The Warren County Housing Authority’s board of directors lacked a quorum for its meeting Tuesday afternoon, but there was a great deal of information to be presented.

Executive Director Tonya Mitchell-Weston said the authority would probably need to hire a consultant to comply with the Housing and Urban Development’s “Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing” requirements.

She said compliance would require about 22,000 hours for each housing authority.

Board member Lorri Dunlap said, “It’s going to cost us some money.”

Board Chairman Mike Lewis added, “If we don’t do it, it will affect our funding.”

Mitchell-Weston said the inspection of housing units has changed from a pass/fail system, to put numbers to the inspections.

Additionally, another series of inspections, the Real Estate Assessment Center’s (REAC), mission is to provide and promote the effective use of accurate, timely and reliable information assessing the condition of HUD’s portfolio; to provide information to help ensure safe, decent and affordable housing; and to restore the public trust by identifying fraud, abuse and waste of HUD resources, according to the HUD website.

Mitchell-Weston said if a housing complex scored 96 percent or higher, it would not be subject to another inspection for three years.

The Conewango Towers, Brokenstraw Center, Riverview Terrace and the Rouse Manor all scored at or above 96 percent, but the Rouse Manor must be re-inspected next month because HUD personnel didn’t accept the numbers. A high score makes an authority eligible for a five percent increase in capital funding.

Mitchell-Weston had recently returned from a trip to Harrisburg with other staff members, and said there were many changes for housing authorities.

Lewis said he didn’t mind change, but wondered if HUD could pick a more “middle of the road” approach to make life easier for housing authorities.

Mitchell-Weston reminded the board that the Secretary of HUD and all regional directors are political appointees, so there will be a new round after the November election.

Closer to home, she told the board that four new windows recently installed at Riverview Terrace will need to be replaced or modified because of design flaws.

Lewis said the situation had to be fixed, and Dunlap added, “I would like to know the cost of the windows.”

Anyone living in public housing is required to do at least 96 hours of community service per year, or eight hours per month, Mitchell-Weston said. Residents failing to comply are not eligible for recertification for public housing.

Food stamp recipients are exempt.

On the brighter side, the authority began a Get Fit campaign in collaboration with the Warren County YMCA, and 16 county housing residents were weighed in on Monday at the Y. Mitchell-Weston said the person losing the most weight by the final weigh-in in August will receive a $1,000 award. They will be weighed each month to track their progress.

Tracy Kranak, financial director, told the board that Canterbury Court had paid back everything that was owed to the authority, and the authority’s rental income was up for the year.