Sandy Recovery Progress

submitted by Dennis McKeon - http://www.where-to-turn.org/

12 additional potential abandoned homes that cause a health or safety threat have been identified by neighbors through our link. We will be sharing these addresses with the Health Department to get inspectors out to evaluate these locations. We will also work with our local elected officials to identify the owners (persons or banks) and work to get these locations remediated. We are scheduling a followup meeting with our local representatives. Progress is already underway. Councilman Oddo's bill if passed should allow access to these homes even if the owners do not give permission so that they could be remediated. On another note the SBA deduction from victims' federal grant has also been removed. Next step is to convince the mayor to set asise a portion of Federal funds to tear down any red tagged home that is not in dispute. This should also be offered to yellow tagged homes where the owner wants to rebuild from scratch. This will insure that the properties are properly dismantled preventing the spread of mold spores and other contaminants throughout the neighborhood. Finally to seriousness of the effects of mold is even reaching into network television as it was covered on an episode of Royal Pains just this week. Maybe the Health Department will take notice. Keep voicing your concerns and identifying abandoned homes and we will keep you posted.

Mold and Abandoned Properties