$537,507 will go for roofs

HUD funds to be used for Meadowbrook housing complex

John Howell
Posted 2/17/15

The Warwick Housing Authority will receive a slightly bigger check from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development this year to help make improvements to its public housing …

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$537,507 will go for roofs

HUD funds to be used for Meadowbrook housing complex

Posted

The Warwick Housing Authority will receive a slightly bigger check from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development this year to help make improvements to its public housing complexes.

“It’s more than last year,” Housing Authority executive director Michael Lyckland said of the $537,507 the authority will get as part of the $12.5 million coming to the state from HUD’s Capital Fund Program. Last year, the amount was about $9,000 less.

“We have no idea what we’re going to get,” said Lyckland, “we hold our breath and hope for the best.”

Lyckland said the authority could always use additional funds to make ongoing repairs and upgrades to its six housing complexes with a total of 517 units.

He said this year’s money will go toward new roofs at the Meadowbrook Housing Complex on Warwick Avenue. He believes the roofs were last done in the 1980s.

“They’re at least 25 years old and two layers,” he said.

The work will be put out for bids and, depending on cost, may be done over more than one year. That has been the practice with major capital improvements: if there isn’t sufficient funding to complete the job in one fiscal year, it is carried over until the next. Either way, it seems from Lyckland’s description, there’s never enough funding to stay on top of all the projects.

There’s no let-up in the demand for housing, either. Lyckland said there are 345 names on the current waiting list. Eligibility for the federally financed housing is based on income, age and disability.

“There are different needs and requirements,” Lyckland said, urging people in need not to be discouraged by the length of the waiting list. He said in many cases people get a unit within a year of filing a request.

The HUD grants were announced last week, with the largest chunk of the funds allocated to the state going to Woonsocket Housing Authority at $1.8 million.

According to news reports, HUD reports that the nation is losing about 10,000 public housing units each year to disrepair. A 2011 study found that the nation’s 1.1 million public housing units faced $25.6 billion in major repairs.

The president’s 2016 budget requests $50 million for local housing authorities to help refinance the re-capitalization of more than 185,000 units and stimulate private investment, according to reports.

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