Hunter holds housing town hall, requests community feedback

By Patrick YoungOctober 10, 2019

Hunter holds housing town hall, requests community feedback
Fort Stewart-Hunter Army Airfield Public Affairs Officer Chris Fletcher opens the Hunter Army Airfield housing town hall meeting, Oct. 8 at the Hunter Chapel. The event, supported by garrison staff and Balfour Beatty Communities, was live streamed o... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

Hunter Army Airfield Garrison Commander, Lt. Col. Dave Escobar hosted the third in a series of housing town hall meetings at the Hunter Post Chapel Oct. 8.

The event, supported by garrison staff and Balfour Beatty Communities, was live streamed on Fort Stewart-Hunter's Facebook site, and provided community members an opportunity to learn about ongoing efforts to improve housing on Hunter and provide feedback to installation leadership.

Escobar said since the housing issue surfaced in February, the installation has visited each of the on-post housing units, which helped generate around 100 work orders. He said while those were addressed and progress continues they still need community member's feedback.

He said the last survey Hunter released identified three issues including appliances, parking and moving. He said the feedback helped make immediate improvements. He said broken appliances would be replaced. He said to address parking, a fresh coat of curb-side painting would help better identify no-parking areas. And to facilitate the moving process, the Directorate of Public Works Housing and BBC had three inspections to provide quality assurance.

The garrison commander reiterated the importance of feedback noting two other issues came to his attention through the process - landscaping and recycling. He said BBC has hired more employees and is working on improving landscaping. But for recycling, it was about getting the word out. He clarified recycling, for Hunter, was on Monday and trash pickup on Tuesdays.

One of the issues voiced in previous town halls was a plan to replace 170 roofs in Wilson Acres by May 2020. Escobar said the installation was on the glide path noting about 72% of the roofs were upgraded to metal roofs. He also said they were about 38% complete in upgrading the houses to cordless blinds.

Representatives from BBC followed the commander and explained their efforts to improve the work-order process and customer service. They said, through use of the BBC housing app - Rent Café, community members could either pay their bill, initiate or check on an existing work orders, or learn more about upcoming housing events. The work order management number at Fort Stewart is 912-408-2467. The 24-hour maintenance number is 912-408-2466. The work order management and maintenance number at Hunter is 912-459-2147. Hunter Family Homes is 912-459-2133.

Community members were reminded the work order process has three categories routine work orders would be responded to within 48 hours; urgent work orders within four hours, and emergencies within 30 minutes.

Hunter's BBC housing manager, J.D. Miller said they were also working on upgrading the Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems. He also said they were trying to coordinate with other agencies like the Directorate of Morale, Welfare and Recreation and Army Community Services to conduct more activities in the community.

"We are planning on a Family Fun Day, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Oct. 26 at the New Gannon Community Center," Miller said. "And in November, CEL and Associates will be sending out a new survey asking community members for their feedback.

Community members are encouraged to contact their housing representatives first; but if they feel something isn't being addressed by the local or regional levels, they have another venue. The hotline phone number is 767-5770. The email hotline is usarmy.stewart.usag.mbx.fsga-haaf-housing-support@mail.mil.