Mirasol inspections put on fast track

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Mirasol inspections put on fast track

San Express - San ,TX

Ron

Express-News

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA060807.03B.Mirasol

_Task_Force.36054c4.html

Just beyond its projected halfway point, a task force looking at

construction and possible health problems in homes in the Mirasol

subdivision has agreed to move rapidly on comprehensive inspections

for all 246 houses in the troubled project.

" Everyone is coming together, " Mirasol Task Force Chairman Gordon

Hartman said following Wednesday's meeting. " We've made a lot of

progress. We've approved the plan. We've got the inspections going.

We've done more in the last few weeks than was done in the past

seven years. "

The 11-member task force — created to resolve complaints about poor

construction, cracked foundations and illnesses residents say are

related to mold — agreed the homes of sick residents would be

inspected first. Repair work that had begun on some of the homes

will be suspended until the inspections are complete.

The process will employ standardized new-home inspection forms for

consistency and look at construction issues linked to health risks,

including areas of water intrusion and high humidity, gypsum board,

untreated wood and others.

So far, only nine people have accepted an offer for medical

examinations, too few to gauge whether their illnesses are out of

the ordinary for their ZIP Code.

Dr. Guerra, a task force member and director of the

Metropolitan Health District, said it's difficult to prove

scientifically that a particular ailment is caused by a particular

mold in a specific house, and that more evidence is needed.

Guerra did say that molds reported in the houses could affect

children who haven't built up any resistance or who are predisposed

to allergies or respiratory illnesses.

That prompted Mirasol resident Randy Zaragoza to quip, " I guess that

means that before anybody can move in they'll have to be both income-

AND mold-certified. "

Task force Vice Chairman Ralph Velasquez was charged with getting

the first inspections finished by next Wednesday's meeting, when

inspectors for the remaining houses would be hired.

Renters' representative Cirila Lozano rejected the suggestion that

some mold problems were due to housekeeping.

" I've lived in my house six years, " she said in Spanish. " I clean my

house. I change the (air-conditioning) filters every two weeks. When

I turn on the air conditioning my husband starts feeling bad

(coughing, etc.). In six years, SAHA (San Housing Authority)

hasn't done any maintenance on my air conditioner. "

Contreras — a representative of KB Home, which built the

Mirasol houses — said SAHA's maintenance of the homes could be a

problem that needs additional scrutiny.

He broached the issue with state legislators in March when residents

took their complaints to Austin, saying KB had to repair foundations

on empty houses SAHA owns at Mirasol due to a lack of maintenance.

Homebuyers' representative Battle asked Guerra whether the

chunks of asphalt residents have plucked from their yards could be

leaching harmful chemicals.

Guerra said it was possible and agreed to review environmental

reports on soil conditions.

The $48 million Mirasol Homes project — which was federally funded

and owned by SAHA — is spread over five West Side locations.

Completed in 2001, it included $21 million for 246 single-family

houses, 87 for public housing and 159 for sale to low-income

families. Today, 60 houses remain unsold.

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