The Henderson city government must do its part to give the residents of a subsidized housing complex a chance at a better life, a City Council member said Monday night.
“I feel like those persons have been let down,” said Lonnie Davis, whose Ward 4 includes the Beacon Light Apartments, off Boddie Street near Water Street.
Davis was responding to a presentation by Beacon Light Masonic Lodge Chairman William Rogers on plans to rehabilitate the 32-year-old complex, which serves more than 100 families. The Beacon Light lodge owns the complex, whose residents receive rental subsidies from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Plumbing and sewage problems have plagued Beacon Light residents in recent years, and the complex has developed a reputation as a crime center.
Rogers said Beacon Light is getting a HUD-secured loan of more than $3 million to conduct an overhaul that has been planned for at least two years. He said the lodge is on track to submit its financial package for final HUD review by the April 1 deadline.
“We are excited about it and that we can hopefully give decent housing for 30 more years to needy families,” Rogers said.
“We hope this can be an enhancement to the city,” he said.
Beacon Light pays a management company and picks up maintenance and repair costs; it reportedly spent $200,000 on plumbing repairs in a year. Rogers also said the lodge pays for four off-duty police officers to work as security guards at the complex.
Rogers called for police to respond more quickly to calls at Beacon Light, where he said the crimes often are the work of outsiders who prey on the residents.
He did not offer many details on the Beacon Light rehabilitation, but he said the Greensboro office of HUD has made its support for the project clear.
“Keep us in touch and let us know … if you have specific issues with certain city services,” Mayor Clem Seifert said.
Davis said Beacon Light is at a disadvantage because it is isolated. He said efforts are under way to drain the land beside the complex, to clean up the wooded entrance to Beacon Light, to add street lights and to install a sidewalk on at least one side of Boddie Street.
“The city needs to step up to the plate,” City Manager Eric Williams said.