Photo By Melissa Buckley | Fort Leonard Wood on-post family housing resident, Isabel Lopez, raises her hand to...... read more read more
FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. — Fort Leonard Wood on-post family housing residents got the chance to learn about preventative maintenance specific to Missouri’s winter weather and got answers to help them avoid misinformation during Tuesday’s quarterly housing town hall at Stonegate Community Center.
Isabel Lopez has been a Fort Leonard Wood resident for about three months. She said she was apprehensive about coming to the town hall because she wasn’t sure how approachable the leadership here would be.
“Once we came in, and we were welcomed so warmly, I felt like everything was okay,” Lopez said. “I guess I was worried about asking a question or saying something they don’t like, but I didn’t feel that way at all. It is good to know there are friendly faces here that want to help.”
Lopez said the main reason she wanted to be there was because she was having a hard time getting straight answers to her questions.
“I see a lot of conflicting information on the various social media pages, so I wanted to come to the meeting to be able to get the correct answers,” Lopez said. “It is like one neighbor told me this, and a different neighbor told me that, and social media says something different — it is overwhelming.”
Col. Anthony Pollio, U.S. Army Garrison Fort Leonard Wood commander, opened the town hall by inviting residents in attendance to ask questions if they needed clarification on any of the topics being covered in the presentation.
“This is a wonderful resource,” Lopez said. “I raised my hand and the garrison commander personally answered my questions. He invited the subject matter experts to weigh in and make sure I understood all the avenues available to me when I have a problem or concern.”
Lopez said the main thing she wanted clarification on was bulk trash pick up.
Ron Hestness, Fort Leonard Wood Homes facility manager, told Lopez bulk trash is on the same schedule as regular trash and these include items, like dressers and mattresses. He added items, like water-soaked mattress, will not be able to be picked up, and asked residents to be mindful of weather conditions before setting items on the curb.
Hestness said for questions or concerns, the best reference is the Fort Leonard Wood Homes resident portal app or online.
Pollio addressed the issue of residents putting trash and bulk items in the recycling bins.
“People are putting trash in their recycling bins, so we had to go to picking up recycling every other week. Some folks had concerns that wasn’t enough, so we placed a recycling bin in the South Leiber Heights area,” Pollio said. “We had to put regular dumpsters out there for trash, because people keep putting trash in the recycling bin. If this continues to be a problem, we will have to stop putting a recycling bin out there. They have to pay a fee every time the recycling is contaminated. We are going to give it one more chance. Trash needs to go in to trash dumpsters and recycling items in recycling. We are trying to make it work, but we need everybody’s cooperation to do it the right way.”
Another topic covered was preventative maintenance for winter weather. The fact that pipes can freeze and burst in Missouri was surprising to Lopez.
“I am from out west, where it is warm. I thought maybe it was just something that happened in the movies,” she chuckled. “That was good information for us.”
Other winter care tips included cleaning windowsills to prevent mold, dusting heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems and changing the filter routinely, disconnecting garden hoses from outdoor spigots and setting thermostats to auto, not on.
With the holidays ahead, Jason Williams, the Fort Leonard Wood Homes community manager, said families planning to leave for the holidays need to notify the main office. In the Fort Leonard Wood Homes resident portal, under community guidelines, it states residents planning on leaving a home vacant for more than three days need to notify the community management office.
Another thing Lopez said she was surprised to learn about were the self-help items available at the maintenance office, located on Turner Street next to the Leiber Heights pool.
Hestness said they have outdoor items, like topsoil, mulch, grass seed and hay or straw, and indoor items, like air filters, specialty light bulbs and touch-up paint.
Hestness also said in mid-October the mowing contractors will scale back their weekly mowing schedule to every other week.
When Mike Estright, Directorate of Public Works Housing Division chief, addressed the group, he said the mayor program will be accepting nominations for all six communities from Jan. 5 to Feb. 1 and results will be counted and sent to the garrison commander on Feb. 20. The newly elected mayors are scheduled to be sworn in during the March housing town hall.
| Date Taken: | 09.26.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 10.04.2023 08:55 |
| Story ID: | 455024 |
| Location: | FORT LEONARD WOOD, MISSOURI, US |
| Web Views: | 15 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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