March 29, 2007 — A federal official in charge of the V.I. Housing Authority for the past 15 months said there are no plans as of yet to sell off the recently emptied seaside Nicasio Nico Housing Community on St. Croix.
Michael Hollis, the federal receiver in charge of the authority, said this during questions at the end of a teleconferenced joint territorial board meeting Thursday morning. During the meeting, directors of the major divisions within the housing authority gave upbeat progress reports and took questions from the handful of citizens and media people attending on each island.
“I believe people who live in public housing have a right to live on the water, by the seashore. There are all kinds of rumors that we are selling this or selling that. We’ve made no decision; and when we do, we will announce it and meet with the tenants,” said Hollis.
Hollis said they concluded Nicasio Nico was unsafe in hurricane season because of damage it sustained in hurricanes Marilyn and Hugo.
“After Katrina, we thought it more prudent to get our people out of harm’s way ahead of hurricane season,” said Hollis, expounding that every former resident had new housing and was satisfied. While they have not decided what they will do, they have decided the building should not be renovated again.
“Any plan would involve a new structure,” Hollis said.
Asked to estimate how long the housing authority would remain in receivership, Hollis was vague, saying that in three to five years they would likely begin to establish a timeline for turnover.
When asked if he would appear any time soon before the V.I. Legislature, Hollis said he has a good working relationship with the Legislature, pointing to joint projects financed with their help. Pressed again on whether he would appear before the Legislature, Hollis again changed the subject to overall cooperation with the Legislature rather than provide a direct answer.
During the section reports, Housing Operations and Resident Services Director Wayne Hood said the authority had rehabilitated over 135 unused housing units, increasing the space available for those who need public housing. Hood pointed to pest-control efforts, abandoned car removal, preventive maintenance and groundskeeping improvements as his major accomplishments to date.
“This is the first time in V.I.H.A. history that every public housing unit has been treated for pests,” said Hood.
“With the help of the police department," Hood said, "we have removed over 400 cars in the past year.”
Hood also trumpeted the adoption of an admissions and continued-occupancy policy that aims to promote family self-sufficiency and improve services. Part of that lease policy includes conducting annual criminal background checks on residents.
Housing Choice Voucher Program Director Adrienne Williams said over the past year more than 215 families had leased units with housing vouchers, with $10 million allocated for housing vouchers benefiting 1,469 families.
Modernization and Development Director Lydia Hughes said her division had 103 vacant units in the process of being renovated. Hughes also itemized completed structural repairs at a half-dozen facilities, work in progress at a half-dozen more, and a dozen projects still in the planning stage.
The single biggest ongoing project is the installation of new water lines and meters in Williams Delight, being done for the housing authority by the Water and Power Authority at a cost of $1.1 million. Many of the planned projects are for new children’s playgrounds.
Chief Financial Officer Richard Betz said there were now strict financial controls in place, including monthly financial reconciliations and separation of duties to ensure no one person has unobserved control over cash. Betz also said vendors are being paid faster than before receivership. “It’s our policy to pay all vendors within 30 days,” said Betz.
“It has been in place and adhered to. And we are talking to vendors about the possibility of a discount for early payment,” he added.
During the question period, an audience member on St. Thomas asked each director to name their biggest challenge or problem.
Williams cited the lack of affordable housing as the biggest challenge facing the housing voucher program. “We issue 1,500 vouchers in a year and families search for homes they can afford with the vouchers and end up over the 120 days they are given to use the voucher,” said Williams.
Betz cited a grab bag of auditing issues as his burden. “It is imperative we get at least monthly financial statements and get an automated accounting system in place,” said Betz.
“I want to go further to be able to pull out information and get it down to all levels, so every office can access and see in real time what is happening. We need rapid movement of all documents to the right destinations and with clear accountability. Lastly we need good accounting software,” said Betz.
Hughes said the age of the public housing buildings was her biggest challenge. “The buildings are just too old. It’s very costly to do major renovations,” said Hughes.
Hood pointed to decaying infrastructure. “My biggest challenge by far is the plumbing infrastructure on both islands,” said Hood. “We are establishing preventive measures, such as regularly putting enzyme tablets into manholes to break up grease. We are also looking to local government for help setting up a semiannual cleanout of the plumbing infrastructure,” said Hood.
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