Home's not sweet for some military families

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Friday, October 15, 2004

http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/today/frontpage/stories/fr101504s2

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Home's not sweet for some military families

Problems plague housing

By Lynch

Poughkeepsie Journal

Karl Rabe/Poughkeepsie Journal

Paint flakes off asbestos siding at Terrace military housing

in New Windsor.

Karl Rabe/Poughkeepsie Journal

Asbestos siding is falling apart at a Terrace military

housing apartment in New Windsor.

NEW WINDSOR -- The shingles are broken and chipped. Mold grows in

the bathrooms, despite repeated applications of bleach and water.

They've been warned not to plant vegetables too close to the house

because of lead paint contaminating the soil. The families go

outside for a half hour after turning on the ovens because that's

how long it takes for them to ignite and the gas to dissipate. Milk

and cheese turn bad quickly in refrigerators that don't get cold

enough.

They've gone through the chain of command to make their requests for

improvement and to file their complaints, but they say the problems

persist.

Their landlord is not some slumlord. It's the U.S. government.

These are military families -- many of whom have members called to

active duty in Iraq -- living in Terrace, housing owned by

the Marine Corps Reserves, located off Route 207 in the Town of New

Windsor.

Venture expected

The military is aware of the problems and has put off some of the

work in anticipation of a public/private venture that would replace

the housing, according to May letters from Lt. Col. ,

the commanding officer of Marine Aircraft Group 49.

''It totally amazes me that we can live like this and it's OK,''

said Debra Pitcher, whose husband is in the Army and who has spoken

out about problems at the houses.

''It makes me angry,'' said Pitcher, who moved into Terrace

in February.

Pitcher's complaints are echoed by many of her neighbors, who told

their stories but declined to have their names published for fear of

a backlash from the military. They feared their husbands'

deployments may be lengthened or their careers be cut short.

''There's never, never been repercussions for anyone pointing out

health and safety concerns and there won't be,'' said.

He said many of the recent repairs and maintenance done on the

Terrace houses have been because he has advocated for the

service members and their family.

''I care about people,'' said. ''I'm going to do the right

thing by the residents.''

, who said he is pre-paring for retirement, lived in the base

housing with his family until about a month and a half ago.

The service members, said, ''fight and die for their country.

There is no reason for them to live in substandard housing.

The tenants argued the housing office is not given enough money to

meet their needs because the housing development is slated to be

privatized.

''We want to maintain a good quality of life,'' said

McKelvey, the housing director.

There are 299 houses at Terrace that were built in the

1960s. But only 104 are occupied, McKelvey said.

The families there are a mix of Army and Marines. The houses are

slated to be demolished in September 2005 and new homes built as a

part of a public/private partnership.

In the meantime, McKelvey is aware of the residents' concerns and

said he has taken steps to address many of the problems.

He said he recently received about $82,000 to replace the circuit

breaker boxes in all the occupied units. There have been ongoing

problems with those boxes. The other 20 or so boxes either have

already been replaced or are not faulty. The work is under way.

McKelvey also obtained $24,800 to clean the air ducts in about 40

occupied houses. That work is almost complete. But that will mean

ducts in all the occupied houses would have been cleaned within five

years.

''There are some minimal things that need to be done. I cannot fix

certain things if the buildings are going to be torn down in eight

months,'' said. ''I'm going to do the right thing by the

residents, and I have.''

In letters to Marine Corps headquarters, asked for funding to

make repairs, detailed how a sample of the occupied housing tested

for asbestos and lead and there are faulty electrical circuit

breakers in 229 of the houses.

Those letters, dated this spring, also pointed out the need to have

the air ducts cleaned.

''One can assume that many of the homes have 44 years of dust and

debris built up in the air ducts,'' 's letter said.

As for the lead, said: ''There are no houses that I'm aware of

where there are small children where the lead-based paint is really

a significant issue.''

Lawmakers' help is sought

Pitcher, who wrote to U.S. Rep. Sue , R-Katonah, and Sen.

Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., received letters from both offices saying

they would look into her concerns.

Something bluish-green is seeping through the paint in her dining

area. Pitcher doesn't know what it is, but worries it contains lead.

The wooden floor is sagging, the counter top is not level and one of

the kitchen cabinets is unstable. The heating grates are rusted and

can't be opened or closed. There's mold in the bathroom that,

despite her attempts to clean, comes back.

