TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. -- Tinker residents were provided an update on privatized base housing from installation leaders and Balfour Beatty Communities during a town hall on June 18, 2020.
Though this was the first privatized housing town hall held during the Coronavirus pandemic, weekly meetings between base leadership, BBC and residents never stopped.
Col. Paul Filcek, 72nd Air Base Wing and Tinker installation commander, said during these weekly meetings the group discusses every individual issue that is known to the Military Housing Office and BBC.
One concern Filcek raised is the use of masks while work orders are being completed in a home. He urged residents to wear a mask while BBC workers are in their homes and said if a worker is not wearing a mask, tell them to put one on. Masking is a requirement for BBC.
“When a BBC worker comes to work in your home and they have brought their masks and gloves and they clean like they should, please do that for them as well. Do not be within six feet of them without a mask,” he said. “Let them do their work feeling safe. The men and women who perform maintenance for Balfour Beatty Communities have families, too, so let’s be one team in that regard.”
Filcek said in a course of about five months, the number of major health and safety work orders went down from around 260 to the low point of 12 and now fluctuates in the 12 to 18 range.
“What that means is we have entered into a new phase where less than 3 percent of homes have health-related work orders,” he said. “So we can keep intense focus on those families while working daily to improve the company’s overall maintenance performance metrics, which still fall short.”
Dan Frederick, project director with BBC, discussed the company’s ongoing sustainment plans to reinvest into the property and homes at Tinker.
Projects still to be completed using 2019 funding include asphalt, sidewalk, curb gutter, LED light conversion, tree removal and erosion management. The funding approval for 2020 sustainment tasks is with the Air Force Civil Engineering Center, but includes plans to improve heating and air system efficiency, which will decrease opportunity for moisture mildew to develop. The plan also includes gutter repair and replacement throughout housing, which is concern directly from residents.
“We are really trying to incorporate input and feedback that we hear from residents and the Resident Council into our long-term planning,” Frederick said.
Commander’s Resident Council
The Commander’s Resident Council reports directly to the installation commander. The council meets with Balfour Beatty Communities once a month, but can request a meeting any time.
There are currently eight members of Tinker’s resident council, but is designed for 12.
Filcek described the council as the “neighborhood watch” for housing residents. The council has the ability to raise issues beyond the scope of BBC.
“The Resident Council is the advocate for the residents from the level of the residents, and we still welcome more members” he said. Filcek singled out Staff Sgt. Eric Parent of the 552nd Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, who “keeps driving every day to make privatized housing better.”
For information on the Commander’s Resident Council, call Ebony Bond, Tinker’s resident advocate, at (405) 582-1980.