The Daily Nexus recently published an article about the temporary closure of a community conference room owned by Santa Barbara County. According to the article, the closure was the result of two water leaks that caused damage. One leak came from a faulty water pipe and the other due to a failed air conditioner condensation pump.
Restoration 1 Opens New 24-hour Office in Louisville, CO — PRUnderground
Industry: Home & Residential
Restoration 1 is excited to announce a new location opening in Louisville, CO, to help expand their reach with property restoration services in the surrounding area.
Waco, TX (PRUnderground) December 4th, 2019
Restoration 1 of Flatirons, located in Lafayette and Thornton, CO, has officially opened to the public and offers 24-hour property restoration services available immediately to the community.
Restoration 1 is the leading name in property restoration services. Their long-standing mission is to offer 24/7 water damage, fire damage restoration and mold remediation services to communities across the country. This latest office opening in Colorado means homeowners and local businesses now have a fighting chance against property damage of all types.
Restoration 1 of Flatirons is located in both Lafayette and Thornton. Both cities and their neighboring counties are home to countless residential neighborhoods and up-and-coming businesses hoping to make a name for themselves. The area is also home to severe weather. Colorado is no stranger to tornadoes, flooding, lightning, thunderstorms, blizzards and more throughout the year. These systems lead to significant storm damage.
Within the home, there is always the risk of water, fire or mold damage. A burst pipe, for example, will cause both water damage and mold growth. To adequately address such concerns, Restoration 1 of Flatirons opened its doors fully-equipped with advanced restoration equipment. They’re team consists of highly-trained, IICRC-certified technicians who know the area.
When your home or business is suffering from recent property damage, you want nothing but the best. The commitment and drive of Restoration 1 of Flatirons make them the best in the industry for reversing property damage of any scope. Like other locations, the new office in Flatirons offers a total satisfaction guarantee for all work. If you’re not satisfied with the results, the team will make it right. They won’t call it a day until every last instance of property damage is eradicated from your home or business.
Restoration 1 of Flatirons is proud to offer Colorado communities top-rated property damage restoration services. To take advantage of such high-quality service, please call 720-526-0217!
About Restoration 1
Founded in 2008, Restoration 1® is an award-winning franchise that specializes in a wide array of emergency mitigation, restoration, and reconstruction services. An industry innovator, the Texas-based company uses advanced technologies and tools to perform restoration for both residential and commercial properties that have been damaged due to water, smoke, fire, mold, storms and more. There are more than 120 locations throughout the U.S. with plans to expand to more than 500 locations nationwide in the next four years. For more information about Restoration 1®, visit http://www.restoration1.com.
source https://www.prunderground.com/restoration-1-opens-new-24-hour-office-in-louisville-co/00173404/
‘We Were All Sick:’ Military Families Take Housing Horror Stories to Capitol Hill — Military.com
Some brought their kids, who they said had been sickened by mold and pest infestations in their military housing — something they say has been ignored or begrudgingly addressed with sloppy maintenance by indifferent property managers.
Others brought nondisclosure agreements private housing companies wanted them to sign before they would listen to complaints.
They came from Fort Benning, Georgia; Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma; the Army‘s Presidio of Monterey, California; Dover Air Force Base, Delaware; Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia; and other installations to a Senate hearing room Tuesday on the off chance of telling their stories to top leadership.
The occasion was a rare gathering of all the service chiefs and secretaries to testify at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on the crisis in the construction and maintenance of privatized housing on military installations nationwide.
Related: Surveys Showing High Satisfaction with Military Housing Are Bogus, GAO Says
Afterward, several of the chiefs and secretaries lingered and heard the families explain their unwanted familiarity with «Stachybotrys,» a genus of toxic black mold that forms on water-damaged surfaces and can be inhaled.
«We were all sick,» Janna Driver, whose husband is now retired from the Air Force, said of the persistent mold in their former home at Tinker. Their daughter was hospitalized four times, Driver said, and she herself suffered bouts of dizziness and nosebleeds.
She consulted a pediatric pulmonologist for her daughter, who told her, «I’ll tell you right now your house is killing your daughter,» Driver said, adding that they went repeatedly to Balfour Realty, the property owner, to complain.
«They just plain don’t care,» she said.
Samantha Keller, whose husband is a Marine major, said she also battled mold so pervasive that it rotted away metal studs in the wall at their Presidio of Monterey home. The property manager wanted her to sign a nondisclosure agreement before agreeing to a cleanup, she said.
«We refused,» and the family is still involved in trying to resolve the issue since moving to Camp Pendleton, California, Keller said.
Air Force Master Sgt. Michael Johnson said his family had to move to hotels four times in 18 months while stationed at Dover Air Force Base because of water damage and mold.
«Every time, they refused to test for air quality» after discovering mold, Johnson’s wife, Kelly, said of the property managers. «That’s just the way it’s been.»
Heather Hall, who drove to the hearing from Fort Benning, said she faced a range of issues at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, where her husband was previously based. She added that the same problems with unfulfilled work orders followed the family to Benning.
