Privatized housing services reduced Published Aug. 6, 2009 By Karen Petitt 375th Airlift Wing Public Affairs SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. -- Officials for Scott AFB's privatized housing project met with residents in two town hall meetings last week to discuss the way ahead and clear up rumors surrounding cuts in services that are hoped to be temporary. Mr. Greg Ehrhardt, an asset manager for the company that owns and manages the housing project--Hunt Companies, told residents that unanticipated county taxes are causing the company to cut back $750,000 worth of seasonal services they provided in the past such as yard leaf and snow removal of individual sidewalks and driveways. The company is currently in legal appeals to have the tax assessments lowered, but that could take some time. In the meantime, they worked with Scott AFB senior leaders to identify "a fair and reasonable" list of what services must stay and what could go to ensure the project remains financially viable. Col. Gary Goldstone, 375th Airlift Wing commander, said the Air Force is committed to ensuring the privatized housing project is successful so that Team Scott members continue to have "beautiful places to live." "I'm a resident too," he said. "And we all know that the economic downturn has also been a factor in many businesses, and this is no exception. The good news here is that when we first started talking about how deep the cuts would need to be, there were $1.2 million worth of cuts they needed to take, but through aggressive action on Hunt's part working with the county, that total was reduced. " There are 1,593 homes in this $200 million project, which was completed in January with the exception of final landscaping issues. Scott has a 92 percent occupancy rate, and Hunt officials expect that number to rise to 95 percent. Despite the increasing occupancy rate, Hunt officials said they're still just meeting the basic operating costs due to the higher-than-expected taxation. The list of reduced services are: · Eliminate leaf removal/clean-up in the fall. However, residents urged Hunt to reconsider as the leaves clog the drains, which leads to flooding as experienced last fall and early spring with the heavy rains; · Stop snow removal of private sidewalks and driveways; common areas and roads will be continue to be cleared; · Community Center hours will be reduced as of Sept. 1 to: Patriot's Landing, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday; Lincoln's Landing, Noon to 8 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. Several residents offered other options, such as closing on Mondays and staying open on Saturday, or having residents volunteer to monitor the center during other hours. Hunt said they would consider and check into those options; · Set up community recycling collection points instead of providing door-to-door service. Details on that are yet to be announced. Also, as part of the streamlining of services, Hunt will no longer subcontract to Pinnacle for housing management and instead provide that service themselves. Mr. Ehrhardt said, "Residents will still call the same help numbers and employees will just come to work with a different logo on their shirt. This does reduce cost administratively so that is why we are taking that action." During the town hall meeting, residents asked for explanations on the upcoming shift in utility billing procedures which is expected to occur this fall. Residents also asked Hunt officials to finish landscaping in several areas, and also said that they would rather mow their own lawns instead of eliminating that service for deployed members. Hunt expects to reach an agreement with the county concerning proper taxation of the property.