CHARLESTON, W.Va. –
June 4 marked the one-year anniversary of the West Virginia National Guard taking over flood recovery efforts in the state for the RISE West Virginia program at the direction of Governor Jim Justice.
During this time 50 homes and four bridges have been completed and 344 of the 433 cases will have been assigned to construction management within the next 30 days, once a solicitation for 36 reconstructions and 16 mobile home units are returned, which was submitted today through state purchasing.
This marks a significant milestone for the program as less than 100 cases remain unassigned to a contractor, which moves them into the construction management phase entailing permitting, inspections and asbestos abatement through the final inspection process for a home, once a notification to proceed is given.
“With the number of additional volunteer citizens coming into West Virginia for the summer to perform construction work in the RISE West Virginia program, the already assigned cases and the RFPs being executed, we will see significant move throughout the program and into the fall,” said Maj. Gen. James Hoyer, Adjutant General of the West Virginia National Guard.
Sub-recipient agreements for the West Virginia Housing Development Fund were executed during the timeframe that the Guard has been overseeing the program. This agreement allows for WVHDF to begin finding the 12 county analysis of multi-family housing needs and also to begin the process of solicitations for construction of multi-family housing units. Additionally, a sub-recipient agreement has been completed for the Riverview project, which continues to move forward.
In an effort to build resiliency for future disaster recovery, the program has begun the process for developing continuity books for application, management and administration of future Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) programs for the State of West Virginia.
Demolition for the Slum and Blight program is expected to begin on June 25, with the removal of 14 properties that are currently in the asbestos inspection and abatement phase. There are an additional 207 properties ready that are in the case management pipeline, of which 169 are ready for environmental review. The Slum and Blight program is still accepting applications in all counties affected by the 2016 flood.
This week, crews continue to make progress on the 25 homes that are in active construction for the RISE West Virginia program, and the three homes that are in the demolition phase. Of the 25 homes in construction, 17 are mobile home replacements, eight are reconstruction projects with an additional three demolition projects that will be reconstructions.
The number of outstanding housing program cases is 433. The current breakdown by construction type is as follows: 50 homes are complete, 266 cases require total reconstruction, 52 cases require some form of rehabilitation actions, 105 cases require new mobile home replacement, and 10 cases are awaiting initial project type and undergoing the damage assessment process. 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.