Urban Development Authority meeting for Sept. 23, 2020

Members Present:

Chris Sheridan (chair), Alex Morrison (executive director UDA), Kay Gerhardt, Charles Richardson, Jan Beeland, Cole Thomason, Blake Sharpton, Suzy Garcia, Victoria Jessie, Donesha Gibson (office manager)

Agenda Items:

Mill Hill Update: Victoria Jessie & Jan Beeland: 1. The Open House will be held from 1-3 pm on October 10th. Two houses on Taylor street need to be power washed prior to Open House on October 10th. Antonio Williams will do power washing on October 8th. 2. 242 Hydrolia Street was broken into. Appliances (fridge and oven) stolen along with toilet in the bathroom. Although water damage, the thieves did cut off water meter outside. There is considerable damage to the front door through they gained entry. The door has been nailed up. 3. Quick clean up of inside of houses needed before Open House. Volunteers (from the UDA along with others as yet to be determined) will meet after UDA meeting on Thursday October 8th. They will clean 7 houses. Victoria Jessie will go on the 7th and do all the baseboards. 4. Some preliminary discussion of the which house will be the next to be renovated. It was mentioned that a house needs to be sold before the next one can be renovated. 5. Chris Sheridan will visit Hydrolia Street to see what needs to be done to repair the door. 6. Victoria Jessie reported on the printed materials to be available at the Open House. These will include information on the Land Trust, the individual properties and a sheet outlining the vision of the project. The materials will be send to the members of the UDA for review.

Dempsey Update: 1. Alex Morrison reported that all is going well. There has, however, been a spate of requests for emergency budget approvals. These include elevator repair and other damage sustained during Hurricane Sally. This is a HUD eligible expense of approximately $8000. There were also costs related to an eviction, approximately $1000, which will come from the operating budget. Alex will look into the merits of filing an insurance claim. 2. Victoria Jessie updated the members of the UDA on the newest tenants. The salon opened its doors on Sept 1st. They would like to do a grand opening in October. Anecdotal responses indicate that people are pleased to see the business there and is being used by people from the Dempsey. 3. Chris Sheridan proposed that the UDA asks a vendor to give a price (hourly) to work for a couple of weeks to evaluate and repair existing windows. The UDA would then be in a better position to evaluate options. Chris Sheridan will inquire of a vendor how much they would charge to repair existing windows. The UDA gave Mr. Sheridan the authority to hire a vendor to undertake the repairs. The matter will then be brought back to the UDA.

New Business: Alex Morrison announced that the county is ending the alternative work schedule. Everyone will be in their offices starting Monday. A member of the UDA expressed concern about the social distancing in the office given the size of the office and the number of people working there.