Her husband is in the Special Forces and assigned to one of the Security Force Assistance Brigades, the highly trained units for assisting and advising local partner forces, but the family has decided to leave the military rather than continuing to deal with unresponsive property managers, Hall said.
«We’re just not happy,» she said. «He’s going to retire.»
Hall said it is her belief that Army leadership is falling short in oversight of the private housing companies. «They’re paying them; they need to be held accountable,» she said.
Shannon Razsadin, executive director of the Military Family Advisory Network, who attended the hearing, said she was encouraged by the pledges of corrective action from the service chiefs and secretaries, but added, «Families are still living in dangerous homes.»
«The families are being so brave,» but the stress on them «just really erodes trust» in the military as an institution, she said.
Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy, who stayed long after the hearing to listen to the families, told reporters that the problems stem from «an abdication of leadership over the last 10 or 15 years because we outsourced it» to the private companies.
«We didn’t have an aggressive management approach» in dealing with the firms, he said.
— Richard Sisk can be reached at Richard.Sisk@Military.com.
Read More: Raytheon Unveils Platoon-Sized Infantry Combat Simulator
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Sen. Wicker asks U.S. Air Force to prioritize Keesler housing issues — WLOX
“We continue to work with our privatized housing partners to respond to and resolve military housing issues in a transparent way. Our top priority is to provide a safe, secure and healthy environment for our Airmen and their families, so we welcomed the opportunity to show Secretary Barrett our privatized housing. The visit focused on local initiatives that the housing partners have implemented to improve maintenance procedures, as well as how we have incorporated leadership oversight and empowered our housing residents to address any safety and security concerns. Progress has been made, but there is still room for improvement. Keesler and Air Force leadership will continue to advocate for our Airmen and their right to safe, secure, and healthy living conditions.”
source https://www.wlox.com/2019/12/04/sen-wicker-asks-us-air-force-prioritize-keesler-housing-issues/
Sen. Wicker addresses Kessler AFB housing concerns | CNN — Index-Journal
U.S. Senator Roger Wicker stepped up to the plate today to dispute concerns over the military housing system at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi. Wicker, who is a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, asked the Secretary of the Air Force Barbara Barrett to address multiple concerns caused by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 that have had lasting effects. When the hurricane hit, Wicker says almost all of the housing units had to be replaced. Of the 1,118 units 1,084 have experienced mold and mildew. The mold and other damage followed issues with air conditioning systems and ductwork improperly installed by a private contractor. When the issues are addressed, Wicker said efforts often fail to fix the problems and can disrupt the lives of service members for weeks at a time and the repair timelines are often extended multiple times before work is complete. Wicker met with Barrett when she visited Keesler Air Force Base last week and cited in her opening statement to the committee an example of families being displaced as many as four times in recent years. Wicker said, «Why the multiple instances, and you mentioned a family that had to leave their residence four times and the problem still hasn’t been solved. Why is it that the remediation is often not getting done. Many of our troops are asked to move out to hotels because there’s not adequate housing for them to be in. One troop said he had to be out by 11 a.m. and then midafternoon as he sat in his car, he was told ‘It would be another two weeks you have to move back in.’ This is called being jerked around by the system.” Wicker also asked Barrett to consider changing the statute for service members’ basic allowance for housing to account for higher homeowner insurance costs on the Coast. The Air Force secretary committed to working with the committee to fix the issues at Keesler and other bases.
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Hurricane repair costs at Bay County Sheriff’s Office double, nearing $1 million — WJHG-TV
BAY COUNTY, Fla. (WJHG/WECP) — County officials say the cost of repairs at the Bay County Sheriff’s Office has doubled, totaling about $1 million.
Repairs at the BCSO will now total about $1 million. (WJHG/WECP)
On Tuesday, Bay County commissioners approved work for additional repairs at the sheriff’s office.
Initially they were expected cost about $500,000.
Now, after the discovery of more mold damage, those repair costs have doubled.
«Of course a lot of this is post-storm hurricane damage to the building. You know it was like everything else, you know, I think they lost roof panels and stuff like that so they had a lot of water intrusion and that’s what we’re doing, we’re trying to fix it back up,» said Commissioner Tommy Hamm.
Hamm says the county will seek reimbursement from FEMA for the repairs.
Copyright 2019 WJHG. All rights reserved.
MacDill families file federal lawsuit over mold problems at base housing — Tampa Bay Times
TAMPA — Five military families filed a federal lawsuit this week against owners and managers of private housing at MacDill Air Force Base, alleging years of negligence in persistent problems with mold throughout the buildings.
The families seek damages for emotional, financial and medical costs associated with mold exposure and other medical concerns. The lawsuit is the latest among several suits filed against military housing landlords across the country.
RELATED: Defense budgets include protections for military families fighting mold contamination
The Tampa lawsuit alleges that property owners and managers rejected families’ concerns over mold exposure, performed shoddy remediation efforts, and failed to share results of their testing for mold. In at least one house, the mold went untreated for so long that mushrooms grew out of the floor, according to the suit.
