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| John Price sits in his temporary home, a travel trailer, as he awaits word on his future home. Price is blind and lost a two-bedroom house to a tornado in March. He had no insurance. JEFF M. HARDISON/Lake City Reporter |
Blind man unhappy with local recovery effort from March 7 tornado.
By JEFF M. HARDISON
jhardison@lakecityreporter.com
A 36-year-old blind man said he is displeased with what he perceives as slow action by Lake City officials who promised him a home after his house was destroyed from a tornado in March.
John Price also expressed his dismay after learning his two-bedroom house would be replaced by a one-bedroom structure.
Price had lived at 635 NE Gurley Ave. since he was born, he said. His parents gave the house to him and he was living there when the tornado hit on March 7, he said.
Price lacked homeowner’s insurance, and like other people who lost homes in the tornado, the Federal Emergency Management Agency was slow to, or did not help in the recovery effort.
After losing his house, Price madehis first temporary home with a sister, where he stayed until July 21, when that living arrangement became untenable. He then moved into a travel trailer provided by some friends, he said.
The travel trailer where he now lives will become cold, he predicts, when winter arrives because the window in the door is covered by cardboard. He would like to live in a better environment, Price said.
Lake City Code Enforcement Officer Sandra Caslow told him the city would replace his house if he allowed the city to demolish it, he said. Now he wonders if the house might not have been able to be repaired.
Emergency Community Development Block Grant funds allow for a one-bedroom home to be rebuilt for him. Price learned, however, that he must take out a U.S. Department of Agriculture loan for an added bedroom.
“How can I afford to pay off a loan with only my $637 monthly SSI disability payment?” he asked. “I am disabled. I am completely blind in both eyes. If they’re going to replace a person’s house, they should replace it with a house like the one that was lost. One of those bedrooms was my home office.”
In his current temporary residence, he keeps his scanner, computer and printer on a couch. His sound system sits on top of a miniature refrigerator.
County Commissioner George Skinner said he feels Price’s current living conditions are atrocious.
“In my opinion,” Skinner said, “if the city can’t help him, then the county ought to step in.”
Lake City Mayor Stephen Witt said he has spoken with Price.
There are constraints on the CDBG, Witt said, which prevent the city from building more than one bedroom for one occupant.
As for the speed of construction starting, Witt said the city wants to be certain to follow procedures to avoid defaulting on the grant.
There is a Housing Committee meeting set for 5:30 p.m. Oct. 23 in the Public Safety Building, Witt said. That is where the city will decide if modular or site-built homes will replace the destroyed structures.
“The good side of this,” Witt said, “is that eventually they’ll get houses.”
Martha Orthoefer, principal planner with North Central Florida Regional Planning Council, said the application for CDBG funds showed there were 31 homes destroyed, 25 others with major damage and another 97 with minor damage.
“I know he’s frustrated,” Orthoefer said of Price. “This is federal money and there are a lot of hoops to jump through. It was a state declared disaster.”
The SHIP Program funds for emergency relief are applied more quickly, Orthoefer said.
Columbia County Manager Dale Williams said $2 million worth of emergency SHIP funds were made available for repairs as a result of the tornado.
About $1.5 million remains open for use, he said. The county is asking the state to make those funds available to buy modular homes.
There is one potential home replacement in the county, Assistant County Manager Lisa Roberts said. Other houses in the city may be considered for SHIP funding if they qualify and are not part of the CDBG program, she said.
John Price also expressed his dismay after learning his two-bedroom house would be replaced by a one-bedroom structure.
Price had lived at 635 NE Gurley Ave. since he was born, he said. His parents gave the house to him and he was living there when the tornado hit on March 7, he said.
Price lacked homeowner’s insurance, and like other people who lost homes in the tornado, the Federal Emergency Management Agency was slow to, or did not help in the recovery effort.
After losing his house, Price madehis first temporary home with a sister, where he stayed until July 21, when that living arrangement became untenable. He then moved into a travel trailer provided by some friends, he said.
The travel trailer where he now lives will become cold, he predicts, when winter arrives because the window in the door is covered by cardboard. He would like to live in a better environment, Price said.
Lake City Code Enforcement Officer Sandra Caslow told him the city would replace his house if he allowed the city to demolish it, he said. Now he wonders if the house might not have been able to be repaired.
Emergency Community Development Block Grant funds allow for a one-bedroom home to be rebuilt for him. Price learned, however, that he must take out a U.S. Department of Agriculture loan for an added bedroom.
“How can I afford to pay off a loan with only my $637 monthly SSI disability payment?” he asked. “I am disabled. I am completely blind in both eyes. If they’re going to replace a person’s house, they should replace it with a house like the one that was lost. One of those bedrooms was my home office.”
In his current temporary residence, he keeps his scanner, computer and printer on a couch. His sound system sits on top of a miniature refrigerator.
County Commissioner George Skinner said he feels Price’s current living conditions are atrocious.
“In my opinion,” Skinner said, “if the city can’t help him, then the county ought to step in.”
Lake City Mayor Stephen Witt said he has spoken with Price.
There are constraints on the CDBG, Witt said, which prevent the city from building more than one bedroom for one occupant.
As for the speed of construction starting, Witt said the city wants to be certain to follow procedures to avoid defaulting on the grant.
There is a Housing Committee meeting set for 5:30 p.m. Oct. 23 in the Public Safety Building, Witt said. That is where the city will decide if modular or site-built homes will replace the destroyed structures.
“The good side of this,” Witt said, “is that eventually they’ll get houses.”
Martha Orthoefer, principal planner with North Central Florida Regional Planning Council, said the application for CDBG funds showed there were 31 homes destroyed, 25 others with major damage and another 97 with minor damage.
“I know he’s frustrated,” Orthoefer said of Price. “This is federal money and there are a lot of hoops to jump through. It was a state declared disaster.”
The SHIP Program funds for emergency relief are applied more quickly, Orthoefer said.
Columbia County Manager Dale Williams said $2 million worth of emergency SHIP funds were made available for repairs as a result of the tornado.
About $1.5 million remains open for use, he said. The county is asking the state to make those funds available to buy modular homes.
There is one potential home replacement in the county, Assistant County Manager Lisa Roberts said. Other houses in the city may be considered for SHIP funding if they qualify and are not part of the CDBG program, she said.
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Ungrateful wrote on Oct 14, 2008 10:33 AM: