CHARLESTON, W.Va. –
This week, crews are continuing work towards completion of seven homes that are in active construction. One home passed final inspection by the West Virginia National Guard Quality Assurance/Quality Control team, bringing the total number of completed homes to 50.
Also this week, West Virginia Volunteer Organizations Active in Disasters (VOAD), who oversee case management for the RISE West Virginia program, added an additional 31 cases to the program, increasing the total to 496 cases. In an effort to maximize program participation for West Virginia flood victims, the intake process remains open and VOAD continues to research more than 1,300 cases that were previously closed out.
Hoyer provided an update this week to the Joint Legislative Committee on Flooding, outlining the progress that has been made in the nearly 12 months since the WVNG took over the RISE program. He outlined the progress of the housing program, intake process, Slum and Blight, Bridge Program and construction management. By the end of June, it is expected that more than 300 cases in the program will have been assigned to a contractor or under a request for proposal (RFP) with a contractor, and that there will be a plan in place for the remaining 200 cases. Information and reports submitted to the committee are available at: www.wvlegislature.gov/committees/interims/committee.cfm?abb=JLCF
There are 72 other reconstruction and mobile home unit replacement projects at varying points in the initial construction phase, including environmental permitting and inspections. An additional six projects received homeowner agreement contractor signatures this week, while there are 27 other projects awaiting signed homeowner agreements.
Work on the first Bridge Program project in Roane County will be finished by early next week, marking the first completed project in the program. There remain an additional eight bridges ready for construction and 29 other bridges ready for design. Work is expected to begin on the second bridge in Nicholas County within the next two weeks.
There are currently 18 projects in the final stages of the environmental review process for the Slum and Blight program. It is expected that demolition on these projects could begin as early as next week, once the environmental reviews are complete. There are an additional 139 projects currently in the Slum and Bligh program, 129 of which are ready for the environmental review process. An additional 28 projects are in the case management process pipeline for removal that are considered an “imminent threat" from the county or municipality, meaning those properties pose a threat to the health and safety of the public. These projects will move from the “imminent threat” phase to the environmental review process before demolition can begin. The Slum and Blight program is still accepting applications in all counties affected by the 2016 flood.
The number of outstanding Housing Program cases is 496 this week. The current breakdown by construction type is as follows: 50 homes are complete, 259 cases require total reconstruction, 99 cases require some form of rehabilitation actions, 110 cases require new mobile home replacement, and 28 cases are awaiting initial project type and undergoing the damage assessment process.
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).