Eglin receives stimulus money to upgrade housing

Published March 3, 2009
By Staff Sgt. Mike Meares
Team Eglin Public Affairs

EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- Eglin officials have won a decisive battle to improve the substandard nature of the military family housing units here.

The Department of Defense has awarded Eglin more than $1.1M to upgrade more than 420 units for Super Change of Occupancy Maintenance projects, with an additional $150,000 to install three new playgrounds throughout housing.

"This influx of stimulus dollars will help us to keep our homes sustainable while we navigate toward housing privatization, which will ultimately afford us the best housing solution for our airmen, soldiers, sailors and Marines," said Col. Dennis Yates, 96th Civil Engineer Group commander. "While the upgrades we are making may seem comparatively small, they will make great strides toward improving livability and appearance. Three new playgrounds will also give our children a fun and safe place to play."

As the Air Force's standard for housing has increased, Eglin's housing has struggled to keep pace as a result of maintenance funding cuts and the old age of the majority of the 2,359 homes here. Most of Eglin's military family homes were built in the 1940s and 50s. As part of the initiative, the ongoing demolition of 1,019 homes has been underway since 2007, leaving 1,340 homes on the inventory.

"People are talking with their feet," said Jane Barnes, 96th CEG chief of resources. "They are taking their (basic allowance for housing) and going downtown."

As military families come and go from units in base housing, civil engineers conduct change of occupancy maintenance. This scheduled maintenance cleans or changes out the carpet, repairs any damage to the home and prepares it for the next family to move in. It is estimated to take anywhere from $3,000 to $5,000 to makes these standard repairs.

Under the SuperCOM concept, houses will get face lifts ranging from $12,000 to $20,000 during the COM process. The houses are set to get new carpet and/or tile, light fixtures, blinds, faucets, ceiling fans, paint and new interior doors and door hardware. The base has just received funding to initiate some of these improvements in Hidden Oaks, Capehart and Poquito Bayou housing areas. These units will get new light fixtures, ceiling fans and blinds paving the way for the full blown SuperCOM when the house becomes vacant. These additional items will provide some minor enhancements for the occupants and are items that can more easily be accomplished while the unit is occupied.

"We started this journey in 2002 and we are just not there yet," Mrs. Barnes said. "We have had to deal with hurricanes and soaring costs for construction, insurance and taxes over the past few years."

Mrs. Barnes also spoke about the rise and fall of the local housing market since the housing privatization initiative began in 2002 at Eglin.

"All these obstacles lead to the demise of our first housing privatization initiative," she said. "By the time we got to the drawing board, no one wanted to compete for the project as it was not cost feasible."

During a visit to one of the newly SuperCOM renovated houses, Colonel Yates was thoroughly impressed by the upgrades. The three-bedroom house received new carpet, tile, light fixtures, paint, blinds, doors and ceiling fans. A sliding glass door was replaced by a set of French doors leading to the back screened-in porch.

"I'd live here," he said. "You can't really tell how old the house is while inside it. It looks like a modern house."

The National Defense Authorization Act of 1996 provided the Department of Defense with authority to enlist the help of the private sector to build new and/or renovate existing housing units through a process of housing privatization. The Air Force is privatizing housing to improve quality of life for Air Force families. Privatization would provide airmen quality, affordable housing in approximately half the time it could be achieved through the traditional military construction process. The goal of privatization is to use the private sector housing developers and contractors to either renovate existing housing units or demolish existing units and build new ones, including the utilities, roadways and community services needed to support such developments.

More than 75 percent of the original housing units on Eglin do not meet current Air Force housing standards. Privatization would allow the Air Force to provide quality housing to its service members in a timely manner, at lower cost to taxpayers.

Currently, family housing occupancy is 84 percent, up from 65 percent at the end of 2008. The civil engineer group's goal is to get the housing occupancy percentage back up to 98 percent, and they believe the SuperCOM renovations are a step in the right direction to making the homes at Eglin better for Airmen.