The Mountaineer

As temperatures drop, Raleigh still delaying help to needy homes

Patsy Dowling continues to wait and worry about what winter will bring. 

Dowling, executive director of Mountain Projects, has been waiting for promised stimulus funds since March to weatherize homes in Haywood County. She developed and conducted contractor training with Haywood Community College and Haywood EMC when she was told by the state to get ready to weatherize.

Following that training, she started the wait for funds. She has been told several times during the year that funds would be coming soon. When funds did not show up, Dowling said she was told new requirements for reporting were handed down from the federal government and training had to be conducted again using a state-approved format.

Word has now come down from the state that agencies providing weatherization work will have money in mid-November. Dowling said her agency is supposed to receive $1.2 million in stimulus money to weatherize homes.

“It’s very frustrating,” Dowling said. “I saw it as something to help, as the first time to do something proactive. I had so much hope in that. It’s nine months later and the entire state of North Carolina has weathered zero homes.”

Seth Effron, communications and information director for the North Carolina Energy Office, which is handling stimulus funds for weatherization through the state’s Department of Commerce, said the delay has occurred so the state could get everything right before money is distributed.

“Reporting and accountability had to be worked out so the money is put in place for people who need help,” he said. “There is a lot of specialized information to take care of in the contracts and to get everything right so when the program gears up, there’s not additional delays in getting money out.”

Dowling has received the contracts for the 10 percent administrative and start-up costs, but with winter on Haywood County’s doorstep and with the arrival of the first frost of the season, there is concern people will be cold this winter.

“I asked if we could use that money for weatherization and we were told no,” Dowling said. “It’s winter again. It’s frustrating because this is about the people who need it.”

So far, nearly 300 people are on the waiting list to have their homes weatherized. Weatherizing homes is a proactive step to down heating costs by making improvements to homes to keep the cold air out and the warm air in.

Last year, the agency spent $565,000 to weatherize homes in Haywood County. Mountain Projects has received its state allocation for weatherization this summer, $192,000, but it was half of what was expected.

Since additional training is required for reporting and for contractors who will perform the work, Effron said a pilot training program will take place at two community colleges — Central Carolina and Wilson community colleges — in December. After that, the program will go out to other places across the state selected to train crews. Effron said the additional training is necessary.

“There will be additional money in many places, and there will be a need to get more people trained,” he said. “The demand for services is expected to increase, and the state wants to make sure people can do the work properly. What we’re working on is getting enough people on with the proper training so they can provide the services to people who need it.”

Evans Taylor, section chief of the Weatherization Assistance Program, said once the bugs are worked out of the pilot program, it will be deployed to other sites where crews can be trained. He expects the training program to go out within a few weeks of the pilot program at the two schools. The sites that will provide training are not yet determined, Taylor said, and the sites that will be selected will be in various areas across the state.

Although the state-developed training program will be available at the Nov. 15 disbursement, Taylor said agencies have already been working on weatherization with its usual funding and those crews can begin putting stimulus money to work once it’s received later this month.

“Every agency has a workforce ready and they can use that force to continue weatherizing,” Taylor said.

He added that training will be for additional crews, that agencies will need to hire for weatherization work, as well as for current crew members that change responsibilities and/or take on new duties. Those who have been regularly employed doing weatherization work will be authorized to continue once the federal funds are passed through to local agencies later this month.

The delay in getting weatherization funds out to agencies does not sit well with one state representative.

Dowling said Rep. Ray Rapp helped get answers when she couldn’t.

“He called the state and then I got a call from the state and they said we’d get the money Nov. 15,” Dowling said.

Rapp said he is concerned about the delay.

“I think there’s been some fits and starts and delays in this weatherization program,” he said. “I’ve never fully understood the breakdown (in getting money out).”

While he understands that the state agencies want to get everything right before doling out federal money, Rapp said the delays have been excessive.

“I am not pleased it has taken this long to get the training program off the ground,” Rapp said. “Once that is done, we can start doing training state-wide. They have given me the assurance that this money will be released. I know Patsy has a number of homes in need and we’ve got people with needs now. I’ve tried to convey that to friends in the Department of Commerce that winter has arrived. I’m not pacified by hearing the money has got to be spent between now and March 2012.”

The federal government mandated that stimulus money given to states has to be spent in a three-year period. Dowling feels the delays in North Carolina is setting weatherization agencies up for failure.

“We could have done so much up to this point,” she said. “I’ve heard from several states that they’ve been up and going since spring. To me, this is setting up for failure.”

Some of the states that are currently weatherizing homes with stimulus money include Alabama, Mississippi and Nevada.

Effron said he could not speak to what is going on in other states, just the situation in North Carolina.

“With the Federal Recovery Act, reporting requirements and such took time to get through,” Effron said. “By mid-November, we will have contracts in place to go so agencies can put the money to work immediately.”

Rapp said he will keep an eye on the amount of time it will take the state to get money to agencies.

“I will keep tickling them until I get them moving,” Rapp said. “I think they haven’t gotten their act together, period. I don’t think this was handled properly. I would appreciate someone acknowledging the problem and say, ‘now let’s fix it.’ I think we can clearly move faster and better, and I will continue to tickle them to move faster. If we need to be a little hard-nosed, we will apply the hammer.”

Dowling said she still does not understand why there has been such a long delay in getting money when stimulus funds have been doled out in other areas in the state, such as public housing, food stamps and road projects.

“What amazes me … there is a brand new program that got up faster with HUD when weatherization has been around for years,” she said. “I don’t understand what the holdup’s been.”