Residents left in a bind while agencies feud

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Repairs lag, yet rent's demanded

Residents left in a bind while agencies feud

By i Howk

Fort Pierce Tribune

Posted November 20 2005

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/palmbeach/sfl-

pblueroofs20nov20,0,2808065.story?coll=sfla-news-palm

Fort Pierce · Standing in her kitchen, Barber peered up at

the ceiling and pointed to two holes and peeling paint caused by a

leaky roof.

Barber is being evicted from the Garden Terrace public housing

development, run by the Fort Pierce Housing Authority, because she

owes more than $800 in rent accumulated since June.

Barber, 24, lives in the tiny apartment with her four young

children. She said she shouldn't have to pay rent because the

Housing Authority hasn't fixed her ceiling, which has been leaking

since her blue tarp blew off several months ago.

" I know they're not going to fix it because when my door was jammed,

it took two weeks for them to fix it, " Barber said. " But when you're

late on your rent, they're right on time. "

Barber is one of several dozen residents in Garden Terrace who still

have not received a new roof since last year's hurricane damage. And

now, after Hurricane Wilma, the delay to repair all the remaining

roofs is going to take until at least January, said Glaister ,

housing authority executive director.

Blue tarps used to cover most of the duplexes before Wilma hit. Now,

most of the tarps have blown off and are sitting on curbs waiting to

be picked up by garbage collectors.

More than 80 of the development's 186 units need new roofs after

last year's hurricanes, said. Residents whose homes were more

severely damaged received new roofs first and were provided with

trailers by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

said roof work on 10 of 13 public housing properties the

authority runs has been completed and contractors have been assigned

to fix the remaining roofs.

Monday was a sure sign that things might be looking up for most of

the residents in Garden Terrace, as a roofing crew was on duty

repairing a couple of roofs.

said the Housing Authority is trying to work as fast as it

can to repair the remaining roofs and fix mold problems that have

plagued some of the buildings, but disputes between FEMA and the

Department of Housing and Urban Development initially stalled

funding for the repairs for seven months.

" The two agencies couldn't agree on who should provide the funding

for hurricane damage, " said. " They went back and forth for

some time. We were at their mercy. "

In May, the authority received $4 million from HUD to cover roof

repairs for the 13 housing developments. said the money came

only after involving several area congressmen, who made phone calls

to Washington, D.C. The housing authority is waiting for another $2

million just to repair mold damage. In the meantime, said, he

has used some of the $4 million appropriated for roof repairs toward

fixing mold problems.

said the cost for a new roof per building is $8,000 and

another $8,000 for mold remediation.

Salina , 28, has been staying in her apartment instead of

her backyard FEMA trailer because she said it's too cramped for her

and her four children, Jarvis, 6, Jakari, 7, Ja-nia, 4, and Jacques,

1, and sister, Tijwana, 24.

Though 's roof was repaired in October, her apartment has

mold growing on the living room walls.

" They painted over the mold, but it keeps coming back, "

said, adding that her children have asthma. " I don't complain any

more because I get tired of going over there. They don't do much.

I've been spraying this mold for a year and it keeps coming back. "

Tinellia Marshall, 23, and her daughter, Antricia, 3, have been

without a tarp for more than a month. Marshall said her daughter's

closet had mold in it caused by leaks and she can't get rid of the

horrid smell. She said her daughter suffers from asthma and

bronchitis and doesn't understand why the government is taking so

long to repair the roofs.

" I called my mother and said, `Do you think they're doing this to us

because we're in low-income housing?' " she said.