City to reconstruct home for elderly residents

Most expensive project to date, program helps low-income homeowners

The City of Yuma will demolish and reconstruct a dilapidated home that belongs to an elderly couple with Community Development Block Grant funds.

At $276,804, this is the most expensive rehabilitation project that the city has undertaken to date.

The council on Wednesday awarded the contract for the reconstruction of the two-bedroom home to the lowest bidder, Latin Builders.

Mayor Doug Nicholls recused himself from the discussion, declaring a conflict of interest as his firm is working on the project.

Two buildings, one used as storage, are currently on the parcel. Both will be demolished and one single home will be built on the property.

The home is being rebuilt as part of the Neighborhood Services Housing Rehabilitation Program, which provides home repairs to low-income Yuma homeowners who cannot afford to correct structural issues or address health and safety concerns with their home.

The federal financial assistance is provided to the family as a deferred payment loan that reverts to a grant after the required affordability period. The affordability period ranges from 5 to 20 years, depending on the cost of the repairs.

This project involves a single-family home located on the 600 block of South 12th Avenue that is owned and occupied by an elderly couple.

The house, built in 1948, has numerous structural and major system problems that make repairs unfeasible, according to a staff report.

In addition, a 6-foot retaining wall in the city right-of-way next to the house is “bowed, cracking and subject to sudden failure and collapse.” The deteriorating wall, beside the public sidewalk, poses a safety hazard to the neighborhood, staff noted.

MOST EXPENSIVE YET

Using CDBG funds, Neighborhood Services will reconstruct the house, positioning it on the lot to conform to set-back requirements in the infill district, and rebuild the retaining wall.

The agency estimated the cost for this project

at $280,402. After receiving two bids, the council awarded the project to Latin Builders, who submitted the lowest bid of $276,804.

This project is the most expensive home rehabilitation that the city has tackled.

But not because it’s the biggest, noted Rhonda Lee James, assistant director of planning and neighborhood services.

It’s actually a “very modest” 700-square-foot home with a front porch and no garage or carport.

Lee James explained that this project is significantly higher in cost due to the removal and replacement of the retaining wall.

“The house itself is only $85,000. The house is modest. It’s all of the other things that have to take place in order to secure the house so that it doesn’t end up in the street when the wall fails,” Lee James said.

The cost to demolish the house and wall is $42,850 and to rebuild the retaining wall $110,700.

“We can’t go in there and do the demolition of the house in the way that we normally would, which is just to go in with heavy equipment, tear down the house. The condition of the structure is going to require a more piece-by-piece demolition of the house as well. So the combination of all of those things, because of the wall and the condition that it’s in, is what is driving that demolition cost so high,” she said.

The city rehabs about 10-12 homes a year, with work ranging from minor repairs to reconstruction when the house has deteriorated to the point that it must be rebuilt.

Sometimes the city will replace the roof or an air conditioner, do some plumbing, rebuild bathrooms for elderly residents to make them accessible and rebuild a home or two a year, depending on the available funds.

“It’s a very good price in my experience in today’s market for a home, especially for 700 square feet,” said Councilman Chris Morris, who is a contractor. “The smaller the home is, the higher the square footage price because you still have the kitchen and bathroom and everything that costs a lot of money to construct. So I just want to throw out that for only having two bed(room)s, I think it’s a very modest price that we received.”

Councilman Gary Knight questioned what happens if the residents die before the affordability period expires.

“It is dependent upon their estate and their estate planning,” explained Lee James. “If one of the spouses dies, it will just go to the surviving spouse. But if it should go to a child who would want to move into the home, the loan could potentially transfer to the child if their income and circumstances qualify for the program as well.

“But if the estate wishes to sell the home, then the unpaid portion of that loan needs to be paid to the city,” she added.

After 20 years, as in this case, the loan “goes away, provided that the homeowners do those things that we asked.” The city asks the homeowners to pay their property taxes and keep the home insured and without code violations.

“If you do those things over the course of the life of your affordability period, then it converts to a grant,” Lee James noted.

If the homeowners die after the affordability period, then the estate is free to sell the home if it wishes. But if the homeowners die before the end of the affordability period, if the estate wishes to sell the home, it would need to pay back the remaining portion of the loan.

“Historically, we will work with the estate of our older participants in the program, and we’ve come up with other kinds of solutions. So it’s not arbitrary, that we absolutely will do this,” Lee James said.

“But one of the things that we always want to emphasize is that at no time do we ever have title to the home. We only are a lender, and it is only a loan, and we’re not taking title or anything like that,” she added.

However, if the homeowners don’t fulfill their obligations, then the city can put a lien on the home. Fortunately, the city has never had to foreclose on a home.

“They are appreciative of the fact that we are assisting them in this way because this is the only way that they were going to be able to stay in their home because, generally, by the time we get there to help, the home has deteriorated to the point that they’re in danger of not being able to live there anymore,” Lee James noted.

TO APPLY

Homeowners interested in applying for the program or who wish to know more information about housing rehabilitation assistance may email NeighborhoodServices@Yumaaz.gov or call Neighborhood Services at 928-373-5187.

“We’ll coach them through how to do it. We can do it on paper. We have an online application process. Lots of folks don’t like to do that. We’ll do that for them,” Lee James said.