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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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| There may have been a security guard when I drove through. I did not see a security vehicle but i saw a man with what could have been a security guard shirt. Only his shirt was out nd he appeared to be with friends or family. He never even saw me. |
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Mon May 21, 2012 6:41 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Brown committed federal funds to finish the project. Also some sewer and water funds were allocated to the project. Federal funds for sidewalks too.
Lawler looks like he has no clue when he out protesting what should have been in place dueing the Walling administration. Stupid move. |
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Mon May 21, 2012 6:44 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Smith Village is a disaster still. Brown in his 1-15-2012 report to the state said 30 houses were completed in Smith Village. Then by resolution he gives the new developer $1,8 million to complete them.
Last edited by untanglingwebs on Sun Aug 19, 2012 10:03 pm; edited 2 times in total |
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Sun Aug 19, 2012 8:05 am |
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Dave Starr
F L I N T O I D
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| They probably need the money to re-complete the houses after they were vandalized. |
_________________
I used to care, but I take a pill for that now.
Pushing buttons sure can be fun.
When a lion wants to go somewhere, he doesn’t worry about how many hyenas are in the way.
Paddle faster, I hear banjos. |
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Sun Aug 19, 2012 10:24 am |
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JCARPENTER
F L I N T O I D
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JUST WHEN YOU THINK SOMEONE COULDNT BE ANY DUMBER THAN WALLING,ALONG COMES MIKE BROWN. THIS PROJECT IS THE DUMBEST IDEA SINCE AUTO WORLD. DONT THINK ITS THE LAST. JUST WAIT UNTIL
"GIVE AWAY " MIKE AND HIS BUDDIES GET FINISHED WITH GENESEE TOWERS. REMEMBER THAT 9 MILLION DOLLAR BUILDING WE ALL BOUGHT AND BROWN GAVE TO HIS BUDDIES FOR 1 DOLLAR? HE PROBABLY ACCEPTED THE BEST PROPOSAL? OH WAIT A MINUTE,THERE WERE NO PROPOSALS REQUESTED AND "GIVE AWAY MIKE HANDED IT OVER TO HIS BUDDIES ON HIS LAST DAY AS DICTATOR. |
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Tue Aug 21, 2012 9:06 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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| Urban plazas were part of the Uptown groups documents in 2002. |
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Tue Aug 21, 2012 3:01 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Just drove through Smith Village. The streets are no longer the axle breakers they were. Erosion techniques failed and deep ruts in the lawns lead to soil on the street awaiting it's final layer of asphalt.
I did not see any security although their contract was renewed.
I also have not seen the workers return to fix the houses. If the houses were vandalized as claimed, then HUD will not pay to perform the same work twice and the city would have to use non-federal funds.
The city claimed in January that the houses were completed even though bricks sat outside waiting to be usedand some doors and windows were missing. At leat some of this work has been completed.
But what has happened to all of the unpaid vendors, some of whom placed leins.
Last edited by untanglingwebs on Wed Aug 29, 2012 6:56 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Tue Aug 28, 2012 9:48 pm |
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TruthTalk
F L I N T O I D
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| Has any one elts heard they are planning on building 30 more homes for smith village? I know they planned on 80 houses for SV is what i heard in 2011. After the continued blunder they call smith village i cant imagine them building that many more homes (any more) but its all a big give-away so why not. |
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Wed Aug 29, 2012 6:42 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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| Yes they gave a contract with Ginosko under their new limited liabilty corporation. |
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Wed Aug 29, 2012 6:55 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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These homes were to be finished Last December!
Families still waiting to move into Smith Village
Posted: Sep 14, 2012 11:12 PM EDT Updated: Sep 14, 2012 11:34 PM EDT
By ABC12 News Team - bio | email
FLINT (WJRT) -
(09/14/12) The wait continues for many Flint families who want to move into their Smith Village homes.
Changes in contractors, management and other issues have delayed the project, pushing back the move in date.
So far not one family has moved into the 25 homes that have been built in Smith Village.
On Wednesday, Emergency Financial Manager Ed Kurtz said he hopes to have families inside those homes in a month or two.
Alice Evans says she was one of the first people selected to move into a home in Smith Village and was suppose to move in last December.
Evans says, " it kind of dashes your dreams and your hopes all you really want is what was promised and you want it as soon as possible." |
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Sat Sep 15, 2012 10:11 am |
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Dave Starr
F L I N T O I D
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| Maybe city hall has to wait until the increased water rates generate enough money to pay for the water & sewer hookups. That is, assuming a large amount of that money doesn't end up in pockets. |
_________________
I used to care, but I take a pill for that now.
Pushing buttons sure can be fun.
When a lion wants to go somewhere, he doesn’t worry about how many hyenas are in the way.
