Haven Agency, HUD Take On Mold Issue

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Haven Agency, HUD Take On Mold Issue

Lakeland Ledger - Lakeland,FL

By Merissa Green

http://www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?

AID=/20070304/NEWS/703040412/1004

WINTER HAVEN - In its ongoing effort to remove its troubled agency

status, the Winter Haven Housing Authority worked with federal

Department of Housing and Urban Development officials last week to

resolve a mold complaint that surfaced late last year.

HUD's Recovery and Prevention Corps team was on site to review the

performance of the agency and its subsidized-housing program.

Deric Feacher, the interim Housing Authority director, said the

board asked him to discuss a mold complaint with the HUD team that

was brought up by a contractor who was doing work for the Housing

Authority.

" If there's mold, our objective is too make sure the residents live

in safe and secure conditions, " he said.

" I made a decision we would do site testing of different units, " he

said. " (HUD) didn't mandate for us to test all of the units. "

But Feacher then waffled, saying he would wait on the HUD officials'

report of their visit before deciding whether to recommend testing

the sites affected by hurricane damage and fire a couple of years

ago.

Before his departure in January, former Housing Authority Director

Mack Horne had tried to get a handle on the complaints about the

mold. Horne resigned under pressure from HUD officials who were

unhappy with his management of the agency.

Horne's dealings with HUD about the mold problem were captured in e-

mails they exchanged.

In a Dec. 15, 2006, e-mail sent to Horne, HUD official

said the Miami HUD office received complaints regarding mold in

units, and some of the units required treatment.

" After the three hurricanes in August/September of 2004, the newly

vacated units were locked up with all of the personal belongings

still inside and the units were basically abandoned, " wrote.

" Not until March 2006, did the (Housing Authority) commence emptying

out these abandoned units of personal belongings and appliances, " he

wrote. " As a result of all this inaction, the mold was allowed

potentially to affect the health and safety of the tenants. "

instructed the Housing Authority to test all 229 apartments and

properly treat the units that tested positive for mold.

Then Horne received a Dec. 21, 2006, e-mail from HUD's deputy

director, Porath in Ohio, about the mold issue.

In his letter, Porath gave the Housing Authority 90 days to correct

the situation. If it wasn't corrected, curing the mold would become

part of the memorandum of understanding agreement, he said. That

agreement establishes requirements for the Housing Authority to fix

the problems that have earned it the " troubled agency " status.

In his Dec. 18, 2005, response to , Horne said he was concerned

about any tenant who may be living in a unhealthy environment. He

also said that both sides needed to immediately verify and take care

of any health hazard for the units referred to in the complaints.

The e-mails said Horne did not know which units were subject to

complaint because of what he called a lack of and erroneous

information from HUD.

Horne also questioned conclusions made about the problems

linked to hurricane damage, which according to the maintenance

supervisor was not true.

" I believe that further scrutiny will continue to call your broad

summary of events into question, " Horne wrote in his e-mail. " But

again, before we embark on time-consuming tangents, please forward

copies of the referenced complaints so that we can immediately

address the needs of the specific tenants. "

Horne never got copies of the complaints, and in a Dec. 28 Housing

Authority Board meeting, he informed board members that his request

for copies of the complaints had been ignored.

He also told board members that it would be costly to treat all 229

units and attention should be directed towards the original tenant

complaints first.

When the Housing Authority got bids for mold testing, it discovered

that it would cost from $45,000 to $114,000, Feacher said.

In a Thursday meeting with the HUD team, Housing Authority Board

Chairman Burnham and Feacher talked with officials about their

visit.

" We discussed the things we needed to have a quality agency, "

Burnham said. " Training is the key to that. We discussed ways for

our agency to get on the same pages as HUD and (its) requirements. "

One of those requirements include filing a monthly report.

According to a memorandum of understanding, the reports are due on

the 15th of each month, and HUD's response to the report is due on

the first of the following month.

Before Horne left, he filed the Jan. 15 report, but HUD has not

provided the critique it is supposed to give in response.

" I was disappointed that we didn't receive the response because we

anticipated the response, " Burnham said.

Feacher said HUD officials waived the deadline for submitting the

Feb. 15 report. He also said the team on site said that the terms of

the memorandum of understanding are negotiable as long as its

communicated with HUD's RPC team in advance.

The crisis for Horne began when HUD Miami Director Cato-

made a plea to Winter Haven officials to fire Horne and replace the

board because of the ineffective management of the agency.

A meeting with , the city's staff and Housing Authority

officials resulted in an ultimatum that HUD would not approve the

redevelopment of Orrin Circle if Horne continued serving as

executive director, Burnham has said.

Horne mutually agreed with the Housing Authority's board to end his

employment and received a three-month severance package.

Merissa Green can be reached at merissa.green@... or 863-

401-6968.