Foundation

Published Thursday, January 13, 2011 6:58 AM

Eagle Staff Report

The Better Business Bureau is seeking nominations for an award for ethics.

The BBB Torch Award for Marketplace Ethics is the highest honor the organization can give. It crosses all industry and product lines and centers on ethical behavior in the marketplace. No business is too large or too small to be considered.

Deadline for submission is Feb. 1.

Nomination forms are available at bryan.bbb.org and can be found by calling 260-2222 or 1-800-392-3798.

The BBB will look into high ethical standards in dealing with customers, employees and suppliers; effective, straight-forward advertising; friendly, helpful employees; and simply a good reputation built by a history of solid business practices within the community.

The award is open for all for-profit businesses that serve retail and wholesale markets. Nonprofit organizations are not eligible. BBB accreditation is not a requirement.

Previous winners include Allen Honda; Anchor foundation repair ( Foundation types
[edit] Shallow foundation
Main article: Shallow foundation

Shallow foundation is, usually, embedded a meter or so into soil. One common type is the spread footing which consists of strips or pads of concrete (or o; Appletree Market #1193; Borski Homes; Brazosland Realty; Brewer, Eyeington & Company; Briaud Financial Advisors; Brookshire Brothers, Lufkin; Bryan Broadcasting; Central Texas ENT; Conlee-Garrett Moving & Storage; Copy Corner; Douglas Jewelers; First National Bank of Bryan; Fred Brown Mazda-BMW-Volkswagen; H. Bond Construction; KBTX Media; Lavco Air Conditioning & Heating; Loggins Plumbing, Lufkin; Pete’s Exxon; Pilger’s Tire & Automotive Center; Pitcock & Croix; Producers Cooperative Association; Sterling Auto Group; Superior Auto Service.; Target, College Station; The Pharmacy Shop; Union Pacific Resources; and University Title Company.

Presentations will be April 7 at Pebble Creek Country Club. Mark Holtzapple, with Texas A&M University, will be the featured speaker.

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By Robert Cadwallader

rcadwallder@star-telegram.com

When her 93-year-old mother died in May, Patricia Goerdel, who was her live-in caregiver the past seven years, was left with a worn-out house and not enough money or energy to fix it.

Then hope knocked on her door.

In fact, it swept through her neighborhood on Drummond Drive in Arlington, as the charitable nonprofit Rebuilding Together signed up a dozen homes in the low-income neighborhood for free major repairs and renovations.

It also promised minor touch-ups, such as clutter removal and landscaping, for most other homes on the two-block street, and has arranged for new playground equipment for nearby Speer Elementary School, where 98 percent of students are eligible for federal school meal programs.

Officials with the city and the group’s Greater Dallas chapter have set an 11:15 a.m. news conference today on Drummond Drive to announce Kickoff to Rebuild 2011, a three-week Super Bowl-linked project to help struggling homeowners.

It was good timing for Goerdel, 68, although she, like many neighbors, said it was difficult to accept help. “At my age, getting a job didn’t seem really feasible, and there were so many things that needed to be done here — and then here come these two little ladies beating on my door,” said Goerdel, who is living mostly on Social Security and a dwindling annuity fund. “I thought, ‘Holy cow, this could be the answer to the prayers I didn’t even know how to utter.’”

The Greater Dallas chapter is one of 200 affiliates of Rebuilding Together, which was founded 30 years ago and renovates, repairs and rebuilds 10,000 homes and community centers annually across the nation. Work commonly includes foundation and floor repair, roofing, painting, drywall replacement, weatherproofing and providing handicapped access.

For 16 years the group has teamed with the National Football League to help revitalize low-income communities in Super Bowl host cities. The goal is to make improvements that will add value long after the spotlight leaves town.

The Drummond project, which will use hundreds of volunteers and donated cash and materials, will add about $300,000 worth of property value to the neighborhood, said Jill Lucien, a board member of the Greater Dallas chapter.

“We believe every homeowner deserves a safe and healthy place to live,” Lucien said.

Some contractors have already begun work, including foundation repair ( Foundation types
[edit] Shallow foundation
Main article: Shallow foundation

Shallow foundation is, usually, embedded a meter or so into soil. One common type is the spread footing which consists of strips or pads of concrete (or o on Goerdel’s house. But the official kickoff is Jan. 17, on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, when about 150 local volunteers will dig in.

Then a block party is planned for Feb. 3, when national sponsors and their volunteers — bringing the total to an estimated 500 volunteers — will put the final touches on the projects.

Speer Elementary Principal Linda De Leon choked back tears when she talked about how much her community deserves this attention.

“A lot of our families are struggling to make ends meet, so the last thing you’re going to budget for are home improvements,” she said. “So for people to come in and offer to renovate these homes and rebuild them … it sends a message that there are people still out there who care.”

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In the city’s demolition of a blighted, vacant house in Richmond, an adjoining house that was on the market for $88,000 was damaged in the process.

Covered on one side with plastic tarps, disjointed with a collapsed staircase and floor, the house sits with a condemned sign posted on the front.

Brian Liggan, owner of Virginia Capital Realty, which was trying to sell the house, said he was aware of the wood rot in the shared wall.

The demolition in late December exposed problems but created more, he said. “The house was in fair condition; it was habitable. Now it’s been condemned by the city because of what they did.”

No one can enter or live in a condemned house until the owner fixes the problems or tears the house down.

The house, at 905 Kinney St., had been on the market since September.

Like thousands of houses in the city, it was sandwiched between two row houses. The house on one side, vacant for 13 years, was an imminent threat. The house on the other is painted and occupied.

The triplex is in the Carver community, north of West Broad Street near Virginia Commonwealth University campus.

Once the one house was demolished, it was clear that other house had problems, said Rachel Flynn, director of planning and development review for Richmond.

“If it was relying on the structure of the side house [to stand on its own], it shouldn’t have been.”

The city will pay for half the foundation repair ( Foundation types
[edit] Shallow foundation
Main article: Shallow foundation

Shallow foundation is, usually, embedded a meter or so into soil. One common type is the spread footing which consists of strips or pads of concrete (or os and put up gypsum wallboard, a protective seal and siding on the damaged wall, Flynn said.

The cost for the foundation repair ( Foundation types
[edit] Shallow foundation
Main article: Shallow foundation

Shallow foundation is, usually, embedded a meter or so into soil. One common type is the spread footing which consists of strips or pads of concrete (or o has not yet been determined. The siding will cost $5,800, Flynn said Thursday.

The city will place a lien on the property that was demolished since the owner caused the situation with the deterioration, she said.

The owner of that house also will be charged for the demolition — $21,000. If the special assessment is not paid, the city will file a tax lien against the property.

The city has been unable to contact the owner.

Liggan said he was notified by the city the same day of the demolition, giving him no time to get a crew in to shore up the house for sale.

The for-sale house, assessed for $142,000, has been vacant since April. The out-of-state bank owner, which took possession in a foreclosure, has not decided what to do with it, given the new circumstances, Liggan said.

Liggan learned about the city’s offer to help with repairs this week.

“That sounds reasonable,” he said.

Still, the city should have taken precautions to stabilize the house before the demolition, he said.

Liggan said he had received bids of about $7,000 to fix the wood rot. “Yes, there was rot, but the house wasn’t sagging.”

Flynn said the house is salvageable.

“Unlike the other house, it’s not going to fall down,” she said. “If something is not done soon, it will become an imminent threat.”

chazard@timesdispatch.com

(804) 775-8023