Paddle faster, I hear banjos. |
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Sat Sep 15, 2012 12:00 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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| a lot of federal cdbg money is going to Smith Village |
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Sat Sep 15, 2012 2:29 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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'Broken dreams:' Flint families frustrated by Smith Village delays
Published: Saturday, September 15, 2012, 9:00 AM
By Kristin Longley | klongley1@mlive.com
Ryan Garza | MLive.comAlice Evans is frustrated by all the delays at Smith Village. Her house has been packed up since December, when they were told they would be able to move in to the new development. They say they haven't been able to get any answers from the city.
FLINT, MI -- Alice Evans' dream of home ownership is still just that -- a dream.
Nearly a year ago, she packed up most of her belongings in anticipation of moving to her brand-new home in the city's new Smith Village housing development, but today she's still living out of boxes in her mother's home on the city's north side.
Fourteen years after the Smith Village project started, it's still not close to being finished.
"It's so frustrating," Evans said. "All we want is our dream. A dream was promised and it keeps moving further and further away."
Smith Village was started in 1998 with a grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, but it was never completed, despite various attempts over the years to bring it back to life.
In 2010, under threat of a penalty from the federal government, Flint Mayor Dayne Walling's administration restarted the project and pledged to make it happen using federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program grant funds.
As it stands, the project is still underway, but it's on its third developer and lawsuits from the first two developers against the city are pending in Genesee County Circuit Court.
Meanwhile, Evans is still waiting to move into the home she was assigned after she was pre-approved for a mortgage.
Instead of a lawn, there's a stretch of dirt and brush around the picturesque home.
Instead of a backyard deck -- where she imagined sitting and relaxing with her mother on nice days -- there's only tall weeds and a 3-foot drop underneath the sliding patio door.
"I've been in my home," said Evans. "I walked through it twice. I was so excited. Now I'm just sad."
At least 83 homes were supposed to be built at Smith Village by February 2013, but only 25 are there now. Because of the project's slow progress, city leaders say only 39 homes -- fewer than half of the original target -- will be on the site in March.
The change was necessary in order to meet a deadline for spending the city's allocation of federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program grant funds.
Some funding that had been intended for Smith Village will now be spent on demolishing vacant structures throughout the city, emergency financial manager Ed Kurtz said.
"If we didn't do it, we would have lost that (funding)," Kurtz said.
A spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development said the city still must build 83 homes, even if all of them can't be completed by February.
Tracy Atkinson, director of the city's community and economic development department, said the balance of the homes will have to be built with the proceeds from the first homes or another source of funding.
"It depends on what they sell for," she said, adding that the completed homes have been appraised at $60,000 to $65,000.
Atkinson said the new developer, Ginosko Development Co., can begin work at the site as soon as the city is able to get the deeds to the homes from the previous developer, Smith Village Construction Services.
Attempts to reach Smith Village Construction and their attorney were not successful Friday.
Amin Irving, president of Ginosko, said his team is "very well prepared to act when we can."
"We have done the necessary due diligence and are prepared to have boots on the ground once certain aspects of the transaction are completed," he said. "We're very close."
Brown's office said in May that the city switched developers because of project delays.
At the time, city officials said the previous developer should have had the homes completed, while the developers said they couldn't complete the homes because the city hadn't completed the streets and other infrastructure work.
Prospective home buyers said they just want the finger-pointing to stop, and the work to start up again.
Robbie Grier told Flint City Council members recently that she also has been through the house that is supposed to be hers.
"It's a sad situation," she said. "I don't know if the appliances are still there, or if the basement flooded."
Flint City Councilman Bernard Lawler, who represents the 5th Ward where Smith Village is located, said he, too, is hoping city leaders are right when they say work will begin again soon at the site.
"I'm waiting to see what happens," he said. "The prospective and current homebuyers didn't deserve this neglect that has happened with this project. I'm going to be following up with them and making sure things progress as they're supposed to." |
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Sat Sep 15, 2012 2:48 pm |
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Dave Starr
F L I N T O I D
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| All the grant money they spent on University park was predicated on Smith Village also being built. Failure to complete Smith Village may result in all the University Park grant being paid back. |
_________________
I used to care, but I take a pill for that now.
Pushing buttons sure can be fun.
When a lion wants to go somewhere, he doesn’t worry about how many hyenas are in the way.
Paddle faster, I hear banjos. |
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Sat Sep 15, 2012 7:49 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Unfortunately, University Park became market rate and there is no federal money to be paid back. The city was committed to building a 50 unit apartment complex on the site for low income. taxpayers subsidized the infrastructure in University Park.
Smith Village then became the vehicle for meeting the low-to-moderate income housing reqyuirement.
Mostly, the earlier homes that were remodeled in Smith Village were a disaster. There were excessive cost over runs and allegations from homeowners of shoddy work. HUD rules were not followed and the earlier project was also marred by controversy. |
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Sat Sep 15, 2012 9:57 pm |
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