Weatherization crews and private contractors have been busy making older homes and apartments more energy efficient with federal stimulus money, according to Mohawk Valley Community Action Agency Executive Director Amy Turner.
The weatherization stimulus program was delayed for several months last year while local agencies revised their payrolls to comply with federal wage standards. The first $1 million installment was released to the agency the last week in October, 2009, Housing Director Gene A. Allen said.
The 127-unit Madison Plaza Apartments on North Madison Street in Rome is the first local beneficiary, Weatherization program manager Mary VanValkenburgh said. CRM Rental Management, the building owner, hired a private contractor to replace the roof, which was funded in part by stimulus money, she said. Stimulus funds will also be used to replace old refrigerators with Energy Star rated units, purchased under a contract with Dave Hayes Appliance Center in Yorkville. Additional stimulus money will be spent on new energy-efficient wall mounted natural gas heaters.
CRM contributed $133,425 to the Madison Plaza improvements and the federal share will be approximately $360,000.
The resulting energy cost savings will permit CRM to maintain rents at affordable levels, VanValkenburgh said. Most of the tenants qualify for rent subsidies, she said.
Turner said the agency is scheduled to receive $4.4 million in federal weatherization funds in the coming months to make about 600 residential units more energy efficient by October. VanValkenburgh said the housing department hopes to use the bulk of the money to weatherize homes with one to four residential units to reduce a waiting list of some 2,000 units. She said weatherization crews have begun work on 72 of the smaller units and have spent $167,860 to buy materials from local suppliers.
Turner said the agency also is using federal funds from its Community Service Block Grant account to train seven men and women in "green" construction skills. Several of the students have had on-the-job experience shadowing experienced weatherization crews, she said.
The Child Development department will begin training another group of students in early childhood education skills in the near future using Community Service Block Grant stimulus funds, Turner said.
