Fire-Damaged Housing Authority Structure Almost Ready for Occupancy

Above, Chris Feeley, George Danello, and Peter Brunelli of the Housing Authority Board and  Executive Director Lisa Audette. Not shown, to the left, are Board Members Andrew Kepple and Diane Padula.

The Franklin Housing Authority Board met Monday afternoon at 4:30 PM at the Community Hall at Central Park Terrace. Present were Chair, George Danello, Members Chris Feeley, Peter Brunelli, Dian Padula, and Andrew Kepple along with Executive Director Lisa Audette.

The Board briefly reviewed and approved minutes of their January 10 meeting, reviewed and approved accounts payable and expenses for January and December, respectively and then heard a report from Audette.

Among other things, she was able to report that the building damaged by fire in 2021 is finally getting close to being ready for occupancy. She said electricians were nearly done, walls and ceilings were in place as well as doors, and mostly finish work was still ahead.

She also reported on the staff’s efforts to keep up with recent blizzard and ice storm.

She said the assistant hired part time to help residents get benefits they are entitled to and, thereby, to help the housing authority, had led to another $10,000 in funds coming to the Authority over the last several weeks -far above the compensation earned by the assistant.

Audette noted that the most recent waitlist included 8998 individuals seeking housing. 315 of that number are from Franklin. There are currently a few vacancies but most of those are in the Authority’s congregate housing where, she said, interviews with potential tenants are under say.

One unexpected expense discussed was the failure of the boiler in the Winter Street senior housing. In addition to repairs, Audette said a mobile, external boiler will probalby have to be brought on site for some time will repairs are completed in order to maintain habitability.

Audette reported that rent rollsfor the Authority were up by $4,000 compared to the same period last year.

The Board also discussed the process of bringing a Tenant Representative on to the Board when a vacancy next occurs, likely over the summer [Audette explained that this is in response to 2014 regulation from the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD).

The Board also heard from Audette regarding plans to convert the wood frame homes on the property from oil heat to heat pumps. She explained that for the two-story units the heat pump with connect to existing ducting and provide heating and cooling for the first floor. The second-floor units will have “mini-split” heating/cooling units for each individual bedroom. She said the new system, which is expected to be largely or completely paid for by grants, will eliminate oil heat costs, though tenant electric bills will likely rise. Still, there is expected to be a net savings to the tenant. And, she noted, the change is also in accord with Governor Baker’s decarbonization goals.

The final matter discussed were approvals of management agreements with Norfolk, whose public housing is managed by Franklin, and proposed salary increases for the Executive Director, in accordance with DHCD guidance. These matters were approved as was a five-year extension to Audette’s contract, commencing April 2, 2022.