NHA Board of Commissioners meet for September regular meeting, receive updates

By Rick Abasta
Navajo Housing Authority

FT. DEFIANCE

The NHA Board of Commissioners convened Sept. 26 for a regular meeting at the Development Construction Services Division.

The meeting was called to order at 8:16 a.m. and CEO Heather L. Duncan-Etsitty provided the invocation.

During announcements, she reported that NHA exceeded the Undistributed Fund Factor for the second consecutive year, this time by $4.4 million.

“HUD is going to be onsite on October 23 and we are one of four housing authorities that is selected for a visit,” Duncan-Etsitty said.

She provided the NHA Executive Branch report to the board, covering the work on vacant housing units, the UDFF, and attendance at agency council meetings.

“We need a close connection with chapter officials and the people,” said NHA BOC Chair Tammy Yazzie.

Duncan-Etsitty’s report included the Window Rock United School District tour of school property near the Bee Hó?dzil Fighting Scouts Event Center, which she said had water and electricity infrastructure in place.

“They were asking if NHA was interested in developing on some of their property,” she said.

The Aug. 2 meeting took place at the event center with Shannon Goodsell, the WRUSD superintendent.

BOC Vice Chair David Sloan asked if the school district was inquiring about the use of funding from NHA.

“There was no dialogue on funds, just the land availability,” Duncan-Etsitty said. “It’s a good area and it has a large building that needs to be demolished.”

Duncan-Etsitty’s report also included critical vacant positions that are being addressed by the human resources department, which is planning a study regarding the market rate for wages related to project managers and other positions.

“We recently met with Council Delegate Danny Simpson regarding stray dogs, burnout units, and trash issues,” she said. “We shared goals, and we are planning a site visit.”

Other issues covered during the meeting with Simpson included rural addressing, flood issues, street repairs, and the need for additional housing.

Chapter infrastructure needs

NHA’s memorandum of understanding with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is progressing and the next step is an in-person meeting with Jacob Pauley, the deputy district engineer for programs and project management at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers-Albuquerque District, to determine projects the Army Corps could support and the development of a 7600B task order for the work.

Duncan-Etsitty said NHA is also moving forward with an RFP for a chapter infrastructure needs assessment and 10 chapters have been selected for the proposal.

The chapters include Tuba City, Chinle, Ft. Defiance, Bodaway-Gap, and Piñon, Arizona; Navajo, Tohatchi, Shiprock, and Crownpoint, New Mexico; and Aneth, Utah.

NHA COO Ernest Franklin Jr. reported on a meeting with Bigwater Construction about partnering with the non-profit entity on developing housing units.

Franklin met with Bigwater Construction at the National American Indian Housing Council Convention in Hollywood, Fla., June 24-27, and shared the need for Navajo preference contractors in the Navajo Nation for housing construction and its supporting infrastructure.

“I told him about how NHA works with its contractors to optimize performance and profits. He’s now listed on NHA’s vendor preference list and is ready to bid on the next set of construction projects,” he said.

NHA also met with Native Partnership for Housing on Aug. 12 to establish a relationship to building housing units, according to Franklin.

“I met with Rollin Woods (the NPH executive director) and Priscilla Otero (the NPH COO) to discuss how NHA and NPH can work together to build houses,” he said.

Clear Water Construction, a construction partner with NPH, is currently developing housing and telecommunication systems in the Navajo Nation.

Franklin said NPH is interested in working with NHA for the development of modular housing development and other alternative building methods.

Other potential partnerships he reported on included Navajo Technical University, Native Land Construction and Consulting, and the Bitco Corporation.

Student housing at NTU

NTU representatives met with Franklin on Aug. 21 regarding the construction of new student housing and NHA granted planning funds for the beginning phase of development.

Franklin was joined by NHA Project Manager Ted Jensen and Compliance Coordinator Thomasita Morris for the meeting as they discussed the federal release of funds process, land surveying, environmental and archaeological reporting, and architect and engineering plans and specifications.

“NTU will inform their board and they previously asked NHA if the selected site was in a flood plain and we informed them that they needed a mitigation plan, so the site was moved to east of the campus,” Franklin said.

NTU hired Buffalo Designs to complete architect and engineering plans and Franklin provided it with the reimbursement requirements for the work.

Native Land Construction and Consulting specializes in home construction for residential commercial buildings. The company can partner with other general contractors and after registering with the NHA Procurement Department, it received an NHA award letter to participate in procurement.

“That’s two entities that are now listed (on Priority One procurement listing),” Franklin said.

Bitco Corp., the final potential partner, wasn’t feasible because the Navajo Nation recently awarded it two projects – one of them for the construction of 900 homes and the other to provide homes for veterans.

The company also uses modular home construction from manufacturers as its method of construction, which doesn’t conform to NHA requirements for stick-built construction with concrete foundation, Franklin explained.

“This relationship probably won’t work,” he said.

Indian Housing Plan priorities

NHA Chief Administrative Officer Terrilynn Cook reported on a meeting with administrative branch supervisors to provide updates on Indian Housing Plan priorities, budget expenditure and timelines, and human resources vacancies.

She said the branch also met with the procurement department to discuss the Buy America and Build America, or BABA, initiative for incorporation into NHA’s current standard operating procedures.

“As of today, HUD has not released any guidance on the applicable forms or standards that are required of tribally designated housing entities regarding BABA,” she said.

The board unanimously approved 10 NHA resolutions by a vote of 3-0-0.

One legislation was particularly historic, as it defined the agreement between two tribal enterprises to work together and address the housing need in the Navajo Nation.

Resolution No. NHA-5265-2024 was for approving the memorandum of agreement between NHA and Navajo Engineering and Construction Authority for the construction of selected projects slated on the approved annual Indian Housing Plan and related projects.

NHA hosted a signing ceremony between the two entities on Oct. 2, 2024.

Information: www.navajohousingauthority.org.

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