Housing authority awards contract
The Fayette County Housing Authority board of directors awarded a $829,000 general construction contract to low bidder Zervos Construction on Thursday to perform renovations to scattered-site public housing on Coolspring Street in Uniontown. For the same location upgrade, the board also awarded a $48,436 electrical work contract to low bidder James Electric and a $27,383 plumbing contract to low bidder Pine Hollow Mechanical Inc.
On a separate issue, the board awarded a $32,000 contract to low bidder L. Robert Kimball Associates to perform lead-based paint inspections and risk assessments.
The board also took action on the following fronts:
– It authorized Executive Director Thomas L. Harkless to enter into a fixed-price agreement for natural gas for a contract term of one to three years, after staff has obtained a minimum of three price quotes. Harkless said the move is the best way for the authority to lock in the most favorable energy rate, as suppliers are unwilling to bid on supplying natural gas for any shorter of a term.
The authority noted that since January 2001, the price of natural gas has fluctuated from a low of $3 per MCF to a high of $12 per MCF.
– It agreed to write off $19,458.19 as a collection loss from vacated tenant accounts, for the three-month period covering April 1 through June 30. Department head Dennis Barclay noted that this figure is a 23 percent drop from the same period last year.
“The managers did a fine job (keeping losses down),” said Barclay, who under questioning noted, “I’ve evicted people for (nonpayment of) 62 cents.”
– It approved an agreement to rent vacant units at the White Swan Apartments and Marshall Manor to Fayette County Community Action Agency Inc., which will provide health-related services to residents at those elderly housing facilities. Department head Dave Huston said Community Action would run satellite offices at both sites, offering services such as health screenings, exercise programs, nutrition education and flu clinics.
Harkless said the authority would rent the space to Community Action for $150 per month, or $1,800 per year. Board Chairman Kenneth L. Johnson stressed, “We’re not involved in the funding for this,” which will be the domain of Community Action.
– It heard from Harkless that for the second year in a row, the authority received two awards from the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials (NAHRO). One was for improving its Section 8 utilization rate from 80 percent to 97 percent, while the other was for the development of manager/maintenance teams in its property management, said Harkless.
Harkless said he hopes to capture future awards on the housing development side of the operation, where the authority is aggressively pursuing a strategy to reinvent itself by reconfiguring the type of housing it offers and is moving into homeownership initiatives.
Board members Johnson, the Rev. Howard E. Dantzler Sr., Beverly Beal and Nancy Sutton attended Wednesday’s meeting. Board member Angela M. Zimmerlink was absent.