You've been asking for it, so here we are. The City of Meadville Housing Authority has made its way onto our radar. Well, they've actually been on our radar, however, we didn't delve too far into things. Given what we are hearing now, we thought it was about time that we finally took a good hard look into what has been going on and be sure we lay out some facts along the way.
Let's start with this, Meadville City Council has direct control over the Housing Authority. If city council thinks that the housing authority isn't making good on their duties to the tenants, they can do something about it. They are choosing not to. All they've done is send letters, show up a couple of times, and pretend to care. In reality, they have not held their feet to the fire and held themselves accountable for their choices of who they have seated on that authority.
Quickly, who is on the housing authority?
Who voted on their appointment or reappointment?
November 20, 2019, only current council member Roha was on council at the time of this appointment;
January 15, 2020, current council members McKnight, Roha, and Vogel were on council at this time;
Why did Vogel vote no? Apparently, she didn't get a personal letter of interest from Ms. Logan about being reappointed. That's speculation, coupled with this statement from those minutes;
October 21, 2020, current council members McKnight, Roha, and Vogel were on council at this time;
December 1, 2021, current council members McKnight, Roha, and Vogel were on council at the time of this appointment;
January 4, 2023, all members of the current council voted on this reappointment;
Now that we have established how these authority members got here, how about we start to dig into some of the meetings? Specifically, we are looking into the issues that have been reported which are; the elevator not working or being repaired, bed bugs, a long waiting list that is coupled with numerous reported vacancies, as well as a few other items.
We've decided it would be easier to go in chronological order, going a year back and reporting from there. If we go any further than that, this post could be a long read. We also are only going to report the vacancies and infestations for the 2023 year, as anything prior to that would seem irrelevant. However, if you have an interest in that information, it can be found on the Housing Authority website.
Also, if you're not interested in all of the meeting minutes, but you're curious about the top issues of vacancies, waiting lists, and bed bugs, we summarize this lengthy look into the housing authority immediately below.
Let's look at the vacancies from January 2023 to April 2023 only, as there are no minutes available beyond April 2023, only agendas;
Holland Towers started with 18 vacancies and 61 people on the waiting list.
As of the April meeting, they had 23 vacancies and 61 people on the waiting list.
Elm, Morgan, and Scattered Sites started with 8 vacancies. Gill Village had 20 vacancies. The waiting list for these sites was 1 bedroom - 39, 2 bedroom -20, 3 bedroom - 4, 4 bedroom - 2, and 5 bedroom - 3.
As of the April meeting, they had 7 vacancies at Elm, Morgan, and Scattered Sites, and 20 vacancies at Gill Village. The waiting list for these sites was as follows; 1 bedroom - 32, 2 bedroom - 5, 3 bedroom - 3, 4 bedroom - 4, and 5 bedroom - 3.
It is worth mentioning that in March of 2023, Gill Village reported 23 vacancies and 3 new leases were signed. This means they are working to fill the vacancies, at least at this location.
Snodgrass had 3 vacancies with 12 on the waiting list at the start of 2023. As of April 2023, this was reported at 5 vacancies. We had to utilize the March reported number of 9 on the waiting list, as this information was not reported on the April minutes.
Extermination efforts;
January 2023 14 units at Holland Towers with 1 on the 45-day clear. Gill Commons 7 units being treated.
April 2023 we see Holland Towers having 11 units being treated for infestations and none on the 45-day clear list. Gill Commons was up to 9 units being treated and none on the 45-day clear list.
If you're like us and now thoroughly invested in what is going on at the Housing Authority, continue on below.
Insert now, June 8, 2022 meeting where a discussion occurred regarding the elevator at Holland Towers;
July 13, 2022 renovations are mentioned;
On August 10, 2022, Mayor Kinder and Councilwoman Autumn Vogel showed up at this meeting. Agenda items worth noting;
Regarding renovations, we have the following;
Regarding bed bugs, we have this;
And finally, this is regarding inspections of the units;
In case you're wondering what REAC inspections are;
September 14, 2022 meeting items worth noting;
They report here there are enough vacant apartments to do two stacks. This will make sense as you follow along with the minutes as to why they needed those vacancies at Holland Towers.
