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Mayor Hosterman opened the public hearing. Aimee Ann Vickers opposed the conversion, said she cannot buy her space, and was unsure of costs. Those in the Park are aging and after 10 years, they would be unable to obtain a loan. Her children do not want to inherit her unit, the park has many problems that have never been addressed, residents will be stuck with the problems, and homeowner dues will be excessive. Art Moniz said he wants to address hidden costs and what conversion truly is—buying air space below mobile units. The park is a senior park for those older than 55+, the average age of people is mid 70’s, many low income residents will not be able to get loans, and older units now sell for $70,000 to $90,000. If the land were priced at $100,000, the land and the older units will sell at $170,000 to $190,000, which is more than what fixed income seniors can afford. The park was constructed in 1972 and he moved in January 2005. In 2007, the park sewer line backed up into their unit. The manager sent out a plumber who put a snake 75 feet out into the street into a neighbor’s driveway and found a 1 inch crack in the sewer line. If not fixed and the conversion is passed, the cost of jack hammering of the driveway and replacing or fixing the sewer line would be paid by the homeowners association. The sewer line backed up two other times in January 2008 and April 2008. The half inch crack still exists. This New Year’s, residents had a party at the clubhouse and the women’s toilet backed up. It took 4 days for Valley Plumbing to clear the line. This St. Patrick’s Day, they held a dinner in the clubhouse. The kitchen sink plugged up and the plumber was called. He said a pond is located next to the clubhouse whose liner is deteriorating which needs repair. He also noted a transformer in the summertime trips outside the clubhouse. The outage occurs in either half or the entire park due to the numbers of air conditioners running. During March, the transformer went out for 5.5 hours during a rain storm and the park was without electricity. As of this April, electrical work was being done to replace the underground electrical cables. The contractor dug holes in the street and pulled cables through. The state inspector came out and stopped the contractor’s work because he needed a permit for electrical work, and the contractor was told to install conduit so that the new electrical cable would go through. Therefore, all repair work was stopped. He presented the park manager’s disclosure form dated 1/20/09 that states the electrical utility systems and septic sewer systems, have no substantial defects, which he thinks is untrue. th Mr. Moniz then referred to the January 7 Council report, page 3 of 6, Market Rents, #2, “Loss of Affordable Rental Housing” and read it into the record: “Rent increases for lower income households will be tied generally to cost of living increases, but rents for households that are not lower income will rise to the market value as determined by the park owner, phased in over a 5 year period.” Mr. Moniz said realtors buy older units, haul them out and bring in new manufactured homes in the park and install them onto lots that are not big enough for them. Property line markers have been moved to accommodate the new, larger homes and this is done by the installer and with the park manager present. He said the park owner has attorneys representing them, but residents only have the Council representing them, and he asked the Council to vote no on the conversion. Pam O’Connell said she was representing her father who lives in the park, said she has attended meetings held, said the survey sent out was legally written, hard to understand, and after reading it over they believed they should vote “no opinion”, hoping more information would be provided. However, she said the owner is counting the “no opinion” vote as a “yes” vote. If residents who voted this way were polled, they would indicate they don’t have enough information. She felt the first meeting was coercive; residents were asked to sign an agreement to support the conversion in exchange for a 15% discount for the lot and she was surprised the representatives operated in this way with seniors. Her father does not have the money to purchase his lot and he will choose to rent; City Council Minutes Page 9 of 17 May 5, 2009