By TIM UNRUH
For Saline County
Local talk radio chatter piqued Salina resident Jeff Stone’s interest one Saturday morning in late December.
The guest that morning was Mike Peterson, executive director of the Community Housing Development Corporation of Central Kansas. He explained CHDO’s goal to weatherize 50 homes of low to moderate income families.
Feeling some winter chill at his Salina home he’s owned for more than 30 years, Stone listened in.
“It was kind of drafty, but I wasn’t needing an igloo yet,” said the retired Salina banker, Disability Planning Organization of Kansas assessor, and U.S. Army veteran, originally from Boston.
“I qualified, and the work was stuff I didn’t have to pay for. It was like a no-brainer,” he said. “I figured anything they can do is better than what I had.”
Workers have so far insulated his attic and the crawl space below his house; provided and installed an air conditioner cover, fixed a trap door to his basement, and an access door to the attic.
The crew will return soon to close air leaks around Stone’s front door, replace a window in the laundry room, and perhaps add some sidewall insulation.
While he waits patiently, Stone, 77, has already noticed an improvement.
“My heater runs less frequently, and more efficiently, and it didn’t cost me a penny,” Stone said. “The contractor they hired was excellent, always prompt. He told me what he was doing, and did the work.”
His Salina home is among 50 in Saline County that will be weatherized with a $500,000 grant. The money is part of the county’s $10.532 million from the American Rescue Plant Act. A portion of $65.1 billion was sent to every county in America, to ease economic, governmental and personal effects of COVID-19.
“I want at least 50 houses done by the end of this year. Thirty are on the books and we have room for 20 more,” Peterson said. “We may go deeper than that once we find out our costs. I think we can go into 2024 with the county money”
The target in to spend no more than $7,500 at each home, he said.
CHDO’s overall focus is housing for low and moderate income families.
“We buy and renovate homes and resell to qualifying families,” Peterson said.
Crews look for air infiltration and use weather stripping on doors and windows, fix broken windows, fill holes, wrapping insulation blankets around poorly protected water heaters. It’s all aimed to reduce the amount of energy used in those homes.
“We go through the house using a thermal camera, trying to find cold spots, looking for something missing, like attic insulation,” he said. “Standard today are so much higher when most of these homes were built.”
Inspectors comb through homes looking for dangers, and install carbon monoxide detectors, which have become “a pretty routine safety device,” Peterson said. “The nice thing about it is it will help these people save money for years to come. We’re be helping them reduce their energy usage. I’m sure it will help improve their comfort level as well.”
He praised Stone for his cooperation.
“It was a real blessing to work with Jeff,” Peterson said.
Salina CHDO is still accepting applications at kschdo.com. Find the weatherization application link and fill it out. To inquire, visit the office at 748B Duvall, call (785) 833-6868, email [email protected], or visit the Salina CHDO Facebook page, where there are photos available of work being done.
“I really appreciate what Saline County’s doing for its taxpayers,” he said. “It’s a great program.”