CHARLESTON, W.Va. –
Work on one stick-built project and one mobile home replacement project are complete this week after the West Virginia National Guard’s Quality Assurance/Quality Control Team completed their final inspections. That brings the total number of completed cases to 49.
The RISE program marked a significant milestone this week as construction began for the Bridge program on one bridge in Roane County.
The number of outstanding Housing Program cases remains at 476 this week. The current breakdown of those cases by construction type are as follows: 244 cases require total reconstruction, 105 cases require some form of rehabilitation actions, and 113 cases require new mobile home replacement, while 12 cases are awaiting initial project type. Additionally, there are 41 other mobile home unit and reconstruction projects at varying points in the construction process and an additional 35 more projects will move into the construction phase within the next few weeks as notices to proceed were submitted last week.
West Virginia was recently placed back onto the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s slow spender list. This monthly CDBG-DR Grant Financial Report is released on the last week of the month for the previous month, and averages the grantee’s 3-month average spending. For West Virginia, our recent 3-month average was $603,824, which was largely due in part to significant weather conditions that limited our ability to complete construction projects in an expedited manner.
In order to be considered “on pace”, the program would need to spend greater than the monthly amount required to fully use the grant by the target closeout date. We expect the spending for the RISE program to increase exponentially as weather has cleared and we are starting the Bridge and Slum and Blight programs this month. There will also be increased throughput for our mobile home units, rehabilitations and reconstruction projects. It is anticipated that with this progress, the RISE program will be considered “on pace” with the June report from HUD.
"As the RISE program continues to move forward, there may be times when the spending will ebb and flow, placing us on and off the 'slow spender' designation by HUD," said Hoyer. "Since the West Virginia National Guard took over in June under the direction of Gov. Justice, there have been numerous staffing and internal processes and procedures implemented to ensure the RISE program is moving forward at a rapid pace. That momentum is going to continue as we move into the spring and summer, especially now that funding has been released for the Slum and Blight and Bridge programs, and we expect progress on the Riverview project and multi-family housing.”
Any families who feel they still have any unmet needs or who are looking for an update on their case are urged to contact the new VOAD office over the phone at 304-553-0927 or through email at DisasterRecovery@wv.gov. A hotline is also available for anyone needing to report fraud with regard to the RISE West Virginia program at 1-866-WVWATCH (1-866-989-2824).