Company-grade officers move into new housing September

  • Published
  • By Joe B. Wiles
  • 71st Flying Training Wing Public Affairs
VANCE AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. --  Company-grade officers scheduled to move into the new-construction housing at Vance attended a town hall meeting June 16 at the Base Auditorium. The 16 families will start moving in early September, said Kent Davis, community director for Pinnacle, the company that manages privatized housing here. 

Discussion at the meeting covered procedures for clearing their current homes and arranging for moving and storage. 

The company-grade officers will move after the nine field-grade officer families have moved in. Unit 1601 on Dorr Drive will be the first occupied. 

"We are planning a grand opening of the new housing area sometime between Aug. 20 and Sept. 20," said Mr. Davis. The actual date of the grand opening depends on when all the road and sidewalk work is completed. 

When complete, the new housing area will have two tennis courts, two basketball courts and two areas for toddlers to play. 

During the town hall meeting, Mr. Davis cleared up confusion about painting requirements when moving out of a housing unit. 

"If moving out of a housing unit that is scheduled for renovation," said Mr. Davis, "no painting is required by the tenant." A clean sweeping and wiping down of surfaces inside and normal moveout requirements on the exterior is all the cleaning required on the 153 units marked for renovation. The renovations are scheduled for completion over the next two years. 

"If the tenant is moving out of a unit that will immediately be leased to the next tenant, then the standard cleaning, painting and repair requirements apply," he said. Any walls the tenant painted darker colors will need to be covered with a primer coat. Guidelines for preparing to move out of housing can be found at the Landings at Vance Web site, http://vancefamilyhousing.com. 

To avoid confusion about what the tenant needs to do before moving, the staff at Pinnacle does a pre-inspection. "We go through the inside and outside of the house with the tenant pointing out what needs repair, painting and cleaned," Mr. Davis said. Although they are as thorough as possible, when furniture and wall hangings are still in place, they may miss something. 

"We then give the tenant an itemized charge list for necessary repairs," Mr. Davis said. "They can then do the work or can pay to have it done. We prefer the tenant handle the work. It saves them money and keeps our work force focused on improving the community." 

Currently, there are more enlisted housing units available than eligible tenants. "We are down to about 93 percent occupancy. Our proforma occupancy rate is 95 percent or better," said Mr. Davis. 

The key for an easy move in or out of housing, and a comfortable stay, is communication, said Mr. Davis. 

"We send out monthly surveys, a monthly newsletter and every Friday we send an e-mail to our tenants," he said. "We need to know their concerns and answer their questions before problems develop." 

Mr. Davis and the rest of the Landings at Vance staff can be reached at 234-0498.