On Tuesday, July 25, HUD representatives from the Greensboro office will meet with residents of Beacon Light Apartments to share some good news.
After a conference call facilitated by Bill Owen of Franklin-Vance-Warren Opportunities between HUD officials in Greensboro, Atlanta, and Washington, D.C., the federal agency has agreed to provide moving expenses, utility deposits, and other assistance-related expenses to Beacon Light residents to help with the transition from the ill-fated apartment complex.
According to an email from City Manager Jerry Moss, HUD may even be willing to assist residents who have already moved but are still awaiting re-inspection of their homes. Three such residences were featured in a Home in Henderson article on July 19 and may be reviewed here.
“The city had no role in the decision-making process,” Moss said in a telephone interview. “The only thing I did was tried to get all these folks together.”
Moss went on to say that he and members of the city council thought that people at Beacon Light were living in bad conditions and wanted to get them out of the complex.
According to Moss’ email, HUD is likely to set up an office in the Law Building next to the Section 8 housing personnel to continue to assist residents until the property is vacated. He also wrote that the department had tentatively agreed to provide security during the transition and will likely contract this security with off-duty local law enforcement officers.
Off-duty police security has be utilized for Beacon Light in the past. It was paid for by the property management company that ran the complex at the time.
The current off-duty security compensation rate is $22 per hour.
According to Lt. Irvin Robinson, who is in charge of Community Policing and Crime Prevention for the Henderson Police Department, a federal Community Police grant was used to maintain law enforcement substations at the Beacon Light, Henderson Heights, and Lincoln Heights apartment complexes.
According to Robinson, there has been no police substation at Beacon Light since 1998. The grant was for four years, and the stations were maintained from approximately 1992 to 1998.
Moss in his email also stated a need to meet to discuss issues related to having 108 vacant apartment units in the city that attract vagrants, drug sales, and other housing and law enforcement issues. In the telephone interview, Moss indicated that he had requested extra police patrols through the complex to deal with the above issues.
The Tuesday, July 25 meeting will take place in the City Hall Council Chambers at 1:00 p.m.