Fort Bliss holds town hall meeting on Military Housing issues

Army housing conditions.

That was the topic of a meeting held tonight in Fort Bliss. Leaders at Fort Bliss, including the Commanding General Major General Patrick Matlock and Garrison Commander Colonel Steve Murphy, held the town hall for residents of Fort Bliss.

Leadership want soldiers and army families to get the information they need about the housing issues on post.

They also heard what fort bliss residents have to say about their experience living in army housing – including their concerns.

According to a Fort Bliss spokesman, the town hall will also give the commanders a chance to reassure residents of Fort Bliss’ commitment to providing army families with a high-quality living space and safe place to live.

Senior members of Balfour Beatty Communities, the military housing acquisition, and management company, will join senior Fort Bliss leadership at the town hall meeting.

Dozens of residents showed up to voice their concerns.

Some residents detailing issues about Carbon Monoxide poisoning and the lack of response from maintenance. One woman saying she and her family were suffering from headaches and were constantly tired. They called maintenance and never heard a response. When they finally got someone to respond they found out that there was a Carbon Monoxide leak, and they had Carbon Monoxide poisoning. The woman said that they (maintenance) simply removed a Carbon Monoxide monitor and left. She said there was still a hole in the wall from the removal.

She said, “You charge us $1500 for a house and you’re going to kill us with Carbon Monoxide? Thanks a lot!”

This was followed by a round of applause, as many of the complaints received the same response.

Many of the residents complained about general maintenance issues on response time, quality of work and the treatment they receive. Another big topic at tonights Town Hall meeting was about move-out charges, and how Beatty (BBC) the management company, requires the residents to pay a special cleaning company $300 to clean the house instead of allowing them to clean it themselves.

One woman saying, “You charge us $300 for a team clean, and they do an awful job. They walk in with a water hose and spray it out from front to back. Do you guys realize that they do this? You guys are ripping us off.”

Others detailed leaks in homes, poor construction, poor response times, overpriced housing and poor customer service.

BBC representatives responding to each complaint with an understanding of the issues and concerns, saying that they will investigate claims and strive to address issues that the communities have if the residents allow them the opportunity.

Some of the issues that were raised were met with both BBC and Fort Bliss officials saying they did not realize certain things were happening, and they then promised to address each issue, and make changes to correct the issues.

BBC also stated that some of the issues could be solved with better training with their maintenance crews.

Some issues were raised about changes in policy that residents were not aware of, to that a suggestion by Fort Bliss Leaders was made to inform residents.

“I think we owe our residents a uniform letter informing them of any changes that we make in policy”

Garrison Commander Col. Stephen Murphy ended the meeting with reassuring residents that changes will be made.

“I’m not promising the world, I will prioritize them and make sure that there are changes made. I will work with BBC to move the ball forward. “

Commanding General Major General Patrick Matlock said that the Military needs to do a better job of overseeing their partner (BBC) and implementing the policies and guidelines that are already in place.

He said that he will hold BBC accountable and that the men and women of Fort Bliss deserve to have safe, and adequate living conditions. He said that correcting these issues are a top priority,

Fort Bliss Leadership also thanked the residents for their input, “If we know about the problems we can address the problems.”

You can watch a complete question and answers session here: