The concerns encompassed questions about the prioritization of applications according to the severity of housing conditions; concerns related to the master priority list encompassing the entire Community rather than just one District; housing committees not being informed about the status of housing lists; application dates versus completion dates; and concerns that District’s determination of severity of need were being ignored.
As related to the prioritization of applications, Mawson reported, in keeping with Council direction to construct elder disabled applicant homes first, and said that it was necessary to merge the priority list of all seven districts into one master list. The merging was done by assembling all the priorities that had been presented by the Districts and then prioritizing them by application date—essentially the highest priority with the oldest application dates.
Mawson also elaborated on the comments made about lower priority applicants receiving homes before elders, disabled and special needs. He said in order to avoid this possibility all the elder applications and all the disabled applications across the Community were placed above other categories.
DCH addressed their communication with the Districts concerning application updates. Mawson said that the master list was sent to the Districts to make sure home sizes and income levels were appropriate so guidelines would be met. He said D5 sent back a reprioritized list with about four additional applicants. While aware of D5’s concerns about wanting to move those applicants forward, they began to expedite the next round of projects which were intended to go in Feb. now scheduled for a mid-Nov. start date.
Another concern was the recognition of application dates versus completion dates. DCH does not really know when the applications were started, until they receive the application as complete. That is the date that is recognized during sorting.
Severity of need was also addressed as Mawson said that each application had an assessment from building safety. A determination was then made as to the conditions and circumstances surrounding that particular home.
Currently DCH is in position to bid out 59 homes. The notice went out for bid during the week of the meeting and a contractor is likely to begin construction in mid to late Aug. The next round of homes would include approximately 70 houses more.
Another issue DCH addressed related to the integrity of the structures themselves and building safety. Mawson indicated that incidents have occurred in the past after touring sites and that they take steps to rectify construction and that they also follow up on homes after the warranty period.
The application process was stalled as RHIP was temporarily suspended but it has since been reinstated with the establishment of the Quality Assurance Team. “I’m pushing to get housing for D5,” said Gov. William R. Rhodes during the meeting. “Before the end of the year you should have your homes.”
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