CHR signs city contract

The new five-year contract between the Community Housing & Resources and the City of Sanibel is finished after being unanimously approved by the board of directors Monday night.
The contract, which takes effect Oct. 1, has been the subject of many discussions by both parties for months. One minor change was made to the document at last week’s City Council meeting and now that the CHR board has signed on the dotted line, the contract is expected to be signed by Council.
CHR had asked Council for a 3 percent increase in its annual operating costs for the first three years of the five-year term, but Council agreed to the increase for the first two years with an opportunity to revisit the matter after that time.
Board president Richard Johnson reported on the finalization of CHR’s part of the EAR document that was accepted by the city.
“This is a milestone for this board,” said Johnson. “Two significant pieces of work completed and before the deadline.”
The board also poured over the second draft of its budget for fiscal year 2013, which necessarily contains some estimation of income, expenses, grants and donations.
“We have a $300,000 need for capital improvements the next couple of years,” said CHR director Kelly Collini. “It’s a major program and we will need help.”
Collini, who has been on the job for only a few months, reported she will focus some of her efforts on fundraising and acquiring grants.
CHR has several housing units with rebuilt or aging appliances and air conditioning units that need to be replaced.
Board treasurer Melissa Rice reported the development of the CHR’s new website, which is nearing the point of going online. The board wants the LEO program added to the page content on the site and made some other minor editing to the features.
The board’s next meeting is Sept. 17, having voted a couple of months ago to move the monthly meetings to the third Monday of the month instead of the second Monday.