Garrison leadership to host virtual housing town hall

By Brian HillDecember 1, 2020

Garrison leaders to host housing town hall
Fort Leonard Wood Soldiers and their families are invited to attend a virtual town hall to discuss housing. The event will begin at 6 p.m. Wednesday and will be livestreamed through Facebook. (Photo Credit: File photo) VIEW ORIGINAL

FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. — Fort Leonard Wood garrison leaders are inviting Soldiers and their families to attend a virtual town hall to discuss housing. The event will begin at 6 p.m. Dec. 21 and will be livestreamed through Facebook at www.facebook.com/groups/672741406696528 — anyone wishing to participate should click “Join Group” on the page.

According to Col. Jeff Paine, U.S. Army Garrison Fort Leonard Wood commander and host of the event, the intent is to provide an internal forum for installation leaders to personally connect with Soldiers, Army families and other residents of Fort Leonard Wood to help ensure safe, quality family housing is being provided.

“One of my most important roles is making sure we’re keeping the promises made to our service members and their families when it comes to providing the best housing possible,” Paine said. “These town halls serve as a vital role in taking care of our people — we want to hear from our residents so we can address any issues or concerns they might have.”

Representatives from Fort Leonard Wood’s housing partner, Balfour Beatty Communities, will also be on hand to engage with housing residents.

“We want to ensure residents understand their rights as tenants in privatized housing, how to report a concern and receive prompt action, and how to address any complaint they feel is unresolved,” said Community Manager Jason Williams.

Army senior leaders placed housing as the No. 1 priority for quality of life in 2019, following complaints of health concerns inside homes and mismanagement of housing contractors.

In response to resident concerns here, the Directorate of Public Works Housing Division hired two additional permanent housing managers to pursue resident feedback and oversee work-order satisfaction.

In addition to DPW’s new employees, BBC created two new positions to address quality assurance, quality control and resident satisfaction. Those positions, the quality assurance representative and the resident engagement specialist, are responsible for ensuring that any housing maintenance performed is to standard from an engineering standpoint as well as to the standard of the resident.

The resident engagement specialist also communicates with residents at move-in, two weeks after move-in and periodically thereafter to ensure satisfaction.

To submit a maintenance work order for family housing, call Fort Leonard Wood Homes 24/7 at 573.329.4000. For any unresolved issues or concerns or any life, health or safety concerns during the duty day, call the Garrison Housing Office at 573.596.0859. To report any life, health or safety concerns that have not been resolved within 24 hours, call the 24/7 Garrison Emergency Operation Center Housing Hotline at 573.329.3926. To submit a work order for barracks, call the 24/7 Directorate of Public Works Service Order Desk at 573.596.0333.