That part is interesting. Inoperable or missing smoke alarms. Life-saving devices and, according to the statement she makes, it would seem the tenants are tampering with these. Did an inspection prevent this from occurring? Will it prevent it from reoccurring?
October 12, 2022 meeting and pertinent information;
Once again, the issue of the inoperable or missing smoke alarms is mentioned;
November 9, 2022 meeting items worth highlighting;
December 14, 2022 meeting items worth noting;
Make sure you noted the line that states "scheduling the relocation of tenants".
It's interesting that someone would show up at a city council meeting and voice concerns, but not address the concerns directly to those who should fix the problem. Nonetheless, the Housing Authority became aware of the situation, and according to other meeting records below, the issue was resolved. However, when we researched this issue a little further, we found something interesting that this tenant stated to city council.
Now, for the current year. We will start to include vacancies and extermination reports. Now, keep in mind, the Housing Authority is planning to do renovations to units. They need to have units to house those getting upgraded units, therefore, could we be seeing an increase in vacancies due to this? We shall see what is reported at these meetings.
January 11, 2023, Mayor Kinder attended this meeting with a letter requesting updates on lingering items expressed by Councilwoman Autumn Vogel.
Later on in this meeting, we do see them taking action on some of the items mentioned above.
There it is, "relocating tenants". But also, a decrease in units to create handicap-accessible units. Hopefully, they weighed out the pros and cons of that decision.
On to the brass tacks of some of these key issues;
How many vacancies are there reported at this January 2023 meeting? Waiting list?
Extermination efforts?
On to February 8, 2023;
Next up, March 8, 2023;
The final meeting we will be adding here is from April 12, 2023. The reason is, the minutes for the May and June meetings have not been posted yet. May should post soon, as those minutes would have been approved at the June meeting. June minutes will not be posted until after the July meeting, as is the process to approve minutes prior to posting them for public view.
The April meeting is pretty telling as to why we may be seeing an increase in some waiting on units at Holland Towers. It also briefly accounts for some of the other units that are not being filled.
Lastly from the April meeting, we present some information regarding Holland Towers' upcoming renovation project;
There you have it folks. Non-compliant tenants, out-of-control infestations, renovations causing increased waiting lists, and a city council that passes an inspection program to inspect their already inspected, sometimes failing, housing units.
Are we focussing on the wrong things here? The city has not kept up with its own housing units and what is occurring with them. They have not maintained their parking garage, so it now sits on the demo block. They want to focus on solar panels, Wi-Fi in the parks, and funding all of these projects but have failed to invest their time and attention into some heavy issues that are perturbing the city. Some that could in fact tremendously impact the budget.
Purchase solar panels, that costs money before we can even save money.
Demo a parking structure, you lose the revenue of those who pay to park there.
Institute a rental inspection program, the Housing Authority decreases their PILOT payment and pays it to the program not to the general fund.
Install wifi at the city parks, and you create a recurring bill for the city to pay.
Solar panels cost $285,000 up front, with a potential refund of 50% and alleged savings of $16,000 per year over the lifespan of 25 years.
The parking structure is still being paid off, which as of December 2022 was reported at $639,436 still owed. It brings in, according to the 2023 adopted budget, $72,500 per year. We only used line items that specifically state the Market Street garage.
The rental inspection program would cost the Housing Authority $26,372 every 2 years for their 347 units. Meaning they would likely decrease their PILOT payment of approximately $70,000 by $13,186 per year.
Wi-Fi at Diamond Park alone would cost $1,950 upfront and $40 per month thereafter. Expand it like the Mayor wants to for all parks and that fee goes up.
You can't spend your way out of debt. You can't fail to maintain a structure that brings in over $70,000 per year. You should not worry about Wi-Fi at a park, and attracting anyone downtown, if you don't have adequate places for employees and patrons of the businesses to park. Your housing should be top-notch if you're intending to be judge and jury over anyone else's housing.
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