Pitcher's repeated complaints have won her a new stove and a

refrigerator.

But she hasn't stopped her campaign because many of her neighbors

have similar problems. She points to the cracked and peeling

asbestos siding on many of the houses and the lead paint outside and

most likely inside.

She points out the mold on the exterior of the houses and brings

people into her neighbors' homes to show the mold in there.

She's worried for the neighborhood children.

The families have been given informational sheets about lead paint

and asbestos in the houses.

According to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

in Atlanta, lead poisoning can cause learning disabilities,

behavioral problems, and, at very high levels, seizures, coma and

death.

It often goes undiagnosed because there are no obvious symptoms.

More than 434,000 children are affected, the agency said.

Asbestos was used as a fire retardant, but if it becomes airborne it

can cause serious health hazards, including scarring of the lungs

that will cause breathing problems.

Neither lead nor asbestos is harmful as long as it isn't breathed in

or ingested. A typical way of dealing with lead is to paint over it

to make sure it doesn't peel or chip off.

McKelvey said lead-based paint is prevalent in the houses -- inside

and out. Paint was scraped off the exteriors of the houses, which

were then repainted, he said.

Inside, the houses have been repainted and service members are urged

to call the housing office if they find chipped or peeling paint.

McKelvey said it's possible 12 of the occupied houses continue to

have issues with lead-based paint on the exterior.

''I've worked hard to make sure I get the funding to paint the

houses before a family moves in,'' McKelvey said.

Complaints listed

The residents say they've been told stoves and refrigerators don't

need to be replaced because they are not entirely inoperative. They

say unlike most tenants, they are responsible for their own pest

control, as well as minor repairs, such as broken screens and

windows and lawn care.

McKelvey said he used to take stoves and other appliances out of

unoccupied houses to replace broken ones, but after two years of

doing that there are no longer quality appliances left to be reused,

he said. He's replaced seven stoves in the last two months and about

15 hot water heaters.

Mold has been an issue since he took over as housing director more

than two years ago, he said.

''Bottom line is, if you clean the mold, it goes away,'' said

McKelvey, who added he hasn't seen mold that would require

professional attention.

Several of the families said they have repeatedly bleached the mold,

but it returns.

Pitcher and her neighbors want the public to know the conditions

they are living in while their husbands have agreed to put their

lives on the line for their country.

''They're nice little homes,'' Pitcher said. ''You could make a nice

little home here, but they (the military) won't let you.''

Often the families have lived in other military housing, some own

houses in their home states. In the Hudson Valley, they say they

don't have any other choice but military housing because they can't

afford to rent anything in the private market on their housing

allowance.

''You can't live outside (the military housing), " said Pitcher, who

has searched for non-military housing.

Allowance based on seniority

The soldiers' families get a basic housing allowance which is

determined by their rank, seniority, the base to which they are

assigned and whether or not they have dependents. They also receive

monthly pay.

Several of the women said their housing allowance was between $1,200

to $1,500 -- not enough to rent a house or apartment for them and

their children.

On top of that, they say when things break, they are expected to pay

to fix them out of their own pocket, as well as to pay for yard

supplies, such as grass seed -- atypical of many landlord/tenant

agreements.

''I'm not taking my grocery money and putting it in the grass,''

Pitcher said.

The housing guide provided to the families states the units will be

maintained ''equivalent to that provided by prudent management of

civilian rental housing of similar type and value.''

It warns of possible eviction if the grass is not properly maintain,

which makes Pitcher laugh ''when we're dealing with other such

important issues.''

Pitcher and the other families said the military housing is not

being held to the same standards as civilian housing.

While none of the problems can be dealt with individually, its the

cumulative effect that's troubling, Pitcher said.

''You put it all together and what do you get -- nuts,'' she said.

Lynch can be reached at llynch@...

Housing allowance

Service members' families get a basic housing allowance which is

determined by their rank, seniority, the base to which they are

assigned and whether or not they have dependents.

The allowance for this region ranges from $810 for an enlisted

person with one year seniority, no dependents, who is assigned to

Kingston. It jumps to more than $2,800 for an officer with

dependents with seven years of seniority assigned to West Point or

.

The monthly pay starts at about $1,086 for enlisted people with less

than four months of service up to about $5,000 a month for an

enlisted person with more than 26 years of service. Officers' pay

starts at about $2,300 a month.

-- Lynch