FEBRUARY 21, 2022 – Last call for tenants to fill out the Army’s housing survey. You have until Feb. 24.
The Army’s survey gives people living in on-post housing an opportunity to have a direct link to those in charge of housing, to be able to share what they think of their current home, and to suggest how to make things better.
“The ‘Tenant Satisfaction Survey’ is a satisfaction survey specific to each installation’s Army Family Housing service and amenities. Residents are picked randomly by the contractor conducting the survey. They pick from residents currently living in Rock Island Arsenal Family Housing,” explained Jerry Vesey, chief of Operations and Maintenance, RIA Directorate of Public Works.
“The process is the same for every Army Installation and ratings for each installation are posted at https://reports.celsurvey.com . The RIA Directorate of Public Works Housing specialist receives notice when RIA results are released,” Vesey said. “The results are also reviewed by the garrison commander. The survey results are used to inform the garrison of any areas that need improvement.”
An online survey link was emailed from CEL & Associates, Inc. — an independent, third-party company — on Jan. 11 to more than 110,000 tenants living in privatized, government-owned and government-leased housing on Army installations around the globe. Completing the confidential survey takes about 10 minutes.
CEL also administers the surveys for other military departments and private-sector property management firms.
The Army is investing billions of dollars into transforming barracks and on-post housing at installations globally to provide Soldiers and their Families with quality, safe and secure housing, and a better quality of life.
At Rock Island Arsenal, this installation tore down its decades-old housing and built two new housing areas that began occupancy in June 2018.
One area, Deer Crossing, is located on the east end of RIA just past Memorial Park near the Moline Gate. The other, Eagle Point, is located on the northwest section of post near historic Quarters One along the banks of the Mississippi River. The two areas comprise 71 units.
“There are beautiful signs marking at each entrance for visitors coming on the installation to see,” Vesey said.
But just like a new car, it doesn’t stay new for long.
“We’ve had some issues with site drainage. They were addressed and corrected with projects executed by the Corps of Engineers last year,” said Vesey. “With any new construction, there are always items that wear or fail irregularly. We handle most of these items through our Base Operations and Maintenance service contract.”
In 2019, RIA received an overall satisfaction of 97.6%. In 2020 it was 85.1% and in 2021 it was 87.3%.
According to the contractor’s survey, a satisfaction score 85% or above is considered “outstanding,” Vesey said.
“Rock Island was ranked fourth out of the 27 Army-Owned Family Housing garrisons. Rock Island continues to work to improve its customer service. However, it is clear that Rock Island provides outstanding quality of life amenities and service to its service members,” Vesey said.
RIA’s average occupancy rate is 93% throughout most of the year. Generally speaking, vacancies are the result of a home being turned over when the current resident moves out for a new assignment and a new occupant is in transit from their prior duty station.
Besides relatively new housing, more projects are planned to improve the quality of life at RIA.
For example, a dog park and new play areas are coming.
“The basketball court in particular was identified as needing a full replacement within the next five years” and was considered an aging asset, Vesey said. So, a dog park will be put there [in Memorial Park] instead. Construction will begin this spring.
“The Garrison constructed a temporary ice rink located near Eagle Point housing for all residents to enjoy during the 2021-2022 winter season,” Vesey pointed out. “The Garrison also has plans to construct a splash pad and gardening plots, and install primitive camping spots,” Vesey said, all to be ready for residents by this summer.
Aside from being very close to where they work, there are other advantages to living on post in RIA’s new housing – like having to pay no rent. And since RIA housing is still Army owned, there are no charges for utilities, Vesey said.
But, like at all other Army housing areas, there will be charges to residents for damages to their house that exceed normal wear and tear, he said.
And while residents can have potted plants in their yards, they cannot plant bushes or trees. This is to prevent any maintenance or liability issues that could arise with overgrown plants or allergic reactions when new tenants arrive.
For more information on when the RIA housing opened in 2018, go to: https://www.army.mil/article/206386/new_era_in_housing_begins_at_ria_as_first_family_moves_in
For more Army-wide information on housing including previous survey results, go to:
https://www.army.mil/qualityoflife/#housing . This year’s survey results are tentatively scheduled for release in April 2022.
(Editor’s note: Special thanks to Silvia Taft, a Housing specialist at the RIA Directorate of Public Works for facilitation of the photographs in this article.)
By Jon Micheal Connor, ASC Public Affairs