Navy hires inspector to re-examine housing units

VIRGINIA BEACH

The Navy is re-examining its oversight of the company that manages almost 4,400 housing units across Hampton Roads, Rear Adm. Tim Alexander said Wednesday at a forum for residents concerned about living conditions in the properties.

After reports by WTKR-TV about mold in some of the homes - and Lincoln Military Housing's response to families who claimed their health was suffering as a result - politicians got involved. On Friday, U.S. Rep. Scott Rigell toured some of the properties and called the living situations "unacceptable." Dozens of angry residents met with U.S. Sen. Mark Warner, Rigell and U.S. Rep. Bobby Scott on Sunday.

Wednesday's meeting at a community center outside Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek is the first of two Alexander scheduled this week to try to address some of the concerns. Lincoln representatives were there - their table included baskets of free tablets for making grocery lists - as were representatives from the Navy's Public Health Center, Fleet and Family Services and the Navy housing office.

Alexander, who heads the Navy's Mid-Atlantic region, said the Navy's Facilities and Engineering Command is taking a close look at the "business side" of its partnership with Lincoln Military Housing, which in 2005 signed a 50-year agreement to manage military housing on and off bases in the area. The command has oversight of the operating agreement and lease.

"We're taking a full scrub of everything," Alexander told reporters at the forum.

Alexander said both the company and the Navy fell short. He called Lincoln "an outstanding partner" but said it made mistakes it's now working hard to address, including inspecting every unit. The Navy fell short, too, Alexander said, by not being better advocates for families having problems with the company.

"We need to do a better job across the board," he said. "My pledge to every family that lives in our housing is I'm the guy to make this right."

The Navy has hired a third-party inspector to reinspect nine properties that Lincoln's previous inspector found did not have mold problems. It also has forced Lincoln to stop using that inspection company, and all mold inspection companies Lincoln uses must get the Navy's approval.

"We're going to win their trust back one family at a time," said Jarl Bliss, president of Lincoln Military Housing.

Le Ann Olsen, a sailor's spouse and mother of four who lives in Lincoln-managed housing at Norfolk Naval Station, said the company called her Sunday.

When she told them about a patch of mold on one wall of a room the family uses for storage, Lincoln sent a maintenance specialist over within a couple of hours.

"They are in the process of figuring out what they need to do," Olsen said.

Kate Wiltrout, (757) 446-2629, kate.wiltrout@pilotonline.com