The defendants have been aware of the problems since 2016 or earlier, said Natalie Khawam, representing the MacDill families through her Whistleblower Law Firm. The families trusted that their landlords would provide mold-free living environments and would deal with any problems, Khawam said.
It was years before they pursued legal action, she said.
“Most military families are not litigious,” Khawam said. “They were left with no resort but to push a lawsuit.”
Khawam represents military families in other states facing similar concerns. The MacDill lawsuit lists five families as plaintiffs but Khawam knows at least a dozen more with the same problems, she said.
More than 54 percent of service members surveyed at MacDill said they had experienced problems with mold, according to a May report.
Health consequences have included skin rashes and lung damage.
Special Forces Officer Jason Norquist was pulled from his six-month deployment because of respiratory problems that developed while he lived in MacDill housing with his family in 2018, according to the lawsuit. His wife and children also developed health problems. The Norquist family now lives in North Carolina, Khawam said.
Property managers and owners of private homes at MacDill don’t disclose previous mold problems when they move new families into homes, the lawsuit said. They also fail to fully share information once tests are conducted, the lawsuit said. Some families paid for third party examiners to do more comprehensive testing.
When landlords did conduct thorough remediation, the work displaced families for weeks at a time at a cost they bore, according to the lawsuit. In a number of cases, the mold was merely painted over and infected household belongings had to be thrown out, the lawsuit said.
In addition, property managers and owners waited until residents spoke up before addressing problems they already were aware of, the lawsuit said.
Defendants in the case include property owners AMC East Communities and Clark Realty Capital, and property manager The Michaels Organization and its subsidiaries Interstate Realty Management Co. and Michaels Management Services.
Ron Hansen, president of the Michaels Organization, declined to comment Tuesday, saying he needed to review the lawsuit.
RELATED: MacDill penalizes base housing operator over mold as Bilirakis launches congressional inquiry
MacDill families and others filing suit over mold also hope for a longer-term solution — a provision of the National Defense Authorization Act that would protect military families from negligent landlords, including a tenant bill of rights.
Khawam is speaking with Florida members of Congress, including Rep. Kathy Castor and Sens. Marco Rubio and Rick Scott, to seek their support for the measure.
Armed Services Committees in both the House and Senate planned to meet this week with top military brass and private landlords to discuss military housing conditions.
Bio Clean of Utah Announces the Completion of a Holladay Utah Mold Removal Job — StreetInsider.com
[unable to retrieve full-text content]Bio Clean of Utah Announces the Completion of a Holladay Utah Mold Removal Job StreetInsider.com
Mold, rats, and rot: Senators slam ‘slum lords’ for conditions at private housing on military bases — Washington Examiner
Members of the Senate Armed Services Committee today blasted private military housing companies for behavior equivalent to that of “slum lords.”
Civilian and uniformed military leaders testified before the committee in response to a Government Accountability Office report that found problems in the Pentagon’s oversight of private housing for its personnel. Military families around the country have reported problems with the housing, including rampant mold, rat infestations, and rotting walls and floors.
“As someone who served myself, this pisses me off. What you endure is hard enough,” Arizona Republican Sen. Martha McSally said during the hearing.
“Maybe some of the CEOs need to move into some military housing over the holidays, what do you guys think about that?” McSally added, drawing applause from military families in the audience. “And see how they feel about trying to figure out where they’re going to put up their Christmas tree or where they’re going to be serving Christmas dinner.”
The senator compared the actions of the housing companies to those of “slum lords.”
Some families’ complaints have been ignored, according to Virginia Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine, who on Monday visited two communities accompanied by Secretary of the Army Ryan McCarthy.
“In one house, we saw a family who were repeatedly told that they didn’t have a mold problem,» Kaine said. «The husband has some carpentry skills, and he could remove some molding around a shower and find that no, indeed there was mold. And so he was being told there wasn’t a problem when there was.”
Even after the problem was discovered, the family couldn’t get a response from the housing company until they threatened to move out.
“And then the housing company jumped into action, maybe because there was going to be a financial consequence if they moved out,” Kaine said.
Several military families have suffered serious health problems as a result of poor housing conditions. Some have pursued legal action, including five families that lived in private housing on MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida. Their lawsuit details gruesome conditions, including untreated mold that sprouted mushrooms and rotting walls. It alleges that these conditions have caused severe health problems, including lung and neurological damage.
In April, the newly retired head of U.S. Central Command, Gen. Joseph Votel and his wife filed a lawsuit for damages they said were caused by privatized housing companies and their contractors.
The GAO report found that the Pentagon has failed to properly exercise its authority over private housing. Performance metrics set by the Department of Defense have not brought results.
“For example, a common measure is how quickly the private partner responded to a work order, not whether the issue was actually addressed,” the report found.
Data collected on home maintenance was not reliably or consistently obtained, the GAO concluded, finding and that some data in reports to Congress are “unreliable and may be misleading.”
Park City, Utah Mold Testing And Removal Specialists Share Details On Recent Project — StreetInsider.com
[unable to retrieve full-text content]Park City, Utah Mold Testing And Removal Specialists Share Details On Recent Project StreetInsider.com
Damage Mold 