Vernon seniors upset with renovations at housing complex

Residents of a senior housing complex in Vernon are not happy with renovations currently underway.

Some of the seniors who live at Grove Court said they moved back into their newly-renovated units to find leaky ceilings and other safety issues.

“We moved people into apartments that were supposed to be new. They’re not,” said David Howey, tenant commissioner and longtime resident. “The paint is horrible, everything’s nicking up. We walked into a ceiling leak.”

Construction started in April on upgrading the affordable housing complex one building at a time. It’s paid for with roughly $7 million in state and federal grants. While the renovations take place over a few months, residents said they've been put up in a local hotel.

The complex is home to a total of 54 residents across seven buildings. So far, one building has been renovated. Those residents moved back in early July, Howey said.

Jennifer Parrott said she moved back into her newly renovated space to find her bathroom ceiling leaking a day later.

“A downpour of rainfall through my vents in my shower and through the trap door,” Parrott said. “Puddles of water throughout my bathroom.”

Her ceiling has since been torn apart and is being fixed, she said.

The residents also take issue with gravel that was placed on a path outside their units. Many tenants are living with disabilities and find it hard to walk on. The gravel also tracks into their homes.

“These little rocks are being dragged in the house, damaging the floor, creating fall risks,” said Howey. “Our neighbor just slipped on that gravel out front with the unlevel sidewalks.”

Inside their units, grab bars weren’t installed inside the bathtubs. They said their old units had them. Howey said his wife Heidi fell in the bathtub.

“I want people to feel safe here,” he said. “I want people to be able to enjoy their life here, because when you come here, the cemetery is right next door to remind you of where you’re going. Let people live the end of their life in peace with respect and dignity.”

In a phone call, the heads of the Vernon Housing Authority, Betsy Soto and Thomas Cochran, said they are learning from the issues with the first renovation and have addressed them with each tenant. They said they’ll make improvements with the next building renovation.

They added that the units met code when the first round of tenants moved back in. As for the grab bars, they said they were not a part of the scope of work, but after hearing concerns will be adding that modification to all units.

“We will continue to provide tenants with updates on the construction next phases with tenant meetings, progress reports and unit walk throughs,” Soto wrote in a statement. “We respect and value the tenant voiced concerns and will do our best to make the next phase of this project a better experience for them all. This is the first phase of a 24-month renovation project which will provide quality and affordable housing for our Vernon residents for years to come.”