joe Daly, the board member who died in February.

Conversations about Menotomy Manor continued to occupy a good portion of the board’s time and agenda.

Here is a summary of the discussion and actions taken at the nearly two-hour meeting.

Election for tenant representatives

Tenant John Ward again raised the issue about the process by which the tenant associations nominate candidates for the AHA tenant representative seat, which the Board of Selectmen approve. Menotomy Manor resident Fiorella Badilla, appointed last Nov. 30, will stay in the seat until May 15, when she can be replaced or reappointed.John Griffin, AHA executive director, stated that the “AHA is not really in the process. It’s up to the tenants’ associations to submit the names.”

However, board member Jo Anne Preston agreed with Ward that there didn’t seem to be a process in place for individual associations to democratically choose people to pass onto the selectmen.

Resident Sheri Baron wondered how Menotomy Manor residents will nominate candidates without a tenants’ association yet in place and questioned Chairman Nick Mitropoulos and Griffin what plan was expected for that community.

Mitropoulos asked AHA attorney John Greco to get an “understanding of what the regulations are and how do we go about communicating it to the associations.” Greco will report back to the board at the next meeting.

Little movement on Menotomy tenants' group

In February, the process to create an organizing committee to reestablish a tenants' association at Menotomy Manor received a go-ahead. Four other AHA properties have such associations. The manor has not had one in at least nine years.

Little progress has been made on the issue because of confusion over how to proceed. Greco is to research the issue and report back at April's meeting.

General public item generated many comments.

Resident Elizabeth Dray asked that the board meeting minutes be posted to the website. She also asked whether an audit of the Menotomy Manor windows had been conducted. Griffin said that a window project at the property would “be in the millions of dollars” and would first require a study and cost estimates.

Mitropoulos said that he would make a recommendation to Griffin that the windows will be a “high priority going forward that we will try to get funding for.”

Dray moved onto the question of funding, asking why the AHA is “leaving money on the table” with regards to Community Preservation Act (CPA) funding “instead of using it to help Menotomy Manor residents.” An extended conversation ensued, with Griffin giving an accounting of the funding the AHA has received from the CPA over the years, including $251,000 to replace doors at Drake Village that will start this July.

Badilla wondered how fast a study could happen to get much-needed repairs done to Menotomy Manor buildings. She listed faulty toilet parts resulting in water damage, cracks between doors and floors, and “windows that have full-on spaces that are just opened up. I feel like Menotomy Manor has been forgotten in a sense.”

Griffin pushed back on this, stating that the community “has probably the most money spent on it over the last 10 years – more than any other building in our properties by a long shot.” Mitropoulos said that Badilla had a fair point, that the board should do an audit and find CPA or other funding to fix the problems. “We’ll figure it out,” he said.

Resident and AHA board candidate Kelda Fontenot said that although the annual plan is available on the AHA website, the yearly operating budget is not. Greco said that “nothing prevents it from being on the website. It’s public information, and people have the right to see it.” Mitropoulos directed Griffin to post the information.

Fontenot followed up with questions about CPA applications cycles. Griffin said that AHA has applied for three of the six cycles.

Mitropoulos read an email from CPA chair, Eric Helmuth, saying that the CPA committee “has made an informal practice of spending or reserving $500,000 for the AHA. But that is informal, and up to our discretion. For AHA, we have limited funding projects to preserve the building itself, such as windows, roof or other building repair.”

Preston encouraged the conversation to move on saying that Griffin will be looking for money to do the Menotomy Manor window study, and submit a grant application for appropriate funding. The public comment closed and the agenda moved onto other business.

Covid vaccines for residents in senior housing; low-income eligibility notification

Griffin said that by working with Arlington’s health department and the Council on Aging, all the residents in senior housing have received their first Covid shot. The second round is expected in a week or two.

Baron expressed concern that vaccine information from the state that low-income residents were eligible for the vaccine wasn’t being posted on the AHA website. Mitropoulos said he would take care of it and “get it done.”

Project updates from Griffin

Griffin said that the AHA received $251,000 from the CPA that will go toward new doors at Drake Village. The board unanimously approved this work which will start in July.

The board also unanimously approved the capital-improvement plan to add air-source heat pumps and air-conditioning for the Winslow Towers office and lobby.

Joseph S. Daly memorial

Motion to rename the existing Life and Skills Community Center at Menotomy Manor to the Joseph S. Daly Community Center passed unanimously. Board member Brain Connor recommended a post-Covid dedication ceremony to which AHA will invite the Daly family, Gov. Baker, Arlington officials and residents. The ope is that this could happen by September.

Tree canopy, karate classes

Preston says that Arlington’s tree committee wants to increase the tree canopy at AHA properties and is willing to donate 10 trees as well as pay for a professional tree expert to plant them. The board unanimously passed a motion to accept the trees with Griffin and his staff working out a plan with residents and the tree committee on where to put them.

Preston is also very excited to move forward with – after ongoing delays because of Covid restrictions – a karate class at Menotomy Manor. Connor recommends that the karate class might be a great way to “kick-start” a tenants’ association.

Preston and Badilla will work on the logistics together, including age range, how many kids would be in the program and communication with the residents. Connor said he would help design fliers and coordinate a Zoom meeting to build interest.

Board members' monthly site review of properties

Connor proposes that every month, and on a rotating basis, every board member tours an AHA facility with a checklist to evaluate the condition of the property both inside and outside. This document would then be emailed to Griffin for action or explanation - already on repair/maintenance schedule, for instance. This process gives the board more of a “buy-in to the facility and the residents” he said, with the idea to find solutions before they become problems while also providing a little bit of hands-on oversight.

Greco said the idea has worked at other housing authorities. Every board member gets familiar with every development and can keep a “constant eye on things.”

Connor encourages the board to email him notes and comments on the draft form he has circulated and to look at this process/form as a very “common-sense review. It’s a very cursory look to document things. This checks the checker, and allows interacting with each building president.”

State wage rates for maintenance staff

The board unanimously approved the motion to accept the state’s wage rates as set by the Office of Labor and Workforce Development. Griffin says it represents an increase of about .50 an hour across the workforce categories and represents the wage you have to pay if you have people in those positions.

Final business

Winslow Tower President Pam Hauser asked Griffin for a window-replacement schedule, which is to start April 5. Griffin responded that he doesn’t have one from the contractor yet, but he expected the first and second floors to be done first, followed by one side of the building at a time.

Approval of meeting minutes for Feb. 16, 2021

Preston said that the minutes of the last meeting needed to note the names of the members who moved and seconded the motion that residents of Menotomy Manor could attend the maintenance and presidents’ meetings held at the beginning of each month. Connor moved that the minutes of last month be approved on the condition that they were corrected by Griffin to include the motion as noted. The motion – and the minutes – were approved unanimously.

The meeting adjourned at 9:07 p.m.

See the ACMi video of the March 23 meeting:

YourArlington.com has provided news and opinion about Arlington, Mass., since 2006. Publisher Bob Sprague is a former editor at The Boston Globe, Boston Herald and Arlington Advocate. Read more at https://www.yourarlington.com/about.