[StBernard] Group hopes to sell Alabama Katrina shelter cited as waste

[Westley Annis]

The GAO needs to fully investigate this, starting with Mr. Dan Cleckler.  I
may be wrong, but this smells of a way to get free renovations, thereby
raising the value of the property, and putting the blame on a faceless
government agency.

Who does Mr. Cleckler know in Congress, the military, or FEMA?

Westley

-----Original Message-----

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) - For sale: A post-Katrina shelter that cost taxpayers
millions yet didn't do much sheltering of hurricane evacuees.
 
A group that runs a defunct military base in Alabama said it hopes to sell
an old Army barracks that the Federal Emergency Management Agency renovated
for evacuees at a cost of $7.9 million last year. 
 
Only a handful of evacuees ever showed up, and the five-building complex
closed within weeks of Katrina's Aug. 29 landfall.
 
The shelter was located at the old Fort McClellan, which is located in
northeast Alabama and is now controlled by a nonprofit agency, the Joint
Powers Authority.
 
The executive director of the agency, Dan Cleckler, said private companies
are interested in purchasing the site, and there have been talks about
moving the state trooper training center from Selma to the facility.
 
Before the renovation, the complex was appraised at $4.6 million with
sections including the barracks, gym, a medical clinic and classrooms. The
FEMA renovation significantly raised the value.
 
Cleckler said the buildings need to be used.
 
"The longer they sit vacant ... without some kind of climate control, they
deteriorate, which is why it took $7.9 million to bring them up," Cleckler
said. "We are actively pursuing any and all interested parties and we would
like to do something as soon as possible."
 
After about six years of vacancy, the open bays of the barracks were
transformed into individual dorm-like rooms for evacuees. Electrical wiring,
heating and air conditioning were upgraded, mold was eradicated, ceiling
tiles were replaced, and everything was painted.
 
Officials expected hundreds of evacuees, but a maximum of 19 were housed at
once, according to the inspector general of the Department of Homeland
Security. Earlier this year, the cost of the renovation was figured at
$416,000 per evacuee.
 
The Government Accountability Office would later cite the project as an
example of poor communication and waste by FEMA.