HUD money goes to repairs in three communities

Elevators, roofs and boilers – the large-scale maintenance work rarely celebrated by a speech or a ribbon cutting – will get done this year in three local housing authorities thanks to a new round of federal tax dollar spending.Lynn Housing Authority and Neighborhood Development will receive $698,000; Saugus Housing Authority will get $112,000 and Revere Housing Authority will receive $223,000 as part of federal Housing and Urban Development spending announced last week.”It’s stable money we can count on that we get every year,” said Revere Housing Authority Director Linda Marie Shaw.Housing authorities across the nation need to make $25.6 billion in major repairs to 1.1 million housing units, according to HUD, and the federal agency claims 10,000 units become uninhabitable every year due to disrepair.Like most Massachusetts housing authorities, Revere maintains a mix of public housing units paid for with state or federal money. The new federal spending round will help the Authority make sidewalk repairs near its 193 federally funded units and pay for roof repairs over the next two years.Shaw said the money will also help support the Authority’s “residency self sufficiency” program helping public housing residents move toward home ownership.”That has been very successful,” she said.LHAND oversees local housing including the federally funded Wall Plaza and Curwin Circle apartments. Director Charles Gaeta said the newly announced federal money will help pay for replacing a Wall Plaza elevator.He said the $700,000 LHAND is slated to receive is “normally for larger priced items that are not covered in our operating budget.””Ongoing routine maintenance and preventive maintenance are a very important part of our daily routine throughout LHAND,” Gaeta said.The average public housing unit in Saugus is 40 years old and Director Laura Glynn said the latest federal funding will help maintain the 100-unit Heritage Heights federal housing building. Glynn said record snowfalls underscore the importance of routine maintenance, including large-scale projects.”It’s very helpful to us,” she said.Shaw credits her employees and the Authority’s board of commissioners with crafting long-term plans that, she said, pulled Revere’s public housing back from the brink of federal takeover and put the Authority’s 900 housing units on a regular maintenance schedule.”Now we’re a high performer,” she said.