TAP offers services to Bath citizens

Spruce Hill Excavating breaks ground at the site of the Allegheny Highlands Agricultural Center. The site, located on six-acres of land near on U.S. 220 Forks of the Water, will be the home of the agricultural center's soon-to-be built facility. (Recorder photo by M.K. Luther) WARM SPRINGS — Total Action Against Poverty is offering several services in Bath County, and residents who qualify may be able to have their homes weatherized for the cold weather ahead, receive assistance with indoor plumbing or receive counseling on housing issues.

TAP is a community action agency, one of 22 in Virginia and about 1,200 nationwide. It serves Alleghany, Bath, Botetourt, Craig, Roanoke and Rockbridge counties as well as Buena Vista, Clifton Forge, Covington, Goshen, Lexington, Roanoke, Salem and Vinton.

About 15 people attended a public hearing jointly sponsored by TAP and Bath County Sept. 18 in the courthouse to hear about the services TAP is offering. Rick Sheets, associate director of housing and community development for TAP, said the two main pro- grams are weatherization and indoor plumbing and rehabilitation.

Weatherization, Sheets said, is designed to seal attics and sidewalls in order to make homes more energy efficient and reduce costs. "By getting more insulation in homes and making sure furnaces are working properly, we see an average 30 to 35 percent reduction in energy usage. That is a substantial reduction," he said. "If you use oil, we can't change the cost of it but we can change how much you use."

Also, if a home has any broken windows, the weatherization program can repair those, Sheets said. The program does not permit installing replacement windows, he said. Doors and windows are weather-stripped to reduce the amount of air coming in as well. A blower door test is performed on a home before any work is done to determine the air flow.

"We don't want to overly tighten up a house, because that can create a toxic situation. You are supposed to feel some air," he said.

Eligibility is based on family income and the condition of the home. For weatherization, income cannot exceed 130 percent of the state poverty level, although Sheets said in special cases that can be extended to 150 percent.

Currently, for one person, eligible income is $13,520 or less. For a family of four, that figure is $27,560 and it is $46,306 for a family of eight.

There are some homes, Sheets said, that cannot be weatherized due to poor condition. "We can only spend up to $3,000 on a home. If a home has a bad roof, that can be more than we are allowed to spend. The home needs to fall within the scope of work we can do," he said.

A loan program designed to help those who do not have indoor plumbing in their homes is also available, Sheets said. It consists of a 10-year loan at zero percent interest and repayment is based From TAP, page 4

ability to pay. For example, Sheets said, if the payment comes to $500 per month, but it is determined a person or family can only afford to pay $50 per month, the remainder

forgiven as long as payments are made as required.

Let me assure you, we have not taken anybody's house. We just want to put plumbing in homes that need

Sheets said.

Sheets said TAP can also help in cases where homes have failed septic systems and are in danger of being condemned

where there is water running to the home but there is

a complete bathroom.

Before a bathroom can be added to a home, Sheets said, it must be brought up to HUD standards. The electrical system

checked, the home is checked for lead and the foundation

examined to make sure the home can be brought up to code. "If a home can be rehabilitated, we will do so and build a bathroom and in some cases a bedroom," he said.

If home cannot be rehabilitated and the family qualifies,

it will be demolished and a new one built. The indoor plumbing and rehabilitation program, Sheets said, is much

restrictive than weatherization.

In order to be eligible for indoor plumbing and rehab, household income cannot exceed 80 percent of the county's median income. As of 2005, according to figures from the Central Shenandoah Planning District Commission, the median household income in Bath is $39,464.

For weatherization, applicants must provide proof of income and proof of homeownership or proof that their landlord agrees to participate in the program. Once an application is approved, an estimator will visit the home and

the necessary tests.

After the estimate is reviewed, Sheets said, it will be determined what materials are needed and how much they

cost. Once that is done, it will be decided whether a home falls within the scope of services available.

Once we can hopefully get two or three homes in the county, we will be here for a week or so doing the work," Sheets said. He said from approval to construction generally takes from two weeks to a month.

Qualifications are more stringent for indoor plumbing. Residents have to prove homeownership, and a title search

be done to make sure there are no encumbrances on the property and a historical review will also be done. Environmental studies will also be performed so a septic system

be designed. Generally, Sheets said, from approval to construction takes three to four months.

Weatherization can be done on mobile homes, but there

limit to the indoor plumbing where mobile homes are concerned, Sheets said.

Currently, there are 2,896 housing units in Bath County. According to information provided by county administrator Bonnie Johnson, 6.2 percent of those lack complete indoor plumbing and 4.4 percent lack complete kitchen facilities.

the county's homes, 28.1 percent were built in 1939 or earlier, Johnson said.

One audience member said his father is on oxygen, and sleeps in a back bedroom in a home with no back door. Sheets said while that would not fall under either of the two programs he talked about, there is a state grant designed to help with handicapped accessibility.

County treasurer Mary Susan Blankenship, who is

on the county's Disability Services Board, said there could be a program that could help through that board. "If

don't look, we will never know what we can come up with," she said.

While TAP has workers that perform the weatherization

work, Sheets said contractors are used for the indoor plumbing program. Letters were sent to contractors in Bath County, he said, but thus far no responses have been received.

We would like to have three or four locally we can call

Contractors have to be licensed and insured and meet state regulations we can use them through the procurement process," Sheets said.

Sheets said TAP has made application to the state emergency home repair program, and hopes to begin offering that

Bath July 1. The award would total $1,500, an amount Sheets called "minute." He said that money could be used

home needed repair before weatherization.

In addition, Sheets said TAP offers housing counseling

Roanoke and hopes to start soon in Clifton Forge and Lexington. Foreclosure prevention and reverse mortgages

two of the programs offered, he said. "We have one of the most effective counselors in the nation on staff," Sheets said.

Don Reynolds, director of housing and community development, said he was pleased with the turnout at the meeting and one held Sept. 11 in Millboro. He also said Bath County officials have worked hard to make sure citizens have access to available services.

"The county administrator, social services director and treasurer have stepped up to the plate and given their time. There are several places we go that we struggle with that and public officials don't give us a lot of help," Reynolds said. "We are very pleased with the turnout. Hopefully once we get out in the community and get some jobs done, people will see us as tangible. This is a real-life program, not wishful thinking."

Blankenship, who was named by the board of supervisors as the county representative for TAP, said she believes the program will be good for the county.

"We are looking to do whatever we can and trying to get help to these folks that need it. I think a lot of folks need the weatherization program, and I feel that will be the biggest use," she said. "I'm so happy that TAP is here to help these people who need it."

Applications are available at the Bath County Department of Social Services. Anyone wishing to apply can pick one up or call 839-7271. Also, those needing more information can call the county administrator's office at 839-7221, the treasurer's office at 839-7256, the TAP office in Roanoke at 540-345-6781, Michael Thompson in the Lexington office at 540-463-9527 or Anne St. Clair in the Covington office at 540-962-6328.