Well, thank you. It is eight o'clock on Tuesday, February 16th. It's above zero degrees. I just want that noted for the record. I might actually leave the house today. I don't think I stepped outside once yesterday. So let's call this meeting to order. Olivia, would you complete the roll call please. Yes, we have Cameron Grant, Tom DeBee, Arlene Zortman, Laurencelli, Jane Christopher, Lisa Gallinar, Polly Christensen, Kathy Fedler, Harold Dominguez, and Kendra Daniels. Thank you. Welcome Polly. It's good to see you. I remember two approvals of the minutes from our January 19th, 2021 meeting. Those were in the packet. Do we have any updates, corrections, or comments regarding the January 19th minutes? I may have to approve them. Second. We have a motion and a second. No discussion. All in favor. Thumbs up. Any opposed? None opposed. Those are considered approved. Item number three is public invited to be heard. And before the meeting started, we were notified that there were, there has been no one contacting us requesting to be heard. So, unless anyone has shown up in the last minute and a half, we will move on to item number four, new and old business. And item four A is review and adopt electronic participation policy for city of Long Went Board and commission meetings. And that was included in your packet. Is there anyone of staff that wants to give a bit of background on this? I think Karen was going to do this one. But let me jump in. And I'm not sure Karen has joined us yet. Yeah. I'm wondering if she's having technical issues. Let me pull that up. So generally on this one, we created just for you all sort of the backstory on this one. As we moved into the COVID world and we had to have the electronic meetings via zoom, we created a, sorry, somebody's calling me on teams. We created the, this electronic policy. And if you notice in the first care paragraph emergency circumstances under which city of Longmont or commission may participate in border commission meeting by telephone or other lines. We created the electronic means of participation such as video conferencing. And then we outline the emergency situations in terms of where this can be enacted. Obviously for me is determining that a meeting in person is not practical or prudent. Everyone can hear one another. And then you can see the point on the public where they can hear it. And at least one board or commission is present at their unless not feasible due to the pandemic or disaster. So this is really just pulling together what we've been doing. We've put this in place for the city council. We've put it in place for all our other boards and commissions. And we just felt like we needed to add that for you all. And it could make good sense since we're operating in that fashion anyway. Right. Does anyone have any questions or review? Can I entertain a motion to approve the policy? Tom. Yeah, I had a question. So number five says all votes are connected by roll call. I mean, is that have they really been doing that during the meetings or is it as long as you could see them and hear them? Is that acceptable? If you can see them and hear them, it's acceptable. Our city clerk. Sometimes if you watch the council meetings, they'll have to go, okay, who voted for what to make sure that it's clear. But yeah, it needs to be clear and we do that a number of ways. All right. Do we have a motion? I will move to approve. Second. So Jean moved. Arlene seconded. Any further discussion? All in favor. Thumbs up roll call. It's unanimously approved. So we'll move on to item four B advisory board members and resident engagement and discussing ideas for the housing authority board to participate in that to ensure communication between residents, staff and board. So this is an issue that we first started discussing. I don't know how long a year or so ago, maybe a little bit less. And it got lost during the COVID time. But Arlene wisely reminded me about this. And so we thought we ought to put it on the agenda for discussion. And I think the concept was the, the, that there's some real value in communication. And that over the years, there might have been less communication between the board in particular, and maybe others on staff and our residents. And so we wanted to bring this back for discussion to explore ways we might kind of stimulate this type of connection. And so what I think I'll do, I'll turn it over to Arlene to get her initial thoughts and see where we take this Arlene. Okay. When I was able to visit some of the facilities earlier last year, one of the things that came up was that it would be nice if there were meetings where people could get together with board members and, you know, staff and just kind of talk about maybe some concerns or what's going good, that type of a thing. And I just kind of wanted to follow up on that because I think it's an excellent idea. However, as long as we have to do it this way, virtual, I'm not sure that we'd get that many people to participate as compared to if we actually met it, met on each one of the facilities and open it up to the people that were there. So I think it's important to do. I'm just not sure when we can get going on it. I wonder if there's some value to, even though this is a difficult time for everybody to connect and communicate, there's some value just to having the option, even if only a handful of people take advantage of it. You know, that might be an opportunity for somebody who has a significant issue they want to discuss to reach out to us. Otherwise, they have to wait around until 8 a.m. on the second Tuesday or third Tuesday, whatever the date is, and go from there. Do any of the facilities have places where they've got computers set up so people could actually go in and get on there rather than have to deal with it from home? It might be easier for them to do it that way. Computer labs? I'm trying to think. Some do, and I'm trying to, I know that that was something we were working on in Aspen Meadows Apartments. There's Karen. And some do, some don't, I think is the answer. Karen. Thanks, Harold. So I would say a couple of things. Yeah, so one, some of the computer labs that were in operation, the equipment got so old over time, you know, that they really were no longer usable. So there's a couple things that we're doing.  So, so we are working with them in the senior center in, in giving folks Chromebooks to be able to have access for people who don't have, you know, have that technology. And we're also looking at a checkout system of Chromebooks at the suites. Again, because they do have the, they do have the internet. Actually, we weren't able to get the internet at Hearthstone and Lodge. Sorry, I'm incorrect. But so we are looking at how through a combination of Chromebooks that the senior center can give away and those that we can check out that was available through the CARES Act because we couldn't give them away. So we're trying to at least enhance access to devices for, for folks who don't have that. So we're continuing to look, I guess, Arlene at ways to address the digital divide because it is certainly an issue that we are concerned about and continue to look for resources to address those. And I think the other thing is that at some point you might want to invite Lisa to talk a little bit about what she and the community managers are starting to do to reach out and connect with residents. So bit by bit, as, as the, you know, as we can loosen things up a little bit, they are trying some different ways to engage. So at some point in this conversation, I would have might Lisa to participate to try to. And then if it's okay, I'm going to share my screen with you all and show you where we are. So you can see what part of we're going to be dealing with. So in this, you can see obviously we're in the yellow dial. One week 116.1. We're in blue terms of average positivity. Stable hospice. This is moving. And this is because you're always anchor against low numbers. And so what I will tell you is, well, it looks like our hospitalizations are going up. We're still significantly lower than where we were before. And so this one, you have to understand that piece. But even if we move into blue and you look at gatherings, even in blue, it's up to 10 from no more than two households. So even when we move to blue, I mean, that's going to be a challenge and we'll have to. So generally you could probably only have under this the way this is described to people together who are from different units. And so this is the challenge that we're going to have ongoing. And so what we were, we even thought I even thought about finding a way to get a projector with a camera so we could talk to larger groups. Still won't work with the way the rules are working based on how you can get people together because of the household size. And so I think we are going to have to work on finding a way to get people to connect. But I think let's Lisa needs to talk about what they're doing to to try to bridge that gap in the interim. Well, we did have Michelle go through because she's really involved with Boulder County health. Go through the guidelines and we were allowed, we're allowed to have gatherings in like community areas. Social distance so we did groups over at the heartstone in the lodge did 15 minute gatherings with six household members and a couple staff members and we set chairs 15. I'm sorry, 10 feet apart. So it allowed people to come in. Then we did these meetings every 10 minutes so we had time to sanitize the whole built or the whole area. Get the next group in go through the same agenda sanitize and go on and we did six groups at each of the heartstone in the lodge over two days. Okay, I like that idea and I would be more than glad to participate if it was an option with you guys. It sounds like a lot of work, but it also sounds like something that I like the idea of moving ahead with. Lauren's been patiently waiting with her digital hand raised. What about outdoors? I have two things. I think when the weather gets better, obviously not now. But maybe when things warm up, if we're able to do it outdoors, we'll be able to have more people, lots more people and it might be nice to get some fresh air coming up from all this year. The other thing I wanted to mention was for any locations that either don't have great internet access or, you know, we're having trouble getting technology into the hands of residents. Boulder County AAA Area Agency and Aging is launching a program called Connect with Tech where they will match Chromebooks and hotspots for six months of internet. I just approved some contracts for it, so I happen to know that this is coming, but you could reach out to their organization to see if that's something that we could point our residents to for those who don't qualify for City of Longmont type services. It is for older people, but depending on where they live, that might be a great option. That is a great program and Lauren, as Lisa mentioned, Michelle Waite, who's our Senior Services Manager, is connected with the AAA for Boulder County and that program and the folks that are running that. So that's a great reminder that we're trying to tap into all the different resources to try to help get either internet and or tech devices in the hands of folks who don't have them so that they can connect. But that's a great reminder. And the nice thing is, training is involved with this program, so it'll teach people how to get online and use the technology, which is probably a bigger barrier sometimes than getting the technology itself. So I'm wondering if we need to kind of wait until maybe June-ish or so to take a look at this again, and I don't know. Right now it's so cold. If you all want to go ahead. I was going to say, I really like the suggestion of just making sure Lisa is aware that we are interested and available, but I think whatever we do needs to dovetail in with how she and her team are managing each of those communities. So first of all, we're available. And second of all, I think that there are a lot of ways to communicate that we may or may not be on top of. I've never been to one, but I've seen reference to the Coffee with Council popping back up. So I don't know how, if that's all on Zoom or if you're doing that outdoors at an actual coffee shop. But I think that's a similar concept, and I know our population may have more challenges on technology than the general population. But I think it's just, I'm in favor of providing an opportunity, holding ourselves out to Lisa and letting her know that if she thinks it's appropriate within her management umbrella that we'd love to do it. And the answer your question, we're doing the Coffee with Councils remotely. First one was interesting because they have to call in because of just the open ended piece on this. We could rethink that in a different way because it's a captive, for lack of a better word, we know who we need to invite. And so we can invite people from the facilities, which makes that a little bit easier than what we had to do on the Coffee with Council. And I think there's ways we can do it. Also, so everyone knows, many of the affordable internet programs that we've established, I think there's a 100 meg program for $19 now. And then we have other affordable opportunities via NextLite. Those are all, if we have NextLite in facilities, those are available for the people that live in the facilities. The difference in this case is the suite. We were able to do a bulk deal where we're paying for it because of the requirements associated with the support of services. So we're paying for internet connectivity there. One of the things I talked to Karen about, I'm kind of getting into the ops report a little bit, but to answer this question. NextLite's also working with some folks that have different TV options. And so we're trying to understand what that looks like. So even if we don't do the bulk deals for the facilities, residents have the ability to take advantage of some of these lower cost options for NextLite if it's available. And I think we're almost every place in some form or fashion, it's a matter of getting them into the units. So I think the other thing that I would just add to this is that connecting with our residents after this really long year is certainly top of mind for Lisa, our new team of community managers. I think for the entire organization is figuring out ways we can start connecting with our residents in whatever way is possible. So we're checking the dial, the public health dial, the residents are saying, when are we going to open back up community areas? So we're checking all that. And so it is top of mind for the staff. And I think we will continue to look for opportunities. We are also working on a newsletter option too. And so that also might be a way, albeit kind of a one-way communication, but it could be ways that the board can at least reach out in that way. So we will make sure that we're talking about and continuing to explore opportunities as they evolve with the pandemic. Well, that sounds good. Thank you, Arlene, for bringing this up again and for the discussion. I think it's time we start to focus on some of the things that we had forgotten about over the past 10 months. And this is an important first step. So if there are no other discussion items on 4B, why don't we move on to 4C, which is an update on the Voluntary Compliance Agreement. And there is a brief letter in your packet. Brief in terms of, I don't know how many, oh my gosh. Brief 18 page letter, something like that. It's not that brief. So I'm hoping someone will give us a summary of this. That would probably be me. So this is the first annual report to HUD, giving an update on the Voluntary Compliance Agreement and where we stand. There's been a lot of progress that's been made over the years. Item number 10. So things are numbered.  So Kathy, your connection is off. I don't think it's a headset.  So if you want to exit the meeting, I'll let you right back in. I'm watching. And maybe just turn up your volume a little bit. Yeah, I can't hear you at all, Kathy. And I was going to skip ahead to 4D, but I'm guessing that Kathy might be part of that one as well. Yeah, that would be her internet looks good because the video is fine, but can't hear you, Kathy. I love that she has a backup just for the record. Headphones number three. I know. If this doesn't work, she needs to get out probably relaunch. Yeah, you're right, Harold. No, you're like, Roboting out Kathy. So if you just want to leave it, I'll let you right back in. Sorry, I know it's frustrating. Cameron, while she's doing that, if you want to go ahead on the city report, I want to do the update operations after E. But if we want to go ahead and ask Lisa to do B and C. Why don't we do that, Lisa? She's back. Maybe we have to stick with Kathy as she pops in in a second year. No, you're going to have to restart your entire computer. And then come in. All right, why don't we jump with item five B? The Hearthstone Lodge budget update. Lisa, would you like to take it away? Sure. I'm excited to say that we have found the money to for the Hearthstone and the Lodge to go ahead and implement the pendant system instead of the pool cords that we currently have in place. This will alleviate resonance from being on call over hours and responding to the pool cords when somebody has fallen, a smoke detector is going off. This will be an automated system that the residents will either have a wrist watch or a necklace type pendant that they could push kind of like a life alert. It will only work inside the building. And we hope to get that system approved today or tomorrow and work on getting it installed over the next 10 to 15 days. So we were able to find the money within the budget, different sources, but we're moving forward. So that's really exciting for me because it's been one of my priorities since I started. Anybody have questions on that? It's going through Best Buy as well. So they are backing the system. This is actually going to jump in with something too that we've been our fire department and our public safety department has been wanting this to be approved just because of the unique issues with the pool cords and then individuals responding and then calls for service coming in. And so this, we're really excited about this on a number of fronts because it does get them connected to someone who can then triage, understand what the issue is and then make the calls into the appropriate person. And ultimately, we don't then need the people responding from the facility and have to work through those issues. So we think this is important step. I know Lisa and I've talked about and I've thought about the potential viability of expanding this to potentially other units as we can. This is a requirement for this facility because it's a 202 property. And so that's why we're having to do this here. But this is something that's definitely on our mind for other locations. So is this a microphone and a speaker then? No, what happens is when the resident activates it either by pushing the button, tapping the button, they will get a phone call to their phone that they've registered either their cell phone or their personal phone. And then the dispatcher will, if they don't answer the automatically dispatch EMS, but if the resident answers, they can kind of triage, see what the situation is. If they need police, medical, fire from there on. Or maintenance. What, and then if a resident loses misplaces, do we, are we going to charge the resident for the fee? Or are we going to pick up the cost? They'll have to pay the replacement cost for the device, which I believe is $25. That sounds like an excellent addition. Right. Lisa. Yes. Yeah. Lisa, is there a provision for when residents accidentally hit that button? Or their phone number on call, whatever number they have listed, they'll call and see if it's a truly an emergency or if it was an accidental push. But we will also get reports daily and monthly of all the calls. So if we have a resident who's hitting it accidentally, we can always suggest them going from either the watch to the pendant around the neck or some other way of carrying the device. Okay. Yeah. Because sometimes that'll happen and they're not with it within reach of their phone and they don't know they've done it. And, but I appreciate, yeah, let's see the following up. And I'm glad you're getting the reports. Great. Great. And Lisa, when you say it works in the building, does it work for like a certain radius outside of the building in case someone has a fall or an emergency just outside the building, like a slip on ice? They said it should because there will be six repeaters, I believe per built six to nine repeaters per building. So it should work on the exterior as well. And the company should be able to detect what repeater it's coming off of. So if they're not in their units, it should at least say what vicinity of the building they are in. Okay. That's great. Excellent. Any more discussion on the hearthstone and lodge. And if not, at least you want to talk about five C. Your general update. Okay. Well, we've had a busy month. Hired another manager. She started on the second of February. And so she is full time at the sweets and overseeing Aspen Meadows senior and Aspen Meadows neighborhood. Her name is Corinne Lindsey. She's, she's here with us now. So that completes our hiring for now. We getting ready to do a couple of audits. We have had audits at the hearthstone and lodge. This month. And then. Aspen Meadows senior is actually going through a file review as well for the rehab. And if we just look at the affordable gross potential. Red report. It shows all the availabilities of what units we have rented. We were making some progress. So we're going to start with the rent. And then we're going to start with the rent. The suite who has the most units available out of the eight. I'm excited to see now we have four rented. Friday afternoon, another prospect from MHP. Was contacted and did all their paperwork. So we should be filling at least half those vacancies in the next two weeks. Any questions on the vacancies. Questions on any other management items going on. And then we're going to start with the rent. And then we're going to start with the rent. We've got that you reduce the rent. Does that kind of correspond with the rest of the units that are in there? Or is this something new? We did. We wouldn't. And reduce the rent on the two bedroom 60% unit. Cause it has been vacant for. A little over five months. And the loss, the vacancy loss we've. Had. We're going to start with the rent. Was a significant difference. So we're hoping to read that because we do have another two bedroom 60%. That is on notice as well. So we don't want to stuck with two of them vacant for an extended amount of time. And what's the poverty level on that is a 30 or 40% or 50. They are a 60% unit. Okay. Well, if we have nothing else on, on five B or five C. So why don't we jump back to four C. And I'm crossing my fingers at the audio sounds crystal clear. Oh no, it's not clear. So Kathy, we can hear you a little bit. Just faintly, faintly. She's going to try again. So why don't we stick back down to the city report and let's, let's jump back to five a Harold, if you don't mind. Or, or Molly O'Donnell, I think is also, I thought I saw her. Okay. Yeah. So, so Molly can certainly report on item five D. If you wish. And then I'll hit five E you mine. And I'm not hearing you Molly. Okay. Can you hear me now? Yes. Good. I had a note. It said microphones not working. So I had to play around. Okay. So I am here to provide an update on the Aspen Meadows department's rehab project. So as of the end of this week, the 19th, we will be 80% complete with interior work. The third floor south wing is a wing that we just completed. The move in went smoothly for those residents. And right now the second floor south wing is underway. And so that's the one that will be done by the end of this week. So the plan was to make sure that the work was done. The next four weeks. And then the commemoration of the other ones in two days was a challenge, but it went smoothly. Have. Generally residents were quite happy with how things went. We have a lot of support on site to make that happen. The gathering room is newly complete. The mailboxes are switched over the new mailboxes and operational. The work on the interior during the next four weeks will wing and that'll be the completion of all the units. The office and the first floor lobby continuation will also occur in this next round starting next week. We are still waiting for our elevator and window replacement schedules because that once the units are complete that's the last bit that will require relocation assistance. We're still waiting for those. They won't schedule until they have all their orders in place and with COVID and things, lots of orders for things have been slow but they will most likely happen after the unit work is complete so we will be working on that relocation process on a separate track. We will are also going to update our resident survey. We did one regarding the elevator and how many residents might be totally dependent on that elevator to access their unit. We did that before construction but because the elevator work is happening quite a bit later than the beginning of construction we want to update that so we'll be doing another outreach effort as soon as we have a schedule. The window replacements are a single day install though so that's a smaller coordination process. The exterior work that we've done to date is still the substantial completion of the roof. They haven't done anything with winter weather but most of the exterior work including all the windows will start in March and go through June. The whole job altogether in terms of contract billing is 43% complete. We have a substantial amount of contingency and allowance budgets that we have not had to dip into because things have gone quite smoothly on that front so we've been working to add some value added features and we're working to add some more currently so we've already decided to go ahead and do the full parking lot paving. Only two-thirds of that lot was included in the budget originally. This will put all our asphalt in the same life cycle. We also got city traffic engineering to agree to restrict parking on 21st right next to that southeast entrance to the parking lot just for safety. We've had a lot of close calls or even accidents there. We've also added a common area furnishings package including the gathering room, the resident business center which is going to be located now on the second floor, and the property management office. We're going to be doing some safety improvements and ways to improve natural light in that office as well as while we're doing this. And then we've already completed an interior signage package to update the look of all the directional signing and unit numbering and make sure it's UFAS compliant so that's already ongoing. We are currently working on the following items to see if they are feasible and well some of them are feasible. We're just working on pricing and scope. The video security system to integrate with other LHA property systems. Landscaping upgrades including possible garden boxes because we know residents really enjoy gardening as on site. And some patio furniture upgrades and ways to improve irrigation outside. So if there's any questions on that or any other suggestions for things we should look at for our value added features we would love to have that. No questions huh? I have suggestions. Well thank you that's a great update it sounds like we're making very good progress on that. Let's move on Harold to 5e the progress on the LHA LHDC structure and reorganization. Okay and I also wanted to add to what Molly's working on. One of the things that we've done and she mentioned it is the video security system is really the when when we started this we talked about creating consistent using consistent technology across all all of our facilities and that's a couple of things that we've caught one the door system is something that we caught and bringing that so it's consistent what we have in our other facilities the cameras the camera conversation just for this group to know is also we've got two camera systems one on the neighborhood and then this one that interact with each other the camera system at the neighborhood is old and if you remember this is one that we're having a lot of trouble with just getting into the system and so we're working both of those for the neighborhood and for the apartments but where they will interact with each other and be essentially on the same platform the key for this and this is tied into the security work that we've got the bid at village place apartments to do based on some issues we were having there is that there's also going to be a web platform so you have remote access into those systems should you need it and and what we want to do then eventually is have a consistent platform across all the facilities so that we don't continue having the one offs as we're moving forward Lisa didn't talk about that but that's the same work that she's doing with the maintenance staff right now in terms of things like faucets and sinks and so we can just do that and so it's really good work in terms of the progress on the lha lhdc structure reorganization this is one that we're going to need to spend some time with the board on the lha board which would be the the city council members at this time we have two two attorneys working on this issue one is chris gunlickson you all may have seen chris in previous conversations because he is doing a lot of the financing he did a lot of the legal work on the financing work that we've done for many of our facilities he's actually representing the development corporation on the housing authority side we're utilizing and working with ben doil ben used to be a county attorney he's now in private practice but ben was the one that actually did all of the work are most of the work in terms of the change that they made at the county and really how the county commissioners became the the actual housing authority board and they worked through their processes and so glenn or chris and ben are really giving us two different viewpoints based on their perspectives we hope to have a report from them in the next couple of weeks well let's say next two to four weeks in terms of a excuse me a high-level report in terms of their recommendation the the big piece on this is there's a couple of things in place so if you all will remember when we talked to you about the the report from betsy martins and she really talked about the change in the HUD conditions and combining the development corporation model with the housing authority and that really strengthens the financial position of both organizations when you do this and the fact that HUD now looks at it in a different way than they did when you had to have the development corporation so that's a piece in terms of the financial side of the equation what we're also trying to understand is the liability component to this and how you can carve that liability piece out into the into the each individual housing unit and whether or not it makes sense to have the development corporation exist in some form based on the liability and and we're going to get i'm pretty i'm expecting we're going to get two different legal responses on this in terms of what that looks like and then it really is going to be an evaluation of of what is the risk in in doing this but um you know that we think that at least in the interim you know as we talked about with you all the development corporation still needs to exist um until we can get to a point to to make some final decisions it also will tie into a little bit in terms of some development opportunities that are coming into play and how we can utilize it and um and once Kathy joins we'll talk about that but my hope is actually you know by uh april that no later than april we have a clear sense of the recommendation we're going to make to both you all and the housing authority board on this issue and where we want to go and how we want to move there um in this depending on the path that we take it could be anywhere from a nine month to nine to twelve month untangling of all of the financial components and in many of these properties and so they will give us a sense of what that will take to in terms of the time of the actual untangling and and moving it into the housing authority if if that's the direction that the board wants to go um so making progress that was something we kind of we kept pushing out because we needed to deal with more of the immediate operational issues um but i should have a report within the next month based on the conversation i had on uh friday with our legal representation on this um internally any questions so hell my understanding is that the lh lhdc board is still meeting regularly to they're not meeting regular hours okay um they're meeting they're meeting what we talked about with them is we'll meet as needed um and they will have um under their bylaws they have to have i think one meeting a year and there's not a lot of activity so there's really not a need for them to meet right now um and that's what we we had to work with them because if you'll remember they wanted to um have this completed by the end of the year and that was um impossible um so that that was the agreement we had we're also thinking about options um depending on timelines if we need to find a different way to appoint other board members if we need to go longer if they actually want to to stop serving in that capacity so that's some of the things we're going to look at okay um in terms of update on operations you all may hear um last night we had a um a sprinkler burst pipe burst because of the cold at the suites um i want to commend lisa karin denis lidel and the work that they did we were pretty fortunate um when we went out there it actually burst in the stairwell and so in terms of the number of units that were impacted when we first heard it it was one of those moments where we're like oh how bad is this going to be um fortunately when we got in we only there were only three units that had water in them at least a lot of water in them so we made plans working with karen and the group to relocate three people at the end of the day we only had to relocate one person because 24 7 responded very quickly to get into the units and um you know really thankful for them because it wasn't just the housing uh housing authority going through this apparently there were many other multifamily units experiencing the same thing um but based on the number of units that were potentially impacted the work that we've done with them they were able to respond to our facility very i think they were there within an hour of when they got the call uh so it went really well in terms of the water removal they're going to be there again today to really look at the moisture content in the walls and see what we have to do in terms of a more permanent drying that we need to do and how how aggressive we need to be in that process we are trying to schedule a meeting with the housing authority board we were going to try to do this in conjunction with our normal city council meetings and so you all know how we handle the general improvement district they adjourn as a city council and they reconvene as the general improvement district they would do the same thing here we actually talked to the city council last week about the fact that we have so much stuff we need to go over as they jump into this role and bring your recommendations to them that we're going to need a special meeting we're trying to schedule that right now and get that on the books um we may be able to get it um you know we try to schedule it midday friday just in case you all are interested i've had some folks with some scheduling issues we could potentially do it from three to five on friday um so um we're sending out emails if not we're going to have to get it next week and when we do that we will um we will let you all know and that may be something where um at least the chair if the chair is available to be part of that conversation and kind of help this transition as we're moving forward but we will um we will let you all know karen kathy have i missed anything karen so um so the two things that i would add is that last week we had a very successful um vaccination clinic at hearstone and and lodge and so and village place so um so basically uh we pretty much had a a full day um half day at hearstone lodge half day at village place and um and and we were able to um have 43 total vaccinations at hearstone lodge and 33 at the village place all the vaccinations were used um so michelle and lisa and her community managers were um they had a plan a plan b plan c so that we made sure that we used all of the vaccinations uh we um so we had 70 plus year olds 65 to 69 and then if there were any vaccinations less we had people left we had people on standby so they could uh come in and get vaccinated the second clinic is set for tuesday february 23rd um and that will um and and that will basically that's going to be at fall river i believe and and we will target the residents of fall river spring creek and aspen meadow senior apartments and so that will be um 80 people that we will schedule for um for that that second clinic so so it was just a it was a great great success a lot of work certainly partnering with public health um with king supers which uh actually provided the vaccinations and um you know and just um you know just the the gratitude from the residents in our facilities that um you know that they were able to um access a vaccination and a vaccine um in their own backyard was um you know it was pretty they were very grateful i guess i should say yeah that's wonderful gene yeah yeah karen can i i'm gonna add to that too because um uh obviously this was a very efficient operation and there were two openings at hearstone and amy called two of the residents here who are extremely vulnerable and i'm i'm just really delighted how efficient uh the whole operation went so kudos to everybody involved yeah and i think to that point we talk a lot about you know we've talked a lot about what we're doing but i will also say this has been a unique opportunity for us as a city because they were able to do this at the facilities we're now talking about the folks that work for the city who are over 70 who may not have been able to be vaccinated to see if we can include them in this as well and so they're you know what we're now seeing is the give and take between both sides of the house in terms of how we all help each other in different ways and i wanted to point that out because a lot of times we focus on this side but this is a piece where this has really become a you know a great issue for us the city structure and the community in general in terms of being able to have these conversations this is a model in my conversations on the other side that they're really testing this pop-up piece and how that's going to work as we get more vaccine so that we can then bring that out and really target other populations within our community so this is a test for the broader county as well and they've done it in long went with the housing authority boulder housing partners in boulder county housing authority in this testing process and and the only other announcement that i would make under operations is that we were able to hire and she started last week would be our new housing choice voucher specialist her name is ronda hill and and so she is now on board and so we have both housing choice voucher specialists in in operation and uh yeah it's good to be good to have pretty full staff so yeah so that's that's well and what i will say and this is as much for denise lydell curand and lisa um rock stars last night that was my call to to caron when i left the facility and went the rock stars um just seeing the process that they they went through how they were handling the situation um you know it was different this time and and and that's really a testament to the work that they've been doing i also wanted to let you all know that when you go into facilities you can get a sense in the in the field just how people interact with you and how things are going um and i will tell you that um this is this is where the work that everyone's been doing where you kind of come away and you go okay we're making progress interaction has been much different um at the suites for me last night during a crisis versus other times just in terms of the involvement and the interaction that they're having with the folks that live in the facilities and the and that and that's paying off in different ways and and you know i asked the question to karen how's it going because she's in the facility and and she's like it's fine and and just seeing how they were interacting with both lisa and karen in the process was phenomenal and how quickly they got a hold of it in this situation so i wanted to just publicly say great job everyone that did it and it was a much different um it was just different this time around and so thank you but i'll also say that i'm seeing that as i move to other facilities and some of the interaction and you know i received a note from an individual at the lodge in hearstone um and who's there i forgot um great andrea and and that and so we're now seeing um everything we wanted to see it's now really starting to to take place and in terms of the the positive relationship that we're seeing with people in in the different facilities so i wanted to add that as part of the operational report kathy karen michelle everybody's doing a great job um in in this and we're now rounding the corner and so i wanted you all to know that thank you well it hasn't been easy to get here so it's great where we are but i don't want to forget the slog that it was to get here and it's those those of you that that are on the screen here that kind of helped us make that progress so i'm i'm losing track of my alphabet but i'm looking at section five tom do you have some input yeah can i have a quick question on that it's great to hear that we're fully staffed but remember over a couple meetings ago how are we treating the new employees now are we having them be city employees or are they also lha employees and i thought we had also talked about that moving possibly the lha employees over the city as well yeah we missed that one um and so that's what we're working on now so we did get direction um but that's part of why we need the meeting with the council as the housing authority board so on the city side we did get direction to do that um and i think that was part of um white people have been more interested in terms of this conversation so we are going to move forward with that but we need to have now the meeting on the housing authority board with the council members so they can give us official direction and we can do this we've started the conversations and so some things are going to be pretty easy things like health insurance vision insurance and i've talked we've talked to staff about this already um those things are going to be pretty easy the one that's going to take a little more research is actually the retirement side in terms of prior service credit i mean how how do we deal with these things um and and in some ways um this is really going to be focused on the folks that are have been here longer and and then the new folks because it's a different issue and so we've brought jim golden in and we've created a transition team just on this piece um to get that done and we our target is march 31st knowing that depending on what we hear on the retirement side that could be an overly aggressive target but we still wanted to set a target date because um deadlines um stimulate progress um on this at the same time just so you all know associated with this is also the move of the individuals and we talked to staff about this and getting them into the civic center with us um so that it it's a honestly easier for us to manage so Karen's not having to be in Kathy not in two offices but also get folks closer to me as we continue to evolve and evolve in this structure so those are two pieces that is easier to do and we hope that we can move that a little more quickly the challenge on that side is actually the files and and where and how do we store the file um we found places and we can figure it out but for the files and so we're working on those pieces so sorry I forgot to mention that but that's another thing in the mix and what I would add to that is that we do have task teams that have formed um around around that work so around what um Harold talked about um earlier in terms of the structure we have a task team that's looking at the transition of LHA staff to become city staff um we have we have some of us that are working on the physical move and what the heck to do with those files because it's kind of a it's a domino it's a domino effect so certainly the um the housing choice voucher specialist staff need need their files they need access to those files and um and so there there are multiple um file storage uh issues that we're looking at with certainly the LHA but also with the the city and and our file storage so um so we do have task teams that are have formed we formed those a couple of weeks ago to Harold's point is you know we just need to get moving we set some target dates and even if we have to push those out we we need to have some um some milestone targets to to shoot for and just so you all know as advisory board and this is important too and we're going to talk to um the housing authority board um we have different task teams I'm on every one of the task teams because from a structural and liability perspective that decision making has to be in me in in this blend as we're moving forward and so I bring that up because that's going to be an important piece that you'll see in terms of the liability conversations and everything we're having and then I will take if needed I will take that to the appropriate board to make the decision or if it's within my authority in the executive interim executive director role then I'll make it but we've got to do that to really compartmentalize all of these issues and keep everything separate all right anything else on the uh city report that I've glossed over seeing nothing we're gonna go we're gonna hope that the third time is the charm and jump back to Kathy for an update on the voluntary compliance agreement okay can you hear me now yeah right oh beautifully my husband gave me the wireless ones for valentine's day and obviously I haven't worked out the kinks yet so I have to work on that um so for the voluntary compliance agreement um this is the first annual report to HUD that's required we're going to have to do this report annually um until we're out of um out from under the agreement um and again the um numbers for the items don't make any sense but that is how they were laid out in the HUD agreement so we're going with them because it's easier to keep track of it but for you guys it won't make too much sense um so just a brief update um number 10 the monetary relief attendance I believe the completed status on that first page is really December 11th 2019 that's when we agreed um that this needed to happen and then it was actually completed with full payout in February of 2020 so I think that that first date's just an error um the um the fair housing training the public interest provision what I don't know quite why it's called that but it's really ensuring that um new staff have fair housing training and section 504 um accessibility training and we have been working on that everyone who was um in place as of July 21st received training and then as folks have been hired we have been identifying additional training um for them to um to take so that we can keep um keep moving on that number 12 which is the unit accessibility um is um really looking at and 12 through 16 are kind of all tied together with this that's the survey of all of our units and all of our common areas in every building including the admin building and 615 main um they're all tied together we have to survey all of those we have to analyze what needs to happen to become um UFAS compliant which is um uniform federal accessibility standards which is what HUD requires it's above and beyond ADA standards which is what the city code requires so do an analysis of what um needs to happen around that and then do a a transition plan on what the needs are and how we're going to enact um the changes that need to happen whether it's a rehab that can happen within units or whether it is somehow in new in upcoming buildings making more than the required number of UFAS units um and how are we going to afford that and that plan um the analysis the survey the plan has to be um in place and to HUD be by November of 2021 so hopefully this summer as we were talking about we can get in and do start doing inspections of the units and the buildings um in a way that makes sense and um is still safe and everything so that's the biggest piece that we still have to have to take on and again that covers um number 12 through number 16 um basically um number 15 kind of inserted in that um as you all may know we were able to do seven UFAS compliant units at um as part of the Aspen Meadows senior apartments renovation um and we do have a third party architectural firm um inspecting those units HUD has accepted that firm and so those units are um going to be in full compliance with UFAS so we'll have seven units by the time Aspen Meadows apartments is renovated so um that is um helping helping with that at least we should not have to go through and survey Aspen Meadows senior apartments as part of the overall survey and then there were a number of policies that we needed to um put in place or um beef up or enact um and they include um number 17 which is the section 504 reasonable accommodation policy number 19 which is effective communications number 20 which is the 504 non-discrimination notice number 21 which is transfer policy and number 23 which is assisted assistance animals policy those have all been um written approved by HUD adopted and are in place and we are starting actually later on uh this morning to roll those out to the community managers to make sure they fully understand them and then put in place a plan to roll them out to all of our residents in a way that's understandable that doesn't overwhelm them um and that they um they um know how to access um those um policies and um the rights that are given to them and then also how do we incorporate them in um providing them to all of our applicants um that we might have in the future and that plan has to be in place by um April 15th so we can report back to HUD um we also as part of the 504 policy um number 18 which is um logging tracking the 504 accommodation request that we received and how we address those um that log has been turned into HUD um we did process 38 requests um in 2020 there were four denials um and one um I had requested more information everyone else was pretty much approved um 13 of the 38 came from um the housing choice voucher program and most of those were related to needing an additional bedroom to accommodate um either a disability or medical equipment or something like that um and then 25 of them were in our our own properties so just a little trivia for you there on on what we had um had reviewed this year um the transfer policy what we're finding um on not the policy necessarily but with number 25 which is um making sure that there's lease addendums around the ADA units so if we have people who do not have a disability that are in an ADA designated unit they just need to understand they can be in there but if somebody that has a disability needs to go into that unit they have to um transfer to another unit at their own cost um so the policy's in place we are working with the folks who are in the ADA units that might not have a disability and there's really we have found there's quite a few more we're still getting the numbers together but there's quite a few more than we thought um we're um would be applicable in this section um so we are going through those and we're trying to determine because some of those folks have been in there a long time in their units a long time for instance Village Place some of them have been in there for a decade or more in an ADA unit so it's very possible they now could qualify so going back and and seeing what their circumstances are and can we um through a reasonable accommodation policy make them eligible for the unit so that they would not have to transfer if somebody else needed it so there's just a lot of cleanup work that we're trying to do um around that so we'll be um working on that and that is um we've been extended for that until April 15th as well so we're working on on that um we do have a revised application in place and are starting to use that and we're pulling together the accessible housing list um this is a list of just units that are of properties that should have ADA compliant units um so it's really going back and and getting a list and which I really I think I have a pretty good list already through my city work of developments over the past um 10 years or so that have had to comply with ADA so that they should have units we don't have to check and see if they're actually available or anything like that just that that listing is available to them and everything else is complete on the record keeping around um different data sets and stuff like that so um making progress biggest area is going to be the analysis of the units um and then getting some of the policies in place and just um normalized within um how we distribute those and make those available to folks. Are there any questions on that? Carleen. I know this is going to surprise you that I have questions but they're really sort of a clarification um under 12 where you're talking the unit accessibility and the 5% of the units have to be um accessible is that 5% per development or per building or is that total so of the 461 as compared to say for instance 60 at Spring Creek or Folk, Folk River how does that work? Yeah so as a development is built 5% of all the units have to be be uh be compliant normally but because we're now not compliant um according to HUD we are compliant with ADA let me make that clear we're compliant with ADA because that is the city's building code and everything met those requirements it's the UFAS the additional requirement that we're not compliant with so HUD reads this that 5% of all units have to be UFAS compliant that's what we're not compliant with so probably what's going to happen if we can't go in and retrofit so for instance let me give you for instance Spring Creek the units um toilets are two and have to be um what is it 12 inches off center whatever the requirement is there's a two inch difference there's a two inch difference and so the solution is to you can carve out a niche so that it moves the drywall over two inches or you can move the toilet so that it is on center and the problem with that is in some of our apartments there's radiant floor heating and that would mess that up so it's like thousands of dollars to correct it so if you can't correct whatever the issue is and that's what the survey is going to tell us what exactly the issue is in every single unit if you can't correct it then the next thing is well in your next building can you build 10% UFAS eligible so that overall the development or the our properties our holdings are going to be compliant okay okay all right um so under 16 under alterations it's it's saying that you know that lists a bunch of different alterations there if for instance one item is done does that meet the requirement so for instance my question is if we redo the door hardware is that going to meet that requirement or meet it for that particular area but if there's still other things that we can't do then it the whole unit isn't going to meet it okay okay all right um i know you talked a little bit about how many places are actually um accessible if a person if on your waiting list you have a person who just needs a regular place and a person who needs an accessible unit and you have an accessible unit available how do you determine who gets that well if the person who needs an accessible unit and there's an accessible unit available that's where we're going to to put them the only time they're down the waiting list or does that make a difference no they do go up to the top of the waiting list if there's a accessibility need and we have a unit available um right lisa i think that's correct um if somebody if if all other things being equal who's who's uh and there's a unit uh accessible unit that's available and nobody has a disability then we're going to offer the unit to get it rented it's not going to just say you know but then the explanation should be given immediately this is an ADA unit we're putting you in here if you accept it you could have to move right exactly and there's a lease addendum that they'll need to sign okay and then last um on 28 where you're talking about um ethnicity race and ethnicity is this a requirement when people sign up or is this an option they have the option we have the requirement to report whatever information we get okay that's it thank you thank you kathy i will say that uh for anyone who wasn't involved at the beginning of the vca process this is a good eye-opener to just the complexity of of everything involved and how challenging just to work through it but i'm i'm amazed at how thoroughly that you've taken us through it so i appreciate the work any other questions or comments on the vca report tom and just a quick question i mean this is great to see uh and we're on schedule to meet the april 15th deadline yes perfect that's all i had okay let's uh let's jump to the sunset heights project update herald you're gonna do it or you want me to start why don't you start and we'll jump in i'll take the development piece you take the sun sunset heights updates okay so um element um who we are partnering with um on the suites property and have a um sale option um which they have enacted for at least part of the land um they submitted their application to chaffa for nine percent credit February 2nd i believe it was um so we have been working with them um continuing to work with them on partnership agreements as well for um lha to be the um property manager at that property if they do get funded um and then um continuing to work on um providing support services as well which is likely to be either the boulder shelter for the homeless or um lha um so still kind of working on that a little bit um so we should find out i think in may is when they'll start um making announcements around who will be funded um it is i think looking pretty good they did apply last time and usually the second time you're in um you know barring really heavy competition um and there is because it's permanent supportive housing there's a a leg up on that the chaffa and doh are particularly looking to fund those types of projects so we will keep you posted on that um they are carving out the southwest corner um for this particular property so they did move it down i think a little bit maybe um on the property from what the last time that we had reported to you um so if that is um funded then they are already have submitted um some plans to um planning to start the development process and they will um subdivide the property then um in conjunction um with the lha uh on what that will will look like as we move forward so kind of exciting we'll see what happens um as we move forward and keep you posted on that so i'm gonna i'm gonna share a screen with you all um i'm trying to actually get it down so you can see it so on the development side we're working through a couple of issues um in terms of replatting and what that's going to look like um or in this case a replat was triggered because of the way the property has to be um given to element for this project um and so that's creating some minor um issues that we need to deal with but here is what the site plan is going to look like so if you can see um parking lot here um this is the suites um and then you can see this area here where they're moving it to this location we're having to work um and look at um you know and this this point here in terms of ingress egress to meet fire code um i am going to have to have some conversations with the village at the peaks on this issue we're tracking down some easements that are showing up on the plat but we can't really find um so we're going to be working on that in this area and then that gives us the ability to potentially do something here and then on the back side for additional units um this is you know for those of you all that remain remember fall river this was part of the property that the city purchased to help the financing for fall river to to complete that capital stack of which now we own 59 of the property which has created some of the changes and and and what we're working through now but to let you all know in terms of the operational piece um when we met with cavin um i was pretty much adamant that said if this is going to happen the housing authority will be the manager of the property and that's again so you all tied into the budget that's what brings additional revenue into the system in order to do this um the question on supportive services that's a little more nuanced and so you all know that we have mental health partners at the suites um the supportive side is has a lot of requirements with it which is why um kathy mentioned um the boulder shelter for the homeless because they they do that now in partnership with element i think it what's the name of the property kathy kester uh leah hill leah hill leah hill so they currently provide that service so you need somebody who provides it and and really knows what they're doing in this case so that's part of the conversation it's also part of do we fit in this um but in the conversation we had last week it really then is also about connecting these two properties so we have more robust supportive services for everyone in this location um actually connect them via connecting them via technology from an operating expense it then allows us to to you know we have to monitor who comes in and out of these properties well when you connect it via technology in the system that we've talked about earlier that we're putting in with cameras it allows one person to do it at one facility or the other especially overnight and so there's a lot of things that we're we're still building into this process but i'm really excited about this opportunity and what it means for our community and um let's let's all keep our fingers crossed that they they can get the tax credits and we can begin moving forward on this project cathy do you want to tell them about the other one that came up last week so in searching through um to try and find the easement private easement that um herald was talking about for element i've been going through a lot of the plans and the the files um and came across um a lease agreement that um oh i forget the name of the partnership um the investors in chrisman the chrisman developers um had for the property that is just to the north of the chrisman apartment so it fronts on 66 and is behind the gas station and north of the chrisman apartments um there by sonic um at about 24th and main area um um and so i saw that they had a lease agreement it looked like that ran through 2022 um and i know they had come to the lha board um right before things started christian and bernand with um with julian and everything um and had asked to partner and whether or not the lha could um could purchase the property and hold it um until they were ready to move forward and the answer was no and so anyway i found this agreement and so i just emailed um one of the guys at the chrisman development just said do you still have this lease agreement are you still looking to to develop and i did get a response that no they don't have the lease agreement they never put it in place but they've been talking with the owners the owners are still interested in selling and if we're still interested they would still be interested so herald and i are going to meet with them next week i think it's early next week um about the possibility so there might might be something coming we're not sure um what that might look like whether it's another um chrisman like development or what it would be but or if it's even feasible um etc but at least we're exploring that um so just kind of cropped up yeah and i think why we're we're we move that one along a little bit faster is because um again revenue generation and in terms of the agreement and what we get out of it versus what we're putting in it just makes sense for us to have that conversation jean yeah um i i want to clarify i i need clarification here um the lease agreement you found which chrisman says they don't have a copy of uh relates to the apartments that were going to be built or the ones that have already been built in that area no they they do have a copy of it they were aware of what it was they just had it entered into it um or they had let it lapse or on whatever but no it's for the property to the north so new total new development totally new okay because um camera and if you were a member um we were told um as the board that lha was going to take over the management of the uh chrisman apartments that were built a couple years ago do you remember that yeah i i have a big recollection yeah that um chrisman the chrisman apartments got up and running and then in five years lha was to take over the management of that also okay yeah so i and when you when you were talking about um you know the element situation you know the situation around the suites um i was wondering about where we were with that with that property and um is that in our to-do list and it seems to me that we've got about two years to go on it um before we take it over yeah but that's something that i'd like to an update on it yeah so i think the answer is yes um in five years and so we have two years to go so yeah that's we will my intent on something like that would be to probably start prepping a year out so not so we still have another year before we start prepping on that but if we're doing a new deal with those folks we can solidify it and forget everyone's attention yeah it may it may change it may i mean we may change a lot of things based on if we can do this and what makes the most sense for us operationally and financially in terms of the deal structure on the other side too so those are all things we'll have to work for well it is kind of kind of fun to be talking about development deals again uh rather than just putting on fires i know the fires are probably still smoldering because i don't want to get complacent but um it's it's another sign that things are starting to gain a little momentum so we have bounced around our agenda but i believe unless someone corrects me that we've covered everything in one through five at this point and so i'm going to turn to item six and see if there's any other business that anyone would like to discuss this morning arlene i just have a question about security at the buildings does the security system on the outside doors lock down at a certain time at night so that only people can get in there that have the code to get in or is are the facilities open 24 7 i'm trying to think through so on do you want lisa to take that yeah because they're different for property since i'm trying to lisa do you want to jump in so all the entry doors are locked 24 7 and they have that either have their fob or a code to get into the building so that it has only residents or those who have been approved to have a fob get into the building otherwise they have to be buzzed in or let in via calling through the call box at any time of day the common areas are open and they're not secured but they're inside the building that is secured so to get to the common areas you'd have to be buzzed in correct okay do you have any other business right if that's the case we'll move on to item 7 and i'd entertain a motion to adjourn the meeting today and remind everyone that we have another meeting one month from today which i think would be the third tuesday of march that's that's correct so before we adjourned i just want to let you guys know um depending on how things go with this baby that i'm about to have in the next seven weeks um i may or may not be here for the march meeting i'm hoping she comes early and gives me a little relief from this awful pregnancy so i may not see you next month i may see you i might look more miserable than i do now keep me in your prayers you got it good luck you are allowed to use that excuse once a year or so sometimes a more frequent issue we'll have to look into a little more closely and you do that look miserable so you're hiding it well so i've been practicing i i think i'm experiencing uh early prodromal labor so it's like not quite braxton hicks but it's not labor either like right in the middle and it's not fun but we wish you all the best thank you yeah i wish you all the best as my two are getting ready one leaves the college next year the other the year after um just take advantage of the time because i'm having a moment right now where i'm going man it went fast so i know i have a three-year-old and then i'll have another and that's it and i'm just like wow i have 18 summers 18 summers and that's it yeah sad yeah yep molly well thank you trust me they'll be back i hope not i will welcome them back home if ever but hopefully they won't need to bye then almost do yeah thanks guys all right well that's a great way to wrap up the meeting you got it yeah and i i will move to adjourn again i got a motion in a second all in favor good to go we'll see you next month thank you


So the word forgiveness is very much becoming commonplace when describing golf clubs right now. But the question is, what does it actually mean? For example, will golf clubs forgive me for having a terrible golf swing? Turn ball, turn. It didn't turn. Or is forgiveness I should pray for before I actually start around a golf? Well, I'm not actually sure, but what I do know is that both the irons featured in today's video, they certainly fall into that forgiveness category. Well, at least my interpretation of it at least. And let's start by me telling you at least what I think forgiveness actually means because from reading some of the comments, it could be different than what some of you think. So for me, it's all about off-center hits and minimizing the drop-offs that you see in parameters such as ball speed, spin number, launch and obviously overall carry. But that's where it ends because it's certainly not a word you should associate with dispersion. Although in saying that, maybe front to back dispersion but not left and right because that is certainly down to the Indian and not the errors. Right, so now we've cleared that up. Let's go down to today's test which is out here on the golf course at Hollywood. There's no dry ball data. This is all about reality. I've got one set of irons from Ping which are super forgiving. I've got one set of irons for Taylor Made which are also super forgiving and I'm going to decipher what separates these two irons and potentially which is the best suited to you. That is the starting iron and that is from the Ping G430 lineup. It is the iron that they claim to be the most forgiven that they've ever produced. It's Ping's, I think iron for the masses and we're going to put it up against one of these from Taylor Made. And that was from Taylor Made's HD lineup. And to be perfectly honest with you, neither of those were the best strikes from me personally and maybe already that is the perfect example of why these two irons are super forgiving and perfect for many average golfers. Today's video is brought to you in partnership with HotGolf, the online golf mega store bringing you the hottest deals in golf and of course the clubs featured in today's video. Find the link to the HotGolf website in the description below and check out some incredible giveaways and offers. Right, so it was an interesting start. They were in fact two seven irons and I've got a five, a seven and a nine from both sets of irons. Each of those balls, as like I said, probably perform a little bit better than the actual strike deserved. My guess would be they were both off-center strikes and they've both finished pretty much pin high. A good start with a seven iron onto the next tee and I'm going to tee off with a five iron and just see how forgiving both of these two actually are. I'm going to try those in different scenarios. So obviously five iron from the tee, I'll play a couple of seven irons from the fairway and that nine iron just gives us a little bit of a look at that short end of the bag. Do you lose all kinds of feel and finesse in this style of iron or is it perfectly playable? Now although these irons are very much aimed at the same category of player I would suggest, they are certainly very, very different in the way they're put together. And the interesting thing for me is this, I would fully expect that the HD line-up from TaylorMade would have been the stronger loft of these two when in fact just in the standard loft the seven iron of the Ping G430 line-up is 29 degrees and the equivalent from TaylorMade is 30, so that surprised me a little bit. One thing you'll notice from the ball flight that I play from this tee right now is we're going to play two five irons and straight away you see a noticeable difference in terms of ball flight in that the five iron from the HD line-up with the only one degree extra in terms of loft, but that CG placement a lot further back means that so far what I'm seeing is the ball flight from the HD seems to be the higher launch in ball of the two and that can be a real interesting particular characteristic really that a lot of average golfers that are looking to buy these clubs are looking for assistance with, so surprisingly I'm seeing a higher launching ball from the HD at least at this point. Now this is very much a video that's been asked for by you in the comments and in some ways at first I thought it was an odd head-to-head and like I said from a profile perspective very very different irons but like I said it's probably an iron that's the same sort of category of player the one that is looking for forgiveness one that's looking for help with launch one that wants a bit of extra yardage from their irons well probably these two would be on the list so my simple question for you is this how many of you are considering either of these two sets of irons and what if anything sues you one way or the other. Right so we've had two five irons two seven irons now arguably for me there might be more confidence gained in the bulk and mass that you see in the HD product than you would from the 430 line up that's because like I said that bulk and mass just gives you that confidence but then moving down to the other end of the bag and I'll play a couple of nine irons from this spot is then perhaps the more refined look of the G430 might be the iron that you actually prefer to go for now obviously there's there's some things you can do to change that HD line up and go into the standard stealth model but right now I think I prefer to have this at address than the HD99 but we'll see again really easy pickup pulled a little bit down the left we've just missed the green to the left hand side just a tad the one thing they've done really good this time around Ping in terms of that G430 is enhance the sound and feel massively I keep getting comments that nobody's interested in the way a club sounds well trust me lots of you do and I certainly fall into that category but let's switch up into the bigger and potentially more clumbersome looking stealth HD again just a super ball to pick up that one is right on the flag and is not too far away at all that's a really decent ball again what the suggestion is is the sound was really good with a nice clip off the top of the turf my guess is that's grabbed and spun back a little bit as well which is not something you'd expect from this iron so what I was expecting to feel was a little bit too much bulk and mass but what they do in the 99 or the shorter irons they hide a lot of that bulk so what you're looking down on effectively is a super game improvement iron in terms of that top line but you're not seeing all of that bulbous back that you perhaps see in the longer end of the bag of the 5 iron which could in effect boost in terms of confidence so each of them has their merits potentially at either end of the bag now one question I am asked a lot is how do these clubs perform from the roof and it's not one we can often show here up at Hollywood because it's not that style of course there's not a lot of roof so we've come to this little patch and plonked a ball down that's actually sitting quite nasty I'm not sure whose idea that was we're going to play the ping first it's a 7 iron and see if we can get this picked up and out of the roof that's incredible in terms of it's also going down the middle so the answer quite simply is the ping does it extremely well and the odd bit for me is that you might presume that the again that wider width sole of the stealth HD might do a better job it's going to struggle to beat that right we've just had to stick that one a little bit forward we dug a bit of turf out but that's nestling down as well now like I said for me I'm just thinking in my head that sole is going to do me a favour and almost pick this up like I might expect a hybrid to let's see oh my word go and have a look I was really pleased with what the ping did but that thing has absolutely picked the ball up and ripped it down there both of these clubs are hot off the face there's no doubt about it but I think both of them surprise me from that lie we've done a full shot with an iron iron I'm just going to drop a few balls down here and we're going to see at the short end of the bag again can they produce a kind of because when you're putting your bag together I think, well I do anyway, you're considering all elements of it like what do I want to see from me long irons then back down the other what do I want to see from the short irons now the short iron can be an iron iron full swing but it can also be this so you either have specific wedges in your bag or can you sort of go from sort of 5 iron right the way through to gap wedge I'd have a little bit of a check there but yeah, this is the HD with a 9 iron should just get up the hill, I'm quite happy with the way I've played that yeah, really pleased with that I'm just really a massive fan of the HD line up full stop in the whole TM range to be honest with you and would I be able to play that at the short end of the bag then absolutely, I mean I'd want some with a lot in terms of bunker shots and whatnot but I mean this is more traditional obviously in the way it sits what we used to see in from a golf club but the question is, is it any different from the HD in terms of performance I mean again, I'd take both of those shots let the little one, the second shot on the pin was just a little bit more of an open face and left it out a little bit to the right but from this kind of distance perfectly fine I'm going to leave it there you know I mean my summary would be this that they're both super impressive but both very different even though aimed at like I said potentially the same golfer the bit that surprises me more than anything when I do this test on course is that HD has got really good sound and feel and even just there pitching one against the other side by side I would lean towards that from a feel perspective you've then got that sort of shape thing, can you overcome the sort of our stereotypes is what we think an iron should look like that's the biggest job Taylor made have got is persuading people to try these kind of clubs that we've seen like I said from Cleveland and Cobra and everybody else they're really effective but there's still a minority in terms of the sales because of the fact they look so different the other thing I like with Stealth HD is the fact that you can line it up with Stealth Standard if you like in terms of a visual throughout the bag and then on the other end you've got the Ping which is tried and tested and trusted you know you ain't going to go far wrong with those they perform incredibly well in each of the sort of areas that we've seen them out on the course today I just think two super options in terms of that forgiving iron category and definitely two of the best we've seen potentially two maybe the best two that I've seen in 2023 so far right that's me done as ever I'm going to finish by saying that we've got a new channel sponsor which is HotGolf you can buy both of those sets of irons from them and any support you can give them I would also appreciate as ever thank you for watching give me your comments down below I asked the question earlier or any of these two on the your agenda and as anything that you've seen in today's video pushed you one way or the other right as ever thanks for watching I'll see you all tomorrow night


Glory to Ukraine! Glory to Ukraine! Ukrainian soldiers fired a Soviet-made D-30 Howitzer at Russian units attempting advances north of Bakhmut on Saturday, May 6. Up to two Russian squads charged in the direction of Spurn, according to Vladislav Herman Kivsky, the artillery battery commander.  Russia's main mercenary group announced plans on May 5 to withdraw from the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, but Kiev said the fighters were reinforcing positions to try to seize it before Russia marks World War II victory day next week.