NORWAY — A meeting will be held Friday to address concerns over alleged shoddy rental housing and property maintenance in town.
The meeting will begin at 4 p.m. Friday in the Norway municipal office. It was called by town building inspector Joelle Corey-Whitman after a three-month investigation by the Advertiser-Democrat newspaper on Section 8 housing.
The investigation began after allegations of locked secondary egresses and lack of smoke alarms surfaced after a Main Street rooming house fire in May that left 11 people homeless.
Section 8 housing is the federal government’s major program for assisting very low-income families, the elderly, and the disabled to afford decent, safe and sanitary housing in the private market, according to the Main Department of Health and Human Services. A family or individual is able to find their own housing, including single-family homes, townhouses and apartments, as long as it meets the program requirements. Housing choice vouchers are administered locally by public housing agencies who receive federal funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to administer the voucher program.
Section 8 rental units must meet minimum standards of health and safety, as determined by the public housing agency that administers the program locally. In this case, AVESTA is the state’s housing agent for tenant and/or project based rental assistance. AVESTA covers housing in Oxford, Androscoggin, York and Cumberland counties.
According to the Maine Department of Health and Human Services, the role of the landlord in the voucher program is to provide “decent, safe, and sanitary housing to a tenant at a reasonable rent.” The dwelling unit must pass the program’s housing quality standards and be maintained up to those standards as long as the owner receives housing assistance payments.
In addition, the landlord is expected to provide the services agreed to as part of the lease signed with the tenant and the contract signed with the public housing agency. That agency must inspect each subsidized unit at least annually to ensure that it meets minimum housing quality standards.
Corey-Whitman, police Chief Rob Federico and fire Chief Dennis Yates will be at the meeting Friday to assist residents and occupants with safety concerns in any Norway rental unit. Landlords, tenants, downtown business owners and other concerned residents are expected to be at the meeting.
According to the report in the Oct. 27 edition of the Advertiser-Democrat, problems ranged from collapsed ceilings to fire hazards and mold.
Residents of state or federally subsidized housing will be advised at the meeting who to contact if they have any questions about a state inspection.
Corey-Whitman said Wednesday that she will begin inspections of all rental units this winter, regardless of whether they are publicly subsidized or not. The inspections will include a review of fire escapes and egresses, smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, electrical safety, plumbing, walls, ceiling, doors and windows.
Participants at Friday’s meeting will be limited to speaking four minutes if there is a large crowd. A second meeting will be held if necessary.
Town Manager David Holt said in an Oct. 27 memo to the Board of Selectmen that Peter Merrill from Maine State Housing Authority has assured him than an investigation of housing that MSHA subsidizes for Norway residents has begun.
In that memo, he said both he and Corey-Whitman agree that a coalition made up of tenants, landlords, taxpayers and officials is needed to make sure Norway housing stock is safe and healthy for its tenants.
ldixon@sunjournal